BIG TEN ROUNDUP
No. 5 Ohio State 56, No. 7 Michigan State 7: C.J. Stroud threw for nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns in the first half as host Ohio State made it look easy. Stroud finished 32-for-35 against the Spartans’ sketchy pass defense, which had allowed more yards through the air than any in major college football, and positioned himself as maybe the Heisman Trophy favorite heading into championship stretch of the season. Michigan State Heisman hopeful Kenneth Walker III, the nation’s leading rusher, was turned into a nonfactor by the Buckeyes. Walker had six carries for 25 yards. By the time Stroud took a seat late in the third quarter, the redshirt freshman piled up 432 yards for the Buckeyes (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten, CFP No. 4). The Buckeyes’ top three receivers all eclipsed the 100-yard mark and caught touchdown passes. Chris Olave had seven catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Garrett Wilson grabbed seven for 126 and a pair of scores, and Jaxon Smith-njigba had 10 receptions for 105 yards and a TD.
Penn State 28, Rutgers 0: Christian Veilleux stepped in for an injured Sean Clifford and tossed three touchdown passes to lead host Penn State to a win over Rutgers. The freshman quarterback was thrust into action when an unspecified injury forced Clifford out of the game midway through the first quarter. Jahan Dotson, Parker Washington and Malick Meiga caught touchdown passes and Keyvone Lee ran for a score for the Nittany Lions (7-4, 4-4 Big Ten) who snapped a two-game skid at Beaver Stadium. Penn State’s offense did enough in the second half to beat the Scarlet Knights (5-6, 2-6) for the 15th straight time. Veilleux completed 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards. His eight-yard pass to Dotson with 1:03 to play in the second quarter broke a scoreless tie and was the lone highlight to that point in a game that had been without any.
Purdue 32, Northwestern 14: Aidan O’connell threw three touchdown passes to Milton Wright to lead Purdue over host Northwestern at Wrigley Field. O’connell was 29 for 39 for 423 yards and Wright had 213 yards on eight catches – both career highs – to pace the Boilermakers (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten). Evan Hull had 96 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries as the Wildcats (3-8, 1-7) dropped their fifth straight. The Boilermakers never trailed and scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half to give themselves some breathing room. Wright, who’d never caught more than one touchdown before Saturday, had scoring catches of 17 and 45 yards in the third quarter to cap his best game. Up 6-0 midway through the second quarter, O’connell found a streaking Wright down the sideline for a 53-yard touchdown pass. Northwestern answered with a long touchdown drive in the final 1:45 to go to intermission down 13-7. Mitchell Fineran kicked four field goals for the Boilermakers, who ended their road season 4-2.