Week 9 in Big Ten: 1. MSU, 2. Wisconsin, 3. Illinois

Twitter: @Hlas

Five games, one upset, lots of criticism of Big Ten officials. That was Week 9 in the Big Ten, and this ranks the performances of the teams in that week:

1. Michigan State, W 35-11 vs. Michigan

The Spartans have won 14 straight games against Big Ten opponents, 13 by double-digits.

They held Michigan to zero first-half rushing yards. They outgained the Wolverines, 446 yards to 186. They dominated the team they most want to dominate.

MSU has an obsession about Michigan that is downright terrifying. Before the game, a Michigan player took it upon himself to plant a stake in the field. That made the Spartans, who are constantly demanding respect from their state rivals, crazy. They led 28-11 late in the game, had the ball, and could run out the clock. But they went for another touchdown, and got it.

Spartans Coach Mark Dantonio didn't pretend the last touchdown wasn't for effect.

'Throwing a stake down in our backyard out here,” he said in his postgame press conference, stammering. 'We were not going to (put up) with that. You do that stuff and it gets shoved … it gets shoved up … it got shoved in the last minute and a half.”

But it was a good win for the league's best team.

2. Wisconsin, W 52-7 vs. Maryland

Before 24 minutes were gone, the Badgers had a 24-0 lead.

'I am going to come out and say it,” Wisconsin linebacker Vince Biegel said in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story. 'I think we've got the best team in the (West Division). I expect us to be champs.

'I will let the other side (division) do their thing. In our division I think we can do great things. Obviously we have big games coming in the second half of the season but we're carrying momentum and we're excited.”

Badger running back Melvin Gordon rushed for three touchdowns. He has 15 TDs in his last five games.

3. Illinois, W 28-24 vs. Minnesota

Illinois linebacker T.J. Neal forced a David Cobb fumble, and cornerback V'Angelo Bentley picked it up and ran 12 yards for the touchdown with 6:33 left.

That gave the Illini the final points of the game, enough points for Tim Beckman's second Big Ten win in his three years at Illinois.

Bentley has returned a punt, a kickoff, an interception and a fumble for touchdowns in his career.

'Ima be honest, this one for the students tomorrow.!” Bentley tweeted on Friday.

Ima be honest, Bentley delivered.

4. Nebraska, W 42-24 vs. Rutgers

Ameer Abdullah. He's good.

The senior set a Nebraska single-game record with 341 all-purpose yards, 225 of them rushing. It was his fourth 200-yard rushing game of the season. No one else in the country has more than two.

'He's very good,” said Rutgers defensive end David Milewski. 'He's all-around. He did everything, caught the ball, ran the ball, returned the ball. I think he's as good as advertised. Once he gets through the first level, I think he does a good job bursting. If he finds a gap, he puts a foot in the ground and I think he gets up the field faster than a lot of other backs. I think that's the difference, how quickly he can get up the field.''

'There's no question he would be in the upper echelon of guys you would ever want to coach, in any era,” said Nebraska running backs coach Ron Brown.

But this isn't a one-star team. Defensive end Randy Gregory, an NFL star-in-waiting, had a 12-yard quarterback sack and a blocked field goal. Wide receiver Kenny Bell set the school mark for career receptions.

5. Penn State, L 31-24 (2 OT) vs. Ohio State

In a first, I'm ranking a losing team ahead of the team it beat.

Penn State's team got a standing ovation from its fans after the game. You don't see that often when a team loses.

The Nittany Lions' comeback from a 17-0 deficit was sterling. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg made some big-time throws in the fourth quarter and first overtime.

With corrrect officiating, Penn State probably would have won. There was an interception by Ohio State's Vonn Bell that wasn't an interception, but was upheld after a review and led to an OSU touchdown. There also was a 49-yard Buckeye field goal that was kicked after the play clock had expired.

'All that equals 10 points, right?” Penn State Coach James Franklin said.

6. Ohio State, W 31-24 (2 OT) at Penn State

If it seemed to you like Buckeye defensive end Joey Bosa had a dozen sacks, you aren't alone. It was fitting the final play of the game was Bosa sacking Hackenberg.

Bosa blasted into Lions running back Akeel Lynch, who was knocked into Hackenberg.

'I didn't even know I sacked him,” Bosa said. 'I just hit the back and pretty much passed out on the field because I was so tired.”

After the game, Bosa told Buckeye freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett 'You're welcome, b____.”

Barrett sprained a knee in the game and wasn't terrific in a hostile environment, but he led two touchdown drives in the overtimes.

The two embraced after that. Let's go back to Twitter and see what Bosa said early Sunday morning.

'And I love JT! People don't understand sarcasm jeeeeez”

Bosa leads the Big Ten and is tied for fifth nationally with eight sacks.

7-10. Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue (idle)

11. Rutgers, L 42-24 at Nebraska

Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova suffered a knee injury late in the second half and was done for the day, if not longer. He has 14 touchdown passes, third in the league.

Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger wasn't impressed with the thought-process Rutgers Coach Kyle Flood was using when Nova got hurt.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie attended part of the game and wore a Rutgers jacket. He refused to make a friendly wager with Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman on the game.

When Christie runs for president, he can point to that non-bet as good decision-making.

12. Michigan, L 35-11 at Michigan State

All Michigan fans would put the Wolverines at No. 14 this week.

Call it a stake or a spike or a spear, whatever it was that Michigan linebacker Joe Bolden planted on the Spartan Stadium field will go into that state's football lore. The video can be found here.

The Wolverines are 3-5. They went 7-6 in 2010 and fired Rich Rodriguez.

Rodriguez now coaches Arizona, which is 6-1 and is averaging 40.6 points per game. The best revenge is living well.

13. Minnesota, L 28-24 at Illinois

Cobb has been so good for the Gophers this season, but his fumble hurt badly.

'I feel bad for him as much as anything because he busts his tail end off,” Minnesota Coach Jerry Kill said.

'Aw man, I let the team down,” Cobb said.

'Fourth-quarter late, they trust me with the ball. I dropped it. I fumbled and that cost us the game.”

It was a team loss. Cobb did a lot to get the Gophers back in the game after they fell behind 14-0 hole against one of the league's poorest teams. That was a week after they were lucky to squeak past Purdue at home the week before.

The Big Ten only has a few truly good teams. Minnesota isn't among them.

14, Maryland, L 52-7 at Wisconsin

The Terrapins had season-lows in points (7), rushing yards (46) and total yards (175). They got whipped in all phases, just like they got whipped 52-24 at home by Ohio State.

Maryland was called for five false starts and one illegal formation. Jeepers.

'We didn't play well,” Maryland Coach Randy Edsall said. 'We didn't coach well. Bottom line.”

A headline on the sports page of the Washington Post's website Sunday morning told the tale:

'Terrapins stink against the Badgers.

Comments: mike.hlas@thegazette.com