New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020
nypost.com
Associated PressMichael Penix forced overtime
with a two-point conversion run
with 22 seconds left, then scored on
a diving two-point conversion to
give Indiana a season-opening, 36-35
upset victory over No. 8 Penn State.
The winning play went to a re-
play review before the officials an-
nounced the initial call stood.
“All I’d seen was an opportunity,
an opportunity to go out and show
the world what the Indiana Hoo-
siers are all about,” Penix said.
“They were playing man, so we’ve
got to score to win the game, and I
wasn’t going to let my team down,
so I went out and gave it my all.”Clemson 47, Syracuse 21
In Clemson, S.C., Trevor Law-
rence threw two touchdown passes,
Travis Etienne ran for three scoresand the top-ranked Tigers shook off
a sluggish performance to open 6-0
for the sixth straight season, putting
away the pesky Orange (1-5, 1-4).Alabama 48, Tennessee 17
In Knoxville, Tenn., Mac Jones
threw for 387 yards and
ran for a touchdown, and
Najee Harris ran for
three more scores to
help the No. 2 Crimson
Tide (5-0) rout the Vols (2-3) for its
14th straight win in the rivalry.Notre Dame 45, Pittsburgh 3
In Pittsburgh, Ian Book passed
for 312 yards and three touchdowns
and the No. 3 Fighting Irish (5-0,
4-0 ACC) overwhelmed the reeling
Panthers (3-4, 2-4).Oklahoma State 24, Iowa State 21
In Stillwater, Okla., Spencer San-vals, the Jayhawks (0-5, 0-4).Marshall 20, Florida Atlantic 9
Huntington, W.Va., Brenden
Knox rushed for 101 yards and
caught one of redshirt freshman
Grant Wells’ two touchdown
passes to lead the No. 22 Thunder-
ing Herd (5-0, 3-0 C-USA) over the
pandemic-depleted Owls (1-1, 1-1).Coastal Carolina 28, Ga. Southern 14
In Conway, S.C., backup quarter-
back Fred Payton threw three
touchdown passes and the No. 25
Chanticleers (5-0, 3-0 Sun Belt) won
their first game as a ranked team.Army 49, Mercer 3
At West Point, Sandon McCoy
had three 1-yard touchdown runs
for the Black Knights (6-1), who
also accepted a bid to the Inde-
pendence Bowl.Hoosiers’ late 2-point conversions help stun Penn State
By NOAH TRISTEREAST LANSING, Mich.
— Isaih Pacheco ran for
two first-half touchdowns,
and Rutgers snapped a 21-
game Big Ten losing streak
Saturday, beating Michigan
State, 38-27, in coach Greg
Schiano’s first game back
with the Scarlet Knights.
Michigan State has a new
coach too, but Mel Tucker’s
debut was forgettable from
the start. The Spartans (0-1)
turned the ball over seven
times — four in the first
half — and never led
against a Rutgers team that
hadn’t won a conference
game since Nov. 4, 2017
against Maryland.
“Those last seconds ... I
looked up and said, ’Wow,
this is real life, you know?’ ”
said Rutgers defensive end
Mike Tverdov, a junior who
redshirted the year the
Scarlet Knights last won in
conference play. “So it’s
definitely long overdue.”
The Scarlet Knights
scored 14 points total
through their first five Big
Ten games last year. It took
them 8:03 to reach that
mark Saturday. Pacheco
strolled in from 12 yards out
to cap the game’s opening
drive, then Michigan State
receiver Jayden Reed fum-
bled the ball away on his
team’s first offensive play.
Rutgers (1-0) didn’t capi-talize on that turnover, but
the Scarlet Knights quickly
forced another. Rocky Lom-
bardi was sacked and fum-
bled, giving Rutgers the ball
at the Spartans’ 1. A touch-
down run by Johnny Lan-
gan made it 14-0.
Reed scored on a 50-yard
catch-and-run on fourth
down to make it 14-7, but
the Spartans weren’t done
turning the ball over. An in-
terception in Michigan
State territory led to a 24-
yard touchdown run byRutgers quarterback Noah
Vedral.
Reed’s second fumble of
the half gave the Scarlet
Knights the ball again, but
Vedral threw an intercep-
tion. Michigan State’s Sha-
kur Brown ran it back for a
touchdown, but that was
called back for a penalty
and the Spartans settled for
a field goal.
Pacheco scored on a
3-yard run in the final min-
ute of the half, and Rutgers
led 28-13 after two quarters.
Michigan State lost another
fumble near midfield on its
first possession of the third.
Rutgers lost two fumblesin its own territory in the
third quarter. Lombardi
threw a 30-yard touchdown
pass to Jalen Nailor to make
it 28-20, but the Spartans
didn’t capitalize on the sec-
ond of those takeaways, get-
ting stopped on fourth
down from the Rutgers 21.
The Scarlet Knights
drove the other way for a
field goal that gave them an
11-point lead. Another Mi-
chigan State fumble — a
muffed punt with 6:57 left
— essentially sealed the
game, although the teams
traded late touchdowns
after that and Lombardi
threw an interception in thefinal minute.
Schiano is back for a sec-
ond stint as the Rutgers
coach after spending 11 sea-
sons in New Brunswick
from 2001-11. Tucker took
over Michigan State after
Mark Dantonio, the win-
ningest coach in school his-
tory, retired this offseason.
Dantonio was on hand for
Saturday’s game, but it’s
clear his former team has a
lot of work to do. Michigan
State’s streak of 21 straight
wins in home openers came
to an end, and that may be
the least of the Spartans’
concerns at the moment.
—APBy MITCH STACYCOLUMBUS, Ohio —
Justin Fields completed 20
of 21 passes for two touch-
downs and ran for another,
Master Teague III rushed
for a pair of scores and No.
5 Ohio State rolled over Ne-
braska 52-17 Saturday in the
Big Ten teams’ pandemic-
delayed opener.
Fields, a Heisman Trophy
finalist last season, com-
pleted his first 12 passes and
threw for 276 yards. He ran
for another 52 — including
a stunning 17-yard third-
quarter touchdown scram-
ble around the left side that
saw him spin past a de-
fender into the end zone.
The Ohio State defense
took most of the first half to
figure out a way to contain
quarterback Adrian Marti-
nez, who marched the
Huskers down for a touch-
down in the opening 2 min-
utes of the game.
Nebraska (0-1, 0-1 Big
Ten) tied the score at 14 in
the second quarter, but an
Ohio State field goal, a de-
fensive stop and Teague’s
second TD run gave the
Buckeyes a 24-14 lead at the
half. Then came Fields’
nifty touchdown run and a
55-yard scoop and score by
Buckeyes cornerback
Sevyn Banks, and Ohio
State (1-0, 1-0) had it under
control.
—APStRetch RUN: Sophomore
running back Aaron Young
(above) looks to make a play as
coach Greg Schiano (inset)
earned the first win of his second
stint at Rutgers. Getty ImagesBuckeyes
thrash
Nebraska
RU snaps
21-game
Big Ten
slide
RuTGERS 38
MiChiGAn ST. 27ders passed for 235 yards and ran
for 71 and a touchdown in his re-
turn from injury and the No. 6
Cowboys (4-0, 3-0 Big 12) beat the
No. 17 Cyclones (3-2, 3-1).Miami 19, Virginia 14
In Miami Gardens,
Fla., D’Eriq King threw
for 322 yards and a
touchdown, Mike Har-
ley had career bests of
10 catches for 170 yards, and the
No. 11 Hurricanes (5-1, 4-1 ACC)
outlasted the Cavaliers (1-4, 1-4).North Carolina 48, N.C. State 21
In Chapel Hill, N.C., Javonte
Williams ran for 160 yards and
three touchdowns to help the No.
14 Tar Heels (4-1, 4-1 ACC) romp
past the No. 23 Wolfpack (4-2,
4-2) to renew the longtime state
rivalry.COLLEGE
FOOTBALL
Michigan 49, Minneosta 24
In Minneapolis, Joe Milton ac-
counted for two touchdowns in
an unflappable debut at quarter-
back for the No. 18 Wolverines,
who trampled the No. 21 Gophers
with 258 yards rushing in the Big
Ten’s opening weekend.Wake Forest 23, Virginia Tech 16
In Winston-Salem, N.C., Walk-on
freshman safety Nick Andersen had
three interceptions, Christian Beal-
Smith ran for 129 yards and Nick
Sciba kicked three field goals to help
the Demon Deacons (3-2, 2-2 ACC)
beat the No. 19 Hokies (3-2, 3-2).Kansas State 55, Kansas 14
In Manhattan, Kan., Phillip Brooks
returned a pair of punts for touch-
downs and the No. 20 Wildcats (4-1)
took advantage of an embarrassing
day of special teams by its biggest ri-