In a relatively chaotic weekend in college football, the Big Ten conference provided the most dramatic upsets for a college football fan to gorge on. Iowa upset Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium. Michigan State gave themselves a chance to possibly visit Indianapolis in December as the Big Ten East representatives as it upset Penn State. Wisconsin continues its push to win a second straight Big Ten West crown as it dealt with an overmatched Indiana team by using crucial defensive plays in the fourth quarter to prevail.
Iowa Hawkeyes Put on Dominant Performance Against Ohio State
Coming into the game the Hawkeyes chances of doing the unthinkable were not highly thought of, as they were three touchdown underdogs. Anyone who’s watched the Hawkeyes in the past couple of years, however, know that Kinnick Stadium is the place for upsets within the Big Ten.
After the first quarter, it appeared that the Hawkeyes didn’t really listen to all the pregame punditry as it responded to each and every one of Ohio State’s scores by matching them with one of its own.
The true sign that it was going to be Iowa’s day was the second quarter as the defense made adjustments and made J.T Barrett, the Buckeyes’ quarterback, look uncomfortable.
In the second quarter, the Hawkeyes offensive, led by Nate Stanley, came out and had their best quarter of the year as they scored three touchdowns while only allowing one touchdown.
With the Hawkeyes in the driver’s seat comfortably, they were able to play their game in the second half as they tacked on 24 more points, while the defense held the Buckeyes in check only allowing them to score one touchdown in the second half.
Michigan State Controls Its Own Destiny with Upset of Penn State
Saying that this was a must win for Michigan State to keep their Big Ten Championship game hopes alive was an understatement.
However it looked like Penn State came out with that mentality that this was a game that could very well define its season as well. They came out and scored on two of their first three possessions while Michigan State was only able to respond with one touchdown.
The story that developed within the game, however, was the three and half hour weather delay that was enacted with 7:08 left in the second quarter.
The Spartans came out after the weather delay and tied the game up, which would be the only score until halftime.
The second half was reminiscent of late fall Big Ten games, as it was a slugfest in muddy field conditions.
Last week the Spartans field goal unit shot themselves in the foot as their effort to potentially knock off against Northwestern fell short.
They would not be denied in their opportunity to right their wrong from last week, as their redshirt freshman kicker stepped up and drilled a 27-yard field goal to send the Spartans into a pivotal Week 11 matchup against Ohio State.
Preview of Week 11: This week, Michigan State gets set to play Ohio State at the Horseshoe in a matchup that will likely decide the Big Ten East. The game can be seen on FOX Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Wisconsin looks to make it five of six wins against Iowa as it welcomes the Hawkeyes into Camp Randall to play for the coveted Heartland Trophy. The game can be seen on ABC at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
