The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 25

College Football "SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2006 3C THE TIMES shreveporttimes.com rqovairii Saturday's stars Steve Slaton, West Virginia: The Mountaineers running back ran for 203 yards and two TDs in a 42-10 victory over Marshall. Troy Smith, Ohio State: The Buckeyes quarterback completed 18 of 25 passes for 297 yards' and three TDs in a 35-12 victory over Northern Illinois. Brandon Landers, Grambling: The Tigers quarterback completed 21 of 41 passes for 273 yards and four TDs in a 27-26 OT loss to Hampton. Smith 1 fcjT i "n.i.u" 1 mm VW" 4T Ml to mmk for Laa. Nebraska 49, Louisiana Tech 10 Louisiana Tech 0 10 0 010 Nebraska 7 14 .7 21-49 First Quarter 1 Neb Kenan 13 pass Iran) Taylor iCongrjon kick, 1 54 Second Quarter LaT-FG riorwedel 23.

11:11 Neb Lucky 13 run (Conqdon kick). 5:54. LaT Holland 39 pass Irom Champion iHorwedel ta). 2:36. Neb Glenn 1 run (Congdon kick).

:07. Third Quarter Neb Phillips 6 pass Irom Taylor (Congdon kick). 12:31 Fourth Ouarter Neb-Mueller 6 pass Irom Taylor (Congdon kick). 11:56. Neb Brand Jackson 25 run (Congdon kick).

7:49. Neb Teatatnler 29 pass Irom Ganz (Congdon kick). 3:14. A 85.181. Hal Yeager Birmingham NewsAP Grambling State's Clyde Edwards catches a touchdown pass over Hampton 's Travarous Bain in the first quarter Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

The Tigers lost to Hampton 27-26 in overtime in the season opener. Grambling falls to Hampton in OT Bulldogs coach sees encouraging signs in loss. By Scott Beder Louisiana Sports Bureau LINCOLN, Neb. Louisiana Tech made it interesting for awhile, but in the end Nebraska proved to be too much. Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor threw for 287 yards and tied a career high with three touchdown passes to lead the Cornhuskers past Louisiana Tech 49-10 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday.

"This was encouraging to me," Tech coach Jack Bicknell tsicKneii said, we came here and played a good football team and never felt like we were out of it." Behind Taylor, Nebraska rolled up 584 yards of total offense and four different receivers caught touchdown passes. Tech (0-1) trailed 14-10 late in the second quarter, but the Cornhuskers (1-0) engineered a beautiful drive in the final 2 12 minutes of LaT 13 21-67 238 13-32-1 23 7-32 0 4-2 5-26 24 55 Neb 30 48-252 332 24-36-1 23 3-42 3 3-1 5-45 35 05 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-lnl Return ftrds Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Louisiana Tech, RJackson 9-43. Franklin 6- 35. Champion 6-iminus 11), Nebraska, Glenn 13-88, Lucky 13-79, K.Wilson 15-47, Brand.Jackson 3-36.

Taylor 2-9. Team 2-(minus 7). PASSING LouisianaTech, Champion 12-27-1-231, Mostey 1 -5-0-7. Nebraska, Taylor 22-34-1-287. Ganz 2- 2-045.

RECEtVING Louisiana Tech, Holland 7-1 39. Wheeler 2-69, Newman 1-16, Franklin 1-7, Carroll 1-7. PJackson 1-0. Nebraska, Nunn 5-54, Herian 3-61, Swift 3-46, Lucky 3-42, Peterson 2-30. Hardy 2-24, Mueller 2-10, Phillips 2-8.

Teafaliller 1-29, Purity 1-28, the second quarter to take a 21-10 halftime lead. Nebraska, ranked No. 20 by the Nebraska linebacker Bo Ruud (51) Patrick Jackson (bottom) after his of a football game in Lincoln, Associated Press, then opened the third quarter with another stellar scoring drive to take a 28-10 lead and take control of the game. Trailing 28-10 early in the fourth quarter, Tech had a chance to make it even more interesting. Quarterback Zac Champion hit Josh Wheeler on a big 56-yard strike, but Wheeler had the ball stripped from him and Nebraska recovered.

Demons not so special in loss Quotable "I don't have the feeling sitting here right now that they just Jammed it down our throat," Jack Bicknell, Louisiana Tech Hampton 27, Grambling St. 26, OT Hampton GSU 7 3 3 7 7 0 13 0 7-27 6-26 First Quarter Hamp-McDaniel 55 pass from Shepherd (Patenm kick). 10:47. Gram Edwards 1 1 pass Irom Landers (Manuel kickl, 6:38. Second Quarter Hamp-FG Patenni 47, 14:01.

Third Quarter Gram Tolberl 29 pass from Landers IManuei kick, 9:21. Gram Bridges 51 pass from Landers (kick failed). 6:59. Hamp FG Patenm 37, 2:43 Fourth Quarter Hamp-0 Jones 9 pass from Mitchell (Patenm kicki. 1:10 Overtime Hamp Beverly 10 pass Irom Mitchell (Patenm kick) Gram Abney 12 pass trom Landers (kick blockedl A 19.175.

Hamp 19 42-203 209 14-27-121-42-1 39 4-36 5 1-1 9-71 3255 Gram 19 30-32 273 11 2-1 7-40 27:05 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-lnl Return Yards Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Timeot INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS HUSHING Hampton. V.Morgan 14-82. Coieman 12-72, Bewly 8-34, McDamel 3-8, Mitchell 3-4, Shepherd 2-3. Grambling Kuuan 1 7-37, Carter 4-9, Edwards I- 3.

Landers 8-(minus 17). PASSING-Hampton, Mitchell 6-16-1-89, Shepherd 8- II- 0-120. Grambling Landers 21 -41 -1-273. Team 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING Wampton.

McDaniel 6-113, O.Jones 4-42, V.Morgan 1-24, Lomax 1-11, Beverly 1-10. Gilchrist 1-9. Grambling Bridges 6-94, Edw3rds 6-36. Tolbert 4-78. Abney 4-56.

Byrd 1-9. The Pirates won the game when kicker Andrew Paterini nailed the extra point after T.J. Mitchell's second touchdown pass of the day. Grambling answered with Landers' final score, a 12-yard pass from Landers to Neville product Tim Abney, but the point-after attempt by junior Tim Manuel was blocked by Hampton's Derius Swinton. "Special teams is the difference when you are trying to win championships," Spears said.

Four different receivers caught touchdowns for Grambling. ern on top 7-3. He combined with Del Roberts on a 5-yard TD pass with 9 seconds left in the half to put the Jaguars up 17-10 at halftime. Late in the third quarter Lewis found Brian Washington in the end zone to put the Jaguars back on top at 24-17. Following a pair of Bethune-Cookman touchdowns, Lewis closed out the scoring with the short toss to Alexander midway through the fourth quarter.

SOUTH FLORIDA 41, MC-NEESE STATE 10: At Tampa, Matt Grothe came off the bench to throw for two touchdowns and run for a third, helping South Florida shrug off early mistakes to beat McNeese State. Kansas 49, Northwestern St. 18 By Nick Deriso Louisiana Sports Bureau BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Grambling State lost a thrilling season-opener against Hampton by a one-point margin, 27-26, in the first overtime game for Coach Melvin Spears. The Legion Field contest, televised nationally on ESPN2, pitted the 2005 cham pions irom tne Southwestern Athletic and Mid-Eastern Atlantic conferences.

The game also marked redshirt sophomore Bran don Landers' first start since 2004, Spears and first game action since his brother was murdered two weeks ago. "I played in tribute to him," said Landers, a Carroll High product. "I felt like I had him looking down on me." Landers was 21-for-41 with four touchdowns and one interception, but the Grambling running game suffered with fullback Ruben Mayes out with a reaggravated knee injury. Senior Ab Kuuan ran for just 37 yards on 17 carries. Hampton scored the day's first points.

Then, as Landers gained confidence, he hit three TD passes only to see the Pirates score 10 unanswered points to force the extra period. Hampton hadn't led since early in the third quarter when they surged ahead in overtime. "We had our chances to put them away, but we didn't," Spears said. "When you play great teams, you've got to capitalize when you can. The best team won." NwSt Kan First downs 15 18 Rushes-yards 30-62' 31-209 Passing j' 217 117 Comp-Att-Int 22-40-1 10-20-1 RelurnYards 0 71 Punts-Avg 2-14 0 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1 Penallies-Yards 7-60 2-9 Time of Possession 36 36 23:24 From Staff Reports LAWRENCE, Kan.

Special teams breaks got Northwestern State off to a quick start in the season opener Saturday night at Kansas, before special teams breakdowns by the Demonshelped the Jayhawks ring up four first-half touchdowns that set the stage for a 49-18 KU victory Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. Two botched punt snaps by Kansas set up the Demons for a pair of early field goals and a quick 6-0 lead. But an 89-yard kickoff return after the second Robert Weeks field goal led to a 10-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Henry that put the Jayhawks on the board, and a weaving 70-yard Brian Murphy punt return touchdown three minutes later turned the tide for good. Then a blocked punt out of a tight formation inside the 3 was recovered near the back of the end zone for a touchdown by Dexton Fields, vaulting KU tip 21-6 midway through the second quarter. Another NSU mis- Eric FancuAP gets tripped up by Louisiana Tech's interception during the second half on Saturday.

Nebraska won 49-10. The Huskers then drove 67 yards in seven plays and scored on Phillips 6-yard pass to take a 35-10 lead. Champion, making his first career start, completed 12 of 27 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Tech receiver Johnathan Holland had a big game, catching seven passes for 139 yards and one score. to Kansas "It just means that our offense is going to be better tliis year," said Weeks.

"They gave me opportunities and our field goal team helped me convert them." But otherwise, the special teams were NSU's version of "Snakes on a Plane" a nightmarish adventure. "We gave away so much in the kicking game. We had breakdowns, and give Kansas credit, they made some plays," said Northwestern coach Scott Stoker. "When you're a Division I-AA team playing a BCS team, special teams seem to almost always make a major difference. We worked hard in that area all of August, but we fouled up some.

Those plays made the difference in this being a close game and this being what it turned out to be." The special teams plays defined an otherwise defensive-oriented battle. Though NSU entered the fourth period trailing 35-12, the Demons held a 187-186 edge in total offense although the Jayhawks had another 218 yards on returns. Will Proctor got off to a solid start for Clemson, throwing for 166 yards and three touchdowns. NO. 19 PENN STATE 34, AKRON 16: At State College, Anthony Morelli threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns in his first start and No.

19 Penn State threw in some new wrinkles on defense to defeat Akron. NO. 21 OREGON 48, STANFORD 10: At Eugene, Jonathan Stewart rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns for Oregon before hurting his ankle. Dennis Dixon threw for a score and ran for another for the Ducks. Ail models -compact up Southern takes opener INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS FlUSHING-Northweslern B.

Lawrence 1 5-70. Skidmore 3-12, Massey 6-3, Miller 2-3, Team 1-(minus 4), Meeks 3-(minus 22). Kansas, Cornish 13-140, Meier 9-59, Sharp 6-39. McAnderson 1-0. Team 1 -(minus 13), Tucker 1 (minus 16).

PASSING Northwestern Meeks 21-34-1-211. 1 Charpentier 1 -6-0-6. Kansas, Meier 8-1 8-1 -1 1 0. Barmann 2- 2-0-7 BECEIVING-Northwestern Bailey 7-47. Doyle 5-40, Miller 3-46, Skidmore 2-27, Broyles 2-26.

Kansas. Murph 3- 46, Henry 2-19, Sharp 2-7, Herford 1-18. Cornish 1-16. There was one bright spot on special teams. Weeks' four field goals (30, 31, 36, 36 yards) set a school single-game record, topping three apiece by Tommy Hebert (twice), Thomas Latoof and Randy Walker.

It also matched Weeks' season total in his freshman year (4 of 7) 25 with No. 3 Texas in Austin. Hie No. 3 Longhorns did their part, beating North Texas 56-7. NO.

16 IOWA 41, MONTANA 7: At Iowa City, Iowa, Drew Tate threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns and Albert Young added 148 yards of total offense and two scores for Iowa (1-0). NO. 17 VIRGINIA TECH 38, NORTHEASTERN 0: At Blacksburg, Sean Glennon threw three touchdown passes in his first career start as Virginia Tech beat North-Ccistcrn NO. 18 CLEMSON 54, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 6: At Clemson, S.C., Notre Dame wins defensive struggle Kansas 49, Northwestern St. 1 8 Northwestern St.

6 0 6 6-18 Kansas 14 14 7 1449 First Ouarter NwSt-FG 9:36. NwStFG Weeks 31.6:31 1 Kan-Henry 1 0 pass Irom Meier (S.Webb kick) 4 32. Kan-Murph 70 punl return IS. Webb kick). 1:41.

Second Quarter Kan Foster 0 blocked punt return (S.Webb kick), 8.20. Kan Murph 15 pass Irom Meier (S.Webb kick). 6:52. Third Quarter NwSI-FG Weeks 36, 10:34 Kan Cornish 69 run (S.Wecb kick), 1 002. NwSt-FG Weeks 36.

1:23. Fourth Quarter Kan-Meier 1 run (S.Webb kick), 12:47. NwSt Bailey 3 pass from Meeks (pass failed). 6:39. Kan-Meier 31 run (S.Webb kick), 3:46.

A 44,025. cue, a fumbled snap between redshirt freshman center Marcus Washington and quarterback Ricky Joe Meeks, handed Kansas the ball at the Demons' 15 and the Jayhawks made it hurt, getting a scoring pass on their next play from Kerry Meier to Brian Murph 6:52 before halftime. TOP in nearly two years. But Quinn ran it in from the 5 on a gutsy call by coach Charlie Weis with just 1 1 seconds remaining. NO.

1 OHIO STATE 35, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 12: At Columbus, Ohio, Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. were looking out for No. 1. Smith tossed touchdown passes of 5 and 58 yards to Ginn on top-ranked Ohio State's first two possessions to fuel the Buckeyes' victory over Northern Illinois. Tailbacks Antonio Pittman and acclaimed freshman Chris Wells also ran for scores as the Buckeyes set the stage for next week's showdown loss at Nebraska Chad Beverage, LB (Airline), La.

Tech Had 7 total tackles in loss at Nebraska Weldon Brown, DB (Bossier), La. Tech Had 3 total tackles, '4 kickoff returns for 85 yards in loss at Nebraka John David Booty (Evangel), USC Completed 24 of 35 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns at Arkansas. Jacob Hester (Evangel), LSU Ran 8 times for 31 yards including a 2-yard touchdown run against ULL Jonathan Wade (Evangel), Tennessee Had 3 pass break ups and 1 tackle against Cal. 1- news owns reupie uo www.ti8reveporttimes.com uuwj MM The Associated Press ATLANTA Notre Dame actually won a defensive struggle, scoring just enough points to avoid a major upset at the start of its most anticipated season in years. Brady Quinn and hometown favorite Darius Walker each ran for a touchdown Saturday night as the No.

2 Fighting Irish, with their highest preseason ranking since 1994, rallied for a 14-10 victory over Georgia Tech. Notre Dame fell behind 10-0 and was on the verge of going scoreless in the opening half for the first time By Fred Goodall The Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Southern University quarterback Joseph "JC" Lewis threw four touchdown passes to lead the Jaguars to a 30-29 win over Bethune-Cookman College in the 53rd annual Gateway Classic. Lewis connected with four different receivers for scores, with his 3-yard completion to Evan Alexander midway in the fourth quarter proving to be the game-winner. Lewis, a redshirt junior, finished with 24-of-38 passing for 271 yards.

Lewis connected with Gerard Landry on a 55-yard pass play for the Jaguars first score to put South fay Hometown heroes Zero Tail Swing Perfect Cure for Hangover Everything You Value in a Compact Excavator A look at how some of the area's Division I college football players performed this weekend. Klnsmon Lancaster, QB (BTW), ULM Completed 8 of 17 passes for 100 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions in a win over Alcorn State. Calvin Dawson, RB (Airline), ULM Rushed 17 times for 78 yards, caught 1 pass for 3 yards in win over Alcorn State Josh Alexander, LB (Evangel), ULM Had 1 tackle in a win over Alcorn State Wes Day, DL (Capt Shreve), La. tech Had 2 total tackles In mmmf i Local I ru (EhtWmta I V1 Shreveport Tractor, Inc. 6909 Westport Ave.

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