B1G Rewind: No risk, no reward for Sparty

No coach takes more chances than Michigan State's Mark Dantonio, and nobody labels those chances more colorfully than the Spartans' head coach.

Whether it's "Little Giants" (2010 vs. Notre Dame), "Hey Diddle Diddle" (2013 vs. Iowa) or now "Charlie Brown" (2013 vs. Nebraska), Dantonio takes risks on special teams. Saturday, on fourth-and-1 from the Nebraska 27 and his team holding a six-point lead, Dantonio assumed another risk and ordered a fake field goal.

"Well at some point in time, your head football coach has to take some chances," Dantonio said. "I told our football team at halftime, 'Hey we are going to roll the dice.' I already made up my mind on that series, if we got within field goal range, we were running the field goal fake 'Charlie Brown.' So that is what we decided to do, then when we got up there and it was fourth-and-1 and I thought maybe we should just go for it, but it was too late. It worked."

Spartans holder Mike Sadler took the snap from center and rushed up the middle. He gained three yards to pick up the first down. The fake produced a similar result as it did earlier this season against Iowa. The Spartans led the Hawkeyes 20-14 and faced fourth-and-7 at its own 37. Sadler took off on a fake punt and rushed 25 yards for a first down. That led to another field goal and a 26-14 victory.

Like Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz, Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini expected a fake. But like the Iowa game, he couldn't stop it, either.

“It looked like we hit them short," Pelini said. "We were expecting fakes in the game. We talked about the fact that they would always do it in the fourth quarter. It was a good call by them. Like I said, I'll have to look at the film.“

Three plays after Sadler's dash up the middle, Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook completed a 27-yard strike to wide receiver Keith Mumphrey to give the Spartans complete control. The Spartans prevailed 41-28 to gain a share of the Big Ten Legends Division title. Only losses to Northwestern and Minnesota, coupled with a Minnesota win against Wisconsin this week, would prevent the Spartans from clinching their second trip to the Big Ten title game in three seasons.

"Well the reality is, we have played for a championship in 2008 at the end of the season, 2010, 2011 and now 2013, we will have a chance to play for a championship," Dantonio said. "On the last game of the season, any way you cut it, it is a Legends championship, any way you cut it. Those are positives, those are big positive steps for a program from when we came here. It shows we have a solid foundation."

Northwestern expected to challenge Michigan State for the Legends Division title, but instead has found new and creative ways to lose in excruciating fashion. The Wildcats lost to Michigan in triple-overtime to fall to 0-6 in league play. Northwestern began the Big Ten season 4-0 and ranked No. 16. They've now lost two overtime games of which they've had control, and dropped another heartbreaker by a Hail Mary pass.

Saturday, Northwestern dropped multiple interception attempts and allowed Michigan to twice convert on fourth down. With only seven seconds remaining, Michigan rushed its field-goal unit on the field and kicked the game-tying 44-yard field goal just before the clock expired. Each team scored a touchdown and a field goal on its first two overtime possessions before Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner rushed in for a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to secure a 27-19 win.

"The game can be summed up in one phrase: missed opportunities," Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "We had our hand on the ball a lot as a defense all the way down there to the end in overtime we created a fumble and it just didn't seem like it was our day. So a lot of credit to Michigan -- they did a nice job coming back and made some big plays down the stretch."

For the Wildcats to reach a bowl game for the sixth straight season, they must upset Michigan State and then beat instate rival Illinois.

"We got to stay together and obviously our backs are against the wall now to get into post season, so we've got to find a way to get better and improve this week," Fitzgerald said. "They all have great attitudes and stick together, so we'll find a way to have our best week."

SATURDAY'S STARS

Wisconsin running back James White cruised to 205 yards on 20 carries, including a 93-yard touchdown run. ... Ohio State RB Carlos Hyde rushed for 246 yards and four touchdowns. ... Penn State RB Zach Zwinak ran for 149 yards and three touchdowns. ... Michigan State RB Jeremy Lankford ran for 152 yards and three TDs.

NOTEWORTHY

Indiana punter Erich Toth punted eight times for a 39.5-yard average and dumped four inside the 20. ...  Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase passed for 288 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 46 yards and one score. ... Purdue QB Danny Etling threw for 223 yards and one touchdown. ... Michigan WR Jeremy Gallon caught 10 passes for 115 yards. Northwestern safety Traevon Henry had 13 tackles, including two for loss. ... Nebraska WR Kenny Bell had seven catches for 81 yards and score.

POWER RANKINGS

Only two more weeks remain of the regular season ... it always flies by

1. Ohio State (1) 10-0 6-0

• Only in a "down" Big Ten would a team win its 22nd straight game, put up 60 in the 100th meeting with a trophy rival and yet get penalized by sportswriters

2. Wisconsin (2) 8-2 5-1

• Teams usually don't run for 554 yards in practice, let alone a game

3. Michigan State (3) 9-1 6-0

• The names on the trick plays are even more interesting than the plays themselves

4. Minnesota (4) 8-2 4-2

• We'll see how good Minnesota is this week and in the finale

5. Nebraska (5) 7-3 4-2

• Turnovers killed Huskers' chances toward winning second straight Legends crown

6. Iowa (6) 6-4 3-3

• What is said and written about this team for the next 9 months will be determined in the next 2 weeks

7. Michigan (7) 7-3 3-3

• I'm still trying to figure out how no penalty was called on the game-tying field goal

8. Northwestern (8) 4-6 0-6

• It appears AIRBHG has vacated Iowa City and has invaded Evanston

9. Indiana (9) 4-6 2-4

• Hoosiers down to last strike to earn bowl bid and semi-validate the preseason "surprise team" moniker

10. Penn State (10) 6-4 3-3

• Nittany Lions are bowl-eligible, which would be great except for that whole ineligibility thing

11. Illinois (11) 3-7 0-6

• Illini have lost 20 straight in the Big Ten, only 18 shy of tying Northwestern's streak from 1977-1982

12. Purdue (12) 1-9 0-6

• Boilermakers have their best chance at a win this week

STANDINGS

LEGENDS

• Michigan State 9-1 6-0
• Minnesota 8-2 4-2
• Nebraska 7-3 4-2
• Michigan 7-3 3-3
• Iowa 6-4 3-3
• Northwestern 4-6 0-6

LEADERS

• Ohio State 10-0 6-0
• Wisconsin 8-2 5-1
• Penn State 6-4 3-3
• Indiana 4-6 2-4
• Illinois 3-7 0-6
• Purdue 1-9 0-6

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

• Ohio State 60, Illinois 35
• Wisconsin 51, Indiana 3
• Penn State 45, Purdue 21
• Michigan State 41, Nebraska 28
• Michigan 27, Northwestern 19 3-OT

UP NEXT

• Michigan at Iowa, 11 a.m. (BTN)
• Illinois at Purdue, 11 a.m. (BTN)
• Michigan State at Northwestern, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
• Nebraska at Penn State, 2:30 p.m. (BTN)
• Indiana at Ohio State, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
• Wisconsin at Minnesota, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)