BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Buckeyes Blank Hawkeyes, 28-0

For Iowa Coach Hayden Fry, it was “the most frustrating day in my 38 years of coaching.”

For Ohio State, it was the latest in a string of victories.

Ohio State’s maligned defense had its biggest day as the Buckeyes rolled to a 28-0 Big-Ten victory over Iowa Saturday at Columbus, Ohio.

Backed by two touchdowns by Scottie Graham and two scoring passes by Greg Frey, Ohio State registered its first shutout in more than three years.

Ohio State’s last shutout victory was 33-0 over Minnesota in 1986.

Ohio State entered Saturday’s game having allowed 27 points per game, and the Buckeyes were ranked last in the Big Ten in pass defense.

But the Buckeyes shut down the Hawkeyes.

“I never dreamed we would play this poorly,” said Fry. “We were terrible on offense and terrible in execution on offense and defense.

“This was the most frustrating day in my 38 years of coaching. It was my most disappointing loss.”

The victory was the fifth in a row for Ohio State, 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten, and keeps alive the Buckeyes’ conference title hopes. Ohio State is one game out of first place with two games remaining. The Buckeyes play host to Wisconsin, then play at Michigan Nov. 25.

Iowa fell to 4-5 and 2-4.

A crowd of 89,536 at Ohio Stadium watched the Buckeyes score once in each quarter. Graham scored on a three-yard run in the first quarter and caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Frey in the third quarter. Ohio State also got touchdowns on an eight-yard pass from Frey to Jeff Graham and a one-yard plunge by Dante Lee.

Michigan State 21, Minnesota 7--Courtney Hawkins caught nine passes for 197 yards, including touchdowns of three and 47 yards, in leading the Spartans past the Gophers at East Lansing, Mich.

Hawkins, a sophomore, moved into second place behind Andre Rison in Michigan State’s record book. He needs five more catches and 45 yards to match Rison’s record of 54 receptions for 966 yards.

Dan Enos completed 13 of 26 passes for 240 yards as the Spartans improved to 5-4 and 4-2.

Quarterback Scott Schaffner scrambled 36 yards for the Golden Gophers’ lone score as Minnesota fell to 5-4 and 3-3.

Purdue 46, Northwestern 15--The Boilermakers scored 32 points in the first quarter in routing the Wildcats at West Lafayette, Ind.

Rick Smith got things going when he blocked a punt and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. It was one of three blocked punts Purdue had in the first quarter.

Amazingly, the Boilermakers had not scored a touchdown in the opening period in their last 12 games, dating back to last season.

It was Purdue’s second most productive quarter ever. The Boilermakers scored 34 points in the second quarter of a 51-6 victory over Indiana in 1966.

The victory ended a seven-game losing streak for Purdue (2-7 and 1-5) as Northwestern (0-9 and 0-6) lost for the 10th consecutive time.