The Big Ten is built on hard-nosed football, running the ball and winning in the trenches. For the second season in a row, the Michigan Wolverines were crowned champions of the conference because they excelled in each of those categories. Much of the thanks on defense comes from the interior defensive line, arguably the most dominant unit on the field for the Wolverines.
Retrospectively, look what this defense — with much credit going to the line — did to some of the Big Ten programs. Iowa ran for just 35 yards, Indiana had only 19, Michigan State had 37 yards on 23 attempts, Rutgers only picked up 13.