Over the weekend, the Big Ten East race got a whole lot messier, as the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions lost to Iowa and Michigan State. Both teams still have shots at winning the division, but it makes it a whole lot more complicated now.
During Penn State-Michigan State, Saquon Barkley told the Spartans the stakes had just gone up, thanks to Ohio State
The Big Ten East got a little messy last Saturday.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
After MSU’s 27-24 victory, Spartan linebackers Chris Frey and Joe Bachie said Nittany Lions running back Saquon Barkley told them during the fourth quarter that Ohio State was losing to Iowa. Frey’s postgame comments about this moment start below right at the 8:23 mark:
“I think we were midway through the fourth quarter and I was covering Saquon Barkley down the field and he actually, after the play, was like, ‘You know Ohio State’s losing. They’re down big. We’re playing for a [Big Ten East] championship right now,’” Frey said, as transcribed by Yahoo! Sports. “I kind of just laughed. I didn’t know they had lost at that point but I knew they were down big.”
“Yeah, I was standing right there,” Bachie added. “That’s when I found out, too.”
The Spartans face Ohio State on the road this Saturday at noon, and the two teams enter tied at the top of the East. If Penn State had beaten Michigan State, the Nittany Lions would’ve needed a little more help, but would’ve still had a great shot.
“We talked about it last week, and this season — we’re in the driver’s seat right now,” Frey said of Sparty’s division title hopes. “And all of our dreams and everything that we want is in front of us. we have a very tough task ahead of us in Columbus, and we’re ready to get after it.”
Whoever wins the East will likely face Big Ten West champion Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship. OSU is currently a 15.5-point favorite against MSU.
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