College Football : Big Ten Roundup : Iowa and Ohio State End Up Even, 24-24

Jeff Skillett, who missed two field goals earlier, kicked a 40-yarder with 16 seconds to play to give Iowa a 24-24 Big Ten tie with Ohio State Saturday at Iowa City.

Iowa (5-3-3, 3-1-3) appears a good bet to play in the Peach Bowl, regardless of how the Hawkeyes finish the season, said D.J. Mackovets, a Peach Bowl representative and the only bowl scout at the game.

Ohio State (4-5-1, 2-4-1) tied the game, 21-21, on its first possession of the second half when Scotty Graham scored on a 7-yard run to cap a 78-yard, 7-play drive.

Pat O’Morrow then gave the Buckeyes their first lead, 24-21, with a 39-yard field goal with 8:22 to play.

Iowa quarterback Chuck Hart- lieb, who threw for two touchdowns, then marched the Hawkeyes from their own 33 down to the Ohio State 10 before the drive bogged down. A 32-yard kick by Skillett, who also missed a 46-yarder before halftime, was wide to the right.

To win, all the Buckeyes had to do was run out the clock. However, Buckeye quarterback Greg Frey ended up inches short of the 2 yards he needed on a third-down play. With the ball at the Ohio State 38-yard line with 1:53 to play, OSU chose to punt, giving Iowa the ball on its 38-yard line with 1:05 left.

Hartlieb completed two long passes to move Iowa into position for Skillet’s kick.

Michigan St. 38, Indiana 12--Blake Ezor scored 3 touchdowns and rushed for 250 yards, both career highs, as the Spartans won at Bloomington, Ind.

Ezor, who carried 44 times, scored on runs of 1 and 7 yards in the second quarter and on a 1-yard plunge in the third period.

Indiana opened a 6-0 lead on field goals of 50 and 26 yards by Pete Stoyanovich on its first two possessions. But Michigan State quickly took command by mixing Ezor’s running with an occasional pass completion or run by quarterback Bobby McAllister.

Michigan State’s fifth consecutive victory moved the Spartans to 5-4-1 overall and put them in sole possession of second place in the conference at 5-1-1. Indiana fell to 6-3-1 and 4-3, but may be headed for the Liberty Bowl.

Wisconsin 14, Minnesota 7--Safety Rafael Robinson scored on a blocked punt and linebacker Malvin Hunter recovered a Minnesota fumble in the end zone at Madison, Wis., to give the Badgers their first victory of the season.

Robinson put Wisconsin (1-9, 1-6) on the board on Minnesota’s first series when he picked up a blocked punt and ran 5 yards for a touchdown. The Gophers (2-6-2, 0-5-2) were punting from their own 24-yard line when defensive end Don Davey blocked the punt.

Minnesota came back to tie the game in the second quarter on a 17-yard pass from Scott Schaffner to Shane Strain.

In the third quarter, Hunter recovered a fumble by Minnesota quarterback Keswic Joiner in the end zone for the second Badger touchdown.

Northwestern 28, Purdue 7--Greg Bradshaw teamed up with Bob Christian for a tie-breaking 71-yard touchdown pass play in the fourth quarter, and two interceptions set up two more scores as the Wildcats beat the Boilermakers at Evanston, Ill. Northwestern (2-7-1, 2-4-1) had lost 12 straight to Purdue (4-6, 3-4).