Saturday’s other big ten games

No. 12 Michigan 42, Northwestern 24

EVANSTON, Ill.

Denard Robinson threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more, helping No. 12 Michigan come back from a 10-point halftime deficit. Robinson matched his season-high by throwing for 338 yards and ran for 113 as Michigan (6-0, 2-0) scored on its first three possessions of the second half. The Wolverines trailed 24-14 after a first half in which Robinson threw three interceptions. Michigan’s Junior Hemingway caught five passes for 123 yards and Roy Roundtree added five grabs for 83 yards. Dan Persa threw for 315 yards for Northwestern (2-3, 0-2) which blew a double-digit lead for the second straight week. Jeremy Ebert caught 11 passes for 87 yards for the Wildcats. Michigan has won nine of the last 11 meetings between the schools, though they hadn’t met since Northwestern’s win at Michigan Stadium in 2008. With Michigan trailing by 10 points, Robinson came out firing in the second half. He connected with Roundtree on a 57-yard bomb to set up Robinson’s two-yard touchdown scamper. After a stop, Robinson led an 80-yard drive, accounting for 68 yards himself, and Devin Gardner scored on a one-yard run to put Michigan up 28-24.

Purdue 45, Minnesota 17

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.

Akeem Shavers caught a touchdown pass and ran for another score. Caleb TerBush completed 14 of 21 passes for 140 yards and a score and O.J. Ross caught five passes for 63 yards and a TD for the Boilermakers (3-2, 1-0). Ricardo Allen returned an interception for a touchdown and Ryan Russell recovered two fumbles for Purdue, which held the Golden Gophers to 211 total yards. It was Purdue’s largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since a 62-10 win over Indiana on Nov. 22, 2008. MarQueis Gray passed for 104 yards and rushed for 20 yards and a score for Minnesota (1-5, 0-2). The Gophers tried to bounce back from a 58-0 loss to Michigan but lost their third straight.

No. 19 Illinois 41, Indiana 20

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.

Nathan Scheelhaase and A.J. Jenkins hooked up on two long TD passes. Illinois (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) is off to its best start since the 1951 team was 7-0. Indiana (1-5, 0-2) lost its third in a row, still has not beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision team this season and has lost 13 consecutive games against Top 25 teams since a 31-28 victory over then No. 13 Iowa on Oct. 14, 2006. Sparked by Shane Wynn’s 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the Hoosiers took a 10-0 lead early. But Illinois came back with a 77-yard scoring pass to Jenkins, took the lead on Tavon Wilson’s 66-yard fumble return for a TD and made it 27-13 at the half on Scheelhaase’s 67-yard TD pass to Jenkins.

Associated Press