Big Ten Week 10 recap: Iowa rises in West, Penn State and Michigan set the stage for Week 11

The first weekend of November continued to shape the way the division race sin the Big Ten are going to play out. Michigan and Ohio State each remained undefeated with wins this weekend, and Penn State remained in the hunt with a blowout win on the road as well. But the Big Ten West saw some teams stumble to allow Iowa to gain the upper hand in the division race with just three more weeks to play in the regular season.

Dominant wins by Michigan and Penn State each helped set the stage for next weekend’s massive showdown in Happy Valley, while Ohio State had to take some time to take care of business at Rutgers.

Here is a look at everything that went down around the Big Ten in week 10.

No. 1 Ohio State 35, Rutgers 16

For a half of football, Rutgers had to be causing some uneasy emotions on the Ohio State sideline. Fresh off being ranked at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings, Ohio State trailed Rutgers on the road at halftime by a score of 9-1. But the Buckeyes took things over after halftime and established its dominance over the Scarlet Knights with a 14-0 edge in the third quarter and two more touchdowns to ice the win in the fourth quarter,

TreyVeon Henderson rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown and was Ohio State’s leading receiver with 80 yards on 5 receptions. Marvin Harriuson Jr. was limited to just 25 yards on 4 catches, but two of those receptions were for touchdowns from Kyle McCord.

Rutgers got a solid effort out of its leading rusher, Kyle Monangai, with 159 yards.

Next up for Ohio State: vs. Michigan State

Next up for Rutgers: at Iowa

No. 3 Michigan 41, Purdue 14

Following another week of difficult headlines hovering around the program, Michigan came out firing on all cylinders once again on Saturday night against Purdue. The Wolverines jumped out to a 17-0 lead on the Boilermakers in the first quarter and Blake Corum rushed for three touchdowns in a 41-13 victory.

J.J. McCarthy ended his night completing 24-of-37 attempts for a season-high 335 yards, but no touchdowns. All of Michigan’s scoring was done on the ground with 5 rushing touchdowns as a team. But Roman Wilson led all players with 143 receiving yards on 9 receptions.

Michigan has won every game this season by a minimum of 24 points this season, and the Wolverines have scored 41 points or more in five consecutive games. But next week will see Michigan face their stiffest defensive test yet, on the road at Penn State.

Next up for Purdue: vs. Minnesota

Next up for Micigan: at Penn State

No. 11 Penn State 51, Maryland 15

Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa started off the game completing all 17 of his pass attempts for 172 yards but Penn State still managed to get to halftime leading 21-7. And there was no looking back from there. Penn State piled on with strong defensive play and a solid outing from Drew Allar as the Nittany Lions slammed the door on Maryland in the fourth quarter en route to a blowout victory.

Allar passed for four touchdowns and the Penn State defense eventually got to Tagovailoa and applied pressure to force mistakes leading to turnovers and points off turnovers. This was easily the best game Penn State has played don the road all season, and Drew Allar seemed to find a new connection with wide receiver Dante Cephas.

Penn State now prepares for its next biggest game of the season with a home game against Michigan. Maryland is still one win shy of bowl eligibility and it is far from a given at this point.

Next up for Penn State: vs. Michigan

Next up for Maryland: at Nebraska

Illinois 27, Minnesota 26

This is probably why Minnesota can’t have nice things. With a chance to stay on top of the Big Ten West race, Minnesota came up a point shy against Illinois. Luke Altmyer passed for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Illini and Isaiah Williams caught 13 passes for 131 yards and 2 of those touchdowns.

The Illini defense held Minnesota to just 3-of-12 third downs and could not capitalize on a 3-1 turnover advantage. Minnesota held a 20-14 lead on Illinois after settling for a field goal after recovering an Illinois fumble at the Illinois 12-yard line at the start of the third quarter. The Gophers also had to punt the football away after picking off a pass late in the fourth quarter with a 26-21 lead. Illinois scored the go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing possession and Minnesota blew a chance to secure the top spot in the Big Ten West Division.

Next up for Illinois: vs. Indiana

Next up for Minnesota: at Purdue

Iowa 10, Northwestern 7

This story has become all too familiar for Iowa fans. The Hawkeyes’ offense was non-existent with just 10 points on the Wrigley Field scoreboard, but it was enough to beat Northwestern in a defensive battle. A game that was scoreless at halftime saw Iowa put the first points on the scoreboard with short touchdown pass from Deacon Hill to Addison Ostrenga in the third quarter to cap a 7-play, 25-yard drive.

Northwestern tied the game at 7-7 late in the fourth quarter with a Brendan Sullivan touchdown pass to Cam Johnson in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, but Iowa secured the lead with a 52-yard field goal off the leg of Drew Stevens.

With the win, coupled with losses by Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, the Hawkeyes now own sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West with a one-game lead.

Next up for Iowa: vs. Rutgers

Next up for Northwestern: at Wisconsin

Indiana 20, Wisconsin 14

Indiana picked up its first win of the Big Ten season with a good defensive victory at home against Wisconsin. And not to take anything away from the effort of the Hoosiers, but this may have been one of the worst issues by the Badgers in recent memory.

Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke had two touchdown passes but the Badgers lacked the kind of running power you expect from the program with injuries piling up and challenging the depth. Indiana’s Brendan Sorsby, who had an encouraging performance a week ago at Penn State, passed for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another in the upset win. Sorsbey fumbled the football twice but the Badgers defense could not come up with a single turnover.

Next up for Wisconsin: vs. Northwestern

Next up for Indiana: at Illinois

Michigan State 20, Nebraska 17

After winning three striaght games, Nebraska’s outlook was starting to look somewhat promising. But a road loss at Michigan State feels like one step forward and two steps back for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska coughed the football up three times, all three times by quarterback Heinrich Haarbarg and two coming in the fourth quarter. Michigan State had just 63 yards of rushing offense with 50 yards from Nathan Carter.

Nebraska is still one win shy of clinching bowl eligibility for this season, and this was the easiest of the four remaining games in November for the Cornhuskers. Meanwhile, Michigan State keeps its slim bowl hopes alive for at least one more week.

Next up for Nebraska: vs. Maryland

Next up for Michigan State: at Ohio State

Updated Big Ten Standings

EAST DIVISION

WEST DIVISION

Bowl eligibility tracker

Bowl eligible (6+ wins)

• Iowa

• Michigan

• Ohio State

• Penn State

• Rutgers

On the verge (5 wins)

• Maryland

• Minnesota

• Nebraska

• Wisconsin

Ineligible (7+ losses)

• Purdue

On the edge (6 losses)

• Indiana

• Michigan State

Story originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire