SEC & Big Ten Week 12 Roundup: Hawkeyes hand Gophers first loss
Nate Stanley threw for two touchdown passes and Tyler Goodson ran for a score to help Iowa hand Minnesota its first loss of the season in a 23-19 victory on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. The Gophers have now lost nine straight games at Iowa dating back to 1999.
Iowa took an early lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Stanley to Nico Ragaini, as the Hawkeyes scored on their first three possessions to take a commanding 20-6 lead into halftime.
The Gophers responded early in the third quarter, when Tanner Morgan connected with Tyler Johnson for a 28-yard touchdown to cut the lead to seven. Johnson finished with nine receptions for 170 yards, while Morgan was 25-of-36 passing for 368 yards on the day.
Iowa again extended its lead with a 27-yard field goal with 7:13 remaining in the four quarter, but the Golden Gophers responded again, as Morgan drove the offense down the field and Rodney Smith punched in a score from one yard out to cut the lead to four.
The Gophers had a final chance to pull off the comeback late in the fourth, but Morgan was sacked by Joe Evans and A.J. Epenesa on back-to-back plays, and backup Cole Kramer’s pass was intercepted by Riley Moss on fourth down to seal the win for the Hawkeyes.
Now let’s take a quick look at a few more results from Week 12 in the SEC and Big Ten:
No. 14 Wisconsin 37, Nebraska 21: Jonathan Taylor continued his domination of Nebraska, as the tailback rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor had 221 yards against the Cornhuskers last year and 249 in 2017.
No. 9 Penn State 34, Indiana 27: Penn State’s quarterback Sean Clifford finished with three total touchdowns and 179 yards passing yards, and Journey Brown added 100 rushing yards and a score to help the Nittany Lions bounce back from last week’s loss.
No. 15 Michigan 44, Michigan State 10: The Wolverines scored 24 straight points after giving up the first touchdown of the game, as Shea Patterson threw for a season-high 384 yards and four touchdowns to help Michigan record their most lopsided win in the rivalry since 2002.
No. 2 Ohio State 56, Rutgers 21: Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields threw for a career-high 305 passing yards and four touchdowns to help the Buckeyes cruise past Rutgers and remain undefeated.
No. 5 Alabama 38, Mississippi State 7: Running back Najee Harris scored four times in the first half and the Crimson Tide defense had a standout performance as Alabama dominated despite losing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to injury in the second quarter.
No. 11 Florida 23, Missouri 6: Florida’s defense held Mizzou to just 204 total yards as the Gators offense overcame a slow start, scoring 17 second-half points the win.
No. 4 Georgia 21, No. 12 Auburn 14: Georgia’s defense held the Tigers scoreless through three quarters and Jake Fromm threw for three touchdowns as the ‘Dawgs clinched the SEC East for the third consecutive season.
Kentucky 38, Vanderbilt 14: Lynn Bowden and Chris Rodriguez both rushed for over 100 yards as the Wildcats finished with a season-high 401 rushing yards in a rout of the Commodores on Saturday.