It's certainly not the morning anymore, but here's your Sunday recap post. Please complain, brag, vent, analyze and trash talk in the comments.
- Indiana scored 17 points to Michigan State's 0 in the first quarter. The Hoosiers lit up the vaunted Spartan defense and Michigan State helped them out with some bad penalties. IU carried a 27-14 lead into the second half, but couldn't hold on. The Spartans held Indiana to 37 yards and two first downs in the second half. Michigan State managed to complete the comeback and hold on for a 31-27 win. Is this a sign that IU is better than we thought, or more evidence that Michigan State has a lot of flaws?
- Venric Mark returned a punt 75 yards for a TD near the end of the third quarter to give Northwestern a 28-17 lead. It was all downhill for the Cats after that, as Matt McGloin and the Nittany Lions scored 22 unanswered to end Northwestern's undefeated season. The Penn State defense did a better job than Indiana last week at keeping Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian under control, and the offense converted five of six fourth down opportunities.
- Illinois kept it close with Wisconsin until the fourth quarter, when the Badgers scored three touchdowns to put the game away. The Badgers rushing attack finally looked good, with Montee Ball going for over 100 yards and 2 TDs. Nathan Scheelhaase and the Illini offense didn't look terrible, but they had trouble putting points on the board. UW gets the win 31-14 and opens up a 0.5 game lead over eligible Leaders Division teams.
- Michigan destroyed Purdue in West Lafayette on both sides of the ball. Denard ran for 235 yards, and managed 15 pass attempts without throwing an INT. The Boilers offense couldn't do anything, and Michigan returned a second quarter interception for a TD to open up a 21-0 lead. The game was basically over at that point and the final score ended up 44-13. So, is Michigan good, like we thought they would be to begin the season? Or is Purdue mediocre, like we thought they would be? Or both?
- Carlos Hyde and Braxton Miller ran all over Nebraska as the Buckeyes won 63-38. As bad as the Big Ten is this season, Ohio State looks like they have a chance at running the table this year and not winning the conference. Taylor Martinez threw three picks and one was returned for a TD. So Michigan and Iowa currently sit atop the Legends Division standings, a half game ahead of NU, UN-L and MSU.
- Iowa and Minnesota were so tired after the Pig Game they took a week off.