Barrett finishes the job for Buckeyes
J.T. Barrett played finisher for Ohio State, running for two red-zone touchdowns in the first half and then taking over full-time for Cardale Jones in the third quarter as the top-ranked Buckeyes played another round of quarterback roulette in a 38-10 victory against Penn State on Saturday night in Columbus.
Wearing black uniforms for the first time, the Buckeyes didn’t look like themselves, though they did look a lot more like the dominant team many expected the defending national champions to be this season.
Ohio State (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) still doesn’t have a definitive answer at quarterback, but the Buckeyes have a 20-game winning streak.
Barrett added two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to make it 38-10. Jones started, as he has all season, but was only 9-for-15 for 84 yards. Barrett, as he did last week, entered when the Buckeyes got inside the 20 in the first half and helped Ohio State complete three trips there with touchdowns. After two unproductive third-quarter series, Jones was benched.
Freshman Saquon Barkley provided most of the offense for Penn State (5-2, 2-1) with 194 yards rushing.
Rutgers 55, Indiana 52
The Scarlet Knights (3-3, 1-2) converted three fourth-quarter turnovers into touchdowns and kicker Kyle Federico capped an improbable comeback by making a 26-yard field goal as time expired in a victory against the skidding Hoosiers (4-3, 0-3) in Bloomington, Ind. Rutgers tied a school record by rallying from a 25-point deficit in the final 20½ minutes.
Nebraska 48, Minnesota 25
Tommy Armstrong Jr. passed for 261 yards and three touchdowns and Terrell Newby rushed for 116 yards and two first-half scores to lead the Cornhuskers (3-4, 1-2), who were reeling from four losses on the opponent’s final offensive play, over the Golden Gophers (4-3, 1-2) in Minneapolis.
Wisconsin 24, Purdue 7
Alec Ingold ran for two short scores, Joel Stave threw for 322 yards and the Badgers (5-2, 2-1) held the Boilermakers (1-6, 0-3) to a season-low 191 yards in Madison, Wis.