It’s possible that the powers that be decide that Iowa would make an attractive pick, given that the Hawkeyes haven’t been to Pasadena in ages, but we think it’s more likely that money and #brands win out, and Ohio State is given the nod here.
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The combatants for Saturday’s Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis are not only mirror images of each other, but they are both throwbacks to those physical, blue-collar, four-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust teams from the days of Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.
Unless chaos reigns this weekend and the Buckeyes get to the playoff, the best-case scenario for Ohio State in Herbstreit’s mind is the Buckeyes earning an invitation to the Rose Bowl.
Ohio State’s offensive line, which was pushed around when the Buckeyes had only five first downs and gained 132 yards in a 17-14 loss to Michigan State a week earlier, played with the same aggressiveness it showed in postseason wins over Wisconsin, Alabama and OR last season.
It was apparent that the Buckeyes were going to commit to the zone read play, as they ran it early and often against the Wolverine’s highly ranked defense.
Elliott’s performance came a week after he was held to 12 carries for 33 yards against Michigan State, then criticized the team’s play calling and said he will skip his senior season to enter the National Football League draft.
“The backlash was hard on me”, Elliott said. Quarterback J.T. Barrett rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns.
It was OSU’s eleventh win in the last 12 years against MI and its thirteenth in the last 15 times the two teams have played.
The quarterback situation seemed far from settled for a team with championship aspirations, and after Cook was pulled late against Notre Dame, Michigan State headed to Iowa after a bye with what seemed to be few answers under center.
“The biggest thing is they were getting exhausted and they weren’t getting lined up”, Elliott said.
Elliott, who has 3,812 yards rushing in his career, passed Eddie George for No. 2 on the school’s all-time rushing list and trails only two-time Heisman Trophy victor Archie Griffin.
The Spartans (11-1, 7-1) will play unbeaten Iowa for the conference title next weekend, with the victor in good position to advance to college football’s playoff. I think us and Iowa are pretty similar.
“265? I know I look slim-cut, but …” “I’ve been very fortunate to play in a lot of games and not have to sit out”. It’s one thing to be missing players, it’s another to simply struggle to slow a team down.
The Penn State Nittany Lions (7-5, 4-4) fell to the fifth-ranked Michigan State Spartans on Saturday afternoon in East Lansing.
“We were able to move the ball but we made critical errors”, Franklin said. “You can’t allow just one person to make the tackle”. Brandon Ross ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns, including an 80-yard score to take the lead for good.
Senior wide receiver Aaron Burbridge caught six passes for 75 yards and a score.
Rudock went 19-of-32 for 263 yards and one TD before being knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter on a sack by Bosa.
Penn State was competitive in the first half but lost two crucial turnovers.
Three-way player Jabrill Peppers had 29 yards rushing on seven carries and No. 1 running back De’Veon Smith had 10 carries for just 23 yards.
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Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh’s arrival at MI was supposed to restore the balance of The Game, a rivalry the Wolverines lead by 11 games but have won just once since 2003.
