Late Saturday afternoon and in the evening, the Big Ten East Division race started to be sharper. Not at the top, where the state of Ohio escaped the Gophers' revenge, but just below, where some surprising changes took place.

In the state of Pennsylvania, in Penn State, which had a week off to recover from its 27-26 loss at the expense of Ohio State, found a way to let Michigan State hang out just enough for the Spartans to escape with a 21-17 victory over a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brian Lewerke to Felton Davis with 19 seconds to play.

Later in the evening in Ann Arbor, where Michigan faced Wisconsin, the Western leader, in a playoff game against the hopes of College Football Playoff.

Both teams scored a loss in the game and after the Wolverines dismantled the Badgers 38-13, Wisconsin came home with a promising season in ruins.

That left us No. 2 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), No. 6 Michigan (6-1, 4-0), No. 24 Michigan State (4-1, 2-1) and Maryland (4-2, 2-1) as title contenders. And Saturday, all eyes will be turned to East with this match:

Michigan to Michigan State.

"What has always been, such as it will be, such as it will always be," said Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh, using his usual word economy. "Big game."

Michigan and Harbaugh, who recorded 10-3, 10-3 and 8-5 records in his previous three seasons at his alma mater, are not reporting his $ 7.5 million annual salary quite well . Since the division of Big Ten into divisions in 2011 and the establishment of a championship game, the Wolverines have not played yet.

"The improvement will lead to success, lead to the championships," Harbaugh said.

The Spartans have been a source of trouble for Michigan over the last ten years. They won four wins out of five and eight out of ten. Although the Wolverines won the last game in East Lansing, 32-23 in 2016, few people can forget. In 2015, when Blake O Neill scored the Michigan scorer, the Spartans sent him back for a touchdown and a 27-23 win in the last game.

"It's good for college football and I think for Michigan as well," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said of the 8-3 rivalry against Michigan.

"Everyone is excited."

This is the case of Michigan, which has recovered after losing 24-17 to Notre Dame in the first game of the season, winning six victories in a row without preventing an opponent to score more than 21 points. The Wolverines conceded 238 yards per game, the country's second total, and only 209.3 in the Big Ten game.

Their dominance was displayed against Wisconsin. When Lavert Hill of Michigan intercepted a pass from Alex Hornibrook and reported 21 yards for a touchdown and 31-7 of the Wolverines with 9:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, the QB Badgers had more than doubled the game. number of interception returns returned (52), he had yards in the pass (25, 3 assists for 11 assists).

Michigan State, meanwhile, is not left in defense. The Spartans are giving 62.3 rushing yards per game, the lowest in the country. They will need this against a Michigan offense that lasted 320 against Wisconsin.

All of this adds to an internal rivalry between conferences and national implications.

"If you can play well in October, then you will be hunting for things in November," said Dantonio. "So that's our intention as we move forward, but yes, I think [the rivalry] intensify things. "

Randy Johnson covers college football for the Star Tribune. Twitter: @RJStrib. E-mail: [email protected]