Whether they’re classified as “real” on account of having a history that dates back over a century, “manufactured” by virtue of coming about as a result of conference realignment, or perhaps embodying a little bit of both qualities, the final week of Big Ten regular season play had an added component of animosity to it. Rivalry games always bring an element of unpredictability that have a tendency to transcend the expectations for the final result. When there’s pride of this nature on the line, you can expect for the most part that the underdog will put up a fight and maybe even win the game.
All seven conference match ups this past weekend had some element of “rivalry” to them, contrived or not. Five were for trophies, some of which are steeped in historical lore and others not so much. On the field, one team booked their spot in the conference championship game, while their opponent this coming Saturday (who clinched their division the week before) established a run of historic regular season dominance with a win over their hated rival. Unfortunately, a crucial injury on the field and a tragedy off of it put a damper on what should’ve been a celebratory weekend.
Big Ten Rivalry Week Analysis
Game of the Week:
Ohio State 42, Michigan 28
The Buckeyes were not only heavily favored but playing the game in front of what turned out to be an Ohio Stadium record crowd of 108,610. None of this scared the Wolverines, however, who came out with purpose and desperation in what was in all likelihood Brady Hoke’s final game as coach of the Maize and Blue. Devin Gardner was far from his normal turnover-prone self and found Jake Butt on an authoritative throw in the first quarter to open up the scoring for Michigan. Running back Drake Johnson added two touchdowns on opposite ends of halftime and towards the end of the third the game was tied at 21.
OSU would add a touchdown but then on the first play of the final quarter, the injury heard ’round the college football world to Buckeye quarterback J.T. Barrett’s ankle would knock him out of the game and end his season. The potentially far-reaching impact of this development on Ohio State’s CFP hopes has yet to be fully understood, but we will see how the selection committee takes it into account soon enough. The only thing in their power is to attempt to take care of business against Wisconsin on Saturday with Cardale Jones as the starter behind center.
For Michigan, an announcement on Hoke’s status has still not been made as of this writing but it’s hard to believe he’ll be back in Ann Arbor next year given the general fan base’s feelings on the trajectory of the program right now.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the tragic developments concerning OSU defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge who went missing last Wednesday. On Sunday, he was found dead by Columbus police and though details surrounding his unfortunate passing are still unclear, it is believed he may have committed suicide. With his history of concussions well known, this further underscores the fact that the issue of reducing head injuries in football needs to remain of utmost importance.
Wisconsin 34, Minnesota 24
The first of our trophy games takes us to Madison where the Badgers locked up their spot in the Big Ten championship game by taking down the upstart Gophers and becoming the first West Division champions of the new look 14-team conference. In almost a mirror image of their win two weeks ago over Nebraska, Wisconsin trailed 17-3 at one point only to hold their opponent to a single touchdown the rest of the way. Melvin Gordon didn’t go for four bills this time, settling instead for a more “down to earth” 151 yards and a single touchdown on 29 carries.
Credit the Gophers for keeping this one close though. Quarterback Mitch Leidner is probably one of the Big Ten’s most underrated players at the position in terms of pure grittiness and his two rushing touchdowns on the day were testament to that. His second score made it 27-24 midway through the fourth quarter giving Minnesota a chance to wrest Paul Bunyan’s Axe from Bucky for the first time since 2003.
Wisconsin now awaits a short-handed Ohio State side and must like their chances a lot more given the injury to Barrett. Minnesota continues to enjoy a level of success under Jerry Kill they arguably haven’t had since the 1960s and should end up playing on New Year’s Day.
Nebraska 37, Iowa 34 (OT)
Nebraska football on the Friday after Thanksgiving had always been a tradition I looked forward to watching, especially the old Big 12 rivalry with Colorado. Now that the Cornhuskers switched conferences, Iowa has replaced the Buffaloes as their post-Turkey Day rival. Though the two schools from bordering states first faced off in 1891 and have played each other 44 times since, this will probably take some time for people to get used to as a run of the mill Big Ten hatefest. And on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of “contrived,” the trophy these two teams play for is probably an 11.
If what took place on the gridiron in 2014 continues to be the norm when these two teams meet, it might actually have some promise from a big-time rivalry standpoint. The Huskers looked dead and buried when the Hawkeyes led 24-7 in the third quarter, but from then on they would outscore Iowa by that same scoreline, forcing overtime where Nebraska would come out on top. It was a feel-good win when it happened, but it wasn’t enough to save head coach Bo Pelini’s job as the school would fire him two days later.
Michigan State 34, Penn State 10
The theme I’ve been trying to get at for the past few weeks in this column is how Michigan State appears to be playing like an angry team ever since they dropped that prime time game to Ohio State on home turf. Three times out of three they’ve proven my point pretty convincingly with a trifecta of dominating performances, including Saturday’s demolition of Penn State in Happy Valley. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that all three games came against teams with winning records at the time. The Spartans won’t make the CFP but they’re going to be a daunting bowl match up for whoever they face.
I guess I should be a little nice here in terms of going too overboard on calling this a contrived rivalry because both schools do have some shared history with each other, not that it really translates to football. Both MSU and Penn State were the first ever land-grant universities (google it if you want to find out what that entails, please) and the Land Grant Trophy they play for is a tribute to that commonality.
The Spartan program is at nearly unprecedented levels in terms of success, with this being their fourth ten-win season over the past five years. For Penn State, it’s hard to argue that 2014 ended on a sour note with only two wins (against Indiana and Temple) in their final eight games. Christian Hackenberg is slowly starting to look like a product of now departed head coach Bill O’Brien’s system.
Rutgers 41, Maryland 38
Do you remember that famous comeback the Buffalo Bills made in the playoffs that one year against the Houston Oilers? The quarterback for the Bills in that game was Maryland alum Frank Reich who had orchestrated a similar rally to lead the Terps to victory against Miami back in 1984. Why am I telling you this? Because his school would fall victim to a similar come-from-behind effort at the hands of fellow Big Ten newbie Rutgers on Saturday that would end with Maryland losing by the same scoreline that Reich’s Bills won by on that historic day nearly 22 years ago.
Terrapins quarterback C.J. Brown would throw for two touchdowns in the first half and running back Brandon Ross would add two more on the ground, giving Maryland a 35-10 lead in the second quarter. By the fourth, however, that lead would all but get erased thanks to some brilliance from Rutgers signal caller Gary Nova, playing in his final regular season game. Nova would throw for three of the Scarlet Knights four touchdowns that would get them back in the game and lead to the greatest comeback in the history of the program. And you do remember they played the first game in college football history, right?
Illinois 47, Northwestern 33
This was one of two rivalry games amongst teams in Power Five conferences between teams that were both 5-6, with Virginia-Virginia Tech being the other. Obviously, a likely bowl berth welcomed the winner of both games while the loser would be left home wondering what happened. Northwestern had won two in a row coming into the game, including a huge road upset of Notre Dame, but had lost starting quarterback Trevor Siemian to a torn ACL the following week in the win over Purdue. Illinois clearly took advantage, jumping out to a 26-7 lead and never looking back. Though Illini coach Tim Beckman’s job status looked tenuous at varying points during the season, finishing on a two-game win streak and getting bowl eligible means a stay of execution for now.
Indiana 23, Purdue 16
As I detailed in last week’s piece regarding the history of this rivalry, the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket rarely means much on the national stage but its history cannot be denied. Saturday marked the 117th meeting overall between Indiana and Purdue and the 90th time the two have dueled for this remarkably unique symbol of state history.
It’s only fitting in a rivalry such as this that a guy named Oakes (Griffin Oakes, that is) would nail three crucial field goals to keep Indiana in the game. The Hoosiers would intercept Purdue quarterback Austin Appleby three times, including late in the first half when Purdue was driving and looking to extend a 6-0 lead. Though Doak Walker Award finalist Tevin Coleman didn’t reach the end zone, he finished with 130 yards on 29 carries. In fact, the only two rushing touchdowns on the day for IU came from wide receiver Shane Wynn and the go-ahead score from true freshman quarterback Zander Diamont, who has slowly but steadily improved each game filling in for the injured Nate Sudfeld.
With the victory, the Hoosiers get back-to-back wins in this series for the first time since 1994.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LWOS_JB3.
Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo:
