Big Ten Roundup (Sept. 24): Game Results From Crazy Saturday of Big Ten Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Week 4 was hyped up as the best slate of college football games to date.
It more than lived up to the billing, especially in the Big Ten. From Ohio State and Notre Dame producing an early frontrunner for the 2023 college football game of the year, to Norhtwestern lifting itself up off the mat to stun Minnesota in a furious comeback, Saturday night brought the juice.
Here's every Saturday game result from a Big Ten team, and everything you need to know in today's Big Ten Roundup.
Big Ten Saturday Game Results
Ohio State 17, Notre Dame 14
Wow. Just, wow.
Words cannot properly described what happened in South Bend on Saturday. Leading 10-0 in a defensive slugfest, Ohio State slowly relinquished the lead in the second half, surrendering consecutive ground-and-pound touchdown drives to the Notre Dame offense. Trailing 14-10 with under four minutes remaining in the game, it looked like Ohio State lost the game when a terrible decision to go with a jet sweep on fourth-and-inches failed. Yet, somehow, the Buckeyes got the ball back with just over a minute left, and Kyle McCord put together the best drive of his young career to help OSU score the game-winning touchdown with just one second left in the game.
Game of the week. Game of the year. Game of the decade. Game of the century. There's no way to properly describe how insane Ohio State vs Notre Dame was. What a perfect college football game.
Northwestern 37, Minnesota 34 (OT)
This one was a snooze fest for the first three quarters. Athan Kaliakmanis looked good for the first time all season, and the Gophers led 31-10 in Evanston entering the fourth quarter. That's when coach David Braun and Northwestern pulled off one of the most shocking comebacks ever.
There's so much to comprehend from this game. Northwestern looks infinitely better than last year thanks to having an actual competent starter at quarterback in Ben Bryant. Northwestern wide receiver Bryce Kirtz nearly broke the single game receiving record for the program, finishing with 12 catches for 215 yards. P.J. Fleck completely turtled down the stretch, most notably punting from the opposing 37-yard line on a fourth-and-two with a chance to end the game.
Overall, Minnesota is much worse than most of us thought they would be, Northwestern is much better than most of us thought they would be and that was a severely deranged game that took place at Welsh-Ryan Field last night.
Indiana 29, Akron 27 (4OT)
It's hard to think of a fanbase more displeased after a win than how Indiana supporters are feeling after Saturday night. And for good reason.
Akron is a bad MAC team, generally speaking, and it should have left Bloomington with a 20-17 win if not for shanked field goal as time expired. The Hoosiers pulled it out in a fourth and final overtime, but it was the definition of an ugly win.
If you want to read the full game story of Indiana's win over Akron, CLICK HERE.
Penn State 31, Iowa 0
If you're feeling overwhelmed reading the recaps of those first three games and just need a break, than does Iowa have a game for you.
This game was exactly what everyone feared it might be. Iowa's defense tried its hardest to keep the game close, and succeeded for a while in holding Penn State to only ten points at the half. But the Hawkeyes' offense is just an appallingly stagnant entity. After 60 minutes of football, Brian Ferentz's unit had just 76 yards of offense and four first downs. That should be a field goal drive, not what your offense did in an entire game.
Penn State looks solid and is firmly in the top three with Ohio State and Michigan. Iowa is exactly who most thought they were — a team that will ride its defense to eight wins, but will lose every game against a good team because their offense sucks.
Maryland 31, Michigan State 9
Imagine telling someone in 2013 that within 10 years Maryland would be immensely better than Michigan State at football. The Terrapins cruised to an early 21-3 lead and were comfortable from there, while the most important thing the Spartans learned in this game is that Katin Houser probably should be the starting quarterback.
Michigan 31, Rutgers 7
I'd just like to point out that I perfectly predicted the final score of this game:
Otherwise, Rutgers is a perfectly fine football team that might make a bowl game, but they clearly stood no chance against Michigan.
Illinois 23, Florida Atlantic 17
Remember when Illinois and Iowa were thought of as teams that might be able to compete for the Big Ten West in 2023 if Wisconsin couldn't put it together?
Well, not looking great on that front.
Nebraska 28, Louisiana Tech 14
The most notable thing from this game was that a rain delay forced the starting kickoff time of IU vs Akron back 20 minutes, and that people in New Jersey had to watch Nebraska-Louisiana Tech on the Big Ten Network overflow channels for far too long.
Other than that, Nebraska could be on its way to a better than expected season now with Heinrich Haarberg at quarterback. His passing stats are somewhat brutal, but 19 carries for 157 yards and a touchdown is pretty impressive.
Related Stories:
- INDIANA VS AKRON GAME STORY: On a night in college football that was filled with crazy endings, there was another one inside Memorial Stadium. The Hoosiers blew a fourth quarter lead, should have lost in regulation and somehow still won in four overtimes against Akron. CLICK HERE
- WISCONSIN 38, PURDUE 17: On Friday, coach Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers defeated coach Ryan Walters and the Purdue Boilermakers 38-17 in West Lafayette. It was a thorough beatdown from start to finish, and Wisconsin's 17th consecutive victory over Purdue on the football field. CLICK HERE