CHASE FOR THE CROWN
Young, Buckeyes solidify case as BCS contender with rout of Wisconsin
COLUMBUS, Ohio — What was billed as a battle of the nation’s top defenses turned into another rout for surging Ohio State.
The No. 3 Buckeyes’ matchup with No. 13 Wisconsin was supposed to be the biggest challenge of the season for Ohio State, a test of mettle against a Badgers defense that statistically was ranked the best in the country.
Instead, Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins slashed Wisconsin for big gains and two touchdowns, and it was the Buckeyes’ defense that put on a show. All-America defensive end Chase Young was nearly unblockable with four sacks as Ohio State romped to a 38-7 win in a steady rain on Saturday.
“I think in all honesty we could have put up 50,” said Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who threw two touchdown passes to Chris Olave and ran for another score. ”I think if the weather was different, I think we could have (thrown) the ball more and put up way more points than we did.”
Dobbins rushed for 163 yards against a Wisconsin defense that had limited opponents to 58.4 yards per game. He had 112 of those yards and scoring runs of 9 and 14 yards in the second half after the rain let up some and Fields was able to loosen up the Badgers defense with some effective passing.
“If you put all your attention on one guy, they’ve got a lot of other ways to hurt you,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said.
Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2) scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jack Coan to A.J. Taylor early in the second half after the Badgers blocked an Ohio State punt and started with a short field. That made it 10-7, but Ohio State immediately answered with a touchdown drive and was never threatened again.
Dobbins outperformed Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor, who came to town with plenty of Heisman hype. Taylor could muster only 52 yards rushing against the Buckeyes (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) after averaging almost 137 per game coming in.
Dobbins’ teammates teased him all week about the attention being heaped on his counterpart at Wisconsin
”All the Jonathan Taylor stuff,” Dobbins said. “He’s a great player, but I’m here to win games, win championships.”
Dobbins on Saturday passed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, becoming the first Ohio State player ever to rush for more than 1,000 yards in his freshman, sophomore and junior season.
Young also looked like a Heisman contender on this day, tying a school record for sacks in a game, including two strip sacks that led to fumbles recovered each time by linebacker Pete Werner.
He extended his streak to 10 straight games with a sack. The junior is now tied for second in career sacks at Ohio State, a school that produced the Bosa brothers who were both top-five NFL draft picks.
”Going into the season, you want to break every record, and I feel like right now I can’t really worry about the sack record,” Young said. “I’ve got to keep on perfecting my craft.”
No 6 Penn State 28, Michigan State 7: Sean Clifford threw four touchdown passes — three to Pat Freiermuth — and No. 6 Penn State had little trouble shutting down Michigan State’s anemic offense.
The Nittany Lions (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) avenged close losses to Michigan State from each of the past two seasons.
The Spartans (4-4, 2-3) wrapped up a dreadful stretch in which they lost to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State by a combined score of 100-17.
Penn State now moves on to a surprising matchup of undefeated teams on Nov. 9 at Minnesota. The Nittany Lions had lost five of their previous six against Michigan State.
Clifford’s first touchdown pass to Freiermuth, a 16-yarder, opened the scoring in the first quarter, and those same two players gave Penn State a 13-0 lead with a 19-yard strike in the second. KJ Hamler’s 27yard TD catch with 1:20 left in the half — plus a successful 2-point conversion — made it 21-0.
No. 17 Minnesota 52, Maryland 10: Iow Rodney Smith ran for 103 yards to become Minnesota’s career leader in scrimmage yards, Seth Green had two touchdown runs and the No. 17 Golden Gophers routed
Maryland 52-10 on Saturday.
Tanner Morgan was 12of-21 passing for 138 yards and two touchdowns to help the Gophers (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) reach 8-0 for the first time since 1941. Minnesota has the nation’s fourth-longest winning streak at 10, trailing Clemson, Ohio State and Appalachian State.
The Gophers were national champions when they started 8-0 in 1941. The 5-0 start in conference play is their first since 1961, the last year they earned a trip to the Rose Bowl.
No. 20 Iowa 20, Northwestern 0: Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley had 179 yards passing with a touchdown and the defense allowed just 202 yards of total offense, lifting the 20thranked Hawkeyes to a shutout of Northwestern.
Mekhi Sargent had a rushing touchdown and Tyler Goodson added 58 yards rushing on 11 carries as Iowa (6-2, 3-2 in the Big Ten) won its second straight.
Iowa entered the game fifth in the nation in scoring defense (11.6 points) and 10th in total defense (275 yards per game). Northwestern's deepest advance into Iowa territory was the 28-yard line late in the third quarter.
The Hawkeyes earned their second shutout of the season and fourth since the beginning of last season.
Rutgers 44, Liberty 34: Rutgers quarterback Johnny Langan had a career day, completing 15 of 21 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns, and adding 21 rushes for 118 yards and a touchdown to lead Rutgers past Liberty.
Isaih Pacheco ran for 107 yards and a score for the Scarlet Knights (2-6).
It was the fourth time in his career he topped 100 yards.