Iowa drubs punchless Wisconsin
Spencer Petras threw two touchdown passes to Ihmir Smith- Marsette to fuel No. 19 Iowa to a 28- 7 victory Saturday against No. 25 Wisconsin in Iowa City.
The Hawkeyes ( 6- 2, 6- 2 Big Ten) beat the Badgers ( 2- 3, 2- 3) for the first time since 2015 to reclaim the Heartland Trophy. Iowa players celebrated by making snow angels on the field after flurries picked up in the second half and blanketed the field in white.
The Hawkeyes led only 6- 0 at halftime, but their offense came alive in the second half. Petras threw touchdown passes of 19 and 53 yards to Smith- Marsette in the third quarter, and Tyler Goodson scored on an 80- yard run in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Wisconsin has scored a combined 20 points in losing its last three games.
Minnesota 24, Nebraska 17
Mohamed Ibrahim ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns, and a Golden Gophers team missing nearly three dozen players because of COVID- 19 protocols or injuries stunned the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska, after being idle for three weeks.
Minnesota ( 3- 3, 3- 3) had its last two games canceled because of a COVID- 19 outbreak on the team, and most of its missing 33 players were in the Big Ten’s 21- day returnto- play protocol.
Nebraska ( 2- 5, 2- 5), which beat Purdue last week, hasn’t won backto- back conference games since 2018.
Penn State 39, Michigan State 24
Sean Clifford threw two touchdown passes to Parker Washington and ran 31 yards for another score, Jahan Dotson returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown and the Nittany Lions ( 3- 5, 3- 5) defeated the Spartans ( 2- 6, 2- 6) in State College, Pennsylvania.
Penn State outscored Michigan State 29- 3 in the second half en route to its third victory in a row.
Former Naperville Central star Payton Thorne played well in his first start for the Spartans. He passed for 325 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
Rutgers 27, Maryland 24
Valentino Ambrosio tied the score with a 39- yard field goal at the end of regulation, then kicked a 42- yarder to account for the only points of overtime as the Scarlet Knights ( 3- 5, 3- 5) edged the Terrapins ( 2- 3, 2- 3) in College Park, Maryland.
Bo Melton ran for two touchdowns for Rutgers, which trailed twice in the fourth quarter before coming back. Jake Funk ran for 180 yards, and Eric Najarian threw two touchdown passes for Maryland.