BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Penn St. Humbles Another Foe, 61-21

Penn State has been so thoroughly dominant that the Nittany Lions are starting to wonder what it is like for their victims.

No. 6-ranked Penn State, 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten, jumped to a 45-0 lead and cruised to a 61-21 victory over Iowa on Saturday at State College, Pa.

The game followed the pattern of Penn State’s first two victories--56-3 over Minnesota and 38-14 over USC. In each game, Penn State has led at least 28-0.

“I wonder what it’s like to be on the other side of the field,” tailback Ki-Jana Carter said. “I wonder what they are thinking.”

Carter scored two first-quarter touchdowns and backup tailback Mike Archie scored three times in the first 16 minutes as Penn State put away Iowa (2-1, 0-1) early.

Penn State took advantage of a blocked punt, an interception, a fumble and a porous Iowa defense to build a 42-0 lead, as Archie got his third score on a four-yard run 37 seconds into the second quarter.

Penn State ran for 309 yards, passing only 13 times. Quarterback Kerry Collins completed five of seven passes for 98 yards and one touchdown in limited duty.

Minnesota 40, San Diego State 17--Chris Darkins rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown in 25 carries to lead the Gophers at Minneapolis.

Quarterback Tim Schade, mostly a reserve after playing poorly in the Gophers’ 48-17 loss to San Diego State last season, passed for 213 yards in outplaying the Aztecs’ Tim Gutierrez.

Minnesota (2-1) also got touchdowns from its defense and special teams, a school record-tying four field goals for the second consecutive game from Mike Chalberg and 10 receptions from Chuck Rios.

But it was Darkins who especially gave the Aztecs (2-1) headaches--which was appropriate since he suffered a concussion on what he called “a violent act” by San Diego State safety Darrell Lewis in the 1993 game. Lewis drove his helmet into Darkins well away from the play and the running back missed the rest of that game and all of the next with headaches and dizziness.

“He is a senior,” Darkins said at the time. “I have no way of getting back at him even when we play them next year.”

No, but he did get back at Lewis’ former team.

Indiana 59, Kentucky 29--Redshirt freshman Alex Smith ran for 221 yards and two touchdowns in 19 carriers as the Hoosiers amassed a school-record 650 yards at Lexington, Ky. Indiana (3-0) also had a school-record 564 yards rushing.

Smith, who had touchdown runs of 63 and nine yards, topped the 213 yards by Louisiana State’s Harvey Williams in 1990 for the most rushing yards against a Kentucky team. He also broke the Big Ten freshman rushing mark of 207 yards set by Indiana’s Anthony Thompson against Wisconsin in 1986.

Kentucky (1-2) trailed at halftime, 35-10.

Northwestern 14, Air Force 10--This nonconference game at Air Force Academy, Colo., was supposed to feature lots of offense, but it came down to a touchdown on a 96-yard return of a fumble recovery by Wildcat cornerback Chris Martin with 12:12 remaining and an interception by linebacker Geoff Shein that killed a scoring threat by the Falcons with about a minute remaining.

Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett said another key was the punting of Paul Burton, who had three punts of more than 60 yards and a 57-yard average.

It was the first victory for Northwestern (1-1-1) in 11 games, including a 41-41 tie with Stanford the previous week.

Air Force (0-3) held Wildcat running back Dennis Lundy to 60 yards in 18 carries. He had 138 yards against Notre Dame and 130 against Stanford.

Ohio State 27, Pittsburgh 3--The Buckeyes had five sacks, five other tackles for losses, caused a fumble, intercepted a pass, broke up four passes and blocked two kicks in manhandling the Panthers in a nonconference game at Columbus, Ohio.

Pitt (1-2) was held to 139 yards passing and 103 rushing.

Ohio State quarterback Bob Hoying completed 14 of 21 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns, a 12-yarder to Buster Tillman in the second quarter and a 43-yard strike to Chris Sanders in the third. Hoying set up Tillman’s touchdown with a 45-yard run.

Eddie George rushed for 126 yards in 17 carries and also scored a touchdown for Ohio State (2-1), which had 512 yards but committed five turnovers.

Pitt was limited to 242 yards.

Illinois 34, Northern Illinois 10--Johnny Johnson, relegated to No. 2 quarterback after a season-opening loss, passed for two touchdowns and the Illini (2-1) pulled away in the second half at Champaign, Ill.

Johnson, who completed 15 of 20 passes for 222 yards, relieved in the second quarter after starter Scott Weaver had two passes intercepted. Johnson immediately directed the Illini on a 69-yard drive, aided by a third-down pass interference call.

Northern Illinois (0-3) trailed only 14-10 at halftime.

Purdue 49, Ball State 21--Mike Alstott rushed for 156 yards and four touchdowns in 19 carries and Carey Rogers ran for 124 in 13 to lead the Boilermakers at West Lafayette, Ind.