Oct 31, 2017

Big Ten & SEC Week 9 Recap: Ohio State, Penn State Play Classic, Go Down to the Wire in Game of the Year Candidate

Standings and Results

Big Ten

SEC

AP Top 10

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Wisconsin
5. Notre Dame
6. Clemson
7. Penn State
8. Oklahoma
9. Miami
10. TCU

Ohio State Rallies to Stun Unbeaten Penn State

If you happened to tune into Saturday’s tilt between No. 6 Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State early in the second quarter, you may have felt inclined to call it a day and find another game. If you did that, you made a big, big mistake.

Sure, by that point, Saquon Barkley had already taken the opening kickoff 97 yards to give the Nittany Lions a 7-0 lead:

And scored on a 36-yard touchdown run to make the score 21-3 just over three minutes into the second quarter:

But not long after, Ohio State found its footing, eventually pulling the score to 28-17 before the half. By the end of the third, Penn State’s lead had ballooned slightly to 35-20, but the Buckeyes dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Nittany Lions 19-3 thanks to three touchdown passes by quarterback J.T. Barrett, including a pair to Johnnie Dixon.

The final strike came with 1:48 to play, when Barrett found Marcus Baugh in the end zone from 16 yards out to improbably put the Buckeyes up by one:

After the score, Penn State took over at its own 41 with 1:45 to play, but their dreams of a last-second comeback ended in short order, as quarterback Trace McSorley took a sack on second-and-10, and the Nittany Lions eventually turned the ball over on downs. Afterward, the Ohio State faithful rushed the field — a rare, but welcome sight in Columbus:

Northwestern Drops Michigan State in 3OT Classic

Penn State and Ohio State weren’t the only Big Ten foes engaged in a classic battle this weekend. While the Buckeyes were putting together a rally for the ages, Michigan State and host Northwestern were going blow-for-blow in a 39-31 affair that took three overtimes to settle.

Early on, Michigan State, at the time ranked No. 16, appeared set for redemption following last season’s 54-40 loss to Northwestern in East Lansing. Cody White got the Spartans on the board early with a six-yard touchdown pass to cap off the team’s opening drive, and Matt Coghlin pushed the lead to 10-0 with a 46-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

Northwestern rallied to tie the score before the half, however, thanks to a 13-play, 81-yard drive and a field goal of its own with 4 seconds left in the second quarter. And after a scoreless third, the Wildcats took a 17-10 lead with 10:49 left to play.

On the ensuing Michigan State possession, the Spartans traveled 61 yards on 12 plays, only to walk away without any points thanks to a missed 32-yard field goal by Coghlin, but on the team’s final possession, Felton Davis III sent things to overtime with an incredible touchdown catch with 25 seconds to play.

At that point, the offenses really woke up — playing on a 25-yard field may have helped — trading touchdowns for each of the first two overtimes, and in the third, Flynn Nagel gave Northwestern the lead with a 22-yard touchdown catch-and-run:

Two plays later, Nate Hall intercepted Brian Lewerke in the end zone to seal the Wildcats’ second overtime win in as many weeks. And fans at Northwestern responded a lot like they did in Columbus:

Kentucky Earns Rare Win Over Tennessee

As any Wildcats fan could tell you, Kentucky wins over Tennessee have been hard to come by in recent decades. Kentucky, of course, denied Tennessee bowl eligibility with its 2011 win in Lexington, but save for that 10-7 victory, the Vols have dominated their SEC rivals, winning every other meeting between the teams since 1984.

Until Saturday, that is.

In a game that featured four Brent Cimaglia field goals and three Benny Snell Jr. touchdown carries, the most noteworthy action came in the game’s final minutes. Trailing 26-21 with 4:43 to play, Kentucky took over at its own 28 and stormed 72 yards down the field in 10 plays, taking a 29-26 lead on Stephen Johnson’s 11-yard touchdown run, which ended with a leap over two Tennessee defenders into the end zone with 33 seconds left:

Tennessee wasn’t going to go down without a fight, however, and on the final play, from their own 49, the Vols connected on a Hail Mary. Only problem was, the pass came up three yards short.

 

Team Selection Committee Recap

The Florida Citrus Sports Team Selection Committee held its latest meeting of the 2017-18 season Monday morning at Camping World Stadium in the newly-renovated Varsity Club — and after another week of memorable college football action with over a dozen campus visits logged, there were more than a few exciting stories to go around. READ MORE >>>

Trick or Treat

Week 9 was filled with memorable plays in the Big Ten and SEC. Here were two of our favorites. Make sure you vote for the best in the poll below!

1) Georgia cruised to a 42-7 win over Florida this weekend in the teams’ annual rivalry game in Jacksonville, and one of the Bulldogs’ touchdowns — this impressive catch by Javon Wims — stood out among the others:

2) We are always happy to highlight an offensive lineman scoring a touchdown. This weekend against Illinois, it was Michael Deiter of Wisconsin’s turn:

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