Mount Union Runs Win Streak to 54

Zach Bruney threw four touchdown passes and Jesse Burghardt had two to lead Mount Union to a 56-10 victory over Wheaton on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Division III playoffs at Alliance, Ohio.

Mount Union (12-0) has won 54 consecutive games, matching the NCAA record it set from 1996 to 1999. It will be the ninth consecutive year that the Purple Raiders have advanced to the Division III semifinals.

Andrew Day kicked a 48-yard field goal in the first quarter to give Wheaton (12-1) a 3-0 lead before Mount Union ran off 42 consecutive points.

In other Division III quarterfinal games, St. John’s of Minnesota topped Linfield, 31-25; RPI edged Ithaca, 21-16, and Bridgewater’s game at Lycoming was postponed until today because of snow.

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Colgate ran its winning streak to 20 games in a blinding snowstorm at Hamilton, N.Y., defeating Western Illinois, 28-27, in the Division I-AA quarterfinals on Jamaal Branch’s one-yard touchdown run with 1:50 left.

Ryan Miller’s last-minute interception secured the victory for the Raiders (14-0), who will play Florida Atlantic, which defeated Northern Arizona, 48-25. Western Illinois, a team Louisiana State defeated, 35-7, on Sept. 13 at Baton Rouge, La., finished 9-4.

In other Division I-AA semifinals, Delaware defeated Northern Iowa, 37-7, and Wofford stopped defending champion Western Kentucky, 34-17.

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Ted Roof officially was hired as Duke’s coach, his five-week audition turning into a full-time job.

Duke Athletic Director Joe Alleva said he hired Roof over three other candidates, including former Detroit Lion coach Bobby Ross. Roof has no previous head coaching experience.

“He proved to me he could be a head coach in his audition,” Alleva said.

Roof was 2-3 as interim coach after Carl Franks was fired Oct. 19, breaking the program’s 30-game Atlantic Coast Conference losing streak with a victory over Georgia Tech and a 13-game skid against rival North Carolina.

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The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that three Miami juniors are expected to make themselves available for the NFL draft.

The paper said tight end Kellen Winslow, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and safety Sean Taylor have informed Hurricane coaches of their decisions.

Another junior, cornerback Antrel Rolle, who boosted his stock by shutting down Pittsburgh receiver Larry Fitzgerald for the second consecutive season, remains undecided about his future.