Big Ten Roundup : Trudeau Leads Illini to 30-17 Win

Jack Trudeau completed 29 of 39 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown, and Chris White kicked three field goals to set a Big Ten record of 47 for his career Saturday as Illinois overcame a 17-14 halftime deficit and beat Michigan State, 30-17, at East Lansing, Mich.

Afterward, Illinois Coach Mike White said: “At halftime, there was a sort of reversal. We talked about the Big Ten race. Had we continued like we were playing in the first half, we’d just have another road loss.

“In the second half, I was extremely proud. There was tremendous movement on defense, tremendous pressure on their offense. Our special teams were super.”

White said he is “obviously” proud of son Chris, who topped the Big Ten record of 45 shared by Michigan State’s Morten Andersen and Tom Nichol of Iowa. “But it sort of passed me by when it happened. We didn’t have a ceremony or give him the game ball or anything like that.”

The Illini, now 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, overcame another strong performance by Michigan State’s Lorenzo White, who rushed for 122 yards and scored once. Going into the game, the sophomore tailback was the Big Ten’s leading rusher and fourth in the nation.

Michigan State is now 2-4, 0-3.

Minnesota 22, Indiana 7--Senior tailback Valdez Baylor scored on an eight-yard run and had his first 100-yard rushing performance as a collegian to help Minnesota win at Bloomington, Ind., and remain undefeated in the Big Ten.

Minnesota, at 5-1 overall, now has more victories than it did all last season. The Gophers are 3-0 in conference. Indiana slipped to 4-2, 1-2.

Baylor ran for 141 yards in 20 carries. He had a 45-yard run after taking an option pitch from quarterback Rickey Foggie.

Minnesota, which threw only eight times on a rainy day and failed to complete a pass, drove 59 yards in nine plays for a 7-0 lead on Baylor’s touchdown with 3:05 left in the first period.

Chip Lohmiller kicked three field goals for the Gophers, including boots of 31 and 45 yards that gave Minnesota a 13-0 halftime lead.

Northwestern 17, Wisconsin 14--John Duvic kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play at Madison, Wis., to lift Northwestern to an upset victory over Wisconsin.

The win was the Wildcats’ first against Wisconsin since 1971 and raised their record to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin dropped to 3-3 overall and shares the conference cellar with Michigan State at 0-3.

After an interception of a Mike Howard pass by Northwestern safety Brett Whitley at the Northwestern 38-yard line with 3:21 left, quarterback Mike Greenfield moved the Wildcats 43 yards in eight plays to set up Duvic’s winning kick.