BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Buckeyes Run Over Hawkeyes

Robert Smith rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries and Ohio State passed only nine times against Iowa Saturday at Iowa City en route to a 38-15 victory, the Buckeyes’ third in a row.

Smith was slowed all week by an ankle injury and wasn’t even listed on the two-deep roster at game time. But the sophomore tailback quickly showed he was sound, breaking free on a 25-yard run on the Buckeyes’ fourth play.

“It was our best Big Ten performance,” Ohio State Coach John Cooper said. “Our offensive line played well early. We intended to mix it up more than we did.”

They didn’t have to. The Buckeyes rushed 53 times for 259 yards and, with seven completions, ended up with 81 passing yards.

Last week against Iowa, Purdue threw only seven times but gained 254 yards rushing and won, 27-16.

And for the second week in a row, Iowa’s ground game went nowhere. Iowa backs gained only 37 yards in 25 carries against Ohio State after getting only 108 against Purdue.

The Buckeyes, 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, scored on their first three possessions.

Iowa (3-6, 2-3), which lost its second in a row, hasn’t defeated Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium since a 20-14 win in 1983.

A cold, driving rain--coupled with Iowa’s anemic offense that had only six first downs, 13 yards rushing and 90 passing at halftime--helped chase more than half of the 70,397 fans from Kinnick.

Indiana 24, Minnesota 17--Brett Law’s 42-yard touchdown run capped a 21-point rally ignited by a successful fake field goal and the Hoosiers won at Minneapolis.

Indiana (5-3, 3-2) overcame a 17-3 third-quarter deficit to hand the Gophers (1-7, 1-4) their fourth straight loss and 13th in 14 games.

The Hoosiers began their comeback after failing three times to score from inside the one. After Minnesota refused a five-yard delay-of-game penalty, the Hoosiers lined up for a chip-shot field goal. But Indiana holder Chris Dyer took the ball and ran around the right end for a touchdown to make it 17-10.

The Hoosiers tied the score with 11:52 left when John Paci, filling in for the injured Trent Green, threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Eddie Baety.

Indiana got the ball back when Jay Davis made a one-handed interception. Paci, who had struggled through the first three quarters, then completed four straight passes on a 76-yard drive, capped by Law’s touchdown run.

Michigan State 27, Northwestern 26--Tico Duckett rushed 31 times for 172 yards and one touchdown, and Craig Thomas ran for two touchdowns to lead the Spartans at Evanston, Ill.

Thomas’ seven-yard touchdown run with 6:59 to play gave the Spartans a 27-20 lead.

Northwestern came back to score on a 26-yard pass play from Lenny Williams to Pat Wright with 5:14 to play but the Wildcats missed on a two-point conversion pass.

Michigan State (3-5, 3-2) had to sweat out a 34-yard field-goal attempt by Pat Leahy with seven seconds left, but the kick went wide left.

Lee Gissendaner’s 90-yard kickoff return in the first half gave the Wildcats (2-3, 2-6) a 17-10 lead at halftime.

Illinois 13, Wisconsin 12--Jason Verduzco’s 22-yard touchdown pass to John Wright with 1:25 left capped an 87-yard drive as the Illini rallied for two fourth-quarter scores to beat Badgers at Madison, Wis.

Verduzco, who was sacked seven times, completed seven of 10 passes on the game-winning, 12-play drive that began with 4:22 left

Illinois (4-4, 2-3) beat Wisconsin (4-4, 2-2) for the 11th time in 12 games. The Illini trailed, 12-0, after the Badgers’ Carlos Fowler fell on a fumbled high snap in the end zone for a touchdown with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.

Wisconsin’s two-point conversion pass failed.