Around The Country

WEST

CS Northridge 63, Boise St. 23: Quarterback Aaron Flowers threw a school-record six touchdown passes and Aaron Arnold scored four touchdowns as the Matadors rolled over the Broncos at Boise.

Flowers’ six scoring passes broke the Matador school mark of five, which he shared with two other quarterbacks. The victory, played in front of a Bronco Stadium record crowd of 26,824, spoiled the debut of Boise State head coach Houston Nutt.

Flowers completed 31 of 40 passes for 442 yards as Northridge amassed 643 yards total offense, which fell 20 yards short of the school record.

Utah St. 21, Utah 14: At Salt Lake City, Matt Sauk ran for two touchdowns and passed for 212 yards and Demario Brown rushed 36 times for 153 yards to lead the visiting Aggies past the Utes.

Sauk picked apart the Utah secondary in completing 19 of 30 passes as the Aggies surprised the Utes for the second year in a row. Utah State won 20-17 in last season’s opener.

Colorado St. 45, Nevada 13: Damon Washington rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns and Kevin McDougal added 127 yards and a score, leading the Rams’ romp over the Wolf Pack at Fort Collins, Colo.

Fresno St. 35, Portland St. 7: At Fresno, Calif., Joe Turner ran for 120 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bulldogs.

Turner started at tailback in place of Michael Pittman, the team’s top returning rusher, when Pittman was suspended indefinitely from the team just prior to the game.

New Mexico 33, N. Arizona 10: At Albuquerque, N.M., four interceptions by the Lobos defense and two crucial runs by tailback Lennox Gordon late in the third quarter carried New Mexico.

Hawaii 17, Minnesota 3: At Honolulu, Eddie Klaneski returned a punt 15 yards to set up one touchdown and Chris Shinnick returned a fumble 2 yards for another score as the Rainbows spoiled Glen Mason’s debut as coach of the Golden Gophers.

MIDWEST

Oklahoma State 21, Iowa State 14: Kevin Williams’ fourth-quarter interception set up a 1-yard Nathan Simmons touchdown run that gave Oklahoma State a victory over Iowa State at Ames, Iowa.

Miami (Ohio) 27, Ball St. 10: Travis Prentice scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 11 yards to rally the RedHawks past the visiting Cardinals in a Mid-American Conference opener at Oxford, Ohio.

Miami dropped the nickname Redskins after the 1996-97 school year.

SOUTH

Kentucky 38, Louisville 24: Tim Couch picked apart Louisville’s defense with short passes, setting Kentucky school records with 36 completions for 398 yards as the Wildcats defeated the Cardinals at Lexington, Ky.

Couch, the national high school player of the year in 1995, attempted 50 passes, threw for four touchdowns and had one interception.

Georgia 38, Arkansas State 7: Mike Bobo, a target of criticism during Georgia’s disappointing 1996 season, opened a new year by passing for two touchdowns and running for a third, as the Bulldogs routed the Indians at Athens, Ga.

Bobo, who threw 16 interceptions as Georgia went 5-6 in ‘96, was 13 of 18 for 196 yards and also scored on a 1-yard dive late in the third period.

Mississippi St. 13, Memphis 10: Brian Hazelwood kicked a career-best 53-yard field goal on the final play of the game, giving the Bulldogs their victory over the Tigers at Starkville, Miss.

The Bulldogs overcame seven turnovers and an early 10-0 deficit.

Mississippi 24, Central Fla. 23 (OT): At Oxford, Miss., Stewart Patridge threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Rufus French in overtime and Central Florida’s Daunte Culpepper fumbled at the 1 on a 2-point conversion, giving the Rebels the victory.

Vanderbilt 29, North Texas 12: At Nashville, Tenn., freshman running backs Jimmy Williams and Jared McGrath combined for 123 yards as the Commodores made a winner of Woody Widenhofer in his debut.

Louisiana Tech 30, Bowling Green 23: At Ruston, La., Tim Rattay ran for one touchdown and passed for three in the second half to lead the Bulldogs’ rally from a 20-9 halftime deficit.

EAST

West Virginia 42, Marshall 31: Randy Moss led Marshall into Division I-A with two touchdown catches, but state rival West Virginia got two key fourth-quarter interceptions from Nate Terry and held off the visiting Thundering Herd at Morgantown, W.Va.

Virginia Tech 59, Rutgers 19: Al Clark scored on an 81-yard run and threw two long touchdown passes in his first start, leading the Hokies’ victory at Piscataway, N.J.

Pittsburgh 45, SW Louisiana 13: Pete Gonzalez, finally winning the Pittsburgh quarterback’s job as a fifth-year senior, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Panthers won in Walt Harris’ coaching debut.