The Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Michigan's complete performance kept its Big Ten title hopes alive.

John Navarre threw two touchdown passes to Braylon Edwards and the 13th-ranked Wolverines shut down No. 10 Purdue's passing game in a 31-3 victory Saturday that moved them into second place in the conference.

"We know to win the Big Ten, we have to win the rest of our games," Edwards said.

The Wolverines (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) took control of the game with two first-quarter TDs and never gave the Boilermakers (6-2, 3-1) a chance to win.

"I thought our defense and special teams were the difference," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "It was a good performance to stay in the race."

Michigan's win sets up a game next week at No. 11 Michigan State (7-1, 4-0) that will have more than just local interest.

The Spartans are the only team without a Big Ten loss.

"It's going to be a big game with a lot of hype," Navarre said.

Steve Breaston's 21-yard end-around gave the Wolverines a 14-0 lead, which they maintained until halftime.

Markus Curry's 2-yard fumble return, after Carl Diggs forced a fumble, put Michigan ahead 28-3 early in the fourth quarter.

The Boilermakers, who had won six straight, had a chance to be 4-0 in the Big Ten for the first time in 23 years.

"I'm not stunned," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "I felt that this was the most talented team in the league."

Navarre was 17-of-30 for 225 yards with TD passes of 14 and 26 yards to Edwards, who caught six passes for 86 yards. Jason Avant caught five passes for 90 yards.

Northwestern 16, No. 20 Wisconsin 7

EVANSTON, Ill. - Jason Wright caught a 53-yard touchdown pass and added a 1-yard scoring run following a fake field goal as Northwestern upset No. 20 Wisconsin.

Northwestern (4-4, 2-2 Big Ten) led 9-7 and faced fourth-and-6 at the 23 when coach Randy Walker sent in his field-goal unit. Eric Batis took the snap, and slipped the ball between Noah Herron's legs. Herron stood still for a couple of counts, then took off to the right for a 20-yard gain. Wright scored two plays later to give Northwestern the 16-7 lead for good.

No. 16 Iowa 26, Penn St. 14

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Iowa came up with the big plays on special teams and defense a week too late.

The No. 16 Hawkeyes returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the third quarter and used a long fumble return to set up another score in handing Penn State its fourth straight loss, 26-14 Saturday.

The loss by the Nittany Lions (2-6, 0-4 Big Ten) dropped coach Joe Paterno into second place for most wins ever in Division I-A. Florida State's Bobby Bowden beat Wake Forest 48-24 later Saturday for his 339th career win, breaking a tie with Paterno.

The Hawkeyes' normally stellar special teams units were much to blame for last week's 19-10 loss at Ohio State, which scored touchdowns on a blocked punt and a punt return.

"Last week turnovers would have helped us, special teams would have helped us," said linebacker Abdul Hodge, who returned a fumble 47 yards to set up Iowa's first touchdown.

"We came in to this game and wanted to correct it. We didn't know how our offense was going to do today, so we always feel like it's the defense and special teams that have to make some plays," Hodge said.

Minnesota 36, Illinois 10

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Minnesota's Laurence Maroney ran all over the Illinois defense Saturday, piling up 179 yards on 22 carries in the Gophers' 36-10 win.

And he could have had more - his 89-yard run was called back by a penalty.

"He doesn't look like a freshman running back, does he?" Minnesota coach Glen Mason said.

A St. Louis-area native, Maroney chose to play as close to home as he could get in the Big Ten.

He said he wanted to put on a show for the 30 or 40 friends and relatives in the stands, and for the Illini coaches who lost the battle to recruit him.

"He's been looking good all season, but just the fact that he was coming home made him play better." said Minnesota quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq.

"I had a lot of family members coming up, probably 30 or 40 people," Maroney said. "I really wanted to show them that I could do this against a Big Ten team."

Maroney scored two touchdowns and Abdul-Khaliq threw three TD passes. Marion Barber III added 129 yards on 24 carries as the Gophers (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten) broke their two-game losing streak and rolled up 575 yards in total offense, their fourth game of more than 500 yards this season.

	Conf.		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Michigan St.	4	0	7	1
Michigan	4	1	7	2
Ohio St.	3	1	7	1
Purdue	3	1	6	2
Minnesota	3	2	7	2
Wisconsin	3	2	6	3
Iowa	2	2	6	2
Northwestern	2	2	4	4
Penn St.	0	4	2	6
Indiana	0	4	1	7
Illinois	0	5	1	8

Saturday's scores

Iowa 26, Penn St. 14

Ohio St. 35, Indiana 6

Minnesota 36, Illinois 10

Northwestern 16, Wisconsin 7

Michigan 31, Purdue 3

Next Saturday's games

Illinois at Iowa, Noon

Northwestern at Purdue, Noon

Michigan at Michigan St., 1 p.m.

Indiana at Minnesota, 2 p.m.

Ohio St. at Penn St., 3:30 p.m.