STARS
-C.J. Bacher, Northwestern, threw for a career-high 520 yards and five touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime, in the Wildcats’ 48-41 victory over Michigan State.
-Mike Hart, Michigan, ran for 215 yards, and matched a career high with three touchdowns to lead the Wolverines to a 33-22 win over Eastern Michigan.
-Tim Webb, Presbyterian, threw for 648 yards and seven touchdowns Saturday as the Blue Hose outgunned North Greenville 66-52.
-Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross, passed for 404 yards and six touchdowns and the Crusaders beat Brown 48-37.
-Matt Ryan, Boston College, threw for 312 yards and four touchdown passes and the Eagles overwhelmed Bowling Green 55-24.
-Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois, rushed for 160 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Illini’s 31-26 win over No. 5 Wisconsin.
-David Sinisi, Monmouth, ran for 200 yards and three rushing touchdowns and the Hawks won a 49-8 victory over Sacred Heart
-James Starks, Buffalo, ran 36 times for a 183 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bulls defeated Ohio 31-10.
-Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan, passed for 360 yards and five touchdowns – and ran for 146 yards and another score – to lead the Chippewas to a 58-38 victory over Ball State.
-Benjamin Williams, South Florida, ran for 186 yards and four touchdowns, and the No. 6 Bulls held off Florida Atlantic 35-23.
-Jordan Scott, Colgate, rushed for 270 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-24 victory over Bucknell.
-Ryan Mathews, Fresno State, ran for 171 yards and three touchdowns, in the Bulldogs’ 49-41 victory over Nevada.
-Scott Riddle, Elon, threw for 354 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score in the Phoenix’s 38-36 win over Western Carolina.
-Jamar Brittingham, Bloomsburg, ran for 207 yards and three touchdowns, in a 49-32 win over Kutztown.
-Kenny Cattouse, Troy, ran for 205 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown and the Trojans beat Florida International 34-16.
-Jabari Arthur, Akron, caught a school-record 15 passes for 223 yards and three TDs, in the Zips 39-38 win over Western Michigan.
SLEEPLESS IN SOUTHERN CAL
streak at the Coliseum. The Trojans hadn’t lost at home since Stanford beat them 21-16 on Sept. 29, 2001 in the first year of the Pete Carroll era.
CLOSE CALL
The Tigers barely converted a pair of fourth-down runs before Jacob Hester powered over from the 2-yard line with 1:09 remaining, completing a stunning comeback that gave No. 1 LSU a 28-24 victory over the No. 9 Gators.
BADGERED
Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 160 yards and scoreding two touchdowns in Illinois’ 31-26 win over No. 5 Wisconsin. The Illini ended Wisconsin’s 14-game winning streak, the longest in the nation. Illinois is off to a 3-0 start in the Big Ten for the first time since 1990. Wisconsin’s P.J. Hill entered the game as the Big Ten’s top running back, averaging 133.4 yards a game. But the Illini held him to 78 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.
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HOOKED HORNS?
Sam Bradford threw for three touchdowns to steer No. 10 Oklahoma past No. 19 Texas 28-21 in their annual grudge match. Texas is now 0-2 in conference play for the first time since 1956. The Longhorns – who were ranked seventh before a 20-point loss to Kansas State last weekend – could be in jeopardy of ending a 114-week stint in the AP poll, the longest in the country.
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LONG TIME COMING
Jimmy Clausen scored on a sneak and Maurice Crum returned a fumble 34 yards for another touchdown during a 50-second span of the third quarter and Notre Dame won for the first time this season, 20-6 over UCLA. After an 0-5 start that’s the worst in school history, the Irish avoided matching their longest losing streak. The victory was their first in eight games dating back to last season, and the only other time the Irish lost eight straight was in 1960, when they won their opener and didn’t win again until the final game of the season.
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FLYING HIGH
Matt Ryan threw four touchdown passes and Boston College overwhelmed Bowling Green 55-24 Saturday and to get off to its best start in 65 years. The No. 7 Eagles, entering the game with their highest ranking in 23 years, have won 16 straight home games. The Eagles began the 1942 season with eight straight wins and finished at 8-2. They’ve gone unbeaten three times, the last in 1940 when they went 11-0 and won the Sugar Bowl. In 1984, they were ranked as high as fifth when Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie led them to a 10-2 record and a Cotton Bowl win. … Kansas beat No. 24 Kansas State 30-24 on Saturday. Todd Reesing threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns and the Jayhawks have started a season 5-0 for just the third time in 39 years.
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WHAT A RUSH
Chadron State running back Danny Woodhead broke the NCAA all-divisions career rushing record in a game Saturday against Western New Mexico. Woodhead got the 121 yards he needed by the third quarter to surpass the previous record of 7,353 yards held by R.J. Bowers, who set the record from 1997-2000 at Division III Grove City (Pa.) College. Woodhead, who won the 2006 Harlon Hill Trophy as the outstanding player in Division II, set an all-division single-season record with 2,756 yards rushing last year.
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GOTTA HAVE HART
Mike Hart ran for 215 yards to become Michigan’s career rushing leader, and matched a career high with three touchdowns to lead the Wolverines to a 33-22 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Hart needed 33 yards to break Anthony Thomas’ record of 4,472 yards rushing. Thomas, who plays for the Buffalo Bills, set the previous record at Michigan from 1997-2000. Hart also became the first Wolverine to run for at least 100 yards in six straight games to start a season. Jamie Morris surpassed the milestone in the final six games of his career in 1987.
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HURRICANE BUTCH
Brandon Tate scored on a long reverse in a spurt of 27 points to start the game while Connor Barth kicked four field goals to lead North Carolina past Miami 33-27, giving coach Butch Davis a victory against his former program. It was Davis’ first league victory and ended a four-game Tar Heels’ losing streak.
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BETTER TO RECEIVE
Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree set the NCAA record for touchdown receptions by a freshman with a 32-yard scoring catch against Iowa State. Crabtree scored three times against the Cyclones, giving him 17 for the season. The Red Raiders’ receiver overtook the 14 TD catches by freshmen Jabar Gaffney (Florida, 2000); Mike Williams (Southern California, 2002) and Davone Bess, (Hawaii 2005). Coming into the game, Crabtree led the nation in in receptions (60), receiving yards (920) and touchdowns (14). He added 10 more catches and 154 yards against the Cyclones. Texas Tech beat Iowa State 42-17.
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STRONG IN DEFEAT
le Spotts went 21-for-44 for a school record 463 yards and three touchdown passes and Elfren Quiles had 12 catches for 308 yards and two TDs in Kutztown’s 49-32 loss to Bloomsburg. … Matt Forte ran 32 times for 202 yards and two touchdowns but Tulane lost to Army 20-17 in overtime. … Tim Hiller completed 27 of 40 passes for a career-high 375 yards and three touchdowns for Western Michigan in a 39-38 loss to Akron.
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SNAPPED
No. 5 Wisconsin lost to Illinois 31-26. The loss snapped the Badgers’ 14-game winning streak, which was the longest in the nation. … Jake Brownell’s third field goal of the game, with nine seconds left, gave Temple a 16-15 victory over Northern Illinois. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Owls, who had lost 27 of their last 28 games. It was the Owls first victory since the team’s 28-14 homecoming win over Bowling Green on October 28, 2006.
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RECORD-BREAKERS
assing with 8,923. Jason Gesser had the old record with 8,830. … Kyle Spotts went 21-for-44 for a school record 463 yards and three touchdown passes and Elfren Quiles, who had 12 catches for 308 yards and two TDs in Kutztown’s 49-32 loss to Bloomsburg. Quiles receiving yardage was a school record and ranks as the second-highest total in PSAC history.
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BEASTS OF THE EAST
Ben Mauk threw two of his three touchdowns in a 19-second span late in the third quarter and Cincinnati’s opportunistic defense forced four turnovers, including a game-saving interception by linebacker Ryan Manalac with 1:19 to play as the Bearcats defeated No. 21 Rutgers 28-23. The Bearcats have forced 25 turnovers this season in getting off to their best start since going 8-0 in 1954. Rutgers, has now lost consecutive games for the first time the end of the 2005 season. … Benjamin Williams ran for 186 yards and four touchdowns, Grothe added 120 yards rushing and a score and No. 6 South Florida held off fellow upstart Florida Atlantic 35-23. USF is the only undefeated school in Florida.
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LAST SECOND HEROICS
Andre Jones and Alphonso Owen combined on an 89-yard kick return on the game’s final play, giving Akron a 39-38 victory over Western Michigan. Western Michigan led 38-31 with 15 seconds left when Jamarko Simmons ran out of the end zone on a fourth-down designed safety, cutting the Broncos’ lead to 38-33. On the ensuing free kick, Owen grabbed the ball, headed toward the left sideline, then tossed it to Jones near the 25-yard line. Jones, who plays mostly at defensive back, followed a blocking wedge to the end zone for the winning score and his first career TD.
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SPEAKING
“That’s why he’s an All-American and some of the tacklers aren’t.”- Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Genyk after Michigan’s Mike Hart rushed for 215 yards in the Wolverines 33-22 victory over the Eagles. Hart broke Anthony Thomas’ record of 4,472 yards by making a defender miss in the backfield and picking up 14 yards.
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“It was so loud, I couldn’t hear the coach. I called my own play, and Sherm came through.”- Stanford QB Tavita Pritchard after the Cardinal’s 24-23 upset victory over No. 2 ranked Southern Cal. Pritchard, making his first career start for the injured T.C. Ostrander, threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bradford on fourth-and-goal with 49 seconds left.