The Week 14 Opponent Recap

As always, the non-con comes first:

Indiana State ended their season last week at 1-11.

Navy does not play again until December 14th vs. Army, with a guarantee of retaining the Commander in Chief's Trophy regardless of the outcome.

Bowling Green 24, Buffalo 7: The Falcons earned a spot in the MAC title game with their win over the Bulls. Bowling Green put up nearly 500 yards of offense on Buffalo, while 221 of the Bulls 236 yards came through the air. The Falcons improve to 9-3, and face Northern Illinois next week.

#5 Missouri 28, #21 Texas A&M 21: The Tigers won a back and forth game on Henry Josey's touchdown run with just over 3 minutes left in the game. The teams combined to go 3 for 3 on 4th down conversions, and each one scored in 3 of the 4 quarters (Mizzou was shutout in the first, and A&M was scoreless in the third). Missouri is 11-1, and will face Auburn in the SEC championship next week.

And in the B1G:

Iowa 38, Nebraska 17: Jake Rudock threw for two touchdowns and Mark Weisman ran for two more as the Hawkeyes stunned the Huskers to win the Heroes Trophy in Lincoln. Nebraska also turned the ball over three times, which largely contributed to Iowa starting on Nebraska's side of the field on just under 50% of their possessions. Both teams finish the regular season at 8-4 (5-3).

#11 Michigan State 14, Minnesota 3: In a game featuring 5 turnovers, Michigan State's two touchdowns held up, as they kept the Gophers out of the end zone. Conor Cook threw a touchdown and Jeremy Langford ran for the other as the Spartans completed their Big Ten season undefeated, with all of their wins coming by double digits, a conference first since expanding to an 8 game slate. The Gophers finish 8-4 (4-4), while Michigan State finishes 11-1 (8-0), and will meet Ohio State in Indianapolis next week.

#3 Ohio State 42, Michigan 41: With 32 seconds left in the game, Brady Hoke decided that he didn't want his team to play overtime. He wanted to win then and there. However, Devin Gardner's 2 point pass was intercepted by Ohio State, allowing the Buckeyes to survive their rivals. Gardner threw for 451 yards and 4 touchdowns, but failed to convert on his last pass of the game. The Wolverines gave up almost 400 yards rushing to Ohio State, including 226 yards from Carlos Hyde. Michigan finishes 7-5 (3-5), while Ohio State completes its second straight undefeated regular season at 12-0 (8-0) ahead of the Big Ten Championship against Michigan State.

Penn State 31, #15 Wisconsin 24: Joel Stave threw three interceptions, including one that ended Wisconsin's last hope of tying the game, as the Nittany Lions shocked the Badgers on their Senior Day. For Penn State, Christian Hackenberg threw for all four of Penn State's touchdowns. The Nittany Lions finish their season at 7-5 (4-4), while Wisconsin likely falls out of BCS contention at 9-3 (6-2).

Northwestern 37, Illinois 34: The Wildcats used a timely interception of Illinois' Nathan Scheelhaase to hold off the Illini in the battle for the Land of Lincoln Trophy. That pick was the only turnover of the game, and Northwestern proceeded to convert that opportunity into a 10 point lead that Illinois could never overcome. Trevor Siemian tossed four touchdowns for the Wildcats to three different receivers. Illinois finishes at 4-8 (1-7), while Northwestern ends the season 5-7 (1-7). If 70 teams had not been bowl eligible, Northwestern could have been selected for being in the top 5 in APR in the country; however, that is no longer the case.