Wisconsin gives Illini a hand
Graham Mertz threw for two touchdowns, Braelon Allen rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown and Wisconsin topped Purdue 35-24 on Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin. The result left idle Illinois in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West.
John Torchio had two interceptions — including one he returned 31 yards for a touchdown — for the Badgers (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten), who rebounded from a double-overtime loss at Michigan State with a strong effort to beat the Boilermakers (6-2, 3-2) for the 16th consecutive time.
It was the first home victory for Wisconsin interim coach Jim Leonhard, who was promoted from defensive coordinator when Paul Chryst was fired Oct. 2.
‘‘I appreciate everything he’s done, the energy he’s brought,’’ Mertz said of Leonhard, who has gone 2-1 since taking over. ‘‘He’s done a great job of rallying us and giving us a great plan to go succeed.’’
Allen, who surpassed 100 yards for the fifth time this season, went to the injury tent late in the third quarter with an injury to his left arm but returned in the fourth.
Aidan O’Connell passed for 320 yards and a touchdown and ran for another for Purdue, but his three interceptions were a big reason the Boilermakers fell behind 21-0 and had their fourgame winning streak broken.
‘‘We dug ourselves a hole early and couldn’t get out of it,’’ Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. ‘‘Our team doesn’t have a lot of margin for error, and we can’t do that.’’
Ohio State 54, Iowa 10
C.J. Stroud overcame a slow start to throw four touchdown passes in the second half, and the No. 2 Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0) took advantage of six turnovers on their way to routing the Hawkeyes (3-4, 1-3) in Columbus, Ohio.
Tanner McCallister had two interceptions and Tommy Eichenberg a pick-six as Ohio State capitalized on Iowa’s inept offense to start drives in good field position consistently.
Miyan Williams rushed for a touchdown in the first half, and Stroud threw scoring passes of six yards to Marvin Harrison, 13 to Emeka Egbuka, 79 to Julian Fleming and three to Mitch Rossi in the second for the Buckeyes.
The Hawkeyes’ only touchdown came when defensive end Joe Evans forced a fumble by Stroud, then picked up the ball and ran it in from 11 yards in the first quarter.
Penn State 45, Minnesota 17
Sean Clifford passed for 295 yards and four touchdowns, Nicholas Singleton ran for two more scores and the Nittany Lions (6-1, 3-1) scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to pull away from the Golden Gophers (4-3, 1-3) in State College, Pennsylvania.
Clifford threw touchdown passes of 38 yards to Tyler Warren and 18 yards to Theo Johnson in the second quarter and 35 yards to Parker Washington and 20 yards to Mitchell Tinsley in the third as Penn State bounced back from a 41-17 loss at Michigan in a big way.
Rutgers 24, Indiana 17
The Scarlet Knights (4-3, 1-3) overcame an early 14-point deficit to defeat the Hoosiers (3-5, 1-4) in Piscataway, New Jersey, to end a 21-game home losing streak in Big Ten play. Rutgers last had won a conference home game in 2017 against Maryland.