Big Ten weekend review: Week 13

Check out how Big Ten football teams fared this past weekend.

Week 13 of the Big Ten football season saw some near upsets, some blowouts and the first rendition of the USC-UCLA rivalry as members of the conference.

Here’s a quick run through of some notable results.

Surprising result: No. 4 Penn State 26, Minnesota 25

The Nittany Lions came to Minnesota as 11.5-point road favorites, according to ESPN BET. But the Golden Gophers ended up rallying the home crowd and giving the country’s No. 4 team a big scare.

A one-point win was the worst margin of victory Penn State has produced all year, outside of its loss to No. 2 Ohio State, and it came at the hands of a middle-of-the-pack Minnesota team.

The Golden Gophers did just enough to hang around while the Nittany Lions struggled to generate consistent offense. Outside of its two touchdown drives, Penn State picked up just one first down in the first half.

Minnesota went into the half up three points. It kicked a field goal to start the third quarter, before relinquishing an unanswered 10 points. A field goal with 5:48 left in the game brought the them to within one point, but the Golden Gophers couldn’t get Penn State off the field and time ran out on the upset attempt.

Statement victory: No. 2 Ohio State 38, No. 5 Indiana 15

The Hoosiers’ miracle 10-0 run came to an end in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes reaffirmed their place as a conference juggernaut and Indiana failed to add a signature win to its season.

The game looked within reach at first. Indiana struck first and forced a goal-line turnover on downs to give itself a chance to go up two scores. But it couldn’t do anything with the opportunity, and the wheels quickly came off after that.

First, Ohio State drove effortlessly down the field and receiver Emeka Egbuka found the end zone to tie the score. Then, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke was sacked and stripped to give the Buckeyes the ball back inside the red zone.

Once again, a glimmer of Indiana hope emerged when Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw an interception to give the Hoosiers life. But after getting stuffed on fourth down, the snap went right through punter James Evans’ hands, giving Ohio State the ball in the red zone once again.

The Buckeyes capitalized this time. Then, to open the second half, Indiana punted and Ohio State’s Caleb Downs returned it 79 yards to extend the lead to 21-7. Two more second-half Buckeyes touchdowns and a field goal sealed Indiana’s fate.

Play of the week: Illinois WR Pat Bryant’s game-winning touchdown

No. 25 Illinois was down 31-30 to Rutgers with under 15 seconds left, on the verge of losing ranked status for the second time this season. On fourth-and-13 from the Rutgers 40-yard line, it was just too far to kick a field goal. So the Fighting Illini went for it.

Pat Bryant, the team’s leading receiver, got open over the middle of the field. He caught a pass in stride and ran past Scarlet Knight defenders to cap off a seven-catch, 197-yard game with his conference-high ninth touchdown of the season. That gave Illinois the lead with just four seconds left, and it held on for a thrilling road victory in Piscataway, New Jersey.