Daily News from New York, New York • 69

DAILY NEWSNYDailyNews.com Sunday, October 9, 201 1 69 Rutgers picks off Panthers FRESHMAN GARY NOVA threw two third-quarter touchdowns in his first start and Rutgers intercepted four passes, with Logan Ryan returning his second of the game 45 yards for a touchdown, in a 34-10 victory over mistake-ridden Pittsburgh in Piscataway yesterday. Nova hit Mark Harrison on a 6-yard TD pass after Rutgers' third interception and connected with fullback Joe Martinek on a 60-yard screen pass as the Scarlet Knights (4-1, 2-0 Big East) handed Pittsburgh (3-3, 1-1) its third loss in four games. Savon Huggins scored on a 3-yard run and San SanTe kicked two long field goals for Rutgers, which is 2-0 in league play for Nebraska's Lance Thorell (r.) flips Ohio State Braxton Miller as Cornhuskers post biggest comeback in their history to Huskers' shuck stun Ohio State. AP awe! threw for two TDs and ran for two more, helping the No. Wolverines come back from a 10-point halftime deficit on the road.

Robinson threw for 338 yards and ran for 1 13 as Michigan (6-0) scored on its first three possessions of the second half. CLEMSON 36, for another score. LSU's defense was too much for Florida (4-2, 2-2), which started freshman Ja-coby Brissett at quarterback because of injuries to John Brantley and Jeff Driskel. ALABAMA 34, passed for 237 yards RUTGERS 34 PITTSBURGH 10 only the second time in 2 1 years in the Big East. The only other time was 2006, when the Scarlet Knights went 11-2 and lost the conference title to West Virginia in triple overtime.

Pittsburgh's sensational junior Ray Graham rushed for 165 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown fourth-quarter run. Kevin Harper added a short field goal for the Panthers, whose high-octane offense was limited to 271 yards after an upset then No. 16 South Florida on Sept. 29. The big question all week for Rutgers was who would start at quarterback.

Nova had replaced Chas Dodd in the second half in rallying Rutgers to a double-overtime win over Syracuse, and coach Greg Schiano said his decision would be made at game time. Nova, who decommitted to Pittsburgh after Dave Wannstedt was fired, got the call and made plays when needed. He finished 1 1 -of -24 for 174 yards and no interceptions, although he put two snaps on the ground that the Scarlet Knights recovered. Rutgers came into the game having caused 18 turnovers, tied with Cincinnati for No. 1 in the nation.

It pushed the number to 22 with the four picks. Rutgers had six sacks for 5 0 yards in losses and the defense helped the Knights score 17 points. A stop deep in Pittsburgh territory set up Te's career-long 50-yard field goal that tied the game at 3. An interception by Steve Beauharnais deep in Panther territory led to Nova's TD pass to Harrison for a 13-3 lead. -AP LINCOLN, Neb.

Taylor Martinez ran for a touchdown and passed for two others while bringing No. 14 Nebraska back from a 21 -point second-half deficit, and the Cornhuskers defeated Ohio State, 34-27, last night in the biggest comeback in school history. Rex Burkhead scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 17-yard run with 5:10 left. Ohio State (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten) built a 27-6 lead behind freshman quarterback Braxton Miller. Miller injured his right leg in the third quarter, and the Buckeyes' offense went dormant with backup Joe Bauserman.

After Lavonte David stripped the ball from Miller, Martinez ran 18 yards for a touchdown to start the rally. He threw a 36-yard TD pass to Quincy Enunwa to pull the Huskers to 27-20, and he tied it with a 30-yard catch-and-run to Rex Burkhead. Martinez ran for 1 02 yards and was 16-of-22for 191 yards for Nebraska (5-1, 1-1). LSU 41, FLORIDA 11: In Baton Rouge, Spencer Ware rushed for 109 yards and two scores as the top-ranked Tigers rolled past the No. 17 Gators.

Jarrett Lee gave the Tigers (6-0, 3-0 SEC) the lead for good on their second play, hitting Rueben Ran die deep over the middle for a 46-yard TD. Jordan Jefferson used a jump pass to Mitch Joseph the host Irish (4-2) rolled to their fourth straight victory. Rees was 19-for-25 for 208 yards in the half and finished 23-of-32 for 261 yards. The wide-open affair featured the most combined points ever for a game at Notre Dame Stadium, breaking the mark of 90. And the 59 points were the most by Notre Dame since beating Rutgers 62-0 in 1996 Lou Holtz's final home game as Irish coach.

SYRACUSE 37, TULANE 34: Ross Krautman kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired for visiting Syracuse (4-2). PENN STATE 13, IOWA 3: Silas Redd ran for 142 yards and Matt McGloin capitalized on a fourth-quarter turnover with a touchdown pass for the host Nitt-any Lions (5-1). MIAMI (OHIO) 35, ARMY 28: Visiting Army (2-4) blew a 14-point lead in the second half and fell to 0-3 on the road. PENN 35, FORDHAM 20: The visiting Rams (1-4) took a 10-7 in the second quarter when Ryan Higgins connected with Carlton Koonce for a 55-yard touchdown. The Rams pulled within 28-20 early in the fourth on Higgins' 8-yard TD pass to Dan Light, but got no closer.

SACRED HEART 34, COLUMBIA 25: Tim Little threw for three TDs and ran for another to lead Sacred Heart over host Columbia (0-4). -AP and four TDs for the host No. 2 Tide (6-0, 3-0 SEC). GEORGIA TECH 21, MARYLAND 16: Tevin Washington ran for 120 yards and two TDs as the No. 13 Yellow Jackets (6-0) matched their win total from 2010.

OKLAHOMA STATE 70, KANSAS 28: In Stillwater, Brandon Weeden threw for 288 yards and five touchdowns playing less than a half in the No. 6 Cowboys' highest-scoring game since 1970. STANFORD 48, COLORADO 7: Andrew Luck threw for a season-high 370 yards and three touchdowns for the No. 7 Cardinal (5-0) at home. With former Stanford standouts Tiger Woods and John Elway joining the crush of NFL scouts on the sidelines, Luck completed 26 of 33 passes with a rare interception to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 13 games.

MICHIGAN 42, NORTHWESTERN 24: Denard Robinson BOSTON COLLEGE 14: Tajh Boyd passed for a TD and ran for another for the No. 8 Tigers (6-0). Boyd had to leave the field in the third quarter with a hip injury. ARKANSAS 38, AUBURN 14: Tyler Wilson threw for 262 yards, completing 19 straight passes at one point for No. 10 Arkansas.

WEST VIRGINIA 43, UCONN 16: Geno Smith threw for 450 yards and four touchdowns as the No. 16 Mountaineers navigated through another slow start to beat the visiting Huskies (2-4). West Virginia (5-1) struggled to a 10-9 halftime lead before erupting for 23 points in a 7 :35 span of the third quarter. VIRGINIA TECH 38, MIAMI 35: Logan Thomas ran 19 yards for a TD with 56 seconds to play, capping a wild fourth quarter for the No. 21 Hokies in Blacksburg.

NOTRE DAME 59, AIR FORCE 33: Tommy Rees threw four TD passes in the first half as.