Big Ten Roundup: Michigan, Ohio State cruise to victories in tune-ups
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Michigan made it look easy and now comes the hard part.
Steve Breaston, a Woodland Hills High School product, scored on an 83-yard punt return and a 62-yard reception and Mike Hart added a touchdown run to lead the second-ranked Wolverines to a 34-3 rout at Indiana yesterday afternoon.
Next up for Michigan: A showdown at No. 1 Ohio State for a spot in the national championship game.
Michigan (11-0, 7-0 Big Ten) goes to Columbus with 15 wins in its past 16 regular-season games. The only blip is a not-so-easily forgotten 25-21 loss to the Buckeyes last year.
Indiana (5-6, 3-4) has lost 15 consecutive games to Michigan since 1987. Unlike last week against Ball State, the Wolverines never gave their opponent a chance.
The offense easily picked apart Indiana's defense. Chad Henne was 11 of 15 for 159 yards and two touchdown passes to support Michigan's typically stout defense. The Wolverines allowed only 131 total yards, including 26 on the ground.
By game's end, most of the remaining fans on a cold, damp and windy day at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., were dressed in maize and blue.
Henne gave the Wolverines all they needed on the game's opening series. He led Michigan on a 66-yard drive, capping it with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Adrian Arrington.
Breston caught three passes for 103 yards.
Other games
Ohio State 54, Northwestern 10: The warmups are complete, and Ohio State (11-0, 7-0) looks ready. James Laurinaitis set the tone when he forced a fumble on the opening possession, Troy Smith threw four touchdown passes and the top-ranked Buckeyes tuned up for their showdown against Michigan with a victory at Northwestern (3-8, 1-6). The 54 points were the most for Ohio State since a 72-0 victory against Pitt on Sept. 21, 1996, and the defense played a major role in that. Ohio State turned four turnovers into touchdowns.
Wisconsin 24, Iowa 21: Tyler Donovan stepped in for an injured John Stocco and threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns as No. 16 Wisconsin won at Iowa. Luke Swan added 113 yards receiving and a touchdown for Wisconsin (10-1, 7-1), which snapped a four-game losing streak against Iowa (6-5, 2-5) and reached 10 regular-season wins for just the second time.
Purdue 42, Illinois 31: Quarterback Curtis Painter ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as visiting Purdue rallied for a victory against mistake-prone Illinois (2-9, 1-6). The Boilermakers (7-4, 6-3) trailed by nine points in the third quarter before defensive end Alex Magee led a defensive charge that turned around the game.
Minnesota 31, Michigan State 18: Bryan Cupito became Minnesota's all-time leading passer and threw two second-half touchdowns to help the Golden Gophers (5-6, 2-5) pull away for a victory at Michigan State. The loss knocked the Spartans (4-7, 1-6) out of the bowl picture.
First Published November 12, 2006 12:00 am
