COLLEGE FOOTBALL : EAST ROUNDUP : Richards Leads No. 18 Pitt Past Ohio, 35-3

Pittsburgh Coach Paul Hackett, who already had a perfect bowl-game coaching record, now has a perfect regular-season record.

Curvin Richards ran for 119 yards and a touchdown and No. 18 Pitt scored on four of five first-half possessions Saturday as the Panthers beat Ohio University, 35-3, at Pittsburgh.

Hackett, a former assistant with USC and three NFL teams, was named to succeed the ousted Mike Gottfried just before Pitt beat Texas A&M;, 31-28, in the John Hancock Bowl last December. Hackett was the Panthers’ offensive coordinator last season before being promoted.

Pitt quarterback Alex Van Pelt, a sophomore, completed 10 of 13 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown--all in the first half--and Richards ran for all but nine of his yards before halftime as Pitt built a 28-3 lead in the first game between the two schools in 88 years.

Derrick Lewis added a pair of short touchdowns as Pitt’s starting offense, moving the ball at will against Ohio’s undermanned defense, outgained the Bobcats 228-35 in the first quarter.

Ohio, debuting under former Maine Coach Tom Lichtenberg, lost its 12th consecutive season opener.

“I knew coming in we were going to be out-physicalled, which we were,” Lichtenberg said. “Our kids played hard, but Pitt was bigger and stronger. I knew they were good and had good personnel. When they took out Richards and Van Pelt and their first teamers, I said, ‘Thank you.’ ”

Richards, a junior who ran for 2,510 yards in his first two seasons, carried five times for 47 yards as Pitt took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards to score on Lewis’ two-yard run.

After the Bobcats punted, Van Pelt, who broke Dan Marino’s school single-season passing record last season, hit Olando Truitt on a 30-yard touchdown pass play midway through the period, making it 14-0.

No. 25 West Virginia 35, Kent State 24--Jon Jones, a redshirt freshman running back, ran 32 yards for a touchdown on his first collegiate carry and the Mountaineers held off a Kent State rally for the victory at Morgantown, W.Va.

Jones’ run, with 6:17 left in the game, came after Kent State closed to 28-24 on the passing and running of quarterback Joe Dalpra, who completed 15 of 32 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Garrett Ford, who ran for 98 yards in 14 carries, helped West Virginia get off to a quick start with a 57-yard touchdown on the Mountaineers’ first play with 13:11 left in the first quarter.

Trailing 21-10 at halftime, Dalpra led Kent State on a 15-play, 66-yard scoring drive to start the second half and make it 21-17, and with 9:57 left brought the Golden Flashes within 28-24 with a four-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gucciardo.