Indiana Football's Opponent Recap: Week 13
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Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
Non-Conference Opponents
Florida International – 28 – Old Dominion - 42
The Golden Panthers fell to the Monarchs and finished the season at a disappointing 4-8 (4-4). They will now begin the Butch Davis era and it will be extremely interesting to see whether he can get this program on track after so many years away from coaching.
Ball State – 20 – Miami (OH) – 21
A once-promising season in Muncie ended with another bitterly disappointing defeat as Ball State finished the season at 4-8 (1-7). The Cardinals lost five straight games to end the season.
Wake Forest – 14 – Boston College - 17
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are still “going bowling” but they will be incredibly disappointed to finish the season at 6-6 after dropping their season finale at home to Boston College (the win made BC bowl-eligible). Wake Forest held BC to 167 yards of offense but the Demon Deacons turned the ball over three times and fell to 6-6 on the season. Losses to Army and BC prevented this from being a better season but they still are going to their first bowl game since 2011.
Non-Conference Opponent Record = 14-22
Conference Opponents
Michigan State – 12 – Penn State – 45
The Spartans fell to 3-9 and capped off a miserable season with another road shellacking. This was undoubtedly the worst season of Mark Dantonio’s career and I am incredibly interested to see how Michigan State responds next season. The dominant victory for Penn State, combined with a Michigan loss, gave the Nittany Lions their first Big Ten East division title and they are now 10-2 (8-1) with a chance to knock off Wisconsin and possibly earn their way into the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State – 30 – Michigan – 27 (2OT)
I won’t recap this game because it was an instant classic and a short recap would not do it justice. I will say that the outcome did a few things: the Michigan defeat handed the Big Ten East title to Penn State, the Ohio State victory made them 11-1 and they appear to be a shoe-in to make the College Football Playoff. Michigan finishes the season at 10-2 (7-2) and in third-place in the Big Ten East. It’s still very probable they play in a “New Year’s Six” bowl but a team loaded with seniors will now have to rebuild and the Wolverines narrowly missed a chance to become Big Ten East Chmpionships with a spot awaiting them in the next CFP rankings..
Nebraska – 10 – Iowa - 40
A very promising season finished with a thud for the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they were hammered on Black Friday by the Iowa Hawkeyes. Nebraska finished the season as losers of three of their final five games (two in blowout fashion) and 9-3 overall. They did well enough this season to relieve some pressure on Mike Riley but there are still bound to be questions about their ability to compete with the Big Ten’s best, particularly as they now must replace Tommy Armstrong. Iowa rallied from a disappointing start of the season to win eight games and finish 6-3 in the Big Ten (8-4 overall).
Northwestern – 42 – Illinois – 21
The Northwestern Wildcats are bowl eligible after knocking off the Illinois Fighting Illini in convincing fashion. The Wildcats are now 6-6 (5-4), one of three conference teams with a .500 record. Justin Jackson ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns and John Moten IV added 128 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats churned out 278 rushing yards.
Maryland – 31 – Rutgers - 13
Maryland (6-6) pulled out of its tailspin just in time to defeat Rutgers (2-10) and become bowl-eligible. Ty Johnson had 168 yards on just 11 carries and Maryland gained 318 rushing yards despite the continued absence of Lorenzo Harrison. Rutgers has a long, long way to go get out of the basement of the Big Ten.