The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 30

Montgomery Advertiser 12B COLLEGE FOOTBALL Sunday, October 5, 2003 STATE ROUNDUP NAVY 28, AIR FORCE 25 Navy upsets Falcons .4 Troy State's Bryant Stewart, left, reaches out to try to grab Nebraska running back Joch Bullocks during Saturday's game. The Trojans were flagged 13 times for 1 1 5 yards. Penalties hurt Trojans all afternoon had gotten behind the defense, gathered the ball at the 2-yard line and backed into the end zone. After signaling for a touchdown, the back judge threw his flag and called Rutledge for interference. The instant replay on the Jumbotron showed no foul and even the Nebraska fans rolled their eyes at the call.

"I was way behind him (the Nebraska defensive back), but I had to come back to the ball," Rutledge said. "When I saw the flag I was just hoping it wasn't on us. I might have put my hand on his back and I guess that is what the referee saw." The play would have made the score 10-7 and could have By Steve Barnes Special to the Advertiser LINCOLN, Neb. Troy State cannot wait to get into the Sun Belt Conference to get their own officials. Questionable calls from the Big 12 Conference referees went against the Trojans all day in their 30-0 loss to Nebraska.

Troy was flagged 13 times for 115 yards Saturday, including a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct calls one of which was called on the bench for interfering with the referee. "One of our coaches was charting (plays) and he was squatting in the white (area of the bench)," TSU coach Larry Blakeney said. "When the play By David Ginsburg The Associated Press LANDOVER, Md. It was a payback six years in the making. And now, after shocking previously unbeaten Air Force 28-25 Saturday, resurgent Navy is poised to win the coveted Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy for the first time in 22 years.

Kyle Eckel ran for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown, and Craig Candeto accounted for two scores as the Midshipmen thrilled the crowd of 30,623 at FedEx Field. Navy (3-2) had lost six straight to the Falcons (5-1), including a 48-7 rout last season. "After last year's game they said they wanted to send us a message," Mids coach Paul Johnson said. "Got it. Back at 'em." The victory put Navy in excellent position to win the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, awarded to the team with the best record in games between the three major service academies.

Navy can collect the trophy for the first time since 1981 by beating Army on Dec. 6. "That trophy means everything to our team," Eckel said. "It would be huge." Said Johnson: "We have a goal to try and win the trophy, and now we can play for it. This is not a season-ender; it just puts you in position." Air Force has captured the award every year since 1996, winning 12 straight games against its two biggest rivals before Saturday.

But on this day, Eckel was just too much to handle. "Their fullback game was devastating, and we just couldn't stop them," Falcons coach Fisher DeBerry said. "They beat us at our own game." The teams entered ranked 1-2 in the nation in rushing. Navy, which started No. 1, finished with 294 yards on the ground compared to 275 for Air Force.

The Midshipmen never trailed after scoring two touch downs in a 48-second span of the second quarter to take a 14-3 lead. "If you can get up big early that gives you confidence," Candeto said. "It did today." Navy went up 21-10 by moving 82 yards in 14 plays on the opening possession of the second half. "The story of the game was the start of the second half," De-Berry said. "We had to stop them, and they drove the length of the field." The Midshipmen converted three third-down plays before Tony Lane caught a 10-yard touchdown pass Candeto's first completion of the day.

Air Force got to 21-18 when Brett Walker recovered a fumble by Falcons quarterback Chance Harridge in the end zone with 14:09 remaining and Joe Schieffer ran in the two-point conversion. Navy answered with a 13-play, 71-yard drive in which Eckel gained 55 yards on eight carries. The junior fullback scored from the 4 on a fourth-and-1 giving Navy a 10-point cushion with 7:35 left. Troy: Black Shirts sack Trojans QB six times Karen S. Doerr Advertiser possibly turned the game around for TSU.

"That penalty really hurt us," offensive lineman Branden Hall said. "If we make that catch and do not get a pass interference, it could have been a different game, but we will never know." Troy State was called for six false starts in the game, five of them on first down. "Seems like every time we got the ball in the first half we started with a first-and-15," tailback DeWhitt Betterson said. "Some of the calls we don't agree with, but there is nothing we can do to change it. The refs call what they called." Karen S.

Doerr Advertiser Stadium again and again NOTEBOOK ha World-Journal, the newspa per reported a story about TSU coach Larry Blakeney in its Saturday edition. But, the pho to was of tormer otlensive coor dinator John Shannon. Oops. No so lucky: Troy State's char tered airplane had a history of good luck until Saturday. The Trojans flew on the same jet and with the same flight crew that took Northern Illinois to Tuscaloosa.

The Huskies defeated Alabama on the trip. Compiled by Steve Barnes a In 1 Blazers rip Memphis, stop skid MEMPHIS, Tenn. Darrell Hackney threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns Saturday as UAB built an early lead and held on for a 24-10 victory over Memphis. The victory snapped a three- game losing streak for the Blazers (2-3, 1-1 Conference USA), who have now won four straight in the series. The Tigers (3-2, 0-2) have struggled after the UAB game in recent years; they're a combined 2-12 after losing it the last three seasons.

A fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Hackney to Nick Coon for 57 yards sealed the Blazers' win. Hackney, who completed 14 of 28 passes, hit the receiver in stride at the Tiger 15 for the game's final points. Eastern Kentucky 13, Samford 10 RICHMOND, Ky. Matt Guice threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Andre Green with 1:23 left as Eastern Kentucky snapped a three-game losing streak. The Bulldogs had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Ty Neil missed a 35-yard field goal on the final play.

Miles 35, Stillman 21 BIRMINGHAM Nicholas Smith threw two touchdowns and ran for another as Miles defeated Stillman. Smith finished ll-of-25 for 185 yards with two interceptions. Tyvun Green threw three TDs, two of them in the fourth quarter, as Stillman (0-3) tried to rally. Harding 26, West Alabama 21 LIVINGSTON Adam Ly-brand threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Reid Smith with 43 seconds to play as Harding overcame a comeback effort by West Alabama. The Bisons led 17-7 after three quarters, but West Alabama's Brett Gilliland responded with two fourth-quarter TD passes.

But Lybrand, who was 20-of-39 for 193 yards, marched the Bisons back down the field late for the game-winner. Murray St. 23, Jacksonville St. 17 (OT) MURRAY, Ky. Ulysses Odoms ran 20 yards for a touchdown in overtime as Murray State snapped a four-game losing streak.

Deandre Green caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Stewart Childress with 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Alabama 63, Texas Southern 0 NORMAL Johnny Keith threw two touchdowns and ran for another, and Alabama defense and special teams added four TDs as the Bulldogs beat Texas Southern. North Alabama 21, S. Arkansas 14 MAGNOLIA, Ark. Two fourth-quarter passes from Will Hall to Ches Dye gave North Alabama a come-from-behind victory.

North Alabama trailed 14-7 after three quarters, so with 1:13 remaining, Hall found a wide-open Dye on a pass play that covered 27 yards for a TD. Associated Press reports for 331 yards. Two of his TDs came on long fly patterns to Jared Ellerson, the school-record 96-yarder and another for 82 yards. Northwestern is 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten. (22) Purdue 43, Illinois 10 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.

Jerod Void ran for a career-high 119 yards and four touchdowns for Purdue. The Boilermakers (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) have won four straight overall and seven straight conference openers under Joe Tiller, who became just the second Purdue coach to win 50 games. The IUini (1-5, 0-2) lost their fourth straight. John Standeford caught six passes for 101 yards all in the first half and moved into second on the Big Ten's career reception list with 215. He also set a school record for yards receiving (3,062) and moved into fifth on the Big Ten list.

(25) Michigan St. 31, Indiana 3 EAST LANSING, Mich. Jeff Smoker tied a Michigan State record with 32 completions and accounted for three touchdowns. Michigan State (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) has won three straight games in a season for the first time since starting 3-0 in 2000. A i started the official was backing up, ran into him and fell.

It was accidental." Nebraska, however, was penalized five times for just 36 yards. Troy ended up with just 35 more yards of total offense than it was penalized. The Trojans also were penalized twice for personal fouls and were even called for too many men in the huddle during a no-huddle formation. But the topper was a pass interference call. In the third quarter with Nebraska leading 10-0, Troy State ran a gadget play.

Wide receiver Jason Samples took the ball on a reverse and then passed to Toris Rutledge. Rutledge, who Backup quarterback Joe Dailey hit Matt Herian with a 21-yard scoring strike. The four-play, 61-yard drive was aided by a personal foul penalty on TSU. With the comfortable lead, Nebraska's "Black Shirts" defense was able to tee off on Trojan quarterback Aaron Leak. Leak was sacked six times for 42 yards in losses.

"I tried to stay in the pocket as long as I could and I took some blows," Leak said. "I knew they were going to come so I had to stand there and complete them when they were there, but we still couldn't get anything going." Leak completed 9-of-19 for 81 yards and threw one interception. On two occasions the Huskers knocked Leak out of the game and his replacement, Han-sell Bearden, went 2-of-4 in the air with one interception. DeWhitt Betterson led the Trojans with just 34 yards rushing. Lord ran for a game-high 72 yards and passed for an additional 135.

Herian caught three passes for 110 yards. Troy State takes next week off and will be in action again Oct. 18 against Florida International. turned in the fourth to lead Texas to the winning score after Chance Mock had little success getting the offense moving. Young's fourth-down dive over the top of the line capped an 88-yard drive that started after Texas recovered Kansas State quarterback Ell Rober-son's fumble.

Troy State quarterback Aaron Leak, right, dives forward for a short gain during Saturday's game. Huskers sell out Memorial LINCOLN, Neb. Nebraska attracted its 259th consecutive sellout Saturday. The crowd was announced at 77,825 and the majority was in red shirts. The last time the Huskers failed to sell out Memorial Stadium was in 1962.

The crowd was the second largest to ever see TSU play. Another pick: Derrick Ansley intercepted his sixth pass of the season early in the third quarter. Heading into the game, the Tallassee native was leading the nation in interceptions. Who is this In the Oma- From Page 1 times and were called for five penalties. The Trojans appeared to get back into the game in the third quarter.

TSU went to its bag of tricks when Jason Samples took the ball on a reverse and he lofted a pass to Toris Rutledge in the end zone, but an offensive pass interference penalty was called to nullify the play. After assuming possession, Nebraska began to pull away. Lord hit tight end Matt Herrian with a 77-yard pass to put the Huskers at the Troy 3, and a play later, Cory Ross scored to give Nebraska a 17-0 lead. "Their tight end showed great speed on that play," defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said. "I thought we had the play covered, but their guy just ran by us." Nebraska added to its lead late in the third quarter on a short Lord run, but a bad snap on the conversion forced the Huskers to settle for a 23-0 advantage.

"We tried to keep the energy up," linebacker Leverne Johnson said. "We tried to keep up as long as we could, until they finally opened the floodgates." The Cornhuskers finished out the scoring in the fourth period. 1 nil tin Hawkeyes shock Michigan; Longhorns avoid scare from Kansas State IOWA CITY, Iowa Nathan Chandler threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Iowa beat Michigan, 30-27. knee and ankle when linebacker Justin Burks sacked him in the second quarter, completed 13 of 23 passes for 289 yards, with scoring strikes of 57 yards to Keary Colbert and 33 yards to Brandon Hancock. LenDale White, a freshman with 17 carries coming in, ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 21 attempts.

Ryan Killeen had three field goals for the Trojans (4-1, 1-1 Pac-10), who kept their slim national title hopes alive by winning after a triple-overtime loss at California last week. Southern Cal's defense held the Sun Devils (2-3, 0-2) to 61 yards rushing and stopped Andrew Walter when it counted. Walter was 19-of-38 for 305 yards, but couldn't prevent Arizona State's third straight loss and fourth in a row to the Trojans. (21) Minn. 42, Northwestern 17 EVANSTON, 111.

Asad Ab-dul-Khaliq threw for three touchdowns, including a game-changing 96-yarder to Jared El-lerson, as Minnesota roared back from an early deficit. Marion Barber III ran for two scores as the Gophers piled up 572 yards and improved to 6-0 for the first time in 43 years. Minnesota (2-0 Big Ten) hosts No. 9 Michigan on Friday night. Abdul-Khaliq was 12-for-17 TOP 25 ROUNDUP Roberson ran for 87 yards and two touchdowns including a 1-yard run that gave the Wildcats (4-2, 0-1) a 20-17 lead.

But he also had three turnovers with two interceptions, including one in the end zone that killed a scoring chance late in the first half. (4) Virginia Tech 48, Rutgers 22 PISCATAWAY, N.J. Bryan Randall threw for 250 yards and four TDs as Virginia Tech beat Rutgers for the 11th straight time. Randall had scoring passes of 28 and 45 yards to Chris Shreve and two 10-yarders to Mike Imoh for the Hokies (5-0, 1-0 Big East). Jimmy Williams scored on a 55-yard interception return and Cedric Humes had a 35-yard touchdown run in the final Big East meeting between the two schools.

Rutgers (3-2, 0-1) has lost 23rd straight Big East games, going 0-15 under current coach Greg Schiano. (10) USC 37, Arizona St. 17 TEMPE, Ariz. Matt Lei-nart shook off a leg injury that proved more scary than damaging to rally Southern California. Leinart, who hurt his right Iowa (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) trailed 1 14-0 in the first quarter before rallying with 20 straight points, Iowa's defense, after being i picked apart by Michigan It terback John Navarre for 224 yards in the first half, allowed just five first downs in the final two quarters.

I Michigan (4-2, 1-1) made it exciting at the end as Navarre i threw a 41-yard TD pass to Braylon Edwards with 3:43 re-I I maining, cutting Iowa's lead to i three. I Chandler was 17-of-34 for a career-high 195 yards. Fred Russell ran for 110 yards and Nate Kaeding added three field goals. I Navarre was 26-of-49 for a school-record 389 yards as Michigan rolled up 463 yards on I offense. Jason Avant had seven 1 catches for 175 yards, including a 71-yarder in the first half, i while Edwards had seven catch- es for 114 yards and two touch downs.

(1 3) Texas 24, (1 6) Kansas State 20 AUSTIN, Texas Freshman Vince Young shook off a sore right ankle to rally the Long-i horns with his running and passing and scored the winning touchdown from a yard out on Charlie Neibergall AP Iowa's Calvin Davis celebrates a touchdown reception during the first half against Michigan. The Haweyes held off Michigan, 30-27. fourth down with five minutes left. The Longhorns (4-1, 1-0 Big 12), whose reputation suffered a beating after a 38-28 home loss to Arkansas on Sept. 13, will face No.

1 Oklahoma next week in Dallas. Young limped off the field in pain after rolling his ankle on a sack in the third quarter. He re The Associated Press.