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The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 23

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Des Moines, Iowa
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Dei Moines Sunday Register State Edition Sunday, October 30, 2011 Page7C Big Ten Report Top 25 Report Arkansas wins jth straight after comeback Big 12 Report N0.16A&M falls flat in second half vs. Missouri ill "a- i 1 i 1 sl'itMM 1 -V. Nebraska quarterback Taylor 'is-. No. 7 Oregon 43, Washington State 28 EUGENE, Ore.

Oregon stars LaMichael James and Darron Thomas returned from injury but true freshman De'Anthony Thomas sparked the Ducks with two second-half touchdowns. Darron Thomas, who missed a game because of a knee injury, returned to start against the Cougars but threw two interceptions in the first half and was replaced by backup Bryan Bennett in the second. Washington State (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12) lost its fourth straight. The Cougars hung tough with Oregon (7-1, 5-0) fni. mik tU 1 Burkhead during the first half of Saturday's game against Michigan State, dave weaverap Nebraska's Burkhead runs over Mich.

State Associated Press NASHVILLE, Call tiem the Cardiac Hogs for Jailing behind early yet igain. The eighth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks only care about the win. I Zach Hocker kicked a 12-yard field goal with 6:53 left, and Arkansas rallied from 14 points down to beat Vanderbilt 31-28 Saturday the Razorbacks' fourth straight win. "You can't get frustrated winning," said Arkansas receiver Jarius Wright, who had 10 catches for 135 yards. "You can get frustrated by not starting out like you expect your team to do.

We know how good we are. We expect to start faster. We expect to play way better than we played. We did get the win. You can never be mad getting the win." This was the third time this season the Razorbacks have trailed by double digits.

They didn't trail by 18 as they did against Texas or 17 last week before beating Mississippi. This time, Vanderbilt led 21-7 with 1:39 left in the first half. The Commodores (4-4, 1-4 SEC) also had the ball at the Arkansas 5 in the fourth quarter leading 28-20 when Zac Stacy fumbled, and Jerry Franklin picked it up and ran it 94 yards for a touchdown. Tyler Wilson found Wright in the end zone for the tying 2-point conversion with 13:25 left. "That was huge," Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said of Franklin's touchdown.

"We had a lot of opportunities for a lot of turnovers, but that one was the biggest one. It was the one that swung the game for us." Vanderbilt missed a chance to force overtime when Carey Spear's 27-yard field goal went wide right with 8 seconds left. "We're lucky they missed the kick," Arkansas defensive end Jake Be-quette said. "I felt like our chances were good in overtime, but I'm glad we didn't have to do that. First-year coach James Franklin said this isn't the same old Vanderbilt.

"We're going to find ways to finish games like this," Franklin said. That allowed Arkansas (7-1, 3-1) to escape with its best start under Bobby Pe-trino and the Razorbacks' third 7-1 start since joining the SEC (1998 and 2006). Associated Press COLLEGE STATION, Texas No. 16 Texas fell apart in the second half. Again.

The Aggies led by 11 at halftime, but James Franklin's 11-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Lucas in overtime completed Missouri's rally in a 38-31 win. Texas got the ball after the score, but Ryan Tannehill's pass on fourth down was deflected. Tannehill threw for three touchdowns in the first half, but the Aggies managed only a field goal after that to lose their third game this season after leading by double digits at halftime. "Sometimes it's a lack of focus," running back Christine Michael said. "We have to be on one page.

We all have to do our part at the same time." Texas coach Mike Sherman isn't sure why his team keeps having the same problems. "I just think that we didn't make the plays we needed to make when we needed to make them," Sherman said. "It's definitely something we've got to talk about and get fixed." The Tigers had a chance to win it in regulation, but a 46-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right as time expired. Missouri (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) got the ball when Jacquies Smith caused a fumble by Tannehill, which was recovered by Dominique Hamilton. Missouri took a 31-28 lead on an 11-yard run by Henry Josey with about eight minutes left.

Texas (5-3, 3-2) tied it on a 35-yard field goal about four minutes later. Franklin threw for 198 yards and two scores and ran for 97 yards and two more touchdowns. Josey, the Big 12's leading rusher, had 20 carries for 162 yards. Oklahoma 58, Kansas State 17 MANHATTAN, Kan. -Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles helped No.

11 Oklahoma get back on track and spoil lOth-ranked Kansas State's dream season. Jones threw for a school-record 505 yards and five touchdowns, his Ail-American wide receiver caught 14 passes for 171 yards and a score, and the Sooners bounced back from a stunning defeat. Kenny Stills added four catches for 101 yards, Roy Finch finished with 73 yards rushing and another 69 through the air, and the Sooners' potent, fast-paced attack managed 690 yards of total offense against the league's top ranked defense. Jones' passing total shattered the previous record of 468 yards he shared with Sam Bradford, while Broyles moved into first place on the Big 12's career list with 4,499 yards receiving. Oklahoma State 59, Baylor 24 STILLWATER, Okla.

Joseph Randle set career-highs by running for 152 yards and four touchdowns, and Justin Black-mon matched his career best with 13 catches for 172 yards and two scores for No. 3 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) started a season with eight straight wins for only the second time in school history. The other time was in 1945, when they finished the season 9-0, won the Sugar Bowl and were ranked fifth in the final poll. Brodrick Brown recovered two fumbles, and Day-tawion Lowe and Justin Gilbert had interceptions as Oklahoma State forced five turnovers.

Robert Griffin III threw for 425 yards to end up 5 shy of his career best set last week. The Bears (4-3, 1-3) amassed 622 yards but most of them were empty. Hi ball to running back Rex Penn State 10, Illinois 7 STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Joe Paterno broke Eddie Robinson's record for victories by a Division I coach with No. 409 in Penn State's sloppy win against Illinois.

The 21st-ranked Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten) overcame six fumbles with Silas Redd's 3-yard touchdown run with 1:08 to go. Illinois (6-3, 2-3) drove from its 17 to the Penn State 25, but Derek Dimke's 42-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright as time expired. Michigan 36, Purdue 14 ANN ARBOR, Mich. Fitzgerald Toussaint ran for a career-high 170 yards and tied a career high with two touchdowns, leading No. 17 Michigan to a 36-14 win over Purdue on Saturday.

Denard Robinson ran 15 times, his third-lowest total this year, for 63 yards. Northwestern 59, Indiana 38 BLOOMINGTON, Ind. Dan Persa and Kain Colter combined to throw five touchdown passes, and Drake Dunsmore hauled in a school-record four scores for Northwestern. defense in the conference go to work. It was like that all day for the Spartans.

Catching punts on the 6-yard line. Letting the Huskers have their pick of penalties offsides or pass interference? You choose. Cousins' counterpart in red and white, Taylor Martinez, wasn't reminding anyone of John Elway, but that's a given. When Martinez beats you, he usually does it with his feet. Though he didn't make triple-figure yardage with his arm Saturday, he did move into the top 10 on Nebraska's career passing list.

When Martinez goes into the locker room at halftime with zero passing yards, you don't call for an investigation. You just tell him to keep handing off to Rex Burkhead a career-high 35 times Saturday and watch the Husker I-back run for 130 yards and two touchdowns. If Burkhead, a junior from Texas, can keep it up, the Huskers have a good shot at playing in the Big Ten title game. With Iowa's astounding loss at Minnesota, the top of the Legends Division standings is less crowded it would have been otherwise, but the race is on anyway. Here's the schedule for the final four weeks: Michigan: at Iowa, at Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio State.

Nebraska: Northwestern, at Penn State, at Michigan, Iowa. Michigan State: Minnesota, at Iowa, Indiana, at Northwestern. The Spartans were bad Saturday, with the Huskers deserving much of the blame, but don't count them out. The rest of their schedule is a friend. It should be an interesting November, with or without the Hawkeyes.

Martinez, right, hands off the TKffrafr but they own the tiebreaker against the Spartans. Michigan State could have essentially locked up the division with a victory against its third straight ranked opponent. But Cousins, as he has throughout his career, struggled on the road. After throwing for 290 yards and three touchdowns at home against Wisconsin, Cousins missed on 12 of his first 16 passes. He was intercepted on the Spartans' first possession, was nearly picked off three other times and often threw into double coverage.

The Huskers led 10-3 at half and put away the game with two time-consuming drives in the third quarter. Martinez completed only a shovel pass for no yards and was intercepted on a poorly thrown ball in the first half, but offensive coordinator Tim Beck called on him to throw anyway. He went 4 for 4 and completed third-down passes to Tim Marlowe and Brandon Kinnie before Burkhead scored from a yard out. history wasn't himself Saturday. Though Cousins averages 230 passing yards a game, he fired off only 86 against the Huskers, When Cousins wasn't throwing into double coverage, his passes were bouncing off his teammates hands or heading toward the tuba section.

"It was a combination of everything," he said after completing ll-of-27 passes for 86 yards and one interception. "There were plays when there was nothing there. There were plays when the protection broke down where I had something. There were plays where it was a combination. It was a total mix." Part of that mix, according to Husker safety Austin Cassidy, was his team's preparation.

"It's easy to defend against a team when you know what they're going to do," he said. "Judging by the formations they came out with and where their wide receivers were split or the down and distance, we knew exactly what was going to happen, and I think it showed." Cousins is usually a third-down conversion machine, but not Saturday. As good as he is, Cousins sometimes struggles in big road tests. It isn't just those three interceptions in Iowa City last year. He also tossed ill-timed picks in the loss at Notre Dame on Sept.

17. Dantonio wasn't on top of his coaching game, either. Halfway through the first quarter, he gave the Huskers a jump start by sending his kicker into the game to attempt a 52-yard field goal into the wind. The ball didn't make it to the end zone. Nebraska took over on the 35.

So much for pinning the Huskers near the goal line and letting the best iui mutu ui me gcune dim trailed by only 15-10 at the half. No. 15 Virginia Tech 14, Duke 10 DURHAM, N.C. David Wilson rushed for 148 yards and Virginia Tech overcame a sloppy performance to beat Duke for its ACC-record 11th straight road victory. Logan Thomas was 17 of 28 for 190 yards with two interceptions and a 2-yard touchdown pass to Eric Martin.

Josh Oglesby added a 1-yard scoring run for the Coastal Division-leading Hokies (8-1, 4-1). Sean Renfree was 17 of 35 for 204 yards but was intercepted three times for the Blue Devils (3-5, 1-3). They couldn't overcome four turnovers and lost their third straight overall and 44th in a row against nationally ranked teams. No. 22 Georgia 24, Florida 20 JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

Aaron Murray threw two touchdown passes on fourth down, and Georgia (6-2, 5-1 SEC) won its sixth straight. The Gators (4-4, 2-4) have lost four in a row for the first time since 1988. No. 25 West Virginia 41, Rutgers 31 PISCATAWAY, N.J. Ge-no Smith threw two second-half touchdowns and scored a go-ahead TD on a fourth-down, 1-yard run with 6:18 to play as West Virginia rallied to win.

Smith sandwiched touchdown passes of 19-yards to Stedman Bailey and 20-yards to Tavon Austin around his clutch, dive into the end zone in rallying the Mountaineers (6-2, 2-1 Big East) from a 10-point halftime deficit to their 17th straight win over Rutgers (5-3, 2-2). chances of a BCS bowl for yet another year, and tensions within the team apparently flared after coach Brian Kelly talked about having to "retrain" the players he inherited from Charlie Weis. Some of the veterans, including star linebacker Manti Te'o, expressed their displeasure with his comments on Twitter, and the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that Kelly apologized to players during a team meeting Friday. The Irish scored on five of their first six possessions, and the starters spent the last quarter on the sidelines. Notre Dame is now 13-8 under Kelly.

It's the same record Lou Holtz had in his first 21 games at Notre Dame. The Irish defense hounded young quarterback Trey Miller, playing in place of injured Kriss Proctor, all afternoon. He finished just 5-of-13 for 33 yards, and Navy could only manage 196 yards on the ground well below their average of 325 yards. Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. Rex Burkhead scored three touchdowns and ran for 130 yards on 35 carries, and No.

13 Nebraska defeated ninth-ranked Michigan State 24-3 Saturday to take control of the Big Ten Legends Division. Burkhead, who went over 100 yards for the fifth time in six games, scored at the end of 80- and 89-yard drives in the third quarter to put Nebraska up 24-3. Taylor Martinez completed 6-of-7 passes for 80 yards in the third quarter after going 1 for 6 in the first half. Michigan State (6-2, 3-1), coming off the incredible finish to its win over Wisconsin last week, managed just 187 yards against Nebraska's improving defense. Kirk Cousins was 11 of 27 for 86 yards, with an interception that set up the Huskers' first score.

The win was Nebraska's second in its last 17 against top-10 opponents. It pulled the Huskers (7-1, 3-1) into a tie with Michigan State for the Legends Division lead, HANSEN Continued from Page 1C 10 of their last 11 Big Ten Games. The Huskers hadn't lost to a Big Ten team at Memorial Stadium since 1981 when they fell to No. 3 Penn State. You knew somebody had to blink.

You just didn't know it would be Michigan State, which looked a lot like the team that could find the end zone only once in Iowa City last year. And now, with Nebraska's 24-3 victory, the Legends Division is up for grabs, with Nebraska, Michigan State and Michigan all 3-1 in the league with a month left in the season. With their victory, the Huskers now have the tiebreaker advantage over the Spartans. And if the Nebraska offense controls the ball the way it did Saturday for all but three minutes in the third quarter it might come in handy. "Yes, they're going to make some plays," said Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, "but you have to get off the field on third down that's the name of the game and give your offense a chance to get the ball." When the Spartans did get the ball, Nebraska's defense kept sending them to the sideline in short order.

So hand a game ball to every Black-shirt who helped hold Michigan State to 187 yards. Every time Kirk Cousins tried to throw, there were two or three red jerseys around the ball. Don't go taking the Spartan quarterback off your Davey O'Brien Award watch list quite yet, but the winningest quarterback in Michigan State Notre Dame 56, Navy 14 Fighting Irish run past Navy after rough week Associated Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. Michael Floyd and Jonas Gray scored 1:59 apart in the second quarter Saturday to effectively put the game out of reach, and Notre Dame rebounded from a rough week with a 56-14 rout of Navy on Saturday. Gray rushed for three touchdowns and Cierre Wood added two more for the Irish (5-3), who finished with seven rushing toucn- downs and 442 yards of total offense.

Floyd also had two TDs, scoring on a 56-yard catch and a 10-yard lateral for Notre Dame, which beat Navy for only the second time five years alter winning 43 straight from 1964 to 2006. The Midshipmen (2-6) were held to a season-low 229 yards of total offense as they lost their sixth straight, and will now have to win out to have any hope of going to a bowl game for a ninth straight year. A lopsided loss to USC last Saturday night pretty much ended Notre Dame's.

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