East Roundup : Penn State, Bidding for No. 1, Wins, 31-10

Quarterback John Shaffer passed for one touchdown and ran for another, rallying No. 2-ranked Penn State to a 31-10 victory over Cincinnati Saturday at Cincinnati.

Penn State (9-0) fell behind, 10-7, in the second quarter before scoring 24 straight points to preserve its bid for the No. 1 ranking. Georgia beat No. 1 Florida, 24-3, Saturday.

Shaffer, a former star at Moeller High School in suburban Cincinnati, completed 7 of 20 attempts for 74 yards. One was a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bob Williams for the game’s first points.

Cincinnati (5-5) fought back behind Reggie Taylor, who rushed for 125 yards in 29 carries. Robert Barone kicked a 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter, then was wide on a 49-yard attempt.

One play later, defensive end Andre Jackson intercepted a screen pass and ran 25 yards for a touchdown and a 10-7 Cincinnati lead.

Shaffer finally got the Nittany Lions rolling before the half, quieting the Homecoming crowd of 33,528 at Riverfront Stadium as he completed a 32-yard pass to tight end Dean DiMidio to set up his own one-yard touchdown run, which gave Penn State a 14-10 halftime lead.

The Nittany Lions’ running attack wore down Cincinnati in the second half to ensure Penn State’s sixth come-from-behind victory.

Pittsburgh 21, Temple 17--Second-string fullback Darnell Stone dove two yards for a touchdown on his eighth carry of a fourth-period, 36-yard drive as the Panthers beat the Owls at Philadelphia.

Pitt trailed, 17-14, in the fourth quarter when it started from the Temple 36 after a short punt. Stone, who didn’t carry the ball during the first half, gained 28 yards on short bursts. His longest was an eight-yard gain to the Temple two, from where he scored on the next play.

Stone finished with 75 yards in 18 carries.

Pitt is 5-4-1 and leads the series with Temple, 13-1. Temple dropped to 4-6.

Pitt, trailing 10-0, came back to take a 14-10 lead in the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by fullback Tom Brown and a 34-yard touchdown run by Charles Gladman, who gained 135 yards in 17 carries.

Temple took a 17-14 lead with 2:50 left in the first half when freshman tailback Todd McNair, who played in place of Paul Palmer, the nation’s third-leading ground gainer, scored from the one. Palmer, who had rushed for at least 100 yards in each of Temple’s first nine games and has 1,516 rushing yards this season, was sidelined by an injured ankle.

Syracuse 24, Navy 20--At Annapolis, Md., Syracuse recovered a fumble at its three-yard line with 2:18 remaining to preserve the victory. Troy Saunders caught a pass from Navy quarterback Billy Byrne and was hit by Syracuse defensive back Cooper Gardiner. The ball squirted away and was recovered by David Holmes.

Syracuse is 5-3; the Midshipmen are 3-6.

Quarterback Don McPherson put Syracuse ahead for good when he ran two yards for his second touchdown with 5:37 to play.

Byrne completed 37 of 52 passes for 399 yards to set Navy single-game records for completions and passing yards. He also set Navy season records for completions (151) and passing yardage (1,694).

West Virginia 27, Rutgers 0--Tailback Tom Gray rushed for 146 yards in 28 carries and scored on a 37-yard run as West Virginia won at Morgantown, W.Va.

Gray’s touchdown run with 1:14 left in the second quarter gave the Mountaineers a 10-0 halftime lead.

West Virginia (5-3-1) snapped a two-game losing streak as sophomore Mike Timko, making his first start at quarterback, completed 11 of 17 passes for 114 yards. The Scarlet Knights fell to 1-7-1.

Dartmouth 34, Columbia 3--Ron Dufresne rushed for 109 yards, and tailback Bill Daly scored two touchdowns at New York as Dartmouth extended Columbia’s losing streak to 19, the longest in Division I.

Dartmouth is 2-5-1 overall and 2-3-1 in the Ivy League. Columbia is winless in eight starts this season. The Lions have won only five of their last 71 games.

Harvard 28, Holy Cross 20--Harvard scored 21 points in 41 seconds on touchdown passes by quarterback Brian White and fullback Robert Santiago and Lee Oldenburg’s interception return to win at Worcester, Mass.

The Crimson (6-2) trailed, 20-7, with 3:02 remaining when White hit LaMont Greer with a 27-yard touchdown pass. Santiago, intercepted earlier on two option-pass attempts, passed to Joe Connolly on a 40-yard touchdown play 28 seconds later after an onside kick.

Then cornerback Oldenburg returned an interception 34 yards for an insurance touchdown with 2:21 remaining, just 41 seconds after the White-to-Greer score.

Holy Cross is 3-5-1.

Cornell 20, Yale 14--Junior quarterback Marty Stallone directed touchdown drives of 56, 79 and 72 yards to lead Cornell to its second straight victory after six losses in an Ivy League game at New Haven, Conn.

It was Cornell’s 500th football victory and first league victory of the season. Cornell is 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the Ivy League. Yale is 3-3-1 and 2-2-1.

It was only Stallone’s second start of the season. He was brought up from the junior varsity after injuries to Shawn Maguire and Chip Knapp, and last week threw three touchdown passes to lead Cornell to its first victory of the season against Bucknell.

Penn 27, Colgate 27--Mike Powers’ 42-yard field goal with 4:51 remaining lifted Colgate to a tie with Penn at Hamilton, N.Y.

The Red Raiders (6-2-1) trailed, 27-17, entering the fourth quarter, but tied the game as quarterback Tom Burgess scored on a four-yard run and Powers kicked his second field goal.

Penn (6-1-1) then failed on field-goal attempts of 42 and 50 yards, the second hitting the left upright and bouncing off with 25 seconds left.

Colgate’s Kenny Gamble, carrying 32 times, rushed for 208 yards and 1 touchdown.

William & Mary 33, Princeton 28--Stan Yagiello tied a William & Mary record by throwing four touchdown passes, including a game-winning four-yard flip to Dave Szydlik with 9:02 left, to lead the Indians (6-4) to a victory at Princeton, N.J. Princeton is 3-5.