REGIONAL ROUNDUP : Stewart Leads Miami Over Syracuse

James Stewart ran for two touchdowns as No. 5 Miami dominated the second half to defeat No. 10 Syracuse, 27-6, Saturday at Syracuse, N.Y., and take sole possession of first place in the Big East.

Syracuse, 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big East, led, 6-0, at halftime, but the Hurricanes (7-1, 4-0) scored on all four of their possessions in the second half, controlling the ball for 18 of 30 minutes.

Stewart, who missed the previous two games with an ankle injury, capped Miami’s two scoring drives in the third quarter with runs of three and 27 yards. He finished with 100 yards in 20 carries.

EAST

Terrell Willis carried 35 times for a school-record 232 yards and two touchdowns and Curtis Tribbitt returned a blocked field-goal attempt 80 yards, sparking Rutgers (5-3-1, 2-2-1) to a 38-21 Big East victory over Temple (2-7, 0-5) at Piscataway, N.J. . . . Mark DeRosa threw three touchdown passes as Penn (7-0, 5-0) clinched a share of the Ivy League title with a 33-19 victory at Princeton (5-3, 2-3). Penn, which has won 19 in a row, will try to tie Holy Cross’ Division I-AA record of 20 consecutive victories next weekend against Harvard. . . . Third-string quarterback Jon Aljancic scored two touchdowns on short-yardage plays and Dartmouth (4-3) held off three challenges by Columbia (4-3-1) in the last four minutes for a 14-13 Ivy League victory at Hanover, N.H. . . . Bob Nelson ran for 139 yards and three touchdowns in 21 carries as Yale (4-4, 2-3) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 24-14 Ivy League victory over Cornell (6-2, 3-2) at New Haven, Conn. . . . Marquis Jessie ran for two touchdowns and Bob Warden kicked three field goals as Brown (5-3, 2-3) notched a 23-17 Ivy League victory over Harvard (4-4, 2-3) at Boston. . . . Holy Cross reserve receiver John Myers caught a dramatic scoring pass from Rob Callahan with eight seconds left to provide the Crusaders (2-7, 2-1) with a 27-20 Patriot League victory over Bucknell (4-5, 1-2).

SOUTH

Navy (2-7) built an early 14-point lead and held on for a 17-15 victory over Tulane (1-8) at New Orleans. Tulane fought back as Cedric Anderson blocked a Navy punt through the end zone for a safety and then the Green Wave scored after the free kick on a 28-yard pass play from Tracey Watts to Derrick Franklin. Tulane had a chance to tie it with 10:15 left but a conversion pass failed.

BIG WEST

Jake Delhomme’s touchdown pass to Donald Richard and two-point conversion pass to Kenyon Cotton with 2:59 remaining provided the difference as Southwestern Louisiana (5-4, 4-1) recorded a 28-27 Big West victory over Nevada Las Vegas (5-4, 4-1) at Lafayette, La. UNLV’s Randy Gatewood, the nation’s leading receiver entering the game, had seven catches for 88 yards. . . . Alternating quarterbacks Sean Allgood and Aaron Gilbert led Northern Illinois (4-6, 3-3) to scores on its first four possessions and a 38-16 Big West victory over Arkansas State (1-8, 0-5) at Jonesboro, Ark. . . . Kirk Compton’s five-yard touchdown run with 1:30 to play gave New Mexico State (3-6, 2-2) a 24-21 Big West victory at San Jose State (1-8, 1-3). . . . Jason Cooper ran for 218 yards and one touchdown as Louisiana Tech (2-7) of the Big West snapped a six-game losing streak with a 38-28 nonconference victory over Northwestern Louisiana (5-4) at Ruston, La.