BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Penn State Finds Offense, Wins, 38-31

In a Big Ten game that wasn’t expected to be a high-scoring affair, No. 19 Penn State outscored No. 17 Indiana, 38-31, Saturday at State College, Pa., to severely damage the Hoosiers’ Rose Bowl hopes.

The big play for Penn State came when Kerry Collins connected with Bobby Engram on a 45-yard touchdown pass play with 6:25 left.

Indiana rallied twice from 14 points down to tie the game and appeared headed to another score until Tony Pittman intercepted John Paci’s pass at the seven with 71 seconds to play.

The Hoosiers, 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, were off to their best start since their 1967 Big Ten championship season. They ran into a Penn State team that hadn’t scored a touchdown in six quarters.

But Penn State (6-2, 3-2) found the offensive balance it had lacked in losses to Michigan and Ohio State. The Lions rushed for 208 yards against a team that was giving up only 114 a game and threw for 215.

The Hoosiers were giving up only 9.3 points per game and came into the game off consecutive shutouts.

Penn State played most of the game without linebacker Eric Ravotti, who had convulsions during a sideline seizure in the second quarter and was taken to a hospital. Team physician Wayne Sebastianelli said Ravotti would remain in the hospital overnight for tests.

Indiana, the league’s poorest passing team, threw for 379 yards, most of it to Thomas Lewis, who caught 12 passes for a Big Ten-record 285 yards and two touchdowns. One was a 99-yarder in the fourth quarter that broke the 38-year-old Big Ten record of 95 yards by Len Dawson to Erich Barnes of Purdue against Northwestern.

Michigan State 31, Northwestern 29--Craig Thomas rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns as Spartans (5-3, 3-2) used an effective ground game to beat the Wildcats (2-7, 0-6) at East Lansing, Mich.

Michigan State blew a two-touchdown lead in the first half but scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to earn the victory.

Illinois 23, Minnesota 20--Ty Douthard caught a screen pass and ran 25 yards for a touchdown with 12 seconds left as the Fighting Illini (5-4, 5-1) got past the Gophers (4-5, 3-3) at Champaign, Ill.

Illinois quarterback Johnny Johnson had a dreadful day, throwing five interceptions and completing only 18 of 54 passes.

Michigan 25, Purdue 10--Tshimanga Biakabutuka, a freshman from Zaire by way of Quebec, rushed 24 times for 140 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Wolverines (5-4, 3-3) snapped a two-game losing skid by defeating the Boilermakers (1-8, 0-6) at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Iowa 54, Northern Illinois 20--Northern Illinois’ LeShon Johnson rushed for 306 yards in 32 carries, but Iowa’s Ryan Terry and Cliff King each scored two touchdowns as the Hawkeyes (4-5) won a nonconference game against the Huskies (4-5) at Iowa City.

Johnson, the nation’s leading rusher, has 1,917 yards this season, breaking the Big West record of 1,789 yards set by Cal State Fullerton’s Obie Graves in 1978.

Rose Bowl Race

PACIFIC 10

Team Conf. Overall W L T W L T UCLA 5 1 0 7 2 0 Arizona 5 1 0 8 1 0 USC 5 1 0 6 4 0 *Washington 4 2 0 6 3 0 Washington St. 3 4 0 5 5 0 Arizona St. 3 3 0 5 4 0 California 2 4 0 5 4 0 Oregon 2 4 0 5 4 0 Stanford 1 5 0 3 6 0 Oregon State 1 6 0 3 7 0

*--ineligible for Rose Bowl

Saturday’s Results

UCLA 40, Wash. St. 27

USC 45, Stanford 20

Arizona 31, Oregon 10

Arizona St. 41, Cal 0

Wash. 28, Ore. St. 21

Next Week

Arizona St. at UCLA

USC at Washington

Arizona at California

Stanford at Oregon

BIG TEN

Team Conf. Overall W L T W L T Ohio State 5 0 1 8 0 1 Illinois 5 1 0 5 4 0 Wisconsin 4 1 1 7 1 1 Indiana 4 2 0 7 2 0 Penn St. 3 2 0 6 2 0 Michigan State 3 2 0 5 3 0 Michigan 3 3 0 5 4 0 Minnesota 3 3 0 4 5 0 Iowa 1 5 0 4 5 0 Northwestern 0 6 0 2 7 0 Purdue 0 6 0 1 8 0

Saturday’s Results

Ohio St. 14, Wisc. 14

Penn St. 38, Indiana 31

Illinois 23, Minn. 20

Iowa 54, N. Illinois 20

Mich. 25, Purdue 10

Mich. St. 31, Northwest. 29

Next Week

Illinois at Penn St.

Michigan at Minnesota

Iowa at Northwestern

Indiana at Ohio St.

Michigan St. at Purdue