Nothing Coy In Cu’s Win

Around the country

John Hessler made Colorado history in his first career start Saturday night, throwing a school-record five touchdown passes in a 38-17 victory over No. 10 Oklahoma at Norman, Okla.

Hessler came off the bench last week after Koy Detmer went out with a right knee injury and led No. 4 Colorado (1-0 Big Eight, 5-0) past Texas A&M. This week, he had to lead the Buffaloes back from first-half deficits of 10-0 and 17-7. The sophomore did it in style, completing 24 of 34 passes for 348 yards, dropping the Sooners to 0-1, 3-1.

East

Virginia Tech 26, Pittsburgh 16: At Pittsburgh, Jim Druckenmiller threw a go-ahead 73-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Holmes with 10:42 left after Angelo Harrison blocked two punts to set up scores and the Hokies (2-1 Big East, 2-2) rallied to beat the Panthers (0-1, 2-3).

Army 21, Rice 21: At West Point, N.Y., J. Parker kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired, capping a furious last-minute drive and giving the Cadets (1-2-1) a tie with the Owls (1-2-1).

Syracuse 27, Rutgers 17: At Piscataway, N.J., Donovan McNabb threw two touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison and the Orangemen (1-0 Big East, 3-1) continued their domination of the Scarlet Knights (0-1, 1-3) by scoring 24 straight second-half points.

Bowling Green 37, Temple 31: At Philadelphia, Leylan Cates ran for three touchdowns as the Falcons extended the Owls’ losing streak to 12 games - the longest in Division I-A. Bowling Green improved to 3-2 while Temple suffered its fourth loss this season.

South

(3) Florida 28, Mississippi 10: At Gainesville, Fla., Danny Wuerffel continued his touchdown barrage, throwing for three scores as the Gators recorded a lackluster win over the Rebels, who kept the game close by controlling the clock. Florida (3-0 Southeastern Conference, 4-0) scored on its first three possessions but couldn’t pull away because Ole Miss (1-2, 2-3) held a 10:40 advantage in time of possession.

(11) Virginia 35, Wake Forest 17: At Charlottesville, Va., Mike Groh passed for 335 yards and two touchdowns as the Cavaliers continued their mastery over the Deacon Demons.

Virginia (4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, 5-1) has won 12 straight over Wake Forest by an average of 19 points, the longest current winning streak by one ACC team over another. Wake (0-2, 1-4) also is the only ACC team with which Virginia leads the series 26-11.

(12) Tennessee 31, Oklahoma State 0: At Knoxville, Tenn., Jay Graham rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns and Peyton Manning passed for two more scores as the Vols (4-1) cruised to a win over the Cowboys (1-4).

South Carolina 20, (14) LSU 20: At Columbia, S.C., Sheddrick Wilson, who severely sprained his left knee just before halftime, returned to catch a 19-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 left as the Tigers (3-0-1 SEC, 3-1-1) salvaged a tie against the Gamecocks (0-3-1, 1-3-1).

(20) Alabama 31, Georgia 0: At Athens, Ga., Deshea Townsend returned a blocked field goal 90 yards for a touchdown, Cedric Samuel returned a fumble 25 yards for another and Kevin Jackson scored on a 26-yard interception return, leading the Crimson Tide (2-1 SEC, 3-1) to a win over the Bulldogs (1-3, 2-3).

Louisville 17, Memphis 7: At Memphis, Tenn., after resorting to a fake punt to keep their drive alive, the Louisville’s Marty Lowe hit John Bell with an 11-yard scoring pass to push the Cardinals (3-2) past the Tigers (1-4).

Clemson 43, N. Carolina St. 22: At Raleigh, N.C., Nealon Greene answered his coach’s call for mistake-free football, throwing two touchdown passes and leading the Tigers (2-2, 3-2) over the Wolfpack (0-3, 1-4) in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Navy 30, Duke 9: At Durham, N.C., Chris McCoy rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown and ran Navy’s option offense to near perfection as the Midshipmen (2-2) rolled over Duke (2-3), snapping the Blue Devils’ 20-game non-conference home winning streak.

E. Carolina 23, W. Virginia 20: At Greenville, N.C., Chad Holcomb’s 53-yard field goal with 2:12 remaining stopped a second-half surge by the Mountaineers (2-3) as the Pirates (3-2) finished a tough September schedule with a win.

North Carolina 62, Ohio University 0: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Octavus Barnes had 211 receiving yards on eight catches and tied the North Carolina record with three touchdown receptions as the Tar Heels (2-2) broke out of their scoring slump with a win over the Bobcats.

It was the worst loss for the Bobcats (1-3-1) since a 72-0 drubbing to Syracuse in 1916.

Midwest

(8) Michigan 38, Miami, Ohio 19: At Ann Arbor, Brian Griese threw two touchdown passes in a nearly flawless first half and the Wolverines (5-0) went on to beat the Redskins (3-2).

Michigan, off to its best start since opening the 1986 season with nine victories, scored on its first five possessions. Miami dropped to 3-2.

(13) Auburn 41, Kentucky 21: At Lexington, Ky., Patrick Nix passed for three first-half touchdowns as the Tigers (2-1 SEC, 3-1) built a 35-7 lead en route to a win over the Wildcats (1-2, 2-3).

(16) Kansas St. 44, N. Illinois 0: At Manhattan, Kan., Kevin Lockett broke the school record for touchdown catches and Bill Snyder became Kansas State’s winningest coach as the Wildcats (4-0) snapped out of a lethargic first half and rolled past the Huskies (2-3).

(23) Arkansas 35, Vanderbilt 7: At Nashville, Tenn., Madre Hill ran for two touchdowns and 200 yards and Barry Lunney threw for one TD and ran for another as the Razorbacks routed the Commodores (0-2 SEC, 0-4). The Razorbacks (3-0, 4-1) took sole possession of the Western Division lead after LSU’s 20-20 tie with South Carolina earlier Saturday.

Michigan St. 25, Boston College 21: At East Lansing, Mich., Robert Shurelds had two second-half interceptions and Todd Schultz, making his first start, passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns as the Spartans (2-1-1) overcame a 12-point deficit for a win over the Eagles (1-3).

Minnesota 55, Arkansas State 7: At Minneapolis, Cory Sauter threw for three touchdowns and the Golden Gophers (2-1) converted four turnovers into 24 points in a blowout of the Indians (2-3).

Iowa 59, New Mexico St. 21: At Iowa City, Iowa, Matt Sherman threw three touchdown passes and Sedrick Shaw scored twice as the Hawkeyes scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions en route to a win over the Aggies.

The Hawkeyes stymied Cody Ledbetter, the nation’s leading passer, while amassing 612 yards in improving to 3-0 for the first time since 1991. The Aggies (1-4) lost their fourth straight.

Purdue 35, Ball St. 13: At West Lafayette, Ind., Mike Alstott set two Purdue records, running for 100 yards for the fourth consecutive game and scoring his 30th rushing touchdown as the Boilermakers (2-1-1) defeated the Cardinals.

Ball State (3-2), from the Mid-American Conference, remained winless in seven tries against Big Ten opponents, including 0-4 against the Boilermakers.

Northwestern 31, Indiana 7: At Evanston, Ill., Darnell Autry gained 100 yards for a fifth straight game, Brian Musso set up a touchdown with an 86-yard punt return and Casey Dailey scored on a fumble return as the Wildcats beat the Hoosiers (0-1 Big Ten, 2-2).

Northwestern’s victory in the Big Ten opener before a small crowd of 29,223 gives the Wildcats a 3-1 start for the first time since 1963.

Southwest

(21) Texas 35, SMU 10: At Dallas, James Brown threw two touchdown passes and Shon Mitchell scored twice and rushed for 180 yards as the Longhorns (1-0, 1-3) rolled to a win over the Mustangs (0-1, 1-4) in a Southwest Conference opener.

Baylor 9, (24) Texas Tech 7: At Waco, Texas, Jerod Douglas rushed for 157 yards to set up three field goals by Jarvis Van Dyke and the Bears (1-0, 3-1) defeated the Red Raiders (0-1, 1-2) in the teams’ final matchup as SWC members.

West

BYU 28, Colorado St. 21: At Fort Collins, Colo., Steve Sarkisian overcame an early interception with three touchdown passes to lead the Cougars to a victory over their Western Athletic Conference foes.

The victory was the second straight for BYU after losing the first two games of the season, and ran the Cougars’ record to 2-1 in the WAC, 2-2 overall. CSU, defending WAC champion, dropped to 1-1, 2-2.

Air Force 27, New Mexico 24: At Albuquerque, Beau Morgan scored the go-ahead touchdown on a fourth-down run and safety Kelvin King’s interception in the end zone secured the Falcons (3-1 WAC, 3-2) win over the Lobos (0-2, 2-2).

San Jose St. 32, Utah St. 30: At San Jose, Calif., Joe Furlow’s 42-yard field goal with 18 seconds left lifted the Spartans (1-1 Big West, 1-4) to a victory over the Aggies (0-2 0-4).

Hawaii 58, UNLV 30: At Las Vegas, Hawaii quarterback Glenn Freitas rushed for four touchdowns and passed for another as the Rainbow Warriors (2-2) crushed the Rebels (1-4).

Portland St. 54, Sacramento St. 16:: At Sacramento, Calif., Steve Papin rushed for 195 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Vikings (3-2) to a win over Hornets (0-3-1).

Utah 34, UTEP 21: At El Paso, Texas, Mike Fouts threw two touchdown passes and the Utes (3-0, 3-2) withstood a last-minute TexasEl Paso surge to defeat the Miners (0-2, 1-4) and remained unbeaten in the Western Athletic Conference.