Alvarez Heard in Wisconsin Win

Barry Alvarez’s voice was ringing in John Palermo’s ears and his videotaped pep talk was fresh in his players’ minds.

With their coach watching from a hospital room 75 miles away, the 20th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers edged No. 25 Minnesota, 20-17, on Vitaly Pisetsky’s 31-yard field goal in overtime Saturday at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

“I didn’t feel any frustration [in his voice]. I imagine the people at Mayo were ready to throw him out,” said Palermo, Wisconsin’s defensive line coach who guided the Badgers with his boss stuck at the Mayo Clinic, where he’s awaiting a knee transplant. Wisconsin improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference.

The 52-year-old coach watched the game on a big-screen TV and talked to his coaches by telephone from his hospital room.

“I felt like Barry was there every day this week in practice,” Palermo said.

The Badgers won the toss and elected to defend to start overtime.

Minnesota (4-1, 1-1) went backward thanks to two flags, two overthrows in the end zone and a pass play that lost five yards. Then, on fourth-and-30 from the 45, Jamar Fletcher intercepted Billy Cockerham’s pass at the five, setting up Pisetsky’s field goal.

No. 2 Penn State 31, Iowa 7--Eddie Drummond ran 68 yards for a touchdown on a reverse and Eric McCoo sped 47 yards for another score, sending the Nittany Lions (6-0, 2-0) to victory over the Hawkeyes (1-4, 0-2) at Iowa City.

Other than those two plays, Penn State had to scratch and claw for almost everything it got against an Iowa team that had been routed by Michigan State, 49-3, the week before.

No. 21 Ohio St. 25, No. 17 Purdue 22--Brent Johnson blocked a tying field goal with 53 seconds left and Steve Bellisari’s late 68-yard run preserved the lead as the Buckeyes (4-2, 1-1) held off the Boilermakers at Columbus, Ohio.

Quarterback Drew Brees drove Purdue (4-2, 1-2) from its 20 to the Ohio State 14 with just under a minute left. Brees’ third-and-three pass for Chris Daniels was tipped away by Buckeye cornerback Nate Clements, and Coach Joe Tiller sent his field-goal unit onto the field.

But the kick by Travis Dorsch was a low line drive. Johnson, who broke through the middle of the line, batted the ball down with his right hand as he was falling to the soggy turf.

Indiana 34, Northwestern 17--Quarterback Antwaan Randle El scored three touchdowns and Levron Williams rushed for a career-high 241 yards, leading the Hoosiers (3-3, 2-1) to another come-from-behind victory over the Wildcats (2-4, 0-3) at Bloomington, Ind.