Notre Dame, Weis beat Willingham
Notre Dame's Anthony Fasano reaches for a first-half pass against Washington, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005, in Seattle. Fasano made the reception, one of six passes he caught for 66 yards in the game. Notre Dame won, 36-17.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
SEATTLE — Charlie Weis led Notre Dame to the same kind of lopsided romp over Washington on Saturday that Tyrone Willingham did a year ago when he was coaching Fighting Irish.
The 16th-ranked Irish, clicking in the air and on the ground after a sluggish start, beat the Huskies 36-17 in a game that had little to do with coaches matching wits and everything to do with slick execution by Notre Dame and huge blunders by Washington.
A year after Notre Dame won 38-3 in South Bend, Ind., against Washington, they took their show on the road to do virtually the same thing against their former coach on a brilliant fall afternoon before 71,473 fans in Husky Stadium.
Quarterback Brady Quinn, who threw four touchdown passes last year, threw only one this time but compiled 327 yards passing in a more balanced attack that saw sophomore halfback Darius Walker rush for a career-high 128 yards on 21 carries.
No. 1 Southern California 45, No. 24 Oregon 13
EUGENE, Ore. — Matt Leinart threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns and USC trailed early but took over in the second half for its 25th straight victory.
The Ducks (3-1, 0-1 Pac-10) jumped out to an early 13-0 lead and clung to a 13-10 halftime advantage, but the Trojans (3-0, 1-0) scored 35 unanswered points in the second half.
Leinart, who was completing 75 percent of his passes (36-48) going into the game, didn't even make half of his attempts (12 of 25) in the first half against the Ducks. But the Heisman Trophy winner finished 23-of-39 with an interception.
Reggie Bush caught a scoring pass and ran for another for the two-time defending national champions, who have been No. 1 for a record 22-straight AP polls. He finished with 20 carries for 122 yards, and three catches for 43 yards.
No. 4 Virginia Tech 51, No. 15 Georgia Tech 7
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Jeff King caught a touchdown pass from Marcus Vick and blocked a field goal that turned into a 78-yard scoring run by D.J. Parker and Virginia Tech routed Georgia Tech.
The Hokies (4-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) shut down the vaunted passing game of the Yellow Jackets (3-1, 1-1), turned Georgia Tech's only sustained offensive drive into a special teams touchdown and scored 17 points in a span of 44 seconds.
Parker scooped up a field goal blocked by King and ran 78 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hokies a 14-0 first-quarter lead. And Xavier Adibi and Chris Ellis returned third-quarter interceptions for TDs just 26 seconds apart.
King caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Vick, Mike Imoh and Cedric Humes ran for scores and Brandon Pace kicked three field goals for the Hokies.
No. 5 Florida 49, Kentucky 28
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Chris Leak threw four touchdown passes, all in the first half, and DeShawn Wynn scored four touchdowns as Florida got its offense rolling.
After a blocked punt led to an early Kentucky touchdown, Florida (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) scored on seven straight possessions and led 49-7 at halftime. Leak, who made his first collegiate start two years ago at Kentucky, was 25-of-32 for 319 yards.
Leak's first touchdown pass, a 16-yarder, went to Wynn, who also scored on three short runs. Wynn became the first player in Florida history to record two four-touchdown games, having also accomplished the feat in a 2003 win over Florida A&M.
Florida's win was its 19th straight over the Wildcats (1-3, 0-1), a run that has included lopsided results like 73-17, 42-7, 65-0 and 44-10.
No. 7 Georgia 23, Mississippi St. 10
STARKVILLE, Miss. — D.J. Shockley passed for a career-high 312 yards in his first career road start, and Georgia opened 4-0 for third time in coach Mark Richt's five seasons.
Shockley, who's finally enjoying a chance to start after spending four years as David Greene's backup, also set career highs with 20 completions and 33 attempts despite gusty, hurricane-related winds and occasional showers.
Brandon Coutu kicked field goals of 23, 27 and 23 yards for Georgia (2-0 Southeastern Conference), which is off next week and can start thinking about its Oct. 8 showdown with No. 10 Tennessee.
This one could have been much more lopsided: Coutu missed field goals of 41 and 53 yards and Georgia lost a fumble inside the Mississippi State 10.
Mississippi State (2-2, 0-2) was looking for its second huge upset of a ranked SEC East team in two seasons under coach Sylvester Croom.
No. 8 Ohio St. 31, No. 21 Iowa 6
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Troy Smith threw two touchdown passes to Anthony Gonzalez and ran for two scores and Ohio State's defense shut down Iowa.
Iowa (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) finished with 18 rushes for minus 9 yards as A.J. Hawk and Mike Kudla each were credited with 1 1/2 sacks for 15 yards in losses. The Buckeyes (3-1, 1-0) harassed Iowa quarterback Drew Tate all day, sacking him five times for minus 43 yards.
The Hawkeyes, averaging 428 yards per game, mustered just 70 through the first three quarters and ended up with 137. They were forced to punt on their first seven possessions, running one play in Ohio State territory — by that time the Buckeyes were in control 24-0.
Antonio Pittman rushed for 171 yards on 28 carries for the Buckeyes, with Smith adding 127 yards on 18 carries — his TD runs were 16 and 4 yards. They became the first Ohio State quarterback-tailback tandem to top 100 yards in the same game since 1976. Smith also completed 13 of 19 passes for 191 yards.
South Florida 45, No. 9 Louisville 14
TAMPA, Fla. — Receiver Amarri Jackson ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third to lead South Florida to the biggest victory in the school's brief football history, routing Louisville in the Bulls' Big East debut.
After barely playing a role in the offense in his team's first three games, Jackson was Mr. Versatile in helping South Florida (3-1) beat a ranked opponent for the first time in six tries and stop the nation's third-longest Division I-A winning streak at nine games.
Louisville (2-1) had not lost since a 41-38 setback at Miami last Oct. 14. The Cardinals entered the conference opener with one of the country's most prolific offenses, but never fully got on track in losing to South Florida on the road for the second time in three years.
USF, which is in its ninth season, also upset Louisville two years ago in the Bulls' Conference USA debut. The Bulls and Cardinals left C-USA for the higher profile Big East after last season.
Minnesota 42, No. 11 Purdue 35, 2OT
MINNEAPOLIS — Gary Russell scored three touchdowns, the last a 3-yard run in the second overtime to lift Minnesota.
Laurence Maroney rushed for a career-high 217 yards on 46 carries for the Gophers (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), who held on in another thrilling back-and-forth game between these rivals.
Purdue (2-1, 0-1) had a chance to tie the game in the second OT, but Jerod Void was stuffed on third-and-1 from the Minnesota 17, and Brandon Kirsch's fourth-down pass glanced off Charles Davis' hands. The Gophers charged the field in celebration of Glen Mason's first victory over Purdue in seven tries as Minnesota coach.
No. 12 Miami 23, Colorado 3
MIAMI — Kyle Wright threw for 264 yards and a touchdown, plus ran for another, and Miami's defense frustrated Colorado all afternoon.
Only Mason Crosby's 58-yard field goal — the second longest of his career — with 11:57 left kept the Buffaloes (2-1) from being shut out for the first time in nearly two decades.
Sinorice Moss had 111 yards receiving, including a 53-yard touchdown catch, for the Hurricanes (2-1) — who got three field goals from Jon Peattie, then a 2-yard scoring run by Wright with 8:44 left.
Quadtrine Hill and Tyrone Moss combined for 99 yards rushing for Miami, which got 12 tackles and an interception from safety Brandon Meriweather.
Wisconsin 23, No. 14 Michigan 20
MADISON, Wis. — John Stocco scored on a 4-yard quarterback draw with 24 seconds left as Wisconsin snapped Michigan's 23-game winning streak in Big Ten openers.
Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0) sealed the win when Michigan's Chad Henne was flushed from the pocket and slipped on the turf, the ball popping loose as time expired and the Badgers stormed the field with their first win over the Wolverines (2-2, 0-1) since 1994.
It was just the second loss in Michigan's last 38 conference openers, and both were to Wisconsin, which also beat the Wolverines in their 1981 Big Ten kickoff.
Wisconsin also tied its modern-day mark with its ninth straight home win, its longest such streak since the early 1960s.
Brian Calhoun rushed 35 times for 155 yards for Wisconsin and gained another 59 yards on seven receptions.
No. 17 Michigan St. 61, Illinois 14
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Drew Stanton set a school record with five TD passes and Michigan State scored on six of eight first-half possessions in its romp.
Michigan State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) rolled up 705 yards. Illinois (2-2, 0-1) gave up 381 yards before halftime as Stanton did as he pleased during a 28-point second quarter. Stanton tied the school record, held by seven others, by halftime and broke it with a 2-yard toss to Kellen Davis on the Spartans' first possession of the second half. Stanton's second pass of the day was a 75-yard TD strike to Kyle Brown, and he hit Dwayne Holmes, Jerramy Scott and Matt Trannon for scores in the second quarter.
The 61 points was the most scored by the Spartans since they scored 76 against Northwestern in 1989.
Stanton, who left the game early in the third quarter, finished 20-of-26 for 259 yards. He was 11-of-14 for 107 yards in that deciding second quarter.
No. 18 Arizona St. 42, Oregon St. 24
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Sam Keller threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns and Derek Hagan had 193 yards receiving for Arizona State in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
The Sun Devils (3-1) had 475 yards of total offense and scored four touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away. The Beavers (2-2) piled up 525 yards of total offense, but turned the ball over six times.
Hagan, a senior who has receptions in 33 straight games, passed John Jefferson (1974-77) to become the Sun Devils' career leader in receiving yards with 2,160. He had 11 receptions, two for touchdowns, against the Beavers.
Oregon State's Matt Moore was 24-of-43 for 311 yards, but he also threw three interceptions. Mike Hass caught 11 passes for 174 yards for the Beavers, and Yvenson Bernard ran for 134 yards.
No. 19 Texas Tech 63, Indiana St. 7
LUBBOCK, Texas — Taurean Henderson ran for 141 yards and three touchdowns, and Texas Tech rolled to another early season runaway, beating Division I-AA Indiana State (0-4).
The Red Raiders were coming off an 80-21 win over Sam Houston State, another I-AA school. This time, they scored only once after taking a 56-0 lead on their first possession of the third quarter.
Henderson, the NCAA's active leader in touchdowns, scored on carries of 3, 44 and 6 yards to give Texas Tech (3-0) a 21-0 lead. His first scoring run made him the Red Raiders' career leader in touchdowns and points. Henderson finished the game with 55 touchdowns for 330 points — James Gray had 52 touchdowns and 312 points from 1986-89.
Texas Tech's Cody Hodges went 25-of-32 for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He and Henderson both came out after the first half.
No. 20 Alabama 24, Arkansas 13
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — D.J. Hall caught two touchdown passes from Brodie Croyle, including a 5-yarder in the final minutes, to lead Alabama.
Juwan Simpson's interception at the Arkansas 40 set up the late scoring drive for the Crimson Tide (4-0, 2-0 SEC), which has opened with four straight wins for the first time since 1996. On third-and-goal, Hall slipped uncovered into the end zone yards from the nearest defender with 2:22 remaining.
The Razorbacks (1-3, 0-2), who came into the game as 15 1/2-point underdogs, hardly resembled the team manhandled for 70 points and 736 yards by No. 1 Southern California a week earlier.
They battled back from a 17-3 deficit in the fourth quarter on two big plays after Tim Castille's 1-yard TD run with 14:15 left gave Alabama the two-touchdown lead.
No. 23 Virginia 38, Duke 7
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Marques Hagans threw for four touchdown passes and Virginia's defense forced four turnovers in a victory over Duke.
Hagan's first three TD passes came on third and long, including a 46-yarder to tight end Tom Santi on third-and-24 that gave Virginia (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 17-0 third quarter lead.
Deyon Williams caught two touchdowns, and backup tight end J.M. Phillips scored on a 12-yard pass, carrying two Duke defenders on his back the final 3 yards.
Duke (1-3, 0-2) did not score until the fourth quarter, and managed only 11 first downs and 215 yards from scrimmage, much of which came after the game was out of reach.