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(MInnesota liked to run against Illinois. Rob Wagner, www.dropkickphotos.com)
By Alex Goff
The DI college league season began in the Midwest Saturday, with one game not being played and a couple of big scores.
Michigan was forced to forfeit to Bowling Green due to on-campus discipline problems. A late student activities council ruling on the Wolverines' latest infraction meant Bowling Green was not afforded enough time to find another opponent on their homecoming weekend. Michigan, which forfeited their first league game to Ohio State, is 0-2, but indications are they may be allowed to play soon.
Ohio State actually got to play for their second win, defeating #25 Notre Dame 43-15.
It didn't look like that would be outcome six minutes in, as the burly Notre Dame side ran in two quick tries to lead 12-0.
But #15 Ohio State recovered. A big try from prop Dave Knab - shoving aside defenders as he scored, and a long ruyn from hooker Matt Altieri sparked the Buckeyes to the comeback. Notre Dame answered with a penalty, but then Eric Sanchez touched down to give Ohio State a lead they would not relinquish.
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| Below, Indiana, in red and white, just pips Purdue. Joan Shepherd photos. |
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"Notre Dame is much impproved," said Ohio State head coach Tom Rooney. "For us it was just a matter of settling our players down and getting into our pattern. They scored 12 points in six minutes, but the good news is we had plenty of time to come back."
Also looking good for OSU was their young back three, which was electric. Wing Robert Rhodes and fullback Josh Holland both scored tries, while wing Alex Brust scored two and kicked four conversions.
Minnesota slapped down Illinois 66-0.
"We have a young team but they played very well," said UM coach Loren Lemke.
2009 DII finalists Wisconsin opened up their DI account with a win, 13-10 over UW-Stout. Center Matt Bruce scored a try and Ben Knight, a fullback who was moved to flyhalf due to injury, icked a conversion and a penalty. With the two teams deadlocked 10-10 with time winding down Knight knocked over his second penalty for the win.
Even closer were Indiana and Purdue. IU ran out to an early lead and held on as Purdue came back. The Boilermakers didn't quite make it all the way, as IU won 21-20.
"We played a preseason game against them and lost by one point; we were hoping to reverse that but we lost by one again," said Purdue's Max Paganini. "It's disappointing but I think something we can build on."
Northern Iowa rode their big pack to a 28-16 win over Iowa State.
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