Arizona State Uses Late Rally to Win

Rudy Carpenter threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns, but No. 24 Arizona State needed a fourth-quarter rally to get past Division I-AA Northern Arizona, 35-14, on Thursday night in the opener for both teams at Tempe, Ariz.

Chris Baloney’s 35-yard interception return on the first play of the fourth quarter gave Arizona State its first lead at 21-14.

Keegan Herring had a 15-yard touchdown run with 11:58 left, and Dmitri Nance ran in from six yards to cap a late 91-yard drive that put the Sun Devils in control.

Northwestern 21, Miami of Ohio 3 -- Erryn Cobb blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown, helping the Wildcats finally get beyond two months of mourning with a victory at Oxford, Ohio.

The night was a tribute to Randy Walker, the Miami graduate and Northwestern coach who died two months ago at 52 of an apparent heart attack.

Oregon State 56, Eastern Washington 17 -- Yvenson Bernard rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Beavers at Corvallis, Ore.

Texas El Paso 34, San Diego State 27 -- Quintin Demps’ interception midway through the fourth quarter helped douse a wild rally at San Diego.

South Carolina 15, Mississippi State 0 -- Wide receiver Syvelle Newton threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Cory Boyd after a lateral early in the fourth quarter at Starkville, Miss., for Coach Steve Spurrier’s 150th victory.

Iowa State 45, Toledo 43 -- Todd Blythe caught a pair of touchdown passes in overtime and the Cyclones held on to win in triple overtime at Ames, Iowa, when Rockets receiver Chris Hopkins dropped a potential two-point conversion pass.

Boston College 31, Central Michigan 24 -- Matt Ryan threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles at Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Minnesota 44, Kent State 0 -- Converted linebacker Alex Daniels rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Golden Gophers over the Golden Flashes at Kent, Ohio.

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In other games: Jared Zabransky threw two touchdown passes and ran for another to lead Boise State to a 45-0 win over Sacramento State at Boise, Idaho.... Terry Caulley had 95 of his team’s 418 yards on the ground to lead Connecticut to a 52-7 rout of Rhode Island at East Hartford, Conn.... Running back James Starks scored on an 18-yard run in overtime to lift Buffalo to a 9-3 win over Temple at Amherst, N.Y.