The Week Nine Opponent Recap

While the Hoosiers enjoyed a week off, many of their opponents were on the field. As always, we begin with the non-con folks:

Indiana State had a relatively easy time of it against Southern Illinois, winning 41-26. Mike Perish threw four touchdowns, and the Sycamores' defense forced four Saluki turnovers. Their defense also held Southern Illinois to just 27 yards rushing, while the offense cracked the 500 yard barrier with ease. Indiana State improves to 5-3, and hosts Missouri State this Saturday.

Bowling Green was on a bye. They travel to Akron a week from today for the beginning of weekday night #MACtion.

Missouri broke a 2 game home losing streak by beating Vanderbilt 24-14. The Tigers overcame 100 yards of penalties and never trailed against the Commodores. The Commodores were held to only 44 yards rushing, and QB Johnny McCrary's interception was the only turnover recorded in the game. 6-2 Missouri hosts Kentucky this Saturday afternoon.

North Texas struggled mightily against Rice, losing 41-21 in a game that the Mean Green actually led at the half. Darvin Kidsy had a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown for North Texas, but the Owls returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown of their own later in the game, which gave them a 24-21 lead they would not relinquish. The Mean Green only mustered 216 yards of offense against the Owls. 2-6 North Texas has the week off before hosting Florida Atlantic.

And in the B1G:

Maryland made their first trip to Camp Randall as a Big Ten member, and found out why we're not too fond of that place, getting blown out 52-7 by Wisconsin. The Terps' lone touchdown was a Stefon Diggs reception with 57 seconds left in the game. Wisconsin held Maryland to just 175 yards of offense, a number almost equaled by Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon on the ground alone (Gordon ran for 122 yards and 3 scores). The 5-3 Terrapins make the trip to Happy Valley for a noon showdown with Penn State this Saturday.

Iowa had a bye, and hosts Northwestern this Saturday.

#8 Michigan State was dominant in the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe, defeating Michigan 35-11. Neither team was particularly great at limiting turnovers (the teams combined for 5), but only RJ Williamson's pick of Devin Gardner made the scoreboard. The Wolverines were held to 186 yards of offense, but improved their rushing against the Spartans 99 yards from last year (from -48 to 61) and stopped the trend of diminishing points against Michigan State as well. Beyond that, the day very much belonged to MSU. 3-5 Michigan hosts IU this Saturday afternoon, while Michigan State has a bye before hosting Ohio State next Saturday night.

#13 Ohio State tussled with Penn State into 2 overtimes before finally prevailing 31-24. It took Joey Bosa pushing a Penn State running back directly into Christian Hackenberg on 4th down to finally reach a conclusion. Before that, J.T. Barrett was largely in charge of the game action, being responsible for 4 touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 passing, and a Penn State pick six), including both of the Buckeyes' overtime scores. The Nittany Lions did hang tough after surrendering the first 17 points of the game, and neither team was able to break the 300 yards of offense mark. 6-1 Ohio State hosts Illinois on Saturday night in the battle for Illibuck, while 4-3 Penn State welcomes Maryland into town this Saturday at noon.

Rutgers got run over by Ameer Abdullah and Nebraska, losing 42-24 in Lincoln. Abdullah had 341 total yards, with 225 coming on the ground, and 3 rushing touchdowns. Abdullah's performance aside, Rutgers and Nebraska were fairly evenly matched, with Rutgers having the edge in a few areas. The 5-3 Scarlet Knights host Wisconsin this Saturday.

Purdue enjoyed a bye week this week. They travel to Nebraska this Saturday afternoon.