Wake Forest Is Raising Kane

No. 25-ranked North Carolina State can vouch for Wake Forest’s commitment to improving what was the worst rushing offense in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season.

Morgan Kane led the Demon Deacons’ new-look rushing game with 147 yards and three touchdowns, powering Wake Forest to a 31-7 victory over North Carolina State Saturday at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Kane, who came in averaging an ACC-leading 138 rushing yards, carried 31 times and scored on runs of three, one and six yards as Wake Forest (2-1, 1-1 in conference) defeated North Carolina State (3-2, 0-2) for only the second time in 12 games.

The Demon Deacons averaged only 65 yards rushing last season but had 266 in 66 carries against the Wolfpack.

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In a game featuring two of the nation’s top passers, Josh Heupel completed 29 of 42 passes for a school-record 429 yards and tied another record with five touchdown passes for Oklahoma (3-0) in a 42-21 victory at Louisville (2-2). Heupel broke the school record of 420 yards he set last week against Baylor. He had touchdown passes of six, 11, 44 and 52 yards twice and ran for a one-yard score as the Sooners opened the season 3-0 for the first time since 1995. Louisville’s Chris Redman was 24 for 49 for 292 yards and two touchdowns but had two interceptions for the third consecutive game. Redman became the 14th player in Division I-A to pass for more than 10,000 yards.

EAST

Quarterback Troy Nunes threw for one touchdown and ran for another to lead Syracuse (3-1, 1-0 in the Big East) to a 30-7 victory over West Virginia (1-3, 0-1) at Syracuse, N.Y. . . . Cedric Washington rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns in Piscataway, N.J. as Boston College (3-0, 1-0 in the Big East) defeated Rutgers (0-3, 0-1) for the fifth consecutive season, 27-7. . . . Chad Pennington completed 26 of 36 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns for No. 21 Marshall (4-0) in a 34-0 victory over Temple (0-4) at Huntington, W.Va.

Brown (2-0) increased its win streak to eight over two seasons, scoring 28 unanswered points before halftime in a 35-28 victory over Lafayette (0-2) at Providence, R.I. . . . Chris Boden was 33-for-43 passing for a school-record 424 yards and two touchdowns to lead Villanova (3-1) to a 34-6 victory over Pennsylvania (1-1) at Philadelphia. . . . Lehigh (3-0) spoiled the first night game in the 130-year history of Princeton football with a 31-0 victory over the Tigers (0-2). . . . Norman Hayes and Chris Schaefer scored touchdowns after fumble recoveries 10 seconds apart for Columbia (1-1) in a 28-3 victory over Towson State (3-1) at New York.

MIDWEST

Jose Davis passed for three touchdowns as Kent (1-3, 1-0 in the Mid-American Conference) ended the nation’s longest losing streak at 16 with a 41-27 victory over Bowling Green (1-3, 0-1) at Kent, Ohio. . . . Travis Prentice extended his NCAA record for games with two touchdowns or more to lead Miami of Ohio (3-1, 2-0 in the Mid-American) to a 24-16 victory over Central Michigan (1-3, 0-1) at Mount Pleasant, Mich. Prentice had a season-low 76 yards in 19 carries and scored two touchdowns--his 23rd multiple touchdown game.

SOUTHWEST

Dan Robinson completed 23 of 39 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns as Hawaii (3-1, 1-0) won its first Western Athletic Conference road game in seven years--a 20-0 victory over Southern Methodist (0-3) at Dallas. Hawaii hadn’t won a conference game on the mainland since a 41-21 defeat of Texas El Paso in 1992--a streak of 15 games--and had lost 26 consecutive road games overall. . . . Jay Stuckey threw three touchdown passes in less than two minutes of the second quarter and Texas El Paso (2-2) turned three fumble recoveries into 17 points in a 54-23 victory over New Mexico State (3-1) before the first sellout crowd (52,247) for a Miner game at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

LaDainian Tomlinson had 269 yards in 40 carries and picked up two first downs in the final minutes as Texas Christian (1-2) held off Arkansas State (0-4) for a 24-21 victory at Jonesboro, Ark. . . . Quarterback Chad Richardson rushed for 105 yards to lead Rice (1-3) to a 20-17 victory over Navy (1-3) at Houston. Navy was led in rushing by its quarterback Brian Broadwater, who had 98 yards.

WEST

Thomas Jones ran for 210 yards and two touchdowns and Dan Ellis threw for three touchdowns as Virginia (3-1) was a 45-40 winner over No. 17 Brigham Young (2-1) at Provo, Utah. Brigham Young was on the Virginia 10 with 1:37 left to play but freshman Jerton Evans intercepted Kevin Feterik’s pass in the end zone. Feterik completed 28 of 47 passes for 303 yards--89 less than his nation-leading average--and three touchdowns with three interceptions. . . . Jay Stoner threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Kofi Shuck early in the second quarter, and Wyoming (2-1, 1-0 in the Mountain West Conference) held on for a 10-7 victory over No. 24 Air Force (2-1, 0-1) at Air Force Academy, Colo. The loss ended Air Force’s win streak at 11--the longest in Division I-A.

Boise State (2-2) used a trick play to score a touchdown in a 20-9 victory over New Mexico (3-1) at Boise, Idaho. Boise State lined up for a punt at the New Mexico 39 in the third quarter, but instead of the snap going to punter Jeff Edwards, it went to Sasser who placed the ball on the ground and faked a lateral. As the New Mexico defenders ran by Sasser, he picked up the ball and ran for a touchdown. . . . Fresno State (2-2) scored 20 points in the first ten minutes of a 49-24 victory over Nevada (0-4) at Reno. Fresno State freshman Derrick Ward had 176 yards and two touchdowns in 14 carries. . . . Utah (3-0, 1-0 in the Mountain West) got 119 yards and four touchdowns rushing from Mike Anderson in a 52-14 victory at Nevada Las Vegas (2-2, 0-1).

SOUTHLAND

Marcus Brady completed 36 of 49 passes for 484 yards and five touchdowns but Cal State Northridge (1-2, 0-1 in the Big Sky Conference) was a 48-41 loser to Eastern Washington (2-2, 1-1) at Cheney, Wash. The teams combined for 1,145 yards, with Eastern Washington running backs Jovan Griffith and Jesse Chatman rushing for 262 and 211 yards, respectively. . . . Jeremy Lim ran for 262 yards and four touchdowns in 29 carries for Pomona-Pitzer (4-0) in a 65-0 victory over at Oberlin, Ohio (0-4).

Giovanni Carmozzi completed 20 of 34 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score to lead Hofstra (4-0) to its seventh consecutive victory over two seasons--38-3 over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (1-2) at Hempstead, N.Y. . . . Bryan Banta threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as Claremont-Mudd (3-0, 1-0 in the SCIAC) was a 23-14 winner over Occidental (0-3, 0-2) at Claremont.