BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Kickoff Return Helps Ohio State Win, 32-17

So much for Ohio State’s first-half scoring jinx on the road.

Joey Galloway scored on a 93-yard kickoff return and Eddie George rushed for two first-half touchdowns as the Buckeyes recorded a 32-17 Big Ten victory over Indiana on Saturday at Bloomington, Ind.

Ohio State, 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten, hadn’t scored a first-half touchdown away from home all season. But that streak ended on Galloway’s long return midway through the first quarter.

George, who finished with 118 yards, also scored on short runs in the first and second quarters as Ohio State took a 19-17 lead at halftime.

The Buckeyes added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on passes by Bobby Hoying of two yards to Rickey Dudley and 20 yards to Chris Sanders.

Indiana (5-5, 2-5) lost its fourth consecutive game, its longest losing streak in nine years. Tailback Alex Smith’s 98 yards gave him 1,230 for the season, 10 short of the Big Ten freshman record set by Minnesota’s Darrell Thompson in 1986.

The Hoosiers’ only lead was at 7-0 on a 13-yard touchdown reception by Ajamu Stoner from Chris Dittoe, who was elevated to starting quarterback last week in place of John Paci.

But Galloway took the following kickoff, broke free and raced down the right sideline for the score, the first touchdown off an Indiana kickoff since 1985.

No. 19 Michigan 38, Minnesota 22--Todd Collins passed for a school-record 352 yards and two touchdowns as the Wolverines overcame a terrible first half at Ann Arbor, Mich., to keep their Citrus Bowl hopes alive.

It was the eighth consecutive year the Wolverines (7-3, 5-2) managed to win the Little Brown Jug from the Gophers (3-7, 1-6), but this year Minnesota managed to make a game of it for at least a half.

The Gophers, outscored in their last four games against Michigan, 173-26, led after the first half, 15-10, as they held Michigan to one yard rushing and 165 yards overall while forcing two turnovers.

But the Wolverines scored on their first four possessions of the second half.

Iowa 49, Northwestern 13--Matt Sherman passed for three touchdowns in his first collegiate start and Sedrick Shaw ran for 114 yards and a score as the Hawkeyes (4-5-1, 2-4-1) won at Iowa City.

Sherman, a redshirt freshman who started the year as the No. 2 quarterback, recovered from a broken foot suffered in the fourth week of the season and started against the Wildcats because of injuries to Iowa’s four other quarterbacks. He completed 19 of 24 passes for 331 yards.

Northwestern (3-6-1, 2-5) has lost 21 in a row against Iowa.

Wisconsin 38, Cincinnati 7--Senior Terrell Fletcher ran for 165 yards and scored twice in 21 carries as the Badgers (5-4-1) won a nonconference game at Madison, Wis.

Cincinnati is 1-8-1.