Pittsburgh Closes Old Stadium in Style

John Turman threw two touchdown passes to Antonio Bryant and Kevan Barlow ran for two touchdowns as Pittsburgh defeated Notre Dame, 37-27, on Saturday in the last game at the Panthers’ 74-year-old campus stadium, which will be torn down.

Turman, benched more than a month ago, threw for 231 yards, almost exclusively to Latef Grim and Bryant as Pittsburgh (5-5) kept its bowl hopes alive.

Bryant, a freshman, had four catches for 95 yards and Grim had four for 120 yards as Turman made nearly every one of his 10 completions in 21 attempts count.

Notre Dame (5-5) had won eight in a row against Pittsburgh, the last six by a combined score of 280-77.

“I’m embarrassed for our football team,” said Notre Dame Coach Bob Davie, who began his coaching career as a Pittsburgh graduate assistant in 1977. “I hate to talk and make too strong a statement, but I’m embarrassed. I told our team to call it what it was: We got whipped.”

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Lee McDonald kicked a wobbly 25-yard field goal in overtime to allow Rutgers (1-9, 1-5 in the Big East) to end the nation’s fourth-longest active losing streak at 11 with a 24-21 victory over four-touchdown favorite Syracuse (6-4, 3-3) at Piscataway, N.J. It marked the first time that Rutgers has beaten Syracuse in 12 games since 1986. McDonald took over the kicking duties when Steven Barone was suspended before the game for an undisclosed violation of team rules. . . . Boston College (7-2, 4-2 in the Big East) used two big plays in the third quarter--Pedro Cirino’s 63-yard fumble return and Tim Hasselbeck’s 66-yard touchdown pass to Dedrick Dewalt--to take a big step toward its first bowl bid in five years with a 34-17 victory over West Virginia (3-7, 2-4) at Boston. . . . Quarterback Brian Madden ran for three touchdowns and threw for one for Navy (4-6) in a 45-21 victory over Tulane (3-7) at Annapolis, Md. Tulane’s Patrick Ramsey completed 36 of 52 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns, but had five interceptions. . . . James Perry completed 41 of 54 passes for 450 yards and three touchdowns, including one with just over a minute remaining, as Brown (8-1, 5-1) moved closer to its first Ivy League championship in 23 years with a 35-28 victory over Dartmouth (1-8, 1-5) at Hanover, N.H. . . . Joe Walland’s two touchdown passes helped visiting Yale (8-1, 5-1) increase its win streak to eight games in a 23-21 victory over Princeton (3-6, 1-5).

SOUTH

Jeff Kelly threw three touchdown passes to Todd Pinkston before halftime as No. 21 Southern Mississippi (7-3) scored on its first seven possessions in a 48-0 victory over Louisiana Lafayette (1-9) at Hattiesburg, Miss. . . . David Garrard threw three touchdown passes and Keith Stokes returned a punt for another touchdown for No. 24 East Carolina (8-2, 4-2 in Conference USA) in a 48-34 victory over Cincinnati (3-7, 0-5) at Greenville, N.C. . . . Tim Rattay moved into second place on the major-college passing yardage by throwing for 466 yards and five touchdowns as visiting Louisiana Tech (8-2) won its eighth consecutive game, a 41-20 victory over Alabama Birmingham (4-6). Rattay has 12,341 passing yards, moving past Louisville’s Chris Redman (12,196) to trail only Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer (15,031). Rattay has played only three major-college seasons to four for Detmer and Redman. Rattay’s 112 career touchdown passes rank third behind Detmer (121) and Florida’s Danny Wuerffel (114). . . . Gerard Arnold rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown to lead Memphis (4-6, 3-2 in Conference USA) to a 14-10 victory over visiting Army (3-6, 1-4).

MIDWEST

Chad Pennington completed 27 of 40 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns as No. 12 Marshall (10-0, 7-0) extended the nation’s longest Division I-A win streak to 14 with a 31-17 victory over Western Michigan (7-3, 6-1) in a Mid-American Conference game at Kalamazoo, Mich., that featured two the nation’s top passers. Western Michigan’s Tim Lester, ranked fifth in the nation in passing efficiency, was 24 for 43 for 193 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. Pennington is ranked second nationally in passing efficiency. . . . Travis Prentice tied Ricky Williams’ Division I-A record for rushing touchdowns (72) but was held to 69 yards in 25 carries as Miami of Ohio (6-3, 5-1 in the Mid-American) lost, 40-28, to Ohio (4-5, 4-2) at Athens, Ohio.

SOUTHWEST

Quarterback Jay Stuckey led two touchdown drives over the final 6:14 and Paul Smith scored three touchdowns to lead Texas El Paso (5-6, 3-3 in the Western Athletic Conference) to a 30-29 victory over Rice (5-6, 4-3) at Houston. . . . LaDainian Tomlinson was held to 75 yards--less than half the 155-yard average that ranks fourth nationally--but freshman Casey Printers threw three touchdown passes to lead Texas Christian (5-4) to a 27-3 victory over North Texas (2-7) at Fort Worth, Texas.

WEST

Jay Stoner completed 21 of 31 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions to lead Wyoming (6-3, 3-2 in the Mountain West) to a 31-17 victory over No. 15 Brigham Young (8-2, 5-1) at Laramie, Wyo. Brigham Young’s Kevin Feterik was 30 for 46 for 364 yards and moved ahead of Steve Sarkisian, Marc Wilson and Steve Young into fifth place on the school’s career passing list with 7,758 yards. Brigham Young can win the Mountain West championship next Saturday against Utah (7-3, 4-2), a 52-7 winner over New Mexico (3-6, 2-3) at Salt Lake City. Mike Anderson rushed for a career-high 204 yards, Steve Smith returned two punts for touchdowns of 70 and 52 yards and T.D. Croshaw threw for four touchdowns for Utah. Trevor Insley had 14 catches for 253 yards to become the NCAA Division I-A career leader in receiving yards but Nevada (3-7, 2-3) was a 42-33 loser to Arkansas State (4-7, 3-3) at Jonesboro, Ark. Insley, a senior from San Clemente, has 4,660 receiving yards, surpassing the previous record of 4,518 by Wyoming’s Marcus Harris from 1993-96.

SOUTHLAND

Danny Ragsdale completed 35 of 47 passes for 546 yards and four touchdowns as Redlands (7-2, 5-0) won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship with a 51-20 victory at Cal Lutheran (3-6, 2-3) . . . Kris Briggs ran for four touchdowns for Southern Methodist (3-5) in a 58-16 victory over Cal State Northridge (5-5) at Dallas. . . . Sal Rivas’ three field goals led Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (3-7) to a 24-21 victory over St. Mary’s (2-9) at Moraga, Calif.