After fumbling away its national title hopes last week, No. 17 Purdue (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) hurt its chances at a Big Ten championship in a 16-14 loss against Michigan on Saturday.
One week after Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton’s fumble gave Wisconsin a last-minute 20-17 win over the Boilermakers, receiver Dorien Bryant fumbled with fewer than three minutes left to seal the victory for the No. 12 Wolverines (7-1, 5-0).
“It hurts, obviously,” Bryant said. “Coaches and guys on the team preach that a football game never comes down to one play, but when something like that happens, you feel like it’s all on your shoulders.”
After Michigan kicker Garrett Rivas made a go-ahead 35-yard field goal with 2:45 left, Orton hit Bryant with a 23-yard pass over the middle on the next drive. The freshman advanced to the Michigan 43-yard line, but he was tackled by two Wolverines’ defenders.
Cornerback Markus Curry sent him flying with a low hit, and safety Ernest Shazor hit him high, knocking the ball loose. Defensive back Leon Hall recovered the ball as it rolled out of bounds.
Orton was sub-par for the second consecutive week. The senior finished 14 of 30 with one touchdown and one interception on 213 yards passing.
“This was a very tough football game, and now we’ve had two heartbreakers,” Orton said. “There’s not much to say.”
Running back Mike Hart broke the Michigan true freshman season rushing record with his 206 yards on 33 carries.
Iowa 6, Penn State 4
No, this wasn’t the Iowa-Penn State baseball game score, and yes, Penn State recorded two safeties while its offense couldn’t score once. Iowa kicker Kyle Schlicher’s two first-half field goals made the difference.
The Nittany Lions (2-5, 0-4) drove inside the Iowa 10-yard line twice in the second half, but both times they failed to score. Kicker Robbie Gould missed a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter, and quarterback Michael Robinson was intercepted at the one-yard line with fewer than 11 minutes left.
“I don’t know whether we could play much poorer than we did today, ” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said.
The teams committed a combined seven turnovers and were a combined 10 of 36 in third-down efficiency.
The last time No. 23 Iowa (5-2, 3-1) scored six points and won was against Northwestern in 1957.
Minnesota 45, Illinois 0
The No. 24 Golden Gophers (6-2, 3-2) finally got back on track after a two-game losing streak likely knocked them out of the conference championship hunt.
Minnesota running back Marion Barber III ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns while quarterback Bryan Cupito threw for 247 yards and one touchdown on 10-of-21 passing.
“Our goal all year was to get to the Rose Bowl,” Cupito said. “Now, I don’t think that’s possible…We’ve just got to win the rest and get to the best bowl game we can.”
Illini quarterback Brad Bower finished 14 of 20 for 131 yards in his second start of the season as Illinois (2-6, 0-5) lost its 13th consecutive Big Ten game.
Ohio State 30, Indiana 7
Everyone in Columbus, Ohio, can now breathe a sigh of relief because the Buckeyes avoided their first 0-4 Big Ten record since 1922.
Although they were without their starting quarterback and running back, the Buckeyes (4-3, 1-3) still managed to turn in one of their best offensive performance of the year.
Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, filling in for the injured Justin Zwick, threw two touchdown passes while running back Tony Pittman ran for 144 yards and one touchdown while Lydell Ross serves a one-game suspension.
The Buckeyes finished with 443 total yards, more than in their last two games combined.
The only touchdown from Indiana (2-5, 0-4) came with 1:52 left in the first half when quarterback Matt LoVecchio scored on a one-yard run.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].
