No. 12 Ohio State marched into what could have been a dangerous matchup at Minnesota. But when the game was done, the Buckeyes escaped the Metrodome unscathed, defeating the Gophers 45-31.

Still, despite losing, Minnesota (5-3, 2-3) racked up 578 yards of total offense against Ohio State’s conference-leading defense.

“They might have all the great players and talent, but today we proved that we can play with those guys,” Minnesota quarterback Brian Cupito said. “There is no reason that we still can’t win out and go 8-3.”

Ohio State running back Antonio Pittman led the offense with a breakout performance of 186 yards and two touchdowns rushing. Those totals were better numbers than his much-heralded Minnesota counterpart Laurence Maroney, who rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown.

The game was tied at halftime, but Ohio State (6-2, 4-1) scored two touchdowns in the first eight minutes of the third quarter and two more in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

“We felt going into the Big Ten season if we could evolve to the fact where we always had a 100-yard back, then we could probably spread the ball around enough to have a good offense,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “We’re starting to get consistent with that.”

The two teams combined for 1,027 yards of total offense, which didn’t include Ted Ginn’s 100-yard kickoff-return touchdown for the Buckeyes in the first quarter.

No. 11 Penn State 33, Purdue 15

For the second straight week, the Boilermakers hung with a conference leader early, only to lose their sixth game in a row.

After leading in the third quarter against Wisconsin last week, Purdue (2-6, 0-5) led Penn State at the end of the first quarter before the Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-1) put up four unanswered scores.

Penn State running back Tony Hunt put the game away with 52 rushing yards in the fourth quarter.

“We let them hang around and hang around and hang around,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. “I thought we were going to blow this game, and Hunt picked it up.”

Purdue coach Joe Tiller is now assured of his first losing season in nine years at Purdue. The Boilermakers started the year ranked in the top 25 and were a dark horse pick to win the Big Ten.

“This is a hurdle you have to clear,” Tiller said. “I don’t think too much about it. I think about winning a football game.”

Penn State quarterback Micahel Robinson had another big day with 213 yards passing, 96 yards rushing and one touchdown.

No. 15 Wisconsin 41, Illinois 24

After giving up two touchdowns early, Illinois pulled within three points of conference-leading Wisconsin.

But the Badgers (8-1, 5-1), powered by running back Brian Calhoun’s 197 rushing yards and five touchdowns, proved too much for Illinois.

Despite being outscored, Illinois (2-6, 0-5) still outgained Wisconsin 538 to 464 yards.

Illinois quarterback Tim Brasic, who was pulled in last week’s blow-out loss to Penn State, had a career day with 277 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 116 yards.

“A lot of guys would get into his situation and their confidence would be shot and it would hard to get anything out of them,” Illinois coach Ron Zook said. “But he was able to forget it all, and I’m proud of him for that.”

While the game was Illinois sixth straight loss, the team was pleased with its offense.

Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez was less than enthusiastic about his defense.

“Defensively, we gave up way too many big plays,” Alvarez said. “I’m just happy to come out with a win and have eight of them right now.”

The win for the Badgers keeps them in a first place tie with Penn State in the Big Ten standings.

Michigan State 46, Indiana 15

After a nightmarish performance against Northwestern last week, quarterback Drew Stanton threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another to lead Michigan State over Indiana.

The win snapped the Spartans’ three-game skid and keeps the team’s bowl hopes alive while seriously dashing those of the Hoosiers, who have not played in the postseason since 1993.

The game started ominously for Indiana after Michigan State’s Demond Williams returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. The Spartans rolled from that point on, led by Stanton and running back Javon Ringer, who finished with 109 yards, including a 45-yard scamper for a touchdown in the third quarter that put Michigan State up 39-8.

Indiana quarterback Blake Powers had a subpar day, throwing for 198 yards with three interceptions.

Michigan State’s win was their fourth straight against Indiana in the battle for the Old Brass Spittoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach David Kalan at [email protected].