Syracuse Makes It a Miserable Day for Pitt, 55-7

Rob Konrad scored twice and Phil Nash returned a blocked punt for a touchdown as Syracuse took advantage of early turnovers and beat Pittsburgh, 55-7, Saturday at Syracuse, N.Y.

The Orangemen, 3-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big East, rushed for 274 yards.

The loss brought the Panthers (2-5, 1-3) back to earth after their 53-52 comeback victory over Temple a week earlier.

Like the Orangemen’s 42-0 win over Rutgers last week, this one was over early. Syracuse, which led the Scarlet Knights 35-0 at halftime, built a 24-7 halftime lead over Pitt by taking advantage of a fumble, an interception and the blocked punt.

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Ken Oxendine ran for 163 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71-yard burst up the middle, as Virginia Tech recorded a 38-0 Big East victory over Temple (1-5, 0-2) at Blacksburg, Va.

The Hokies had a week off following a loss to Syracuse that snapped their 13-game winning streak and knocked them out of the Top 25.

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Army ran for 546 yards--its third-best rushing game ever--and the Cadets (5-0) notched a 42-21 victory over Rutgers (1-5) at East Rutherford, N.J. The 5-0 start equaled Army’s best start since 1985, and Army hasn’t opened 6-0 since 1950.

Quarterback Adam Thompson (126 yards), and running backs Joe Hewitt (117) and Demetrius Perry (127) all rushed for more than 100 yards for Army.

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Kenyatta Watson caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Matt Hasselbeck, and Omari Walker scored on a one-yard run in the third quarter as Boston College (3-3) rallied from a 10-6 halftime deficit for a 24-17 nonconference victory over host Cincinnati (2-4).

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Paris Childress connected with Dennis Lee on a 25-yard touchdown pass to give Columbia (4-0, 2-0) a 20-19 overtime victory over Penn (2-2, 0-2) in an Ivy League game at Philadelphia. . . . Quarterback Jon Aljancic ran for three touchdowns and passed for another in leading unbeaten Dartmouth (4-0, 1-0) to a 35-7 Ivy League victory over Holy Cross (1-4, 1-0) at Hanover, N.H. . . . Chad Levitt ran for 139 yards and three touchdowns, including the tie-breaker with 1:34 remaining, as Cornell (2-2, 2-0) recorded a 20-13 Ivy League victory over Harvard (1-3, 0-2) at Boston. . . . Jason McCullough threw for three touchdowns to lead Brown (1-3, 1-1) to a 27-23 victory over Ivy League rival Princeton at Princeton, N.J. . . . Todd Scott and Rob Masella returned intercepted passes for touchdowns to lead Yale (2-3) to a 23-21 nonconference victory over Bucknell (1-4) at New Haven, Conn.

SOUTH

Nealon Greene completed 13 of 24 passes for a career-high 231 yards, with 80 coming on a touchdown pass play to Tony Horne, as Clemson (3-3, 2-2) recorded a 13-6 ACC victory over Duke (0-6, 0-3) at Durham, N.C.

WEST

John Dutton threw for three scores and Alex Gresham ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns to spark Nevada to a 66-28 victory over Boise State at Reno in the opening game for both teams in the Big West Conference.

Nevada’s defense contributed 14 points and sacked Boise State quarterback Tony Hilde six times for the Wolf Pack (4-2). It was the fifth straight loss for the Broncos (1-6).

This was Boise State’s first game in the Big West after 26 years in the I-AA Big Sky Conference. And it was a long afternoon.

Nevada outgained Boise, 516 yards to 406.

Dutton completed 27 of 35 passes for 298 yards and no interceptions. Damon Wilkins had 13 catches for 121 yards for the Wolf Pack.

On its first possession, the Wolf Pack drove 62 yards with Dutton completing five passes for 45 yards, including a seven-yard scoring strike to Matt Kelly.

On Boise’s next possession, cornerback Darnell Hasson picked off a Hilde pass and ran 25 yards to put Nevada ahead 14-0.

Dutton connected with Greg Russell on a 50-yard scoring play to put Nevada up 22-0 by the end of the first quarter.

Hilde, who completed 12 of 25 passes for 217 yards, got Boise on the board, hitting Ryan Ikebe on a 34-yard pass play and then connecting with Ikebe for 30 yards who made a diving catch in the end zone to narrow the gap to 22-8.

SOUTHLAND

Aaron Flowers threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns, and Norman Clarke rushed for 171 yards and two more touchdowns to lead Cal State Northridge (3-3) to a 35-28 victory over Weber State at Ogden, Utah.

Wildcat Roger Cook threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns in a wide-open contest of the quarterbacks.

Going into the game, Northridge led Division I-AA in passing at 302 yards per game, while Weber was second with 293 yards per game.

The Matadors trailed 21-7 at halftime but scored 28 unanswered points in the second half--two touchdowns in each quarter. They led 35-21 with 5:44 remaining in the game.

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Craig Young rushed for a school-record 283 yards in 26 carries and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 13-yard run with 8:49 remaining as host Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-4) recorded a 34-33 victory over St. Mary’s of Moraga.

Young, a freshman who transferred to Cal Poly from Pacific, which dropped football following last season, broke the record of 267 yards set by Louis Jackson on Oct. 7, 1978 against Portland State.

Young’s first touchdown came on a 90-yard run.