TD by Howard’s friend tops UConn

On a day Connecticut honored slain teammate Jasper Howard, one of his best friends won the game for Rutgers.

Tim Brown, who grew up with Howard in Miami, scored on an 81-yard touchdown pass from Tom Savage with 22 seconds left to give the Scarlet Knights a 28-24 victory over the Huskies at East Hartford, Conn. It was UConn’s first home game since Howard was stabbed to death.

“I just went out there and played that game for my friend,” Brown said.

“He was a special guy to me and I just went out there and dedicated that game to him.”

Connecticut (4-4, 2-2 Big East) scored to take a 24-21 lead with less than a minute left, and the crowd was roaring, when Brown got behind cornerback Robert McClain, and outraced the entire UConn secondary to the end zone.

Howard might have had the speed to catch him, Brown said.

“We were ready to play (each other),” he said “It would have been a great game for me if I’d had my other friend on the other side.”

Howard was killed outside a school dance on Oct. 18. Since then, the Huskies have played twice and taken two tough losses.

There were numerous tributes to Howard before the game and fans lined up three-deep to greet the Huskies as they made their way into the stadium wearing T-shirts with his number “6” on it.

Savage, the freshman quarterback, threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns for Rutgers (6-2, 1-2) in his first Big East road game. Brown finished with 162 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Wisconsin 37, Purdue 0: At Madison, Wis., John Clay ran for 123 yards and three touchdowns and Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) shut out a Big Ten opponent for the first time since 1999 to snap a two-game losing streak.

Freshman David Gilbert added a leaping blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, putting an emphatic exclamation point on a dominant first half in the win that made the Badgers bowl-eligible for the eighth consecutive year.

Purdue (3-6, 2-3) had been on a roll, having defeated Ohio State and Illinois in consecutive weeks.

Illinois 38, Michigan 13: Juice Williams broke loose against Michigan again and Illinois stopped the Wolverines on four plays from the 1 before the Fighting Illini (2-6, 1-5 Big Ten) ran all over the visiting Wolverines (5-4, 1-4).

Mikel LeShoure ran 70 yards for a touchdown following the fourth-down stop, and Illinois rolled up 377 yards rushing.

Temple 27, Navy 24: Bernard Pierce rushed for 267 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown with 2:41 left, and James Nixon returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown as Temple became bowl eligible with the victory over the Midshipmen (6-3) at Annapolis, Md.

The Owls (6-2) won their sixth straight game, their longest streak since 1974. The last time Temple went to a bowl game was the 1979 Garden State Bowl.

Duke 28, Virginia 17: Thaddeus Lewis hit Conner Vernon on a 42-yard touchdown pass with 3:45 remaining and the Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1 ACC) rallied to beat the Cavaliers (3-5, 2-2) at Charlottesville, Va.

Lewis was 24 for 40 for 343 yards against the nation’s sixth-ranked pass defense.