College football: Michigan will not use drone to deliver game ball

The University of Michigan has dropped plans to use a drone to deliver the game ball to Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor for its nonconference game against Utah.

The Detroit News reported Friday that the Federal Aviation Administration told the university that there is a temporary flight restriction over NCAA Division I stadiums seating at least 30,000 fans on game days.

The Ann Arbor News says the school informed the agency that the unmanned aerial flight would not take place Saturday as planned.

The university said in a statement Friday evening that the drone delivery had been arranged with a hobbyist as part of the 100th anniversary of the university’s aerospace program, the nation’s first. The school will proceed with a pregame 15-aircraft flyover that had been approved by the FAA.

South Florida 17, Connecticut 14: Mike White passed for 113 yards and a touchdown in the rain, leading the Bulls to the victory at Tampa, Fla. White threw 30 yards to Rodney Adams, and Marlon Mack ran a yard for first-quarter touchdowns that provided South Florida’s defense with most of the help the Bulls would need to win the American Athletic Conference opener.

The Bulls (2-2, 1-0) rebounded from a 49-17 loss to North Carolina State in which they were limited to 159 yards of total offense. They matched their victory total for all of last season, when they beat Cincinnati and Connecticut before ending the year on a six-game conference skid.

The Huskies (1-3, 0-1) scored on Byron Jones’ 70-yard interception return just before halftime, but had little success moving the ball on offense until their final possession of the night.

Harvard 41, Holy Cross 18: Andrew Casten ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns to help Harvard beat Holy Cross 41-18 on Friday night in the Crimson’s opener at Cambridge, Mass.

Harvard scored twice in a 24-second span in the third quarter to take a 27-18 lead. The Crimson had pulled ahead, 20-18, on Conner Hempel’s five-yard pass to Anthony Firkser with 4:43 left. On the first play after the kickoff, Matt Koran returned Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals’ fumble to the 18. Casten followed with a touchdown run on the next snap.

Hempel completed 11 of 13 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns, while Scott Hosch completed eight of 12 for 90 yards. Pujals completed 26 of 41 passes for 233 yards for Holy Cross (2-2). Jake Wieczorek had 11 catches for 98 yards.