Pike guides Cincy past Pitt

The quarterback with the broken arm led No. 19 Cincinnati to the threshold of its first Big East championship.

Tony Pike threw three touchdown passes, each to a different receiver, and the Bearcats took control of the conference by beating 20th-ranked Pittsburgh 28-21 on Saturday night at home, their first win in eight games against the Panthers.

It was the pinnacle of a season in which the Bearcats (9-2, 5-1) went through four quarterbacks because of injury. For Pike, a junior playing with a broken left (non-passing) forearm, it was the best yet.

He matched his career high for touchdown passes and ran Cincinnati’s no-huddle, spread offense almost flawlessly against the conference’s best road team. Pike completed a career-high 26 passes in 32 attempts for 309 yards.

His steadiness put Cincinnati in position to clinch the Big East title with a victory at home Saturday over 3-8 Syracuse, which will be coming off its 24-23 victory over Notre Dame.

Down by 21 points, Pittsburgh (7-3, 3-2) made a late comeback that came up short, wasting a chance to scramble the conference race. The Panthers had won their four previous road games with the league’s highest-scoring offense and a middle-of-the-road defense.

(3) Florida 70, Citadel 19: Tim Tebow threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns and Chris Rainey ran for 142 yards and a score in the Gators (10-1) victory over the Bulldogs (4-8) in Gainesville, Fla.

Florida scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions, racked up 512 yards in the first half alone and became the first Southeastern Conference team to score at least 42 points in six consecutive games.

(10) Ohio St. 42, Michigan 7: The Buckeyes won their fifth straight over the Wolverines (3-9, 2-6 Big Ten) for the first time and ending a dreadful first season for Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez

The Buckeyes (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) used five big plays to win in Columbus, Ohio, by the biggest margin in the rivalry since Woody Hayes was prowling and growling on the sidelines in a 50-14 rout of Michigan in 1968.

Freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor threw two TD passes, Brian Hartline caught two scoring passes and Dan Herron ran for two more touchdowns to give the Buckeyes a share of their fourth straight Big Ten title.

(15 ) TCU 44, Air Force 10: Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to give the Horned Frogs another 10-win season with a victory over the Falcons (8-4, 5-3) at Fort Worth, Texas. TCU (10-2, 7-1 Mountain West) has its fifth 10-win season in seven years. The senior class won its 40th game, matching the 1932-35 TCU squads for the most in a four-year period, with a bowl still to play.

Mississippi 31, (18) LSU 13: Jevan Snead threw two touchdown passes, and Markeith Summers ran for a 13-yard score to give the Rebels their fourth straight win, a victory over the Tigers in Baton Rouge, La. Ole Miss (7-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) snapped a six-game losing streak against LSU (7-4, 3-4) with its first win in the long rivalry since 2001.

Florida State 37, (22) Maryland 3: The Seminoles (8-3, 5-3) kept alive their hopes of advancing to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and buried the Terrapins’ (7-4, 4-3) title hopes under a barrage of sacks and takeaways in a victory at College Park, Md.

N.C. State 41, (25) North Carolina 10: Russell Wilson threw for two touchdowns and had a key run in the third quarter to set up another score, and the Wolfpack (5-6, 3-4 ACC) earned the program’s first season sweep of the state’s four other major college teams in more than two decades with a win at Chapel Hill over the Tar Heels (7-4, 3-4).