A kicker’s field goal in Iowa City meant the world to a lot of folks in Columbus.
Daniel Murray, who hadn’t converted a field goal since the season opener, booted a
31-yarder with 1 second left to give Iowa a stunning 24-23 upset over No. 3 Penn State on Saturday. Besides knocking the Nittany Lions out of the national title picture, it also shook things up in the Big Ten race.
Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) now finds itself tied with the Nittany Lions (9-1, 5-1), a half-game back of Michigan State (9-2, 6-1). The Spartans have a bye week before playing at Penn State on Nov. 22. The Nittany Lions host Indiana this week. Ohio State plays at Illinois on Saturday and then welcomes Michigan the following week.
If they win their last two games, the Buckeyes will likely share the title, giving them at least a piece of the last four championships. No team has ever won three straight outright titles — a distinction Ohio State lost with a 13-6 home defeat to Penn State on Oct. 25.
Winning four straight titles isn’t all that rare, surprisingly. Ohio State won at least a share of six in a row 1972-77, Michigan took five consecutive titles 1988-92, and the Wolverines have won four in a row on four other occasions.

BCS calling

So who gets the Big Ten’s automatic Bowl Championship Series bowl berth in case of a tie for the title?
We have to assume that we’ll end up with co-champions because of that MSU-PSU showdown. Then it’s simple: The winner of the head-to-head meeting will be assured of a BCS berth. Ohio State, because of its win over Michigan State, would get it should the Spartans beat Penn State. And Penn State, with a win over MSU, would receive the guaranteed BCS spot because it beat OSU.
All of that does not mean that the Big Ten could not get a second, at-large BCS berth. Since BCS rules preclude a conference from having more than two teams in the
10-team pool, that means that only two teams from the Big 12 — from Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri — will get in. Same goes for the SEC, where Alabama, Florida or Georgia will end up disappointed.

In case you missed it

The Buckeyes’ final two games will both start at noon Eastern, this week at Illinois and the annual year-ending rivalry with Michigan at Ohio Stadium.

Big Ten’s best

Tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells shared offensive player of the week honors in the Big Ten. Wells had 140 yards rushing and two TDs in an easy win at Northwestern.
He’s averaging 117.2 yards per game and needs just one more yard to top 3,000 for his career.
Wells won the award twice last season as a sophomore.
Wisconsin WR David Gilreath (168 yards rushing, 2 TDs) in a win over Indiana, also got a piece of the award.
Iowa safety Tyler Sash, who had a late interception which ended Penn State’s final drive, was the defensive honoree.
The special-teams award went to Michigan kicker K.C. Lopata, who kicked five FGs in the win at Minnesota.

Team awards

Ohio State’s coaching staff also singled out stars for the 45-10 win at Northwestern.
Linebacker James Laurinaitis, quarterback Terrelle Pryor and special-teams player defensive back Shaun Lane won weekly awards.
The scout team honorees were: Offensive lineman Scott Sika, defensive lineman Scott Ingham and wide receiver Kyle Ruhl on special teams. The top defensive player on the front seven was lineman Nader Abdallah. Tight end Rory Nicol was the top offensive lineman. The hit of the week will be decided at Tuesday’s team meeting.
 

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