In all-important Big TEN action earlier today, the Wisconsin Badgers routed rival Minnesota to take back Paul Bunyan's Ax & Ohio State demolished bitter rival Michigan in Ann Arbor to set up a rematch between the Badgers & Buckeyes in next week's Big TEN Title game.
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(12)WISCONSIN 38 (8) MINNESOTA 17
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Jonathan Taylor may not have ran wild, but still made his impact on the game - scoring 3 total TDs, including 2 catches for 39 yards and a score. The Golden Gophers got off to a hot start - hitting on a 51-yard scoring pass from Tanner Morgan to WR Rashod Bateman on just their second offensive play of the game. From that point it was rough going for the Gophers' offense however- especially the rest of the first half.
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The Badgers managed to slugout a 10-7 halftime lead after the slow start, and then got it going in the second half. They managed to outscore Minnesota 38-3 after the Gophers' early TD. By the time Morgan hit his 2nd TD pass of the game with just 5:51 to play to cut it to 38-17, it was far too little too late.
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The real star of the show was a surprising Badger passing attack. QB Jack Coan completed 15 of 22 for 280 yards with a pair of TD passes - including a 47-yarder to WR Quintez Cephus that got the scoring going in the second half. Cephus finished with 5 catches for 114 yards and the TD. It was one of the Badgers better all-around team efforts all season long as FB Garrett Groshek added a 70 yard catch on a screen pass for a huge 3rd down conversion in the 4th quarter. UW is on to Indianapolis where they will attempt to turn in a better performance against the Buckeyes then they did five weeks ago in a 38-7 defeat in Columbus.
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(2) OHIO STATE 56 (13) MICHIGAN 27
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In action even earlier today, the Ohio State Buckeyes invaded Ann Arbor to take Michigan. Jim Harbaugh & co. were hoping for their first win in 8 tries, with Harbaugh going 0-4 against the Buckeyes in that span. Michigan got off to a quick start, scoring on a Giles Jackson 22 yard run just over 3 minutes into the game. In a possible omen of how the rest of the game was going to go for the Wolverines, they missed the extra point to make it an early 6-0 lead. After a back-and-forth start that saw the Buckeyes take a narrow 14-13 lead after the first quarter, it was all J.K. Dobbins in the second, as the OSU HB ran for a pair of scores to increase the lead to 28-16 at the half.
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It wasn't all smooth sailing, however for the Buckeyes as QB Justin Fields bent awkwardly with OSU up 35-16 in the 3rd quarter. After being knocked out after what looked like it could be a potential scary injury, he returned with a heavy-duty brace on his knee. In his first play back on the field with the brace, Fields was forced to roll out to his left, where he threw a beauty of a 30 yard TD pass to Garrett Wilson to effectively put the game away.
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The Buckeyes cruised from there, as Dobbins ran for 211 yards and 4 scores, and Fields threw for 302 yards and another 4 scores. The Ohio State stars shined through in this one, where as Michigan struggled a bit in the passing game, completing just 18 of 43 pass attempts, and only 2 for 13 on 3rd down. The Buckeyes outgained their rivals 577-396 and will await the Badgers in Indianapolis next week. It was an impressive performance for OSU, as both the Badgers & Buckeyes looked very good ahead of next week's showdown for the Big TEN crown.
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