Buckeyes tested, but true
Ohio State holds off Penn State rally to remain undefeated, on track for playoffs
COLUMBUS, Ohio — J.K. Dobbins rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns and No. 2 Ohio State locked up the Big Ten East title Saturday, surviving its first real test of the season with a 28-17 victory over No. 9 Penn State.
The Buckeyes held on after Penn State (9-2, 7-2 Big Ten) took advantage of two second-half turnovers to climb back into the game in the third quarter after trailing 21-0. This was a far different scenario for Ohio State, which blew out its first 10 opponents.
“From the beginning to the end, you couldn’t take a deep breath at all,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.
The Buckeyes (10-0, 8-0 Big Ten) were clinging to a 21-17 lead early in the fourth quarter when Justin Fields threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave to create some space.
The Ohio State defense, with Chase Young back from a two-game suspension, then shut down two late Penn State drives on fourth down. The last drive included back-to -back sacks of backup quarterback Will Levis by Young and linebacker Baron Browning.
Fields fumbled away the ball twice, once as he was crossing the goal line for an apparent touchdown. But he got critical yards on the ground, rushing for 68 yards on 21 carries and threw beautiful second half touchdown passes to K.J. Hill and Olave.
“The biggest difference was the quarterback’s legs, the running game,” Penn State coach James Franklin said.
Dobbins was responsible for both first-half touchdowns, a 4-yard plunge in the first quarter and a 2yard plunge on fourth-andgoal with 2 minutes left in the half. He finished the first half with 89 rushing yards.
With three sacks, Young now has 16.5 for the season.
Backup quarterback Levis provided a spark when he entered for the injured Sean Clifford, running for a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter to pull his team within a touchdown. Statistically, the Nittany Lions were beaten soundly but managed to hang around until late. Journey Brown ran the ball 11 time for 64 yards.
No. 11 Minnesota 38, Northwestern 22: Tanner Morgan led No. 11 Minnesota to scores on its first three possessions and finished with four touchdown passes, and the Gophers bounced back from their first loss of the season.
The Gophers (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten, No. 10 CFP), who lost at Iowa last week, clinched a share of the West Division title and clinched their sixth season with 10 or more wins.
“The word of the week was respond,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “We needed to and they responded. That was a clear message from the beginning, that we had to start fast.
“That’s what championship football looks like — come out of the gate and put 21 points on the board like that.”
Morgan, the Big Ten’s leading passer, came out firing following a week in the concussion protocol after absorbing back-to-back sacks by the Hawkeyes. The redshirt sophomore, listed as questionable until Saturday morning, has thrown 26 touchdowns this season to set a school record.
No. 19 Iowa 19, Illnois 10: Nate Stanley threw for 308 yards and Keith Duncan kicked four field goals to set a new Big Ten single-season mark.
The Hawkeyes also forced three turnovers against the team that came into the game leading the nation in turnover margin. But quarterback Brandon Peters was intercepted twice and lost a fourthquarter fumble as the Fighting Illini (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
Iowa (8-3, 5-3) held Illinois to its lowest point total of the season, a week after doing the same thing to Minnesota. Illinois had 198 rushing yards and held the Hawkeyes to just 79 rushing yards on 32 carries. The Illini, who had outscored opponents 79-22 in the second half in their streak coming, got into Iowa territory on three consecutive possessions in the second half, but only got a field goal.
Michigan State 27, Rutgers 0: Cody White and a shutdown defense combined to end a five-game losing streak and to put Michigan State a win away from being bowl eligible for the 12th time 13 years.
White had career-highs with 11 receptions and three touchdowns and the Spartans breathed life back into their season.
Michigan State (5-6, 3-5) ignored the recent adversity and injuries and dominated from start to finish in sending the Scarlet Knights (2-9, 0-8) to their 20th straight conference loss.
Nebraska 54, Maryland 7: Nebraska ended a fourgame skid and kept alive its hope of becoming bowl eligible by defeating mistake-prone Maryland behind a standout performance by quarterback Adrian Martinez.
The Cornhuskers (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and coasted to their first victory since Oct. 5.
With a win at home against Iowa on Friday in the regular-season finale, Nebraska will become eligible for a bowl bid for the first time since 2016.
Martinez ran for 94 yards and a score and went 16 for 25 for 194 yards and two touchdowns, both to JD Spielman.
He was taken out in the third quarter with the score 44-0.