Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 29

The Insider COLLEGE FOOTBALL: WEEK 3 PAGE D-3 Revisiting the third Saturday of the 2008 college football season Sunday, September 14, 2008 More coverage Top 25 Page D-4 District highlights Page D-5 Scores Page D-5 Opponent: Iowa (3-0). When: Noon, Saturday. Where: Heinz Field. TV: ESPN or ESPN2. The stakes: Panthers hope to change their luck against the Big Ten.

Opponent: Temple (1-2). When: Noon, Saturday Where: Beaver Stadium. TV: Big Ten Network. The stakes: Looking to go 4-0 for the first time since 2005 season. Opponent: Colorado (2-0).

When: 8:30 p.m., Thursday. Where: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colo. TV: ESPN. The stakes: Mountaineers need a win just to remain ranked after starting out No. 8.

No. 1 Southern California routs Buckeyes By John Nadel The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Southern California turned the most anticipated September game in years into another Trojans victory march. Mark Sanchez threw four touchdown passes, Joe McKnight rushed for 105 yards on 12 carries, and the top-ranked Trojans crushed No. 5 Ohio State, 35-3, last night in a matchup of two of college most successful programs. Ohio State played without star tailback Chris Wells, out with an injured right foot.

But moving the ball the biggest problem before the Trojans made it a rout. Instead, they were done in by a handful of crucial mistakes. A holding penalty nullified a touchdown in the second quarter, and an errant throw by Todd Boeckman was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Rey Maualuga. By the time it was done the only question left was: Can anybody left on schedule beat these Trojans (2-0) and keep them from playing for a national championship in January for the fourth time this decade? worked out beautifully for USC coach Pete Carroll said. the years, when we prepare this well and we have our guys, hard to beat.

It matter who we play when we do that. This is what capable of doing, we do anything out of the ordinary to get there. We had a nice night. we can keep this momentum going and we can keep our play- makers showing up, going to be really tough. This game is a nice win, but it mean more than another game.

Our players understand that. I think why they prepare And what makes the Trojans so scary good. Ohio State (2-1), a decisive loser in the past two national championship games, probably have to worry about another Bowl Championship Series title game failure. Getting there for a third consecutive year after this beating will be a long shot, no matter how well the Buckeyes do in the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State had the ball for more than 20 minutes in the first half and gained 177 yards to 172, but left the field trailing, 21-3.

Sanchez threw two touchdown passes to Damian Williams in the third quarter to put the Buckeyes away. Once they fell behind, the Buckeyes were helpless against Maua- luga and the swarming Trojans. Ohio State gained only 30 yards in the second half. At one point late in the third quarter, the right-handed Boeckman tried a desperation left- handed pass as he was being tackled by Kyle Moore. The result was an intentional grounding penalty.

Everson Griffen sacked Boeckman on the next play. The Trojans won for the 39th time in their past 40 home games before a partisan crowd of 93,607 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. In the first game between the storied programs since 1990, USC won its sixth in a row against Ohio State and eighth consecutive against the Big Ten. Sanchez finished 17 for 28 for 172 yards with one interception before being relieved by freshman Aaron Corp midway through the fourth. McKnight carried only five times for 22 yards in the second half, spending most of his time on the sideline with a migraine.

But he needed. so Sanchez said. got time, when got a little space, anything can USC 35, OHIO STATE 3 Mark J. Press USC quarterback Mark Sanchez had reason to be excited. He threw four touchdown passes for the Trojans.

BCS best Winningest BCS conference programs since 2000: .845 Oklahoma (93-17) .837 Texas (87-17) .798 USC (83-21) .798 Ohio State (83-21) .792 LSU (84-22) Robert Morris kicks away chances in 17-14 loss to Bucknell By Phil Axelrod Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Robert Morris University coach Joe Walton had plenty to kick about after his Colonials imploded in a 17-14 loss to visiting Bucknell yesterday at Joe Walton Stadium. kicking game will kill he said, with a shrug. thought we were in pretty good shape in our kicking game. Obviously The Colonials mounted a frantic drive in the final two minutes with no timeouts and were in position to send the game into overtime, but Garrett 22-yard field-goal attempt was blocked with two seconds remaining. Moments earlier, Robert 1-yard plunge for an apparent go-ahead touchdown was nullified by an illegal-procedure penalty.

The receivers moved in different directions before the snap. they got confused, I have no idea said Walton, whose Colonials committed four turnovers (three lost fumbles an an i ntercept i on). ea ourselves. I say it any better than that. They beat us.

We had a chance to win we Clawson also missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt early in the second quarter with the Colonials holding a 7-0 lead. Although Bucknell (2-0) dominated the time of possession with a time-consuming running attack mixed in with short passes, Robert Morris (1-1) unleashed a quick-strike offense for long gains. It took Robert Morris just three plays to score after free safety Mike Landers returned an interception to the 45 at 10:03 of the first quarter. Walton dusted off a flea-flicker buried deep in his playbook for a 43-yard touchdown pass. Quarterback Erik Cwalinski threw a lateral across the field to halfback Myles Russ, who tossed it back to Cwalinski.

With a defender charging hard, Cwalinski lofted a rainbow pass to Sherrod Evers, who caught the ball in stride on the Bucknell 5. Bucknell tied it, 7-7, in the second quarter on Marcello 10-yard pass to Alex Lair. It appeared the teams were headed to intermission in a stalemate, but Will Carney got a second chance to make a field goal after Robert Morris was flagged for running into him on a 49-yard attempt. He then made a career-high 44-yarder to give the Bison a 10-7 lead. many Walton said.

many But it take Robert Morris long to erase its deficit. Just 30 seconds into the third quarter, Russ burst through the middle of the line and outraced defenders for a 68-yard touch- down run that pushed the Colonials in front, 14-10. Bucknell used some trickery of its own to regain the lead, 1714, midway in the third quarter on halfback Nolan 26- yard pass to Alex Odenbach, who made a fingertip grab deep in the corner of the end zone. The teams traded penalties and mistakes in the fourth quarter to set the stage for Robert final missed opportunity. IN THE DISTRICT Kevin Press Penn Jordan Norwood outruns Mike Holmes on a 55-yard touchdown pass to put Penn State on the board in the first quarter and begin a long afternoon for the host Orange at the Carrier Dome.

Offense continues onslaught By Ron Musselman Pittsburgh Post-Gazette SYRACUSE, N.Y. Welcome to the demolition derby. Penn high-octane offense just keeps hammering away, delivering more destruction each week. The 17th-ranked Nittany Lions continued their season- long assault yesterday, pounding defense for 560 yards and seven touchdowns in a 55-13 rout at the Carrier Dome. Penn State has outscored the opposition, 166-37, en route to a 3-0 start.

The Nittany Lions also have scored 35 or more points in the opening half of their first three games. The last time that happened was in 1994, when Penn offense led the country in scoring (47.8) and total offense (520.2). are a lot of playmak- ers on this offense and I think they have the potential to be very said Jack Ham, a Penn State radio analyst and former Nittany Lions player who earned four Super Bowl rings as a Hall of Fame linebacker for the Steelers. exciting to watch them out Senior wide receivers Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler each played a half, yet put up big numbers. Butler, held to three catches and no touchdowns in the first two games, had seven receptions for 110 yards and two scores in the opening 30 minutes yesterday as the Lions built a 38-6 lead.

Norwood added five catches for 113 yards and two scores. wideouts are backup quarterback Pat Devlin said. Starting quarterback Daryll Clark and Devlin each threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes. Butler caught a 17-yard scoring pass from Clark in the first quarter on a beautiful diving grab and a 15-yarder from Devlin in the second. Norwood snagged a 55-yard scoring pass from Clark in the first quarter and a 24-yarder from Devlin late in the second.

second touchdown SEE LIONS, PAGE D-4 Nittany Lions roll up 560 yards, 7 TDs against outclassed Orange squad PENN STATE 55, SYRACUSE 13 Get the point NCAA Division I-A scoring leaders entering Week 3 (two game minimum) Team Ppg. 1. Kansas State 57.0 2t. Arizona 55.5 2t. Penn State 55.5 4.

Oregon 55.0 5. Oklahoma 54.5 Trojans put game away early as QB Sanchez tosses four touchdown passes More district football highlights, Page D-5..