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College football: Hall runs wild and Pitt beats No. 25 Virginia 23-13

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Darrin Hall ran for 229 yards and three touchdowns and Pittsburgh beat No. 23 Virginia 23-13 on Friday night.

Hall scored on runs of 41, 2 and 75 yards, the latter a play after Virginia closed to 14-13 in the fourth quarter. The Panthers (5-4, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) botched the extra point attempt but forced a three-and-out by the Cavaliers and went on to their fourth consecutive victory in the series. Alex Kessman’s 53-yard field goal, his fourth from 50 and beyond this season, padded the lead.

Bryce Perkins threw for 205 yards and a touchdown for Virginia (6-3, 4-2, No. 23 CFP), but Pittsburgh never allowed him to get untracked in the running game and sacked him five times for 46 yards in losses. The Cavaliers’ three-game winning streak was snapped as Pittsburgh took over first place in the ACC’s Coastal Division.

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Pittsburgh trailed 10-7 at halftime, but used a 15-play, 84-yard drive to go ahead. The Panthers converted four third downs on the drive and Hall finished it with runs of 18 and then two yards as the Virginia defense, which lost three starters to injury during the game, began to wear down. After being limited to 24 plays in the first half, the Panthers ran 21 in the third quarter alone, mostly grinding on the ground.

The Cavaliers drove for Brian Delaney’s second field goal, bringing the crowd alive, but Hall quieted them with his long scoring burst.

Freshman Mobley runs for 198 yards, Middle Tennessee wins

Chaton Mobley set a school freshman record with 198 rushing yards and Middle Tennessee State beat Western Kentucky 29-10 on Friday night.

Brent Stockstill was 24-of-42 passing for 228 yards and two touchdowns for MTSU (6-3, 5-1 Conference USA), which is off to its best start in league play since joining in 2013. The Blue Raiders are 19-3 in their last 22 home conference games.

MTSU opened the game with a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive, ending in Stockstill’s back-shoulder pass to Ty Lee for 43 yards. Freshman Zack Dobson scored his first career touchdown, a 5-yard reception, to extend the lead to 17-3. Crews Holt capped the first-half scoring with a 39-yard field goal for a 20-3 lead.

Holt made five field goals — with a long of 42 — to tie the program record for most makes in a game.

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Drew Eckels went 12 of 32 for 195 yards for Western Kentucky (1-8, 0-5). Backup Steven Duncan tossed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Lucky Jackson to pull to 23-10 late in the third quarter.

WKU’s seniors were trying to become the first class since 1976 to win all four matchups in the series over their careers.

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