Business Unit News
Big Ten Network Announces 13 New Episodes of Big Ten's Greatest Games
Fan input part of fourth season kicking off September 3
CHICAGO – August 31, 2010 – Featuring bitter rivalries, bowl victories, down-to-the-wire
finishes and star-making performances, the fourth season of The
Big Ten’s Greatest Games premieres Friday. New episodes will air
at 6 PM ET for 13 straight Fridays this fall.
This list of classics features Big Ten fans’ most commonly
requested games over the past year. The 2005 Ohio State-Penn
State thriller was the fan favorite.
“These are some of the games that connect fans and alumni to
their favorite Big Ten schools,” Big Ten Network President Mark
Silverman said. “This list was selected to provide fans of the
Big Ten the opportunity to once again enjoy some of their
favorite program’s best moments.”
The network is in the planning stages for a fourth basketball
season of The Big Ten’s Greatest Games. Fans are encouraged to
nominate their favorite historical contests by visiting
www.bigtennetwork.com/greatest.
The fourth football season of The Big Ten’s Greatest Games will
feature accomplished and celebrated Big Ten heroes such as
Illinois’ Kurt Kittner, Indiana’s Vaughn Dunbar, Iowa’s Bob
Sanders, Michigan’s Anthony Thomas, Michigan State’s Tony Banks,
Minnesota’s Laurence Maroney, Northwestern’s Tyrell Sutton, Ohio
State’s Troy Smith, Penn State’s Paul Posluszny, Purdue’s Kyle
Orton, Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne, and more.
The schedule for The Big Ten’s Greatest Games is as follows:
September 3, 6 PM ET
• Jan. 1, 2001 – Citrus Bowl – #17 Michigan 31, #20 Auburn 28
Anthony Thomas rushed for 182 yards to become Michigan’s
all-time leading rusher, while quarterback Drew Henson and wide
receiver David Terrell provided additional firepower. But it was
the Wolverines’ defense that forced an Auburn turnover on the
game’s final possession to lock up this closely contested bowl
game for Michigan and head coach Lloyd Carr.
September 10, 6 PM ET
• Sept. 4, 1989 – #22 Illinois 14, #5 USC 13
Quarterback Jeff George led the Fighting Illini to an upset of
fifth-ranked USC in the season opener. The victory put John
Mackovic’s Illinois team on track for a 10-2 record, a 7-1
finish in Big Ten play and a win in the Citrus Bowl.
September 17, 6 PM ET
• Sept. 21, 1991 – Indiana 13, Kentucky 10
Indiana running back Vaughn Dunbar rushed 39 times for 147 yards
and the go-ahead touchdown to beat border rival Kentucky. Dunbar
would later be named a first team All-American and finish sixth
in the 1991 Heisman voting. As a team, the Hoosiers finished
fourth in the Big Ten and topped Baylor in the Copper Bowl.
September 24, 6 PM ET
• Oct. 18, 2003 – #13 Purdue 26, #14 Wisconsin 23
Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton was on fire, passing for 411 yards
and completing 15 straight passes during one stretch. Wide
receiver Taylor Stubblefield had 16 receptions for 130 yards.
Scoring became difficult as this game wore on, and it took a
field goal from the Boilermakers’ Ben Jones to win the game with
three seconds remaining.
October 1, 6 PM ET
• Oct. 8, 2005 – Northwestern 51, #14 Wisconsin 48
Northwestern set a school record with 674 yards of total offense
en route to a 51-48 upset victory over previously undefeated
Wisconsin. Freshman running back Tyrell Sutton enjoyed a
breakout performance with 244 yards and three touchdowns.
Quarterback Brett Basanez passed for more than 350 yards and
three touchdowns.
October 8, 6 PM ET
• Nov. 4, 1995 – Michigan State 28, #7 Michigan 25
One play changed the outcome of this contest between in-state
rivals. Trailing late in the fourth quarter, Michigan State
faced a fourth-and-11 scenario on its own 30-yard line.
Quarterback Tony Banks converted the first down, however, and
the Spartans continued their drive until Banks connected with
wide receiver Nigea Carter on a 25-yard touchdown pass with just
over a minute left to play to upset in-state rival and
seventh-ranked Michigan.
October 15, 6 PM ET
• Oct. 4, 2003 – #23 Iowa 30, #9 Michigan 27
Chris Perry and Braylon Edwards each scored touchdowns to stake
Michigan to an early 14-point lead, but Iowa rallied to knock
off ninth-ranked Michigan, 30-27. Iowa got back in the game with
outstanding special teams play, getting a 43-yard punt return
from Ramon Ochoa and a blocked Michigan punt in the second half.
October 22, 6 PM ET
• Oct. 8, 2005 – Minnesota 23, #21 Michigan 20
Minnesota snatched away the Little Brown Jug in this rivalry
game over Michigan, the first time the Golden Gophers had done
so since 1986. Minnesota’s two-headed monster at the running
back position dominated the pace of this game, as Laurence
Maroney ran for 129 yards and Gary Russell tallied 128 rushing
yards. The Wolverines, meanwhile, could only muster 110 yards of
offense in the second half.
October 29, 6 PM ET
• Oct. 12, 2002 – #13 Michigan 27, #15 Penn State 24, OT
Michigan quarterback John Navarre connected with Braylon Edwards
for a second touchdown with just 3:24 remaining in the fourth
quarter to force overtime. In the first overtime, Penn State
recaptured the lead on a Robbie Gould field goal, but the
Wolverines countered with a game-winning three-yard touchdown
run by Chris Perry.
November 5, 6 PM ET
• Oct. 10, 1998 – #12 Wisconsin 31, Purdue 24
A record-setting performance by Purdue quarterback Drew Brees
was not enough to get his Boilermakers passed Ron Dayne and
Wisconsin. Brees set an NCAA record with 83 passing attempts,
and he tied the record for completions with 55. He threw for 494
yards, but Wisconsin intercepted four of Brees’ passes. Dayne
carried 33 times for 127 yards to pace the Badgers.
November 12, 6 PM ET
• Oct. 8, 2005 – #16 Penn State 17, #6 Ohio State 10
The second-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history, nearly
110,000 fans, saw a defensive battle on a rainy, windy night in
Happy Valley. Penn State cornerback Calvin Lowry intercepted
Troy Smith and returned it to the Buckeyes’ two-yard line,
setting up a touchdown by Michael Robinson. Paul Posluszny led
the Penn State defense with 14 tackles, and the win put the
Nittany Lions atop the Big Ten standings.
November 19, 6 PM ET
• Nov. 10, 2001 – #15 Illinois 33, Penn State 28
Trailing Penn State with just over three minutes to go in the
fourth quarter, Illinois mounted one last drive offensively that
was punctuated by a 13-yard touchdown run by Rocky Harvey.
Quarterback Kurt Kittner steered the team’s drive up until
Harvey’s run, and the Fighting Illini earned their eighth win of
the season in Champaign. It was the school’s first victory over
the Nittany Lions since their entry into the Big Ten in 1993.
November 26, 6 PM ET
• Nov. 19, 2005 – #9 Ohio State 25, #17 Michigan 21
To earn a Fiesta Bowl bid, Ohio State had to rally from a 21-12
deficit with just eight minutes to play in Ann Arbor. Buckeye
quarterback Troy Smith piloted consecutive touchdown drives of
67 and 88 yards, while the Ohio State defense limited Michigan
to only 19 rushing yards in the fourth quarter.
About the Big Ten Network: A joint venture between the Big Ten
Conference and Fox Networks, the Big Ten Network is the first
internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of
the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With
approximately 350 live sporting events, and nearly all of them
in HD, the network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans
and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their
favorite teams, regardless of where they live. The network
operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, showcasing a wide
array of classic-to-current sports and televising more Olympic
sporting events and women’s sports than has ever been aired on
any other network. Original programming highlights activities
and accomplishments of some of the nation’s finest universities.
Each year, the network offers between 35 and 40 football games,
105 regular season men’s basketball games; 55 women’s basketball
games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows;
coaches’ shows; and classic games. The network is available to
more than 75 million homes across the United States and Canada,
and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates,
including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision,
Charter, Comcast, Cox (Cleveland, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas,
Omaha), DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable
(Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable
and Verizon FiOS. For updated information on the Big Ten
Network, go to
www.BigTenNetwork.com.
Contact:
Elizabeth Conlisk
(312) 665-0726