Around The Country

East

Penn St. 42, Michigan St. 23: Rashard Casey threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores as the Nittany Lions (5-7, 4-4 Big Ten) defeated the Spartans (5-6, 2-6) at State College, Pa.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno recorded his 322nd career victory in the season-ending game to move within one of the major college record held by former Alabama coach Bear Bryant.

The Nittany Lions also avoided recording just the second eight-loss season in school history. Penn State’s 5-7 record is the worst since Paterno became head coach in 1966 and just the fifth time the Nittany Lions under Paterno will not play in a bowl game.

West Virginia 42, East Carolina 24: At Morgantown, W.Va., Brad Lewis threw for a career-high 290 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Mountaineers (6-4) over the Pirates (6-4) in coach Don Nehlen’s final home game.

UAB 27, Army 7: Wes Foss returned an interception 72 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter to help the Blazers (7-4, 3-4 C-USA) hold off the Cadets (1-9, 1-6) at West Point, N.Y.

Pittsburgh 7, Temple 0: Antonio Bryant set two records and caught a touchdown pass as the Panthers (6-4, 3-3 Big East) defeated the Owls (4-7, 1-6) at Philadelphia.

Bryant, who had six catches for 81 yards, set Pitt’s single-season receiving record with 1,154 yards, surpassing Latef Grim’s mark of 1,106 last season. That total also is the most by a Big East player, breaking former Syracuse star Marvin Harrison’s record of 1,131 set in 1995.

Wake Forest 49, Navy 26: James MacPherson passed for 259 yards and a pair of scores and Terance Williams rushed for three first-half touchdowns as the Demon Deacons (2-8) defeated the Midshipmen (0-10) at Annapolis, Md.

South

Tennessee 59, Kentucky 20: At Knoxville, Tenn., Travis Henry scored three touchdowns and Casey Clausen passed for 362 yards and four touchdowns as the Volunteers (7-3, 4-3 SEC) defeated the Wildcats (2-9, 0-8) for the 16th consecutive time.

Henry’s 139 rushing yards moved him past James Stewart as Tennessee’s all-time leading rusher.

North Carolina 59, Duke 21: Ronald Curry rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two as the Tar Heels (6-5, 3-5 ACC) routed the Blue Devils (0-11, 0-8) at Durham, N.C., leaving Duke winless for the second time in the past five years.

Virginia 24, North Carolina St. 17: Freshman quarterback Bryson Spinner (83 rush, 149 pass) gave Virginia fans a glimpse of the future and Tyree Foreman gave the seniors a victory with a 38-yard run as the Cavaliers (6-4, 5-3 ACC) defeated the Wolfpack (6-4, 3-4) at Charlottesville, Va.

Tulane 37, Memphis 14: Patrick Ramsey passed for 360 yards and threw three touchdown passes to Adrian Burnette as the Green Wave (6-5, 3-4 C-USA) defeated the Tigers (4-7, 2-5) at New Orleans.

Southwest

Oklahoma St. 50, Baylor 22: At Stillwater, Okla., quarterback Aso Pogi ran for four touchdowns as the Cowboys (3-7, 1-7 Big 12) broke a seven-game losing streak by beating the Bears (2-9, 0-8), marking Baylor’s 21st consecutive conference loss.

Tulsa 28, San Jose St. 17: Eric Richardson ran for 194 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Golden Hurricane (4-7, 3-4 WAC) over the Spartans (7-4, 5-2) at Tulsa, Okla.

Louisville 32, Houston 13: Dave Ragone passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Cardinals (9-2, 6-1 C-USA) wrapped up the Conference-USA championship and a Liberty Bowl berth by defeating the Cougars (3-8, 2-5) at Houston.

Midwest

Iowa St. 38, Kansas 17: Ennis Haywood rushed for 190 yards and Michael Wagner broke the game open with a 66-yard touchdown run as the Cyclones (8-3, 5-3 Big 12) completed their best regular-season in 22 years by defeating the Jayhawks (4-7, 2-6) at Ames, Iowa.

Minnesota 27, Iowa 24: Jermaine Mays caught an 81-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to lift the Bowl-eligible Golden Gophers (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) over the Hawkeyes (3-9, 3-5) at Minneapolis.

West

Brigham Young 37, New Mexico 13: Luke Staley ran for a pair of 2-yard touchdowns and Owen Pochman kicked three field goals, including a school-record 56-yarder, as the Cougars (5-6, 3-3 Mountain West) defeated the Lobos (5-7, 3-4) at Provo, Utah.

It was an emotional day for BYU fans, administrators and players, with Mormon church president Gordon Hinckley renaming Cougar Stadium as LaVell Edwards Stadium in a pregame ceremony.

“Tonight’s activities were totally a stunner for me,” said Edwards, retiring after 29 seasons. “I had no idea that was going to happen, the naming of the stadium. It’s just been a very emotional, very special evening for me.”

Air Force 45, San Diego St. 24: Qualario Brown rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns, and Air Force’s wishbone generated 540 yards of total offense as the Falcons (8-3, 5-2 Mountain West) beat the Aztecs (3-7, 3-3) at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Nevada 34, Rice 28: At Reno, Nev., David Neill passed for 236 yards and a touchdown and Del Bates intercepted a pass with 5 seconds left to secure Nevada’s first win ever in the Western Athletic Conference as the Wolf Pack (2-9, 1-5) defeated the Owls (2-6, 3-8).

Fresno St. 14, SMU 7: Derrick Ward scored on a 53-yard run and a 1-yard run to lead the Bulldogs (6-4, 4-2 WAC) over the Mustangs (3-8, 2-5) at Fresno, Calif.

And the rest

At Kalamazoo, Mich., Jeff Welsh threw two touchdown passes to Corey Alston as Western Michigan beat Eastern Michigan 28-0 and wrapped up its second straight Mid-American West Division title… . Chad Brinker ran for three touchdowns and Jamel Patterson had two as Ohio defeated Marshall 38-28 at Athens, Ohio… . Marcus Merriweather ran for 146 yards to break the 1,000-yard mark for the season as Ball State beat Connecticut 29-0 at Muncie, Ind… . Steve Little ran for a career-high 222 yards and scored two touchdowns as Miami of Ohio beat Buffalo 17-16 at Amherst, N.Y… . Michael Turner ran for 293 yards and a touchdown as Northern Illinois beat Central Michigan 40-6 at Dekalb, Ill… . Dwight Smith scored on interception and fumble returns as Akron beat Kent State 34-6 at Kent, Ohio… . Quarterback Travis Wilson ran for two touchdowns and Wofford rolled up all but 8 of its 220 yards on the ground in defeating Louisiana-Monroe 24-6 at Monroe, La… . Don Calloway scored four touchdowns and Brian Kelly kicked a 21-yard field goal in the second overtime as Middle Tennessee edged Louisiana-Lafayette 41-38 at Murfreesboro, Tenn.