ELSEWHERE -- While many of the penthouse dwellers found themselves in free-fall by late Saturday night, the Big 10 pretty much maintained a respectable level of insanity.
At Penn State, the consensus No. 19 Nittany Lions (6-3 overall, 3-3 Big Ten)continued to prove their defense is among the league's -- and nation's best.
In holding high-scoring Illinois (3-6, 2-3) to a fourth-quarter touchdown and 292 total yards, the Lions continued to confine their opponents' offense to a series of third-and-longs, harassing Illini quarterbacks Dustin Ward and Jon Beutjer, who replaced Ward late in the third quarter with the Lions up 18-0.
But this was Larry Johnson's display case day. He had rushed for a Penn State record 257 yards in the 49-0 home victory over Northwestern Oct. 19. And Saturday, he upped the total to 279, including a dizzying 84-yard bolt through the "A" center/left guard gap that turned into a spectacular sprint to the end zone in which he opened five yards of space against Illinois' secondary pursuers.
"Thirty carries in a game," Johnson told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Penn State beat writer Ray Fittipaldo, "That's what Penn State football is all about."
Actually it was 27, but who's quibbling here? Johnson was nothing short of spectacular as the Lions dominated the first three quarters and tossed Ward around relentlessly before Illini coach Ron Turner went to Beutjer, who had been exiled to the bench after Illinois' 31-10 drumming at Minnesota.
Johnson's stats might have been more spectacular -- he had an 84-yard T.D. run called back because of a holding penalty on fullback Sean McHugh.
But on his record-breaking run, he fumbled -- the Lions' only turnover of an otherwise very efficient offensive day. His engaging smile was among the the missing in the post-game interview sessions.
"I was real upset about (the fumble)," he told Fittipaldo. "Whenever anyone talks about the record now, they're going to talk about the fumble I had to break the record."
He is a senior, and a guy who's gone through a psychological roller-coaster ride in his four seasons at Penn State. But Larry Johnson is his own worst critic and Penn State's coaching staff very much appreciate the new, improved version of this 6-feet, 2-inch, 225-pound likely first-rounder.
"That's a pretty good football team," coach Joe Paterno told Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I'm glad Larry had a great day and that the defense is playing all the time."
It's been a pretty powerful combination for the Lions, who have allowed only two touchdowns in the past three weeks.
And the defense's aggression may have been fueled a bit by some serious smacktalk that wafted over the sycamore and buckeye trees and into Happy Valley during the week from Champaign.
"I make guys miss," Illini running back Antoneo Harris had told the media earlier. "I'm hitting the hole with my pads down. I don't think one guy can bring me down. It takes two guys at least; I won't be denied."
Ummmm-hmmmm, thought Penn State defensive end Michael Haynes. "We had the newspaper clippings this week," Haynes said to Fittipaldo. "He was talking about how one guy couldn't tackle him. That's nice to have that confidence, but you should keep it to yourself. All that really does is (whiz) us off."
The swarming Lions defense held Harris to 79 yards in 27 carries, less than 3 a pop.
With the win, Penn State becomes bowl-eligible, a fact that had to make Paterno happy after two straight losing seasons. "I haven't really thought about that," he told Fittipaldo. "Although they're pretty anxious to go someplace. I'll be anxious to go with them."
IN IOWA CITY -- The Hawkeyes (9-1, 6-0) continued to muscle their opponents as Iowa's powerful defense held Wisconsin (6-4, 1-4) to just 78 rushing yards in 33 tries -- 215 overall -- in earning a No. 6 rating in both polls.
Unheralded Iowa quarterback Brad Banks again put up impressive numbers, going 17-for-30 passing for 275 yards and touchdowns of 21 yards to Maurice Brown and 23 to Dallas Clark in a 20-3 strangling of the Badgers.
The Hawks' relentless pressure forced Wisconsin Q.B. Brooks Bollinger out of the game in the second quarter.
"People still don't notice me around here," Banks said to A.P.'s Todd Dvorak afterward.
But his coach, Kirk Ferentz, sure does. "We're definitely not trading Brad Banks for anybody," said the fourth-year coach, whose teams had gone 11-24 before this season. "He's done a great job of leading our football team."
The Hawkeyes may have played their way onto the edge of the Bowl Championship Series elite, reaching No. 8 (inexplicably behind No. 7 Notre Dame and, if you can believe this, No. 6 Georgia).
With this impressive follow-up to the 34-9 rout of Michigan in Ann Arbor Oct. 26, Iowa certainly has gained league-wide attention.
"We were beaten by a very good football team," said 'Sconsin coach Barry Alvarez. "We came in thinking we could establish the running game, but we never did. I'm not making excuses, but they just out-executed us."
Running back Anthony Davis, who later was a victim of a right-thigh stabbing in an off-campus incident, was held to just 34 yards in 16 carries.
IN ANN ARBOR -- Michigan (7-2, 4-1, No. 11 coaches, 13 A.P.) used three touchdown passes by John Navarre -- two to Ronald Bellamy -- and 188 rushing yards, including 149 by B.J. Askew, to rout Michigan State by the biggest margin in 56 years, a 49-3 demolition.
How bad was it, Charles Rogers? "Embarrassed, whipped, (bleepin') kicked," he told the South Bend Tribune's Curt Rallo. "Call it what you want, nobody has any words, any answers, nothing. It's too far gone to save the season (3-6, 1-4). You can't turn this around. We'll be lucky if we win another game, the way things are going."
NORTHWESTERN (3-7, 1-5) found a chance to get out of its season-long funk and with original starting quarterback Brett Basanez back at the controls, held off Indiana (3-6, 1-4) at Ryan Field, getting a 7-yard T.D. run from Jason Wright with 2:17 left to stifle a Hoosiers comeback for a 41-37 win at half-filled Ryan Field.
"In the locker room, everybody was screaming and yelling," said Wright, who rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns, to Chicago Sun-Times N.U. beat writer Brian Hanley.
Happy moments have been few this year in Evanston, and Indiana, which had trailed 34-22, had threatened to further depress the Wildcats when Yamir Washington scored midway in the fourth quarter to give I.U. the lead.
"I can't explain some of that," N.U. coach Randy Walker told Hanley, referring to the game's wacko ups and downs. "That looked like Northwestern, it was kind of rocking and rolling."
There's a largely-ignored, but nonetheless impressive rock 'n' roll session going on in Northwestern Ohio, where 8-0 Bowling Green jumped up to No. 16 in the A.P. poll, # 20 coaches, with a 45-14 rout of host Kent. Joe Alls rushed for 179 yards and two TDs for the Falcons. |
