IOWA CITY, Iowa - For the second straight week, Iowa found itself trailing by two touchdowns early in the first quarter. This time, the Hawkeyes didn't panic.
Iowa capitalized on a stubborn second-half defense and quarterback Nathan Chandler to rally and beat Michigan 30-27 Saturday.
The Hawkeyes scored 20 consecutive points, then stopped a last-ditch comeback.
"We're not a great come-from-behind football team," said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, whose team never recovered after spotting Michigan State two early touchdowns in a loss the previous week. "But I couldn't be more proud of our guys than I am right now."
It also showed the only statistic that matters is the score. Michigan outgained the Hawkeyes 463-295, and Wolverine quarterback John Navarre threw for a career-best 389 yards.
After being picked apart by Navarre in the first half and falling behind 14-0, Iowa's defense tightened, shutting down the running game and forcing Navarre into a series of wild throws.
Michigan made it exciting at the end as Navarre threw a 41-yard score to Braylon Edwards with 3:43 left, cutting Iowa's lead to 30-27. Chandler's 31-yard touchdown to Ramon Ochoa earlier in the fourth quarter gave Iowa a 30-20 lead.
Iowa took its first lead at 23-20 on Nate Kaeding's 32-yard field goal with 2:34 left in the third, set up when Chris Smith blocked a punt and Iowa took possession at the Wolverine 14.
MICHIGAN ST. 31, INDIANA 3: Jeff Smoker accounted for three touchdowns and had his third 300-yard game this season.
Smoker gave Michigan State a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 31-yard pass to Jaren Hayes after tossing a 12-yarder to Jason Randall for a score in the first quarter.
Indiana, the lowest-scoring team in the Big Ten, did not score on five drives into MSU territory.
MINNESOTA 42, N'WESTERN 17: Asad Abdul-Khaliq threw for three touchdowns as the visiting Golden Gophers improved to 6-0 for the first time in 43 years.
With the Wildcats leading 14-0 in the second quarter, Abdul-Khaliq hit Jared Ellerson on a fly pattern for a school-record 96-yard touchdown. Those two connected again on an 82-yard score in the third to give the Gophers a 28-17 lead.
"I was very pleased with how the game turned out, but I wasn't very happy with how it started," Gophers coach Glen Mason said. "The first quarter was the worst quarter of football from my perspective I've ever been associated with as a coach."
PURDUE 43, ILLINOIS 10: Jerod Void ran for a career-high 119 yards and four touchdowns for the host Boilermakers, who made Joe Tiller the second Purdue coach to win 50 games.
Void carried 25 times and broke free routinely, frequently gaining yards in huge chunks.
Purdue had eight first downs on its first 15 plays and gained 212 yards in the first quarter. By halftime the Boilermakers led 27-3.
WISCONSIN 30, PENN ST. 23: Jim Sorgi threw two touchdowns for the visiting Badgers, who recovered three fumbles. Booker Stanley, a third-string tailback, ran for 119 yards and one touchdown for the Badgers. Penn State's Calvin Lowry fumbled a kickoff return and a punt return, the latter leading to Sorgi's 20-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Williams to give Wisconsin a 17-9 lead with 11 seconds left in the first half.
