Big Ten Game Balls for the Week 13 slate are ready to be handed out! And just like that, we are ready for Rivalry Week and the final full week of the regular season.

Across Week 13, we saw yet another undefeated team fall by the wayside. This time, it was Indiana’s magical undefeated season getting thwarted by Ohio State in a resounding win for the Buckeyes.

Elsewhere, Penn State held serve by the slimmest of Margins against Minnesota. With Oregon idle (and already punching a ticket to the title game), it sets up 3 different scenarios to determine who the Ducks will face in Indy.

Nebraska fans are also rejoicing a bit this week with something extra to be thankful for. The long bowl season drought in Lincoln is officially vanquished after a dominant win over Wisconsin Saturday night!

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

Purdue at Michigan State

  • Purdue: LB Kydran Jenkins. Purdue was unable to get after Aidan Chiles enough in Friday’s game, but Jenkins did register a sack and 2 TFLs to go with 9 total tackles. Jenkins was instrumental in the Boilermakers shutting out the Spartans in the 2nd half while trying to climb back into the game.
  • Michigan State: WR Montorie Foster Jr. It was a bit of a timid outing for Michigan State when it was all said and done after the Spartans scored 24 first-half points. Foster was the only MSU player with more than 3 catches, and he led the team with 4 catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Indiana at Ohio State

  • Indiana: RB Ty Son Lawton. With Indiana’s offense unable to get Kurtis Rourke on track, Lawton was the most consistent performer for the Hoosiers. He picked up 79 yards on the ground while averaging 5.3 yards per carry and scored the 2 IU touchdowns in the game. Unfortunately, one came extremely late in the fourth quarter.
  • Ohio State: LB Cody Simon. This game was all about Ohio State’s defense for much of the afternoon, and Simon was the headliner. He led Ohio State in every major category with 10 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and 2.5 TFLs while forcing a key fumble. That effort allowed the Buckeyes to silence Kurtis Rourke and one of the top offenses in the country.

Illinois at Rutgers

  • Illinois: WR Pat Bryant. It’s hard to put into words how Illinois came away with the win in this one. But the Illini ultimately looked toward Bryant on 4th-and-12 inside a minute, and he pulled out a 40-yard touchdown. Bryant’s 197 receiving yards are a career-high and the 6th-most in a single game in Illinois history.
  • Rutgers: QB Athan Kaliakmanis. Even with a lost fumble, it’s hard to play much better than Kaliakmanis in this one. He accounted for over 250 yards of offense with 4 total touchdowns. He also gave Rutgers a go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute remaining and 2 total touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The defense simply couldn’t stand tall.

Iowa at Maryland

  • Iowa: K Drew Stevens. Kamari Moulton and Kaleb Johnson both eclipsed 100 yards, but Iowa still had some issues hitting the end zone vs. Maryland. Enter Stevens who drilled all 7 of his kicks and went 5-for-5 on field goals, including a boomer from 54 yards. The kicker accounted for 17 of Iowa’s 29 total points in the win.
  • Maryland: WR Tai Felton. Felton has been Maryland’s MVP throughout the season, and he provided the team a fighting chance against the Hawkeyes. He recorded 2 second-half touchdowns on 57 yards, including the score that made it 19-13 early in the fourth quarter. Maryland didn’t have any other offense to offer, but Felton did enough to at least make it interesting.

Penn State at Minnesota

  • Penn State: Game-ending play calls. Okay, file this one under Penn State’s coaching staff, but James Franklin’s group dialed up some gutsy moments on the final drive of the game in “gotta have it” mode. Clinging to a 26-25 lead, the Nittany Lions called a fake punt from their own territory to true freshman TE Luke Reynolds. Then, Penn State went for it twice more on 4th down with Drew Allar converting a sneak and then connecting with Tyler Warren inside 30 seconds on the final play of the game.
  • Minnesota: Minnesota’s special teams unit. The Golden Gophers were in this one to the very end, in large part because of special teams. They blocked a punt and an extra point attempt that was returned for 2 points. Kicker Dragan Kesich was also perfect while accounting for 11 points and nailing all 3 field goal tries.

Northwestern at Michigan

  • Northwestern: LB Xander Mueller. There wasn’t much for Northwestern to hang its hat on, but Mueller provided the lone spark with an interception and solid return into Michigan territory. He was also second on the team with 9 total tackles and 6 solo stops.
  • Michigan: RB Kalel Mullings. After opening the season in impressive fashion, Mullings has seen some tough sledding and crowded boxes for the past month and a half. In this one, Mullings had his highest output since the start of October (92 rushing yards) and a career-high 3 rushing touchdowns.

Wisconsin at Nebraska

  • Wisconsin: QB Braedyn Locke. Wisconsin tried to make things interesting off of Locke’s arm, but the Badgers never seriously cut into a second-half deficit after falling behind. Locke still finished 20-for-30 for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns in the loss.
  • Nebraska: RB Emmett Johnson. Somehow, Johnson missed out on a single touchdown (Dante Dowdell scored 3), but Johnson was Nebraska’s most impressive weapon. He tied for the team lead with 85 receiving yards and eclipsed 200 total yards of offense after rushing for 113 on the ground. As a team, Nebraska averaged 5 yards per carry and eclipsed 470 yards of offense.

USC at UCLA

  • USC: K Michael Lantz. USC is now 2-0 with Jayden Maiava starting at QB. After trailing 13-9 entering the fourth quarter, the Trojans used a touchdown pass from Maiava to pull ahead and helped put things away with a field goal from Lantz with just over 2 minutes left in the game. USC’s kicker was a perfect 5-for-5 on all kicks against the Bruins, including 4 made field goals in the rivalry win.
  • UCLA: DB KJ Wallace. UCLA’s defense was getting stops throughout the evening, and Wallace was everywhere. In his 52nd career game as a college player, Wallace set a career-high with 3.5 TFLs. He rounded out the performance with a pass breakup and 5 total tackles and was seemingly everywhere for the Bruins.