Wisconsin humbles Michigan
Scott Tolzien tied a career high with four touchdown passes and scored on a sneak, and No. 21 Wisconsin made Michigan's Big Ten season even worse with a 45-24 victory Saturday in Madison, Wis.
Nick Toon caught two of Tolzien's touchdown passes for the Badgers (8-2, 5-2), who went to the air after putting together monster rushing performances in their previous two games. It was the third consecutive victory for Wisconsin and sweet payback for a team whose season unraveled after blowing a lead last season in Ann Arbor.
''Scotty had a big grin on his face walking off the field,'' Badgers coach Bret Bielema said. ''To beat Michigan is a big deal.''
Tate Forcier was 20-for-26 for 188 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Wolverines (5-6, 1-6) from losing their sixth conference game in a row. After a 4-0 start, Michigan is reeling heading into its game against No. 10 Ohio State.
''I've asked the team to be extra focused,'' Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez said. ''We've been focused all year, but this is the biggest game of the year. Our guys know that.''
Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes, including a 73-yarder to B.J. Cunningham in the fourth quarter, and Brett Swenson kicked four field goals, including a tiebreaking 21-yarder with 1:51 left, as the Spartans (6-5, 4-3) rallied from an 11-point deficit with 11:52 to play to edge the Boilermakers (4-7, 3-4) in West Lafayette, Ind.
Joey Elliott completed 39 of 55 passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns and Keith Smith caught 15 passes for 152 yards and a score for Purdue, which lost despite rolling up 524 yards of offense and keeping the ball for 41 of the 60 minutes.
Navorro Bowman returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown, and the Nittany Lions (9-2, 5-2) overcame four first-half turnovers to defeat the Hoosiers (4-7, 1-6) in State College, Pa.
Evan Royster ran for 95 yards and a two-yard touchdown and caught a 13-yard scoring pass from Daryll Clark for Penn State. Ben Chappell passed for 298 yards and two touchdowns for Indiana.
Eric Ellestad broke a tie with a 25-yard field goal with 2:22 left, and the Golden Gophers (6-5) hung on to edge the Jackrabbits (7-3) in Minneapolis.
AP