Badgers, Spartans Bounced

While the elite of the Big Ten, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan, took care of business in different fashion Saturday, two of the conference’s teams, No. 14 Wisconsin and unranked Michigan State, lost to schools better known for their basketball programs.

Wisconsin’s 23-5 loss to Nevada Las Vegas -- the NCAA men’s basketball champion in 1990 -- was doubly tough. The Badgers lost running back Anthony Davis, a Heisman Trophy candidate, to a sprained ankle on their second series, and their offense then slogged through the rain at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis.

Meanwhile at East Lansing, Mich., Louisiana Tech -- a three-time NCAA women’s national basketball champion -- scored two touchdowns in the final 1:09 to stun Michigan State, 20-19.

Wisconsin (2-1) failed to score an offensive touchdown at home for the first time since Nov. 25, 1995, when it tied Illinois, 3-3. Quarterback Jim Sorgi was sacked eight times, overthrew receivers eight times and had two of the Badgers’ five turnovers -- their most in eight seasons. Dwayne Smith, who replaced Davis, also fumbled twice.

Davis sprained his left ankle at the end of a 10-yard run, his second carry of the game. He hobbled off the field and was fitted with a protective boot on the sideline, then taken for X-rays, the results of which were not announced. Davis rushed for 414 yards, second in the nation, in the first two weeks.

Nevada Las Vegas (2-1) had only 187 yards of total offense, but safety Jamaal Brimmer returned a fumble for a touchdown and had two interceptions that set up touchdown pass plays of six and eight yards from Kurt Nantkes to Earvin Johnson.

In contrast to the Wisconsin-UNLV game, the Michigan State-Louisiana Tech game had 858 yards of total offense and an improbable finish.

Luke McCown threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Julius Cosby with 1:09 left to pull Louisiana Tech (2-1) within 19-14 of Michigan State (2-1). The Bulldogs then recovered an on-side kick and scored the game-winning touchdown seven plays later when McCown scrambled and found D.J. Curry in the right corner of the end zone with two seconds left.

McCown completed 35 of 61 passes for 436 yards.

Purdue 16, No. 20 Wake Forest 10 -- Ben Jones kicked three field goals and the Boilermakers (1-1) held the Demon Deacons (2-1) to 244 yards of total offense at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Purdue had controlled the ball 15 more minutes than Wake Forest when Anthony Chambers fumbled a punt at the Boilermaker 25 with 2:28 left.

But the Demon Deacons put themselves in a hole with delay-of-game and holding penalties, and then safety Stuart Schweigert stopped Chris Barclay on a fourth-and-one at the 19 with 1:05 left.

No. 23 Iowa 40, Iowa State 21 -- The Hawkeyes (3-0) scored 10 points after blocked punts by Sean Considine and converted two turnovers into field goals at Ames, Iowa, to end a losing streak at five against the rival Cyclones (2-1).

Iowa State went three-and-out on its first series of the second half and the snap to punter Troy Blankenship was high. Considine shot through the middle of the line to block the kick, the ball bounced into the end zone and Chris Smith recovered for a touchdown.

Considine’s second blocked punt, again after a high snap, gave Iowa the ball at the six-yard line, and Nate Kaeding kicked the last of his four field goals. Kaeding became Iowa’s all-time leading scorer with 291 points.

Miami of Ohio 44, Northwestern 14 -- Ben Roethlisberger completed 28 of 37 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns at Evanston, Ill., as the RedHawks (1-1) defeated the Wildcats (1-2) for the fifth consecutive time.

Minnesota 42, Ohio 20 -- Marion Barber III rushed for 104 yards and four touchdowns for the Golden Gophers (3-0) at Athens, Ohio -- the first home game for the Bobcats (1-2) against a Big Ten football team.

Indiana 33, Indiana State 3 -- BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns at Bloomington, Ind., and the Hoosiers (1-2) ended a losing streak at eight. Division I-AA Indiana State is 1-2.