Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, September 9, 2012
Every Saturday night during the college football season, BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina hands out his weekly Big Ten game balls. The series is called "U.S. Marines Corps: Leaders of the Week," and it's designed to spotlight the Big Ten's top individual performances. Who took home the honors from Week 2? Find out in this post.
WEEK 2 GAME BALLS
1. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan: 14-25, 208 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; 20 car., 218 yards, 2 TD – As expected, Robinson fared much better against Air Force than he did in last week's rout against Alabama. How good was he? Well, Robinson eclipsed the 200-yard passing and rushing mark in a game for the third time in his career, making him the first player in major college football to ever accomplish that feat, according to the NCAA records book.
2. Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State: 18-24, 155 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 27 car., 141 yards, 3 TD – What more can you say about Miller? One week after setting the Ohio State QB record for most rushing yards in a single game, the ultra talented sophomore became the first Buckeye signal-caller to rush for three touchdowns in 34 years.
3. Bennie Fowler, WR, Michigan State: 8 rec., 99 yards, 1 TD – For all the troubles Michigan State receivers had in Week 1's narrow victory over Boise State, Fowler's breakout performance was a welcome sight. Fowler's big day should help Andrew Maxwell become a lot more confident under center, and if the receiver can continue to develop, it will give the Spartans another weapon in the passing game, to along with tight end Dion Sims.
4. MarQueis Gray, QB, Minnesota: 6-8, 100 yards, 2 TD; 17 car., 109 yards, 2 TD – Gray, who accounted for a personal-high four touchdowns, threw two scoring strikes and completed six of his eight attempts (75 percent), giving him four TD passes in the first two games.
5. Tyler Scott, DE, Northwestern: 6 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF – With just under two minutes remaining and Northwestern clinging to a 16-13 lead, Scott sealed the victory with a sack-fumble on Vanderbilt's Jordan Rodgers. The Wildcats parlayed Scott's big play into seven points three plays later, as Kain Colter ran it in from 29 yards out to complete the Big Ten's all-important win over an SEC foe.
BEST OF THE REST
Tre Roberson, QB, Indiana: 6-13, 81 yards, 1 TD; 5 car., 114 yards, 2 TD
James Morris, LB, Iowa: 12 tackles, 1 FR, 1 INT
Devin Funchess, TE, Michigan: 4 rec., 106 yards, 1 TD
William Gholston, DE, Michigan State: 7 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack
Andrew Maxwell, QB, Michigan State: 20-31, 275 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
D.L. Wilhite, DE, Minnesota: 5 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks
Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska: 16 car., 120 yards, 2 TD
Venric Mark, RB, Northwestern: 24 car., 123 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 14 yards; 1PR, 21 yards
Orhian Johnson, S, Ohio State: 6 tackles, 1 INT
Michael Mauti, LB, Penn State: 9 tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR, 1 pass breakup
Allen Robinson, WR, Penn State: 10 rec., 89 yards, 1 TD
Antavian Edison, WR, Purdue: 6 rec., 50 yards, 2 TD
Josh Johnson, CB, Purdue: 9 tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR, 4 pass breakups
BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina covers football and men's basketball for BTN.com. He writes the popular uniform feature "Clothes Call," which also focuses on the latest cosmetic changes across Big Ten arenas and stadiums. Read all of his work here. You can subscribe to Yarina's RSS feed and follow him on Twitter @BTNBrentYarina. |