East Roundup : Van Pelt’s Three Touchdown Passes Spark Pittsburgh

Alex Van Pelt threw for 181 yards and three touchdowns, and eighth-ranked Pittsburgh took advantage of six Temple turnovers for a 27-3 victory Saturday at Philadelphia.

Van Pelt threw touchdown passes to Henry Tuten and Reggie Williams in a shaky first half. Pitt (4-0-1) had three interceptions, two by Robert Bradley, and three fumble recoveries to spoil Temple’s homecoming.

Van Pelt also threw a fourth-down, one-yard touchdown pass to Tom Huebner with 5:27 to play after Huebner recovered a fumbled punt on the Temple 30-yard line.

Temple (0-6) took a 3-0 lead when Bob Wright kicked a 24-yard field goal with 8:05 left in the first quarter. But mistakes ended key opportunities for the Owls, who have not scored a touchdown in their last five games.

Bradley intercepted a pass by Victor Lay and returned it to the Temple 44 to set up Pittsburgh’s first score. Tuten made a diving catch of Van Pelt’s pass in the end zone for a 7-3 lead with 2:22 left in the first quarter.

Van Pelt threw a 38-yard pass to Williams to give the Panthers a 14-3 lead with 10:27 to play in the half.

A 35-yard pass from Van Pelt to Tuten set up a 30-yard field goal by Frazier and a 17-3 halftime lead as time ran out. Frazier kicked a 32-yarder in the second half.

Air Force 35, Navy 7--Quarterback Dee Dowis threw two touchdown passes to Steve Senn as the Falcons won their seventh in a row against the Midshipmen at Annapolis, Md.

Navy (1-4) trailed by only seven late in the first half and had contained the Air Force running game, ranked No. 1 with a 478 yards per game average. The Falcons improved to 6-0 overall.

Penn State 17, Rutgers 0--The Nittany Lions shut down the Scarlet Knights’ offense at East Rutherford, N.J.

The win was the fourth in a row for Penn State (4-1). It’s the Lions’ longest winning streak since 1987 and the shutout also was the first since a 41-0 victory over Cincinnati the same year. Rutgers dropped to 2-1-2.

Penn 24, Columbia 21--Bryan Keys’ scored two touchdowns, including a one-yard run with 5:22 remaining, to rally the Quakers to a victory at New York.

Lehigh 50, Harvard 28--Todd Brunner passed for five touchdowns, including four in the first eight minutes, as the Engineers won at Cambridge, Mass.

Cornell 24, Lafayette 23--Cornerback Paul Tully batted away Frank Baur’s two-point conversion pass attempt with 21 seconds left, and Jim Hodson missed a 36-yard field goal with no time remaining as the Big Red held off the Leopards at Ithaca, N.Y.

Holy Cross 33, Dartmouth 7--Quarterback Tom Ciaccio threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Crusaders to victory at Hanover, N.H.

Princeton 38, Brown 15--Judd Garrett rushed for 209 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Friars handed the Bruins a school-record 13th consecutive loss.

Yale 36, Colgate 15--Quarterback Darin Kehler ran for 92 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown run, to lead the Bulldogs to a win at New Haven, Conn.

Yale, 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Ivy League, rushed for 273 yards. Colgate dropped to 3-2.