Big Ten teams learned an important lesson in conference clashes this past weekend: No lead is safe.
In two of the four conference games on Saturday, teams staged furious comebacks — some with better results than others.
The most impressive turnaround came in Indiana’s 32-29 win over Wisconsin — the Hoosiers’ first victory over a ranked opponent in nearly two years.
Trailing 29-10 at the half, Indiana, led by Gibran Hamdan’s 310 passing yards and four touchdowns, reeled off 22 consecutive points.
The Badgers built their first-half lead behind the running of Anthony Davis and quarterback Brooks Bollinger. But Wisconsin couldn’t score through the air in the second half as it watched Hamdan light it up in only his fourth career start.
“Somewhere along the line someone has to make a play to swing the momentum,” Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said. “Experience has a lot to do with that.
“As a coach you just try to put them in the best position you can. There aren’t any magical plays.”
Purdue’s attempt to rebound from a 24-0 deficit against Illinois fell a yard short when John Standeford was stopped at the 1-yard line in overtime. The Fighting Illini’s Antoineo Harris rushed for a career-high 195 yards, as the Illini’s secondary held off the Boilermakers’ quarterbacks, Kyle Orton and Brandon Kirsch.
“There’s so much parity in the conference,” Illinois coach Ron Turner said. “I think the way teams in the Big Ten are throwing the ball and the knowledge of the passing game’s sophistication makes a difference. You can come back much quicker if you can throw the ball.”
MAKING IT OFFICIAL: Big Ten coaches’ frustrations with officiating in recent games have become more widespread as several coaches have called for the conference to re-evaluate its system.
Prompted by complaints from coach Joe Paterno, Penn State Director of Athletics Tim Curley contacted Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney on Monday asking for a review of policies on crew assignments, performance evaluation, technology, accountability, recruitment and training of officials.
“I am of the opinion that Big Ten officiating has not met the usual high standards associated with the Big Ten in all areas,” Curley said in a statement. “We realize officials will make mistakes, but we have seen too many instances in not only our games, but other Conference games that Penn State is no longer comfortable with this trend and feels this evaluation is appropriate at this time.”
Purdue head coach Joe Tiller attributed the loss to Illinois in part to “circumstances out of our control” and said the movement of some officials to the National Football League has left the conference with a lack of talent on the sidelines.
“It would appear to me there are a lot of things we could do better because what I see is a lot of calls made by guys who aren’t in position to make the call,” Tiller said. “Everyone needs to have a better understanding of where they should be at all times to make a call.”
FIGHTING FOR TIME: Turner said he was pleased with the play of Illinois quarterback Dustin Ward, who got his first start in place of Jon Beutjer.
“I’ve definitely seen improvement from both of them as they continue to practice and continue to grow,” Turner said. “I think we can win with both of them.”
Illinois won its first conference game of the year Saturday after capturing the Big Ten championship and a berth in the Sugar Bowl last season.
Minnesota coach Glen Mason wasn’t surprised by the Illini’s improvement.
“The first thing I said to my staff after we played Illinois was ‘I’m glad we got by those guys now.’ I’ve been in coaching long enough to know there are some teams that are just missing some fine-tuning,” Mason said.
