COLLEGE FOOTBALL : MIDWEST ROUNDUP : Illinois Just Holds Off East Carolina, 38-31

Quarterback Jason Verduzco passed for three touchdowns and fullback Kameno Bell ran for two others as Illinois held off East Carolina, 38-31, Saturday at Champaign, Ill.

The Illini, leading 38-10 in the third quarter, survived a comeback engineered by Pirate quarterback Jeff Blake, who passed for three touchdowns, including an 80-yard scoring play to Dion Johnson.

Verduzco, a junior, completed 25 of 36 passes for 352 yards, including scoring pass plays of three yards to Elbert Turner and eight yards to Ken Dilger in the first quarter, and 21 yards to Gus Palma in the third quarter.

Blake, a senior, completed 21 of 42 passes for a career-high 353 yards. He also ran for a touchdown.

Miami (Ohio) 15, Ball State 7--The Redskins limited the Cardinals to minus-eight rushing yards and scored twice in the third quarter for the victory at Oxford, Ohio, in a Mid-American Conference game that was delayed 41 minutes by lightning.

Central Michigan 17, Ohio 17--Jeff Bender connected with Bryan Tice on a four-yard scoring play as time expired, giving Central Michigan the tie at Athens, Ohio, in a game delayed three times by storms.

The Chippewas settled for Chuck Selinger’s tying extra-point kick rather than risking a two-point conversion.

Bowling Green 17, Eastern Michigan 6--Erik White completed 10 of 18 passes for 125 yards, including a six-yard pass to Mark Szlachcic for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter of the Mid-American game at Bowling Green, Ohio.