Big Ten: Week 7 recap

The second matchup of the season between two top-five teams highlighted the Week 7 slate in the Big Ten.

No. 2 Ohio State traveled to No. 3 Oregon for what would be the first big test for both these teams this season (unless we count Oregon’s unexpected struggles with teams based in Idaho.)

Oregon held a one-point 22-21 halftime lead, but Ohio State quarterback Will Howard quickly found freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith for a six-yard touchdown catch to open the third quarter.

Oregon would go on to execute a monster 13-play 73-yard drive that nearly took up six minutes in the third quarter. However, Ohio State forced Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel into three straight incompletions from their own two-yard line, coming up with a crucial goal-line stand.

Ohio State couldn’t do anything with their next offensive possession, punting the ball back to the Ducks. This time, Gabriel would run for a 27-yard touchdown a minute into the fourth quarter.

Both teams would trade long drives ending in field goals, giving Ohio State the ball down a point with just under two minutes remaining.

Howard would lead the Buckeyes right to the outskirts of field goal range, putting them in a position to win the game.

Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, on what ended up being the last play of the game, Howard slid down in bounds on a quarterback run, keeping the game clock moving all the way until it reached double zeroes.

Oregon would escape with a one-point win.

USC hosted No. 4 Penn State in the Nittany Lion’s first conference West Coast trip.

The approximately 2,500 miles Penn State traveled might have caused a bit of jet lag, as USC jumped out to a 20-6 halftime lead.

Penn State came right out of halftime swinging, quickly scoring two touchdowns to tie the game at 20.

One of those scores was a unique trick play in which tight end Tyler Warren caught a 32-yard touchdown after snapping the ball as the center.

The teams traded field goals before trading touchdowns and tying the game at 30.

The Trojans got the ball back needing a field goal to win the game, but quarterback Miller Moss threw an interception to send the game to overtime.

USC missed a field goal on their opening overtime possession, and Penn State ran three straight times before nailing a game-winning field goal.

Warren had a historic day for the Nittany Lions, tying the FBS record for catches by a tight end in a game with 17. He turned those 17 catches into 224 yards, the most in Big Ten history, and the aforementioned trick-play touchdown.

Up 27-3 at halftime, No. 23 Illinois was not expecting their matchup against Purdue to require overtime. However, that’s exactly what happened after the Boilermakers scored 40 points in the second half to storm back.

For context, in three other games against Power 4 opponents this year, Purdue scored a total of 23 points.

The teams traded touchdowns in overtime, but Purdue elected to go for the two-point conversion attempt and the win after their score.

They were sacked on the attempt, and Illinois was able to escape from what would have been an awful loss by a final score of 50-49.

Alex Perez is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email app5877@psu.edu.