EAST ROUNDUP : Graves Lights Fuse to Lift Syracuse, 28-9

Marvin Graves threw two second-half touchdown passes to Antonio Johnson as No. 10 Syracuse defeated Virginia Tech, 28-9, in a Big East game at Syracuse, N.Y., on Saturday.

Syracuse made it 10 in a row against conference opponents, improving to 8-1 overall and kept its grip on first place with a 5-0 record. The Orangemen play at Boston College next week and end the season at home against Miami.

Syracuse scored first and was in command although it could never quite shake the Hokies (2-6-1, 1-4), who pulled to within 21-9 late in the third quarter and were driving for another score when the Syracuse defense stiffened. The Hokies advanced to the Syracuse 25, but were stopped. Ryan Williams missed a 38-yard field-goal attempt.

Syracuse marched downfield after Williams’ miss, and on the ninth play, Graves waited in a collapsing pocket until he found Johnson crossing left to right with a 15-yard touchdown pass.

West Virginia 41, East Carolina 28--Rodney Woodard rushed for 135 yards and the Mountaineers scored 24 unanswered points to offset two big-play scores by the Pirates in a Big East game at Morgantown, W.Va.

The Mountaineers (4-3-2) scored 17 points in the second quarter to go ahead for good. Mike Vanderjagt made a 33-yard field goal, Jon Jones scored on a five-yard run and Darren Studstill threw four yards to John Cappa for a 17-7 lead.

East Carolina (4-5) lost despite getting two 97-yard scores. The first came when Morris Letcher caught a punt at his own three and handed off to Derrick Batson, who ran untouched up the right sideline behind a wall of blockers. The Pirates’ second big play was a 97-yard fumble return for a score by Ernie Lewis in the fourth quarter.

Princeton 20, Penn 14--Michael Lerch, playing on both offense and defense, caught a touchdown pass and had a game-ending sack to lead the Ivy League-leading Tigers at Princeton.

A 57-yard, five-play Penn drive in the final minutes brought the Quakers to the Princeton 23 before Lerch, doubling as a defensive end, sacked quarterback Jim McGeehan on the final play to help keep the Tigers (7-1, 5-0) in first.

McGeehan threw for 47 yards on four passes to lead Penn (5-3, 3-2) to its first touchdown with 9:13 left in the first quarter. He finished the 59-yard, 10-play drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Mathews.

Cornell 35, Yale 14--Bill Lazor passed for 248 yards and three touchdowns and Cornell’s defense held the Elis to 142 yards rushing as the Big Red won its seventh in a row and kept its Ivy League title hopes alive at New Haven, Conn.

Cornell (7-1, 3-1) built a 28-7 halftime lead by overpowering Yale (4-4, 2-3). Cornell must hope that first-place Princeton loses to either Yale or Dartmouth in the final two weeks.

Harvard 29, Brown 19--Quarterback Mike Giardi rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns as the Crimson broke a six-game losing streak to avoid becoming the first Harvard team to lose seven consecutive games in one season since the program began in 1874.

Dartmouth 38, Columbia 19--Jay Fiedler passed for three touchdowns, scored one and set a school record for total offense in leading the Big Green at Hanover, N.H.

Navy 20, Tulane 17--Navy became the last Division I-A football team to win this season, using two touchdown passes by Jason Van Matre for its nonconference victory at Annapolis, Md.

Akron 29, Temple 15--Daron Alcorn kicked five field goals and Vic Green returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown to lead the Zips at Akron, Ohio.

Cincinnati 26, Rutgers 24--Brian Whitlow kicked a 34-yard field goal with 17 seconds left as the Bearcats (2-7) squandered a 16-point third-quarter lead before rallying at Cincinnati. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak and dropped Rutgers to 5-4.