Gordon, Badgers hold off Hawkeyes
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Melvin Gordon’s single-game rushing record barely lasted a week.
His Heisman Trophy hopes — and Wisconsin’s Big Ten title chances — are stronger than ever after another brilliant performance from the nation’s top running back.
Gordon surpassed 2,000 yards rushing with 200 yards and two touchdowns, and Wisconsin held off Iowa 2624 on Saturday for its sixth consecutive victory.
Gordon became the 17th FBS player with a 2,000-yard rushing season to lead the Badgers (9-2, 6-1), who nearly blew a 16-point lead before hanging on behind Gordon in the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin still has to win at home against Minnesota — which got past Nebraska on the road 28-24 earlier Saturday — to earn a shot at East champion Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.
“It feels good because everything is on the line next week. Minnesota is going to give us their all and we’re going to give them ours. We have to,” Gordon said.
His latest big game came only hours after Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine broke Gordon’s week-old FBS record with 427 yards rushing in a victory over Kansas.
But Gordon was sensational in his own right, cracking the 2,000-yard plateau on an 88-yard run midway through the third quarter.
“That’s disappointing, to have that. But congrats to that guy; that’s really not easy to do,” Gordon said of Perine.
Jake Rudock had 311 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Hawkeyes (7-4, 4-3), who rallied from 16 down to get to 26-24 with just more than 5 minutes left.
Iowa and Nebraska wrap up the regular season in Iowa City on Friday in a matchup of two teams knocked out of the West race with crushing home losses.
“They made a couple plays that we couldn’t execute. That’s what winning teams do,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said.
In other games involving Big Ten teams, Jeremy Langford and Tony Lippett celebrated senior day in style as Michigan State (9-2, 6-1) smashed
Rutgers (6-5, 2-5) 45-3 in East Lansing, Mich. … Northwestern linebacker Jimmy Hall set up 14 points with an interception and a fumble recovery, and the Wildcats (5-6, 3-4) beat Purdue (3-8, 1-6) 38-14 in West Lafayette, Ind. … Wes Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:59 remaining lifted Maryland (7-4, 4-3) to a 23-16 victory over Michigan (5-6, 3-4) in Ann Arbor, Mich. … Backup quarterback Reilly O’Toole led
Illinois (5-6, 2-5) on a late drive that set up a game-winning David Reisner field goal, delivering a 16-14 victory over Penn State (6-5, 2-5) in Champaign, Ill. … Briean Boddy-Calhoun ripped the ball out of Nebraska receiver De’Mornay Pierson-El’s hands at the Minnesota 2-yard line after Mitch Leidner scored the go-ahead touchdown, and the Gophers (8-3, 5-2) overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat Nebraska (8-3, 4-3) 28-24 in Lincoln, Neb.