Sunday, November 19, 2006
Purdue and Northwestern also won conference games.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS -- Amir Pinnix carried 23 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns, and Minnesota forced five turnovers in a 34-24 victory Saturday over fading Iowa to take back the Floyd of Rosedale trophy.
Pinnix gave the Gophers (6-6, 3-5 Big Ten) a 1,000-yard rusher for the eighth straight year. They won their third straight game and ended a five-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes (6-6, 2-6), who lost their final five conference games after being ranked as high as 15th in October.
Drew Tate completed 26 of 36 passes for 354 yards and two scores for Iowa, but he lost a fumble and threw three interceptions. The last one led to a brief benching in the third quarter.
Tate's highlight was a nifty scramble to avoid a sack by Steve Davis in the fourth quarter, when he used his left hand to balance and keep from falling as he rolled right and fired a 3-yard touchdown pass to Scott Chandler with 8:08 left to cut Minnesota's lead to 10.
Iowa forced a three-and-out and drove to the Gophers' 25 with roughly 4 minutes remaining, but Albert Young -- who had 133 yards on 25 attempts with one score -- tripped on fourth-and-2 and was stopped well short of the first down to end any shot of a Hawkeyes comeback.
The Gophers sprinted across the field and coverged around the bronze pig that these teams have been playing for since 1935. This was the 100th overall meeting in the series, and Minnesota leads 59-39 with two ties.
Purdue 28, Indiana 19
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Curtis Painter passed for 260 yards and a touchdown and overcame four interceptions to lead Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game.
Purdue's victory eliminated Indiana from bowl contention.
Greg Orton caught six passes for 112 yards and Dorien Bryant caught five passes for 74 yards and ran for a score for Purdue (8-4, 5-3 Big Ten). The Boilermakers finished in a tie for fourth place in the conference.
Kellen Lewis passed for 290 yards and a touchdown and ran for 103 and a score, and James Hardy caught nine passes for 151 yards and a touchdown for Indiana (5-7, 3-5). The Hoosiers gained 505 yards, but scored just two touchdowns.
Northwestern 27, Illinois 16
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Tyrell Sutton ran for 110 yards and Northwestern avoided finishing last in the Big Ten.
Sutton finished with 1,000 yards after rushing for 1,474 as a freshman last season. He carried 34 times and scored on a 2-yard run early in the third quarter that extended the lead to 24-16.
C.J. Bacher completed 22 of 30 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown, with Shaun Herbert catching four for 77 yards. Northwestern (4-8, 2-6) dominated time of possession, 39:03 to 20:57, and held Illinois to 279 yards -- 84 in the second half.
Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall broke off an 86-yard touchdown run in the second quarter -- the fourth-longest rush in school history -- and finished with 113 yards on five attempts. But it wasn't enough to prevent the Illini from finishing in a tie for last place with Michigan State.
Isiah Williams was just 4-of-18 with 65 yards for Illinois (2-10, 1-6), which lost its seventh straight and fell to 4-19 in two years under coach Ron Zook.
No. 12 Wisconsin 35, Buffalo 3
MADISON, Wis. -- On the first two plays of the game, Wisconsin picked off a pass and threw for a touchdown. But that didn't mean the Badgers' expected rout of Buffalo was on.
At least not right away.
No. 12 Wisconsin got a surprisingly good game from Buffalo for nearly a half before pulling away with two touchdowns just before halftime on the way to victory at Camp Randall Stadium.
The Badgers (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) secured the first 11-win regular season in school history and appear headed to a second straight berth in the Capital One Bowl. The Bulls (2-9, 1-7 MAC) continued a tough season under first-year coach Turner Gill, but they didn't go away easily.
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