Big Ten Roundup : Illinois Recovers to Defeat Indiana

Jeff George fired a 5-yard touchdown pass to Mike Bellamy with 26 seconds remaining to lead Illinois to a 21-20 victory over 20th-ranked Indiana in a Big Ten game at Champaign, Ill.

“Mike just made a great grab,” said George, who threw 2 touchdown passes in the final 2:06 as the Illini rallied from a 20-9 fourth-quarter deficit. “I have confidence in him, and I knew he was going to come down with it.”

The loss ended Indiana’s hopes of beating out Michigan for the Big Ten title. The Hoosiers fell to 6-2-1 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Illinois raised its record to 5-3-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the Big Ten.

After George threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Wax to cut Indiana’s lead to five points, linebacker Julyon Brown recovered a fumble by Indiana quarterback Dave Schnell at the Hoosier 31 with 1:48 remaining to set up the winning touchdown.

“It’s one of the greatest comebacks that I’ve ever been involved in,” Illinois Coach John Mackovic said. “Our guys just showed how much spirit they have . . . that rare ability to overcome obstacles and play better than anyone would expect.”

Indiana had taken an 11-point lead when Erick Coleman stole an Illinois pass from Keith Jones and ran 47 yards for a touchdown with 3:33 to play.

“I certainly give Illinois credit. They hung right in there and fought back,” Indiana Coach Bill Mallory said. “I think we hurt ourselves more than anything. We didn’t do the things in the end that we had to do to win it.”

Trailing, 10-0, at halftime, Illinois closed to 10-9 in the third quarter when George threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Bellamy and Patrick Donnelly blocked an Indiana punt for a safety.

“We’re never out of it,” Mackovic said. “This team can score quickly.”

Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 12--Greg Frey ran for a touchdown and passed for two others as the Buckeyes defeated the winless Badgers at Columbus, Ohio.

Frey completed 12 of 23 passes for 206 yards with 1 interception, while Jeff Graham had 6 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Carlos Snow led Ohio State rushers with 66 yards in 15 carries, as Ohio State totaled 199 yards on the ground.

The victory ended a 2-game losing streak for Ohio State (4-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten) and kept alive the Buckeyes’ hopes of averting their first losing season since 1966.

“We’re happy to win a ballgame,” Ohio State John Cooper said. “I thought our defense played better in the second half. We made some defensive adjustments at halftime, primarily trying to take their quarterback out of the option game in the second half.

The loss was the 11th straight for Wisconsin (0-9, 0-6), which beat Ohio State in 5 of the previous 7 meetings.

Wisconsin Coach Don Morton, whose team has not won since upsetting Ohio State a year ago, said: “Our kids played with their hearts, but quite a few times they did not play with their heads.”

Michigan State 48, Purdue 3--Blake Ezor rushed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns and Kurt Larson had 2 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown and setting up another score with the other, as the Spartans defeated the Boilermakers at West Lafayette, Ind.

Ezor had 121 yards in the first half and sat out most of the second half as the Spartans played their reserves. Ezor, who raised his season rushing total to 1,032, scored on runs of 6 yards and 1 yard as the Spartans opened a 31-3 halftime advantage.

Michigan State accumulated 460 yards rushing and 542 yards total offense en route to its fourth consecutive victory. The defending champion Spartans are 4-4-1 overall, 4-1-1 in the Big Ten. Purdue is 4-5 overall, 3-3 in the conference.

Iowa 35, Northwestern 10--Tony Stewart ran for 98 yards and a touchdown and Nick Bell plunged in for 2 touchdowns as the Hawkeyes crushed the Wildcats at Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa improved to 5-3-2 overall and 3-1-2 in the conference. Northwestern fell to 1-7-1 and 1-4-1.

Stewart did most of the damage in the first quarter, carrying the ball 8 times for 55 yards in a 12-play scoring drive culminated by Richard Bass’ 11-yard touchdown run with 9:06 left.