The Week Six Opponent Recap

Beginning as always with the recently completed non-con games:

Indiana State held off a feisty Northern iowa team to win their MVC opener 20-19. Wide receiver Chris O'Leary tossed the game winning touchdown on a trick play with just over two minutes left in the game. There were no other passing touchdowns recorded in the game, though both quarterbacks did have a rushing touchdown apiece. The Sycamores improve to 4-1 on the season, and host the Illinois State Redbirds this Saturday afternoon.

Bowling Green continues to find a way to win in close games, holding off Buffalo 36-35 this week. Despite over 500 yards of offense for the Falcons, it took a touchdown with 2:19 left and the defense holding on from there to not drop the game to the Bulls. Buffalo didn't have a great game stats wise, but did maintain possession for nearly two-thirds of the game. 4-2 Bowling Green travels to Ohio this Saturday to take on the Bobcats.

#23 Missouri had a bye week. They host #13 Georgia this Saturday at noon on CBS.

And in the Big Ten:

Maryland hosted their first Big Ten game, and got steamrolled by #20 Ohio State 52-24. J.T. Barrett seems to finally be settling in as the Buckeye quarterback, throwing for 261 yards and four touchdowns, as well as rushing for 71 yards and another touchdown. 4 Maryland interceptions doomed the Terrapins chances of pulling off an upset. Terps kicker Brad Craddock did kick a Maryland record 57 yard field goal, so it wasn't all bad. 4-2 Maryland and 4-1 Ohio State are both on byes this week.

Iowa was on a bye ahead of their clash with the Hoosiers this Saturday.

#10 Michigan State was dominant early, but almost gave it all back before finally defeating #19 Nebraska 27-22. The Spartans allowed a trio of fourth quarter touchdowns, and had to intercept Tommy Armstrong, Jr. with 30 seconds left to keep Nebraska from driving in for a winning score. The teams combined for 7 turnovers, and Nebraska also had a pair of two point conversion tries fail. 4-1 Michigan State heads into Ross-Ade Stadium this Saturday to take on Purdue.

Rutgers gave its home fans a memory for the ages, securing their first ever Big Ten win against Michigan 26-24. The Scarlet Knights were led by a 400 yard passing game from Gary Nova, who also tacked on three touchdowns. A stat that may be of some interest to IU fans is that this is the first time Michigan has started Big Ten play 0-2 since 1967, a fairly important year in IU football history. 5-1 Rutgers has the week off before heading to Ohio State, while 2-4 Michigan hosts Penn State this Saturday evening.

Penn State was idle, and travels to Michigan this Saturday night.

Purdue faced off against one of their many rivals and came home with the Purdue Cannon after defeating Illinois 38-27. Both teams surpassed the 500 yards of offense mark, with Illinois heavily biased towards passing (450 yards), while Purdue was comparatively much more balanced (202 passing, 349 rushing). Illinois QB Wes Lunt was forced from the game with an injury, and the Illini couldn't come back in the 4th quarter. The 3-3 Boilers host Michigan State this Saturday.