Southern Illinoisan from Carbondale, Illinois • Page 31

man Sunday, Ottokr 22, 2006 www.thesouthern.com Spouts Texas escapes Nebraska THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LINCOLN. Neb Ryan Bailey made his first collegiate field 0J I memorable one. 22 yarder with 23 seconds 1 Top 25 Lon I Penn State overcomes mistakes to take down Fighting Illini BY GENARO C. ARMAS THF ASSOCIATED PRESS STATE COLLEGE. Pa.

-A capacity crowd left IVaver Stadium satisfied by a Penn State victory highlighted bv big plays on defense and special teams Coach Joe Paterno was les9 than enthused. "We were lousy. You saw what happened, we were a frustrated Paterno said about his offense after the Nittany Lions' 26 12 win Saturday over Illinois What about the offensive line? "We were just lousy. Can you get that out for us? It's IptUtd LO he said. The defense had some trouble, too.

but overcame Rashard Mendenhall's 161 rushing yards with turnovers. Penn State won despite its own sputtering running game and getting outgained 358-184 in total yardage. Cornerback Tony Davis scored on a 6-yard fumble return. Safety Anthony Scirrotto had two interceptions and returned an onside kick for a touchdown. And.

linebacker Dan Connor sacked Illinois quarterback Isiah Williams for a safety as the Nittany Lions overcame a 9 3 halftime deficit. In the locker room before the MOOnd half, coaches challenged the defense to come up with momentum-changing plays. For the most part, they produced. "We're playing great as a defense but we've got to I start making turnovers and scoring points and helping out our offense a little hit." Scirrotto said afterward, holding a game i ball in his hands. "We stressed that big time at halftime." Illinois was competitiv late into the fourth quartt In its previous two games against Indiana and Ohio, but were foiled then by last-second field goals.

They were down just 17-12 late to Penn State, but the Lions pulled away with nine points in the last 1:20 I to seal the win. again. Auburn (8) 38, Tulane 13 At Auburn. Ala Brandon Cox pitted jot 212 yards and three touchdowns and freshman Ben Tate rushed for 156 yards to lead Auburn past Tulane. The Titers (71) WW hoping to avoid a letdown following a victory over then No 2 Florida last week, and succeeded mostly due to three tarnOVtrt it) i BUM featuring short-handed UOTniw that put up plenty of yards Notr Dame (10)20, UCLA 17: At South Bend.

Brady Qninn threw 1 16 jrerd touchdown pass to Jeff Sai'iai I'ij.) with seconds left to give Notre Dame an improbable comeback victory over UCLA. California (11) 31, Washington 24: At Berkeley. Calif, Marsha wn Lynch ran for 150 yards and a 22-yard touchdown in overtime, and California recovered from Washington's improbable tying score on a deflected pass as time expired for a victory over the Huskies. Clemson (12) 31, Georgia Tech (13) 7: At Clemson, S.C.. there's no doubt who's tops in the Atlantic Coast Conference right now.

James Davis ran for a career-high 216 yards, C.J. Spiller scored two 50-yard touchdowns and Clemson held Georgia Tech star Calvin Johnson without a catch for the first time in his career in a surprisingly easy victory over the Yellow Jackets. Arkansas (15) 38, Mississippi 3: At Fayetteville. Felix 9 Hi 1 i lSBB( 1 mk TBI With the Corn buskers on the verge of pulling the upset. Texas (7-1.

4-0 Big 12) caught a huge break when receiver Terrence Nunn fumbled and Marcus Griffin recovered at the Nebraska 44 with 2:17 left. Colt McCoy, with a 20-mph wind in his face, drove the Longhoms to the Nebraska Texas coach Mack Brown turned to Bailey for the final kick after Greg Johnson missed two field goals and had an extra point blocked. Nebraska (6-2. 3 1) tried to ice Bailey when coach Bill Callahan asked officials to review the previous plav bo see if the Cornhuskers may have intercepted a pass by McCoy in the end zone. Replays clearly showed that the ball bounced on the ground, however, and Bailey didn't seem to mind the delay.

After getting a good-natured slap on the helmet from Brown, he trotted back out onto the field and calmly made the kick. Louisville (6) 28, Syracuse 13: At Syracuse. N.Y Syracuse wanted was one last chance. Kolby Smith denied it Smith rushed for a career high 165 yards and two touchdowns, the second on a 31-yard run with less than two minutes left, and Louisville held off the Orange. Despite getting called for nine penalties, Syracuse (3-5.

0 3 Big East) was in the game after Perry Patterson hit Mike Williams for a 37 yard touchdown to move the Orange within 21 13 with just more than 5 minutes remaining. But Smith crushed their hopes, gaining 77 yards on seven carries and scoring on a burst off left tackle to seal a crucial victory. Tennessee (7) 16, Alabama 13: At Knoxville. Arian Foster dove into the end zone with 3:28 left, completing a rally that gave Tennessee a victory over Alabama. The Crimson Tide (5-3.

2-3 Southeastern Conference) nearly kept the Volunteers out of the end zone for the first time this season. The Third Saturday in October, a Texas' Ryan Bailey watches the game-winning field goal clear the goalposts late in the fourth quarter against Nebraska during Saturday's game. Bailey first collegiate field goal beat Nebraska 22 20. shoit touchdown run in the fourth quarter immediately after Pittsburgh had close! quarter and Boston College held off Florida State. Texas (23) 34, Oklahoma State 33 At Stillwater.

Stephen McGee threw a 3-yard touchdown pass with 3 seconds left in regulation and Red Bryant blocked an extra point attempt in overtime, allowing Texas to escape with a victory over Oklahoma State. Missouri (24)41, Kansas State 21: At Columbia. Missouri fell behind on the first play before Chase Daniel threw four touchdown passes to lead the Tigers to a victory over Kansas State. thes spec That thee line, Rembert runs wild in Illinois State's victory over host Western Illinois THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 1 the left side. Washington State 34, Oregon (16) 23: At Pullma Jed Collins caugh ehdo chdowr id Boise ake sole Idaho possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference.

Rutgers (19) 20, Pittsburgh 10: At Pittsburgh. Ray Rice's 63-yard run set up his own Michigan (2) 20, Iowa 6: At Ann Arbor, Mike Hart and the Michigan defense brushed off the burden that has come with being No. 2 by bullying Iowa around the Big House. Hart grinded out 126 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries to back up another punishing defensive performance by Shawn Crable and crew as the Wolverines defeated the Hawkeyes. Wisconsin (21) 24, Purdue 3: At West Lafayette, P.J.

Hill ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns to help Wisconsin beat Purdue. John Stocco completed 13 of 21 passes for 201 yards for the Badgers (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten). rithin tin Sc. Knights i- irst big test of the season by-beating the Panthers. Oklahoma (20) 24, Colorado 3: At Norman.

Allen Patrick ran for 110 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to lead Oklahoma to a win in the Sooners' first game without Adrian Peterson. Boston College (22) 24, Florida State 19: At Tallahassee. DeJuan Tribble's 36-yard interception return for a touchdown capped a 21 point second AP deficit in the second half to 38. Purdue's Curtis Painter completed 20 of 40 passes for 187 yards. He entered the game ranked second in the nation in passing yards, ibut never found a rhythm.

Minnesota 10, North Dakota State 9: At Minneapolis, the "Let's go chants were so loud that the "Fire Mason!" sound coming from the Minnesota student section was barely audible. At the end of an embarrassing afternoon, the Gophers got their much-needed win. Minnesota blocked Shawn Bibeau's field goal as time ran out. helping the struggling Gophers survive against Division I-AA North Dakota State. Big Ten MSU rallies from 35 down to win on road THE ASSOCIATED PRESS EVANSTON- Michigan State staged the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I A history Saturday, rallying from a 35-point third-quarter deficit to beat Northwestern 41- 38 behind a blocked punt and the play of Drew Stanton.

Brett Swenson kicked the winning 28-yard field goal with 13 seconds left following a kev interception by Travis Key. The result dramatically ended a four-game losing streak for the Spartans (4-4. 1-3 Big Ten) and took some of the heat off coach John Smith. Until this riveting game, the biggest comeback In major NCAA football was 31 points when Maryland beat Miami 42- 40 on Nov. 10, 1984 and when Ohio State defeated Minnesota 41-37 on Oct.

28, 1989. Northwestern (2-6, 0-4) led 24-3 at the half, and the crushing defeat sent the Wildcats to their fifth straight loss. Michigan State trailed 38-3 with 9:54 left in the third quarter after Northwestem's C.J. Bacher threw his third TD pass, a 5-yarder to Shaun Herbert. The Spartans staged the improbable rally with Stanton shaking off a hard hit that momentarily knocked him out of the game before he returned to lead MSU.

Gateway beaten the Sycamores each of the past three years and took a 16-14 lead with a 55-yard punt return by Eric Davis in the final minutes of the second quarter. The lead didn't last long, however. Indiana State drove 50 yards in six plays, scoring the go-ahead touchdown by Berman with 26 seconds left in the period. The Sycamores stretched the lead to 28-16 midway through the third quarter on Schmidt's second TD run, and the Bears finished the scoring with a pair of field goals by Nathan Stokes late in the third period and with just over four minutes left in the final quarter. Northern Iowa 31, Youngstown State 23: At Youngstown.

Ohio, Eric Sanders threw three touchdown passes to Johnny Gray and Northern Iowa blocked a crucial extra point in the Panthers' victory over Youngstown State. Sanders threw touchdown passes of 6, 15 and 70 yards to Gray for Northern Iowa (5-2, 3-0 Gateway Conference). Marcus Mason scored on a 1-yard run with 11:02 left to pull the Penguins (6-2, 3-1) to within 24 23, but Chris Parsons blocked the extra point attempt. Darian Williams secured the victory with a 16-y'ard touchdown run with 4:08 left. Sanders was 19-of-27 passing for 291 yards and an interception.

Gray had seven catches for 160 yards. MACOMB Pierre Rembert rushed for 230 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday to lead Illinois State to a 28-14 victory over Western Illinois. Rembert's rushing total on 39 carries put him over 1.000 yards for the season. It was his second 200-plus rushing total for the season. Western Illinois (3-4, 0-4) took a 7-0 lead after taking their first possession 65 yards on six plays, which was capped by an 18 yard, end-around run by wide receiver Marco Thomas.

Following an 37 yard field goal by the Redbirds' Kevin Mazur, the Leathernecks marched 72 yards on 13 plays to go 14-3 on J.J. Payne's one-yard plunge. However, Illinois State (6-1, 3-0) responded with 14 unanswered points to close out the first half, with Rembert scoring from one yard out at 7:49 in the second quarter, and quarterback Luke Drone connecting with tight end Dave Moris on a 15-yard pass. Indiana State 28, Missouri State 22: At Terre Haute, Ben Schmidt rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two TDs as Indiana State beat Missouri State, snapping the nation's longest Division I losing streak at 25 games. It was the first victory for the I-AA Sycamores (1-8, 1-3 Gateway Conference) since a double-overtime win against Illinois State two years ago and the first victory for coach Lou West, who went winless in his first season at Indiana State last year.

Missouri State (1-7, 0-4) had Michigan State's football team celebrates after overcoming a 35-point defeat Northwestern 41-38 Saturday in Evanston. The Spartans won 41 Stanton, battling assorted injuries, tossed a TD pass of 18 yards to Jehuu Caulcrick with 7 03 left in the third. A.J. Jimmerson's 4-yard run, after a 19-yard pass from Stanton to Kerry Reed, made it 38-17. Ohio State (1)44, Indiana 3: At Columbus, Ohio, Troy Smith punched up his Heisman Trophy resume with four first-half touchdown passes and Ted Ginn Jr.

threw one and caught another to lead Ohio State to a victory over Indiana. Smith wasn't all that sharp, but didn't have to be against an Indiana defense that came in ranked next to last in the Big Ten in points allowed..