Let's start right out: Hey, wha happened?
Penn State 13 - Ohio State 6
We had an informal ban on Penn State national championship talk here at BHGP until the Lions got out of Columbus.
Gentlemen, start your engines.
It was an incredibly even game. It was tied for more than 40 minutes. Ohio State outgained Penn State by six yards. As is often the case in games between such evenly-matched teams, it was a single bounce (in this case, Pryor's fumble) that made the difference. Once Penn State built its seven-point lead, Ohio State was forced to throw it. That simply wasn't going to happen (though Pryor had arguably his best passing game of the year).
We'll get to the BCS ramifications of the PSU win at some point this week, but for now we know one thing: Ohio State is not playing for a national championship this year. Let us rejoice and be glad.
Wisconsin 27 - Illinois 17
Let the ugliness begin.
Wisconsin finally got off the schnide by simply and thoroughly outplaying Illinois at Camp Randall. It's not that it was difficult: Juice Williams threw three picks (though only 1 1/2 were his fault), Illinois' running attack never got started against the Badger defensive front, and Dustin Sherer looked like the typical WIsconsin game-managing quarterback as Wisky balanced 174 yards passing against 163 rushing. All three of those things (especially the Illinois turnovers and the Wisconsin rushing yardage) bode well for Iowa next week.
Minnesota 17 - Purdue 6
Purdue finished with 226 yards of total offense. Purdue threw for just 117. Purdue turned the ball over 4 times. Purdue sucks.
As a result, Minnesota still hasn't played anyone. They'll get a test next week against Northwe...
Indiana 21 - Northwestern 19
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sutton is injured. Bacher is injured. LTP is fighting a nasty case of dandruff while trying to understand how a team could be so reckless with the ball. Northwestern turned it over 5 times, had a couple of skill position guys knocked out of the game, and came away from a game against a vastly inferior opponent with a loss.
Yeah, we've never seen anything like it.
The replay official overturned the call and gave #55 the touchdown
Michigan State 35 - Michigan 21
The better team won. Michigan got a ridiculous touchdown on an overturned call; punishment has been doled out. Sparty lost three fumbles (two on what could only be characterized as bad bounces). None of that mattered. Ringer ran for 194, and Blair White tacked on 143 receiving yards (and just as many white wide receiver jokes on the WLA/MGo live chat). Michigan turned it over 4 times, including two of the worst interceptions of the day (and on a day where Juice throws 3, that's saying something). Michigan State deserved to win this game, and win they did.
Winning with class, on the other hand, is still an entirely foreign concept to Sparty.
(All photo credits: Associated Press)