Big Ten Game Balls for the Rivalry Week slate are ready to be handed out! And with them, we conclude the final regular season of B1G football in 2024.

As expected, Rivalry Week was not short on drama with no game more dramatic than The Game between Ohio State and Michigan. That titanic upset by the Wolverines threw the Big Ten Championship Game picture into disarray for a few hours, but Penn State was quick to grab its spot in Indy.

Oregon, already cemented in the championship game, completed its perfect regular season with a statement win against Washington. And Indiana left its own statement in Bloomington with a 66-0 shutout of Purdue for a bit of history in the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry.

With that in mind, let’s get to the B1G Game Balls:

Minnesota at Wisconsin

  • Minnesota: QB Max Brosmer. Minnesota’s QB accounted for all 3 touchdowns as the Golden Gophers built a 21-0 lead. Darius Taylor is still the workhorse for Minnesota, but Brosmer was slinging it in all the right places against Wisconsin. He was in complete control from start to finish in a strong rivalry win.
  • Wisconsin: P Atticus Bertrams. Wisconsin called on Bertrams a lot — 8 times to be exact — and he showed off a strong and accurate leg regularly. He dropped 3 punts inside of Minnesota’s 20-yard line to keep the Gophers backed up while averaging 43.6 yards per punt.

Nebraska at Iowa

  • Nebraska: LB John Bullock. Nebraska’s defense was keeping Iowa in check all game long in this one but came up just short in the end. Bullock had 1.5 TFL and a pass breakup while also tying for the team lead with 5 total tackles.
  • Iowa: RB Kaleb Johnson. Who else? I mean, seriously. After being bottled up in the ground game for much of the night, Johnson delivered a game-breaking 72-yard touchdown off a screen pass that is possibly one of the best touchdowns of the entire season. That touchdown tied the game at 10-all and set the stage for the late-game heroics of Drew Stevens as Johnson eclipsed 100 yards of offense in the win.

Michigan at Ohio State

  • Michigan: RB Kalel Mullings. There’s no question who has been the heart and soul of Michigan’s offense. Mullings was even bottled up for much of The Game, but the Wolverines kept feeding him. It paid off with a 3rd-and-6 carry for the ages to set up a game-winning field goal and milk the clock.
  • Ohio State: S Caleb Downs. Ohio State’s defense held up its end of the bargain in The Game, save for one run late in the fourth quarter. Downs led the unit with 11 tackles, including a 4th-down stop of Kalel Mullings in the red zone, and also picked off a pass that gave the Buckeyes the ball on Michigan’s 16-yard line. That alone should have given Ohio State enough to get past the Wolverines, but a missed field goal made it all for not.

Illinois at Northwestern

  • Illinois: RB Aidan Laughery. With Luke Altmyer committing some turnovers, Illinois turned to Laughery to put this one away. He delivered 172 yards on just 12 carries while completing his hat trick with 3 touchdowns. It’s a career day for Laughery, more than doubling his previous career-high of 79 yards from earlier in the season.
  • Northwestern: DB Devin Turner. Northwestern’s defense got to Altmyer early on, and Turner was a big part of those efforts. He finished with 2 interceptions and recorded an early pick-6 while also adding 2 tackles.

Maryland at Penn State

  • Maryland: LB Daniel Wingate. The Maryland defense was on the field for a long time in this one, but Wingate never quit. He led the Terps with 13 total tackles and registered 2.5 TFLs.
  • Penn State: RB Nicholas Singleton. Saturday was the best game for Singleton since early in the season with 87 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns while averaging 6.7 yards per carry. He added 17 yards in the receiving game and a 66-yard kickoff return with his usual burst present in Week 14.

Notre Dame at USC

  • USC: P Eddie Czaplicki. A true weapon for the Trojans on special teams, Czaplicki averaged 45.8 yards per punt and dropped 2 of his 4 punts inside the 20-yard line. His longest went 51 yards against the Irish while producing just one touchback.

Rutgers at Michigan State

  • Rutgers: K Jai Patel. It’s not a kicker is the headliner when you score 41 points, but Patel got a serious workout during Rutgers’ blowout win. He was called on for 7 kicks, including 4 field goals, and nailed every single one of them. He finished with 15 total points and a long field goal of 42 yards in the win.
  • Michigan State: TE Jack Velling. Michigan State rode an up-and-down offense all season long, but Velling managed to tie his season-high with 77 yards and added his first touchdown of the year against Rutgers. He’s definitely a key building block for the Spartans, and that’s a good game to end off into the offseason on.

Fresno State at UCLA

  • UCLA: TE Moliki Matavao. UCLA’s 6-foot-6 tight end waited until the final game of the season to have his best game of the year. Fresno State never had an answer for Matavao as he led all players with 120 receiving yards and led the Bruins with 8 catches.

Purdue at Indiana

  • Purdue: None. I’m sorry, I can’t. Who loses a rivalry game 66-0?
  • Indiana: QB Kurtis Rourke. It’s hard to isolate the honors, but it’s hard to go wrong with a guy who tied a single-game program record with 6 passing touchdowns. Rourke has been a key for the Hoosiers all season long. Now, he’ll get a chance to show what he can do in the Playoff.

Washington at Oregon

  • Washington: K Grady Gross. Washington’s kicker has had his struggles this season, but he was perfect against Oregon. He converted all 3 kicks, including a 41-yard field goal, to account for 7 points in the defeat.
  • Oregon: DE Jordan Burch. After being questionable ahead of kickoff, all Burch did is go out and lead a dominant defensive effort with 2.5 sacks. As a team, the Ducks registered a single-game program record 10 sacks against Washington with 16 TFLs.