Published Nov 18, 2019
Around the B1G: Week 12
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Braden Moles  •  DottingTheEyes
Staff Writer
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@BradenMoles

COLUMBUS, Ohio - While Ohio State and Rutgers stunk up the joint on Saturday afternoon, it was otherwise a pretty fun Week 11 slate for the Big Ten. Penn State came out on top in a close game with Indiana while Iowa ruined the fun for Minnesota just one week after their upset of Penn State.

With the final weeks of the season approaching, every game matters for teams still in the running for the Big Ten Championship Game and even the College Football Playoffs, and this week served as a lesson that you can't be caught looking ahead this time of year. Find out what happened this week in Around the B1G.

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Big Ten East Standings
TeamB1G RecordOverall RecordStreak

Ohio State

7-0

10-0

W10

Penn State

6-1

9-1

W1

Michigan

5-2

8-2

W3

Indiana

4-3

7-3

L1

Michigan State

2-5

4-6

L5

Maryland

1-6

3-7

L5

Rutgers

0-7

2-8

L2

Big Ten West Standings
TeamB1G RecordOverall RecordStreak

Minnesota

6-1

9-1

L1

Wisconsin

5-2

8-2

W2

Iowa

4-3

7-3

W1

Illinois

4-3

6-4

W4

Purdue

3-4

4-6

W2

Nebraska

2-5

4-6

L4

Northwestern

0-7

2-8

W1

B1G Game of the Week: Penn State 34, Indiana 27

Following Penn State's loss to Minnesota, some wondered in the Nittany Lions would be impacted in this game both by shaking off last week's loss and being caught looking ahead to Ohio State, and while Penn State did look sluggish early on, they eventually caught fire in their win over Indiana.

The Hoosiers were able to take a 14-10 lead with 3:27 left in the first quarter even after fumbling the ball away to Penn State on their first possession of the game. The Nittany Lions took a 20-14 lead into the half, and coming out of the locker room a bad snap from Indiana's long snapper (not a fake punt as many presumed) gave Penn State some great position at the Indiana 40-yard line, and they capitalized with a touchdown to take a 27-14 lead. Credit Indiana however, as they never stopped battling back into the game.

The Hoosiers came back with conseutive field goal and touchdown drives to make it 27-24, but a brutal and grinding 75 yard, 18 play, nine-minute long touchdown drive by Penn State helped to seal things up.

Penn State was able to shake off whatever bad mojo they had from the Minnesota loss, and especially in the second half looked like the dominant team they've been this season.

Indiana, whose seemingly is never done any favors by the Big Ten schedule, will go on to face Michigan this week in a big test for head coach Tom Allen to see if the Hoosiers can pick up a marquee win in pursuit of #9WINDIANA.

Iowa claims another victim at Kinnick Stadium

Stop me if you've heard this one before. An undefeated Big Ten team with playoff aspirations steps into Kinnick Stadium for an afternoon kickoff and loses, putting their College Football Playoff hopes in jeopardy.

Minnesota, ranked seventh in the most recent College Football Playoff ranking, was riding high off of their upset win over Penn State last week. The boat was being rowed, as they say. The path to the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoffs was easy for Minnesota after the win; win two of three against Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin and then win the Big Ten for an easy bid into the playoffs. A win against Iowa would have assured a Big Ten West crown for the Gophers with the assumption they would take down Northwestern, but the Gophers fell to the oldest trick in the book.

Iowa got off to a fast start with touchdowns (and a missed extra point) on their first three drives while only allowing three points from Minnesota to take a 20-3 early in the second quarter. With three conseuctive drives of 5:41 (missed Minnesota FG), 5:27 (Iowa TD) and 5:31 (Minnesota FG) in the first half, that type of lead for the Hawkeyes would be hard for Minnesota to overcome with the defensive ball that Iowa plays.

To their credit, the Gophers responded with a touchdown drive coming out of the half to make it 20-13, but their next drive which lasted for 12 plays 6:44 and ended when Minnesota turned the ball over on downs is what helped to ultimately kill the Gophers' chances. Not to mention, on the final drive of the game where Minnesota could have taken the lead, Tanner Morgan was sacked twice, injured, and then had to watch his backup Cole Kramer throw an interception on 4th and 21. Iowa only put three more points on the board in the second half, but these long drives that resulted in nothing for Minnesota combined with only five second half drives for the Gophers ended their run at an undefeated season.

Michigan releases some pent up frustration against Michigan State

It has been written about ad nauseam of Jim Harbaugh's...troubling record in rivalry games during his nearly five season as head coach of the Wolverines. Harbaugh, including this past weekend's win over the Spartans, is now an impressive (?) 3-6 against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State. After closes wins against the Spartans in 2016 and 2018 as well as even closer losses in 2015 and 2017, it was clear Harbaugh wanted to make a statement this year.

Shea Patterson threw for a career-high (with Michigan) 384 yards and four touchdowns, so even though the Spartan defense may not be what it once was (not even top 50 in scoring defense), it was still a nice day for Patterson who continues to try and put things together this year. It may be too soon to say whether or not Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis have things figured out in Ann Arbor, but a Shea Patterson who is completing nearly 73 percent of his passes like he did against Michigan State would certainly be something Ohio State would need to watch out for. This week's contest against Indiana, who as mentioned above put up a good fight against the Nittany Lions who knocked off Michigan earlier this season, should be a good litmus test for where the Wolverines are, as Indiana is currently ranked 33rd in the nation in scoring defense and 17th in the nation in total yards of offense per game.

Penn State's win over Indiana eliminated the Wolverines' slim chance at competing for a Big Ten Championship, and with the defacto Big Ten Championship play-in game taking place this week between Penn State and Ohio State, the Wolverines don't have much left to play for this season other than spoiler to a potentially undefeated Ohio State. While they certainly would love to do that, it is an interesting scenario to consider where The Game does not mean anything in terms of playoff outlook, because a 12-1 Ohio State whose only loss is to Michigan almost certainly is in the playoffs. Buckeye fans would certainly rather see Ohio State just win out this year, but it's always something to consider this time of the year.

Looking Ahead

Everybody is in action this week for the Big Ten, and with that comes some big matchups with serious College Football Playoff implications. The premier game is obviously the highly awaited contest between No. 9 Penn State and No. 2 Ohio State, but you'll hear plenty about that this week on BuckeyeGrove, so for now we'll focus on some of the other matchups.

Minnesota and Wisconsin take on Northwestern and Purdue respectively, so a couple of easy wins for those teams should set up a big game for the Big Ten West crown in the final week of the season. An unfathomable loss for Wisconsin combined with a win by Minnesota, though, would give the Gophers their spot in the Big Ten Championship Game this week.

Indiana put up a good fight against Penn State, and since the Hoosiers are at home, expect them to give Michigan some trouble as they look to fight for #9WINDIANA this season.

While this matchup means literally nothing in a bigger scope, it will be interesting to see how far the rug can really be pulled out from Nebraska if they lose this game to Maryland. In that scenario, you can kiss a bowl game goodbye and raise some serious questions about what Nebraska was doing handing out a two-year contract extension for Scott Frost as the Cornhuskers already find themselves brandishing a four-game losing streak after a 4-2 start to the season.

Week 13 Games
TimeMatchupTV

12:00 pm

No. 9 Penn State at No. 2 Ohio State

FOX

12:00 pm

Michigan State at Rutgers

FS1

12:00 pm

Illinois at No. 20 Iowa

BTN

12:00 pm

No. 8 Minnesota at Northwestern

ABC

3:30 pm

No. 15 Michigan at Indiana

ESPN

3:30 pm

Nebraska at Maryland

BTN

4:00 pm

Purdue at No. 14 Wisconsin

FOX