Blog Ten Gameday: Close Games Throughout Conference
It’s been a pretty entertaining morning in the Big Ten as we have five games going on, and all five of them are one score affairs as the teams head to the locker rooms at halftime. The biggest story of the morning was Indiana jumping out to a 10-0 lead on Penn State at Beaver Stadium thanks to three turnovers by the Nittany Lions in the first quarter alone.
Of course, as we’ve seen from the Hoosiers on numerous occasions this season, they’re great at taking early leads but not too strong when it comes to holding on.
Penn State 10 Indiana 10 Halftime
After the Nittany Lions finally kicked a field goal to get on the board, they forced a quick Indiana punt and it looked as though things were turning around. Well, until Brandon Zug fumbled his second punt return of the day. Indiana would miss a field goal and give Penn State the ball back with under a minute to go, and the Nittany Lions took advantage.
The Lions drove down the field and Daryll Clark found Evan Royster on a 13-yard screen pass to score the tying touchdown with six seconds left in the half, which sent Bill Lynch into a fury the likes of which I haven’t seen since the Incredibule Hulk got angry and then Hulk smashed everything within 30 feet of him.
Wisconsin 21 Michigan 17 Halftime
It’s been a back and forth affair in Madison, with the Badgers taking a lead into the locker room. Still, Tate Forcier is having a very nice day for the Wolverines as he’s completed 15 of his 18 passes along with a touchdown throw. For the Badgers Scott Tolzien has two touchdown passes, but he also fumbled on a Brandon Graham sack that Michigan returned for a score of their own.
Purdue 20 Michigan State 17 Halftime
When I watch this Purdue team play the last few weeks I can’t help but think where they might be right now if it hadn’t been for all the turnover problems earlier this season. There probably isn’t a more underappreciated player in the conference right now than Purdue quarterback Joey Elliott. He’s got 180 yards through the air in the first half, and Purdue has 266 yards total as a team. For Michigan State their offense needs to get going because even though they have 17 points, 7 came via the defense very early in the game on a fumble return.
Northwestern 7 Illinois 3 Halftime
The first ever battle for the Land of Lincoln Trophy has not been pretty. It’s never a good thing when kickers are the story of the day, and when that story is all the field goals they’re missing and punts they’re shanking, that just makes it worse. Mike Kafka did find Zeke Markshausen for a nice touchdown just before the half to give Northwestern a lead though. Other than that, there hasn’t been much worth mentioning in this game.
Minnesota 13 South Dakota State 10 Halftime
The Jackrabbits are keeping this close as Minnesota’s offense continues to struggle, but the real culprit here is Minnesota’s special teams coverage. A few big returns have set up the Jackrabbits in scoring position. I expect the Gophers to start pulling away though.
