5 Best Performances in Big Ten Championship History
By Michael Luciano
It's worth noting ahead of Ohio State and Wisconsin's impending clash this weekend that the Big Ten Championship isn't even 10 years old, and already we've seen some legendary performances that have turned certain players into campus royalty in perpetuity.
These five historic performances not only stand out for their gaudy individual numbers, but they also helped propel their respective teams to a conference title and, in some cases, a national championship.
5. Michigan State QB Connor Cook, 2013
Cook remains the only player to win the conference championship MVP award twice, but his finest hour was leading the Spartans to an upset of Braxton Miller and a previously undefeated Ohio State team that ranked No. 2 in the nation. Cook threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns against a defense full of future NFL starters, guiding a Michigan State team that was given minimal chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Big Ten history.
4. Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott, 2014
The injury to JT Barrett did little to slow down Ohio State in the inaugural year of the College Football Playoff, as Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliott put the Buckeyes on their back and bulldozed their way to a championship. The first step toward postseason glory was a 59-0 drubbing of Wisconsin in the conference title game, and Elliott led the way with 220 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns. Zeke would follow that up with 230 yards and two scores against Alabama, and later 246 yards and four touchdowns in the championship win against Oregon.
3. Penn State QB Trace McSorley, 2016
Saquon Barkley had, by his standards, a pretty vanilla day in the conference championship, rushing for 83 yards on 19 carries. The Nittany Lions needed Trace McSorley to deliver with his arm, and did he ever. McSorley threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns in Penn State's 38-31 win over Bart Houston and Wisconsin. The Badgers' entire defensive game plan centered around keeping McSorley in the pocket. They succeeded in that regard, but the current Baltimore Raven ended up firing darts all over the Lucas Oil Stadium turf.
2. Wisconsin RBs Montee Ball/James White/Melvin Gordon, 2012
Yes, these three were all in the same backfield at the same time. Quarterback Curt Phillips went 6-of-8 passing, and Wisconsin still put up 70 points on Nebraska. A legit case could be made for each of the three Badgers as the most impressive of the night. Ball led the team in carries with 21 while racking up 202 yards and three touchdowns. White toted the rock 15 times for 109 yards and four touchdowns while also throwing a touchdown for good measure. Gordon had just nine carries, but he led the team in rushing with 216 yards and one touchdown. With 542 yards on the ground, this was nothing short of a beatdown.
1. Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins, 2018
Haskins was already a star after shattering basically every Big Ten passing record in the book, but his coronation as the greatest passer Ohio State had ever seen to that point came in a legendary performance against an overmatched Northwestern side. Haskins threw for 499 yards and five touchdown passes, both of which remain conference championship game records. Northwestern kept it close, but Haskins and the Buckeyes flipped the switch in the second half, cementing their legacy as one of the best offenses in college football history.