Penn State Taken To Edge
Around the country
Brent Conway, who missed two field goals earlier, kicked a 39-yarder with 4 seconds remaining as No. 4 Penn State came back from a 13-point deficit to beat Texas Tech 24-23 Saturday at State College, Pa.
The Nittany Lions survived three fumbles, one less than the team lost all last season, to defeat the Red Raiders, who were three-touchdown underdogs in the season opener.
Penn State’s final drive ate up 6-1/2 minutes as the Nittany Lions marched to the Texas Tech 11. Penn State was trying to get the ball to the middle of the field for the field-goal attempt when a holding penalty moved the ball back to the 25.
Conway, who was 10 for 12 on field-goal attempts last season, was wide on attempts of 37 and 49 yards earlier in the game. His field goal was the winning margin because Texas Tech’s Jaret Greaser missed an extra point earlier.
EAST
East Carolina 27, (22) Syracuse 24: At Syracuse, N.Y., Jerris McPhail’s 14-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter capped a 21-point rally and lifted East Carolina (1-1) past the Orangemen (1-1). Marcus Crandell threw for a career-high 392 yards and four touchdowns, three in the second half. It was East Carolina’s second straight win in the Carrier Dome.
Army 42, Lehigh 9: At West Point, N.Y., Rashad Hodge scored on a 74-yard run on the first play from scrimmage as the Cadets’ newlook backfield shifted into high gear quickly and rolled past the Engineers in the season opener for both teams.
W. Virginia 24, Temple 13: At Morgantown, W. Va., Rahsaan Vanterpool caught six passes for 135 yards and the Mountainiers (1-0 Big East, 1-1) overcame a sloppy start for a win over the Owls (0-1, 0-2).
Pittsburgh 66, Eastern Michigan 30: At Pittsburgh, Demetrius Harris came off the bench to run for 149 yards and three touchdowns, and the Panthers scored four touchdowns in less than 12 minutes of the second quarter to beat the Eagles (1-1. The Panthers are 2-0 for the first time since 1991, when they opened 5-0 before finishing 6-5.
SOUTH
(1) Florida St. 45, Clemson 26: At Clemson, S.C., the Seminoles’ Warwick Dunn rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns, including a back-breaking 55-yarder as the Seminoles (2-0 ACC, 2-0) scored twice in a 1:12 span of the final period, to beat the Tigers (0-1, 1-1).
(5) Florida 42, Kentucky 7: At Lexington, Ky., freshman Terry Jackson rushed for three touchdowns and Danny Wuerffel completed two scoring passes to Chris Doering as the Seminoles (1-0, 2-0) crushed the Wildcats (0-1, 0-2) for the ninth consecutive time.
(6) Auburn 76, Tennessee-Chattanooga 10: At Auburn, Ala., Stephen Davis scored four touchdowns as the Tigers (2-0) breezed past the Moccasins (1-1). UT-Chattanooga, a I-AA team that has not beaten a I-A opponent since 1984, has never beaten Auburn in 20 tries.
(8) Tennessee 30, Georgia 27: At Knoxville, Tenn., freshman Jeff Hall’s 34-yard field goal with 10 seconds left lifted the Vols (2-0 SEC, 2-0) to a Southeastern Conference win over the Bulldogs (1-1, 1-1). the kick capped a 48-yard drive in the waning seconds to turn aside the upset bid by the Bulldogs (1-1, 1-1 SEC) in a game featuring 934 yards of offense.
(13) Alabama 24, Southern Mississippi 20: At Birmington, Ala., Toderick Malone made a leaping catch of a 35-yard pass from Brian Burgdorf with 17 seconds remaining as the Crimson Tide (2-0) came from behind to beat the Golden Eagles (1-1).
Alabama trailed 17-3 at the half and was in serious danger of becoming an upset victim when Chris Pierce kicked a 35-yard field goal to put Southern Mississippi ahead 20-17 with 2:50 remaining.
(16) Virginia 29, (23) N.C. St. 24: At Raleigh, N.C., Tiki Barber rushed for 130 yards and scored on a short run with 13 seconds left as the Cavaliers (1-0 ACC, 2-1) rallied in the final 1:10 to defeat the Wolfpack (0-1, 1-1).
Virginia dominated most of first three quarters, but trailed 24-23 after N.C. State scored 17 fourth-quarter points on drives of 96 and 84 yards and Scott Primanti’s 31-yard field goal with 1:19 left.
(19) Miami 49, Florida A&M 3: At Miami, Fla., Ryan Collins threw two touchdown passes and ran for another to help the Hurricanes (1-1) beat the Rattlers (1-1). The win eased the sting of the Hurricanes’ season-opening 31-8 loss last week at UCLA.
Maryland 32, North Carolina 18: At College Park, Md., the Terrapins (1-0 ACC, 2-0) beat the Tar Heels (0-1, 0-2) for the first time in six years, scoring 25 second-half points.
LSU 34, Mississippi St. 16: At Starkville, Miss., freshman tailback Kevin Faulk, one of the most highly recruited high school players last year, rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers beat the quick-starting Bulldogs.
Eddie Kennison was contained as a return specialist, but caught a 52-yard TD pass for LSU (1-0 SEC, 1-1), which beat Mississippi State (0-1, 1-1) in a Southeastern Conference opener for the fourth straight year. It was also Gerry Dinardo’s first victory as coach.
Duke 24, Rutgers 11: At Durham, N.C,, Spence Fischer hit Joe Opalenick with a 13-yard scoring pass with 4:08 remaining, breaking a tie and giving the Blue Devils (1-1) a win over Rutgers (0-1).
Tulane 35, Wake Forest 9: At New Orleans, linebacker Monte Burke set up a touchdown with a fumble recovery and returned another for a score as the Green Wave (1-1) beat the Deamon Deacons (0-2) and held them to 267 yards, 51 rushing, while scoring the most points in a game in five years.
Mississippi 56, Indiana St. 10: At Oxford, Josh Nelson tied a school record with four touchdown passes and Dou Innocent had his eighth straight 100-yard rushing game as the Rebels (1-1) beat the Division I-AA Sycamores (1-1).
MIDWEST
(2) Nebraska 50, Michigan St. 10: At East Lansing, Mich., Lawrence Phillips ran for 206 yards and four touchdowns, and Brook Berringer provided a steady hand at quarterback as the defending national champion Huskers (2-0) spoiled Nick Saban’s coaching debut with the Spartans (0-1).
Berringer, who led Nebraska to a 7-0 record as a starter last year when Tommie Frazier was sidelined with a blood clot in his right leg, completed 6 of 11 passes for 106 yards and ran four times for 20 yards, but his experienced leadership was crucial after Frazier was stopped short on a third-down run and limped off the field with Nebraska ahead 10-7 early in the second quarter.
(11) Michigan 24, Memphis 7: At Ann Arbor, Mich., the Wolverines’ defense held the Tigers to 96 yards and set up two touchdowns and Tim Biakabutuka rushed for 143 yards and two scores.
The Wolverines (1-0 Big Ten, 3-0), off to their best start since opening 9-0 in 1986, lost a chance for their first shutout in two years when Jerome Woods picked up a Michigan fumble and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown with 12:23 left.
The Tigers (0-2) dropped to 4-22-1.
(21) Kansas St. 23, Cincinnati 21: At Cincinnati, Matt Miller overcame six turnovers to throw two touchdown passes in the final 4-1/2 minutes - the latter as time ran out - as the Wildcats (2-0) finally wore down the Bearcats (0-2). The Bearcats held the ball more than 11 minutes in the first quarter, twice taking possession on interceptions and once on a fumble. Kansas State trailed 14-0 at the half.
Bowling Green 17, Missouri 10: At Columbia, Mo., Ryan Henry rebounded from a poor first half with two second-half touchdown passes as the Falcons (1-1) beat the Tigers (1-1). Henry threw two interceptions in the first half and another in the fourth quarter - giving him nine in the first two games.
Iowa 34, Northern Iowa 13: At Iowa City, Iowa, Tim Dwight scored two touchdowns and set up a score with a 52-yard punt return and Sedrick Shaw ran for 102 yards in the second half in the Hawkeyes’ season-opening victory over Division 1-AA Northern Iowa (0-2).
Indiana 24, W. Michigan 10: At Bloomington, Ind., Sean Glover and Michael Batts replaced the sidelined Alex Smith and rushed for a touchdown each as the Hoosiers (1-0) recovered from an early 10-point deficit to defeat the Broncos (1-1).
SOUTHWEST
(14) Oklahoma 38, San Diego St. 22: At Norman, Okla., the Sooners used three touchdowns by Jerald Moore and a good performance by the defense to beat the Aztecs (1-1) in Howard Schnellenberger’s debut as coach.
Schnellenberger, who has vowed to make Oklahoma (1-0) a national power again, saw the Sooners (6-6 last season) commit 15 penalties in their first try at his offensive and defensive schemes.
Arkansas 51, S. Carolina 21: At Fayetteville, Ark., Madre Hill scored a school-record six touchdowns and ran for 178 yards as the Razorbacks (1-0 SEC, 1-1) beat the Gamecocks (0-2, 0-2).
Quarterback Barry Lunney set up two scores with runs of 17 and 57 yards in the first half and Hill scored on runs of 3, 1, 2, 1, 12 and 68 yards - the last two after the game was decided.
Kansas 27, N. Texas 10: At Irving, Texas, Mark Williams threw for three touchdowns, two to Isaac Byrd, and the Jayhawks (2-0) beat North Texas (0-2), spoiling the Eagles’ home debut as a major-college team. Williams was 17 of 23 for 279 yards, including TD throws of 6 and 47 yards to Isaac.
Tulsa 24, Oklahoma St. 23: At Tulsa, Okla., Troy DeGar, playing with a cast on his left hand, rallied a lifeless 1-1 Golden Hurricane team past the Cowboys (0-2) with three touchdown passes in the final 8 minutes for a stunning.
Louisiana Tech 19, Houston 7: At Houston, Lee Ragsdale’s 34-yard touchdown run in the third quarter broke a tie and Marty Kent added two fourth-quarter field goals as the Bulldogs (2-0) defeated the Cougars (0-2). With the score tied 7-7, Ragsdale ran for 22 yards and finished the two-play drive with his scoring run with 9:27 remaining to give the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead.
Navy 33, SMU 2: At Dallas, Chris McCoy made new Midshipmen coach Charlie Weatherbie look brilliant in his debut as the defensive back-turned-quarterback piled up 398 yards total offense in a Navy (1-0) win over the Mustangs (1-1).
McCoy, a sophomore who played only defense on the plebe team last season, ran for 273 yards and threw for 125. The total yardage and the yards rushing by a quarterback were easily school records.
Texas Christian 27, Iowa State 10: At Fort Worth, Texas, linebacker Lenoy Jones returned an interception for a touchdown and Andre Davis rushed for 166 yards and two scores as the Horned Frogs (1-0) hammered out a win over the Cyclones (1-1). TCU overcame five fumbles and another terrific rushing performance by Iowa State’s Troy Davis, who rolled up 188 yards after gaining 291 last week in a 36-21 victory over Ohio.
WEST
(10) Colorado 42, Colorado St. 14: At Boulder, Colo., sophomore tailbacks Herchell Troutman and Marlon Barnes each scored twice, and the Buffaloes (2-0) parlayed an early 21-0 lead into a rout over the Rams (1-1).
Air Force 34, Wyoming 10: At Air Force Academy, Colo., Beau Morgan ran for a touchdown and passed for one in the first half and backup Tom Brown continued the onslaught in the second as the Falcons (2-0 WAC, 2-0) whipped the Cowboys (0-1, 0-1) in the Western Athletic Conference.
UNLV 28, Arkansas St. 23: At Las Vegas, Shannon Wilson, returning after missing two seasons, rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Runnin’ Rebels (1-1 Big West, 1-1) past the Indians (1-1, 1-1).
Nevada 45, New Mexico St. 24: At Las Cruces, N.M., Mike Maxwell threw for three touchdowns and ran for one in three quarters to lead the Wolf Pack (2-0) to the rout over the Aggies (1-1).