Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 12: Michigan loses, but still controls its destiny

Northwestern’s chances of winning the Big Ten West were over early when they endured a disastrous start to the season. But give credit to these Wildcats, because they’ve kept fighting and didn’t let it get them down.

With many people questioning whether they could even be bowl eligible this season, they are now one win away from that after beating up on Purdue. What’s most impressive about that is their record on the road. They’re 3-1 in conference road games, with the one loss coming in a hard-fought battle to Ohio State.

Clayton Thorson has really started to find his groove in the passing game. He set a career high this week by throwing for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns went to Austin Carr, who’s establishing himself as a premier wide receiver. He’s now up to 12 TDs on the year, which ties the school’s single-season record. There’s a good chance he’ll beat that during the last two weeks of the season.

Offensive lines often go unheralded, but they propelled the Wildcats to victory here. They let Thorson stay comfortable in the pocket, and he was hardly ever pressured. Their two backs also went for over 100 yards rushing in this game.

After it looked like this would be a long season for the Wildcats, they have found a way to salvage it. They stand a great chance of making a bowl game this year, and could get there on a three-game win streak if they can beat Minnesota.

Minnesota’s four-game winning streak finally came to an end when they lost to Nebraska. After Week 10, it was the Gophers who stood the best chance of upending Wisconsin to the Big Ten West, but this result practically renders their Week 13 showdown meaningless.

Minnesota had a 17-10 lead at halftime, but they gave up 14 straight points, while Mitch Leidner got intercepted on the game-tying drive. The Gophers feel as though they let this one get away. But the best part of their offense, the running game, was completely stymied by Nebraska’s defense. As a whole, they were held to 85 total rushing yards, and 1.6 per carry. With numbers like that, they didn’t deserve to win.

They were a bit better in the passing game, but they couldn’t come up with big plays when they needed them, and the defense had few answers for Tommy Armstrong Jr. They fought hard, but they need to go back to the drawing board for next week. At this point, their game against Northwestern is practically a pick ‘em.

In 1985, Michigan went into Iowa City as the second-ranked team in the country, then lost 12-10 on a last second field goal. The Wolverines quarterback that year … Jim Harbaugh.

31 years later, we witnessed almost the exact same game play out, but this time Harbaugh was on the sideline. Granted, the 1985 Hawkeyes were ranked No. 1 while this year’s team was unranked, but the similarities are almost too eerie to be chalked up to coincidence.

Like Harbaugh, Wilton Speight struggled to get going, as Iowa’s pass rush was extremely disruptive. Jaleel Johnson led the way with nine tackles and a sack but freshman cornerback Manny Rugamba was great too. He had four tackles and an interception late in the fourth quarter. It didn’t count for much because Beathard was intercepted on the very next possession, but the Hawkeyes defense did an outstanding job of forcing a three-and-out.

It doesn’t seem like there were a lot of positives on offense for either team, but Akrum Wadley certainly stood out. He rushed for 115 yards on 23 carries and was also the Hawkeyes’ leading receiver with 54 yards on five catches while scoring his team’s only touchdown.

This is easily Iowa’s biggest win of the season, but it’s not like it revived their chances of winning the division. Their three conference losses mean that they’re already out of the Big Ten West race. But they could finish the season strong with an 8-4 record and a three-game win streak, which would give them a lot of confidence heading into bowl season.