August 30, 2008

Arkansas State 18, Texas A&M 14

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Reggie Arnold ran for 145 yards and Arkansas State ruined Mike Sherman's debut as Texas A&M's coach with a 18-14 win over the Aggies at Kyle Field on Saturday night.

The Red Wolves won for the first time in 15 games against Big 12 opponents and snapped A&M's 20-game winning streak in home openers. The Aggies hadn't dropped a home opener since a 17-3 loss to LSU in 1987, and this one likely will go down as one of the most embarrassing losses in school history.

A&M hired Sherman last November, less than a week after Dennis Franchione resigned following the season finale against Texas. Exactly five years ago Saturday, Franchione defeated Arkansas State 26-11 in his A&M debut.

This time, the Aggies built a 14-3 lead at halftime, then self-destructed with four turnovers, a missed field goal and several blown defensive plays.

Josh Arauco kicked four field goals, including a 37-yarder with 1:12 left, forcing the Aggies to go for a winning touchdown.

A&M drove inside the Arkansas State 35 in the final minute, but linebacker Ben Owens intercepted a tipped pass by Stephen McGee with 7 seconds remaining and the Wolves ran out the clock.

Arkansas State quarterback Corey Leonard threw for 160 yards and a touchdown and the Red Wolves earned their biggest victory since moving to Division I-A in 1992.

Mike Goodson ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns, but coughed up a costly fumble in the fourth quarter.

Early in the third quarter, Arkansas State safety M.D. Jennings intercepted a McGee pass at the Wolves' 41. Arauco kicked a field goal with 5:28 left in the third to cut the lead to 14-6.

Three minutes later, A&M receiver Howard Morrow caught a pass and fumbled at the Aggies' 47. Leonard scrambled up the middle for 32 yards on the next play, but the Red Wolves had to settle for another field goal from Arauco to cut A&M's lead to 14-9.

The Aggies got the ball near midfield after an Arkansas State punt early in the fourth quarter. McGee threw a 36-yard pass to Johnson, but Richie Bean missed a 25-yard field goal attempt with 9:30 left.

Arnold broke a 32-yard run to the Aggies' 33 early in the Red Wolves' next possession. On fourth-and-4, Arkansas State was called for an illegal block after Leonard scrambled for six yards. Leonard then hit Jahbari McLennan for 15 yards to keep the possession alive.

Two plays later, Leonard found Kevin Jones wide open in the end zone with 4:39 left in the game, silencing the maroon-clad crowd of 78,691, the second-largest for an A&M home opener.

Leonard threw an incomplete pass on a 2-point conversion try and the Wolves led 15-14.

Goodson ran for 10 yards on A&M's next play from scrimmage, but then fumbled a third-down carry at the Aggies' 41-yard line with 2:47 remaining. Referees reviewed the play and upheld the call.

After Arauco tacked on his second 37-yard field goal, Jennings tipped McGee's pass that Owens caught to secure the upset.

#14 Kansas 40, Florida International 10

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Todd Reesing threw three touchdown passes to Dezmon Briscoe and No. 14 Kansas, coming off the greatest season in its history, opened with a 40-10 victory Saturday over Florida International before a record-breaking home crowd.

Reesing, who rewrote the Kansas record book last year during a 12-1 season that vaulted the long-woeful Jayhawks into national contention, was 37-for-52 for 256 yards. Briscoe, a sophomore and Reesing's third-leading receiver in 2007, had touchdown catches of 3, 4 and 3 yards against a Sun Belt Conference team the Jayhawks smacked 55-3 a year ago.

Briscoe's third TD, on fourth-and-goal from the 3, was a leaping grab in the corner of the end zone after Reesing appeared to have overthrown his wide-open target.

The game was played before a school-record crowd of 52,112, breaking the mark of 51,910 which watched the resurgent Jayhawks beat longtime nemesis Nebraska 76-39 last year. It also broke by 4,000 the Memorial Stadium record for a nonconference game.

Kansas took a commanding lead with a 23-point second quarter that made it 30-10 at the half.

Reesing also threw an interception which Jeremiah Weatherspoon returned 20 yards to the Kansas 27 in the fourth quarter. A year ago, he had only seven interceptions. But a few minutes after the interception, Phillip Strozier made his second interception for the Jayhawks. His first was returned 30 yards and set up Briscoe's third touchdown.

The Golden Panthers, 1-11 last season, were playing the highest-ranked team they have seen since becoming a major college program in 2006. They got their only touchdown in two games against Kansas when T.Y. Hilton took a punt and sped 74 yards into the end zone in the second quarter. Dustin Rivest had a 43-yard field goal for Florida International at the end of the half.

The Jayhawks, who did not commit a turnover until the third game last season, lost a fumble on their first possession. But Jake Laptad sacked Florida International's Paul McCall for a 5-yard loss on fourth down midway through the first quarter and Jocques Crawford, last season's junior college offensive player of the year, scored on a 7-yard run for Kansas.

Briscoe capped a 56-yard scoring drive with his first TD catch on the first play of the second quarter. A few minutes later, Daymond Patterson, a freshman, broke loose for a 75-yard punt return, jumping over one would-be tackler near the 20 who had been blocked to the ground.

Alonso Rojas, replacing departed Scott Webb, kicked a 47-yard field goal in the second quarter for a 17-0 lead and added a 37-yarder in the third as the Jayhawks won for the 16th time in their last 18 games overall.

McCall was 10-for-28 for 73 yards, with two interceptions.

Southern Mississippi 51, Louisiana-Lafayette 21

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns were handed a tough 51-21 loss at Southern Miss on Saturday evening.  The Cajuns fell into an early hole and could not dig themselves out.

USM’s Damion Fletcher won the duel between two of the nation’s premier running backs, finishing with 21 carries for 222 yards, adding a pair of touchdowns.  Cajuns star Tyrell Fenroy finished with 13 carries for 56 yards – all in the first half – and scored a touchdown.  Fenroy, who didn’t play in the second half because of a head injury, finished the game nine yards shy of Brian Mitchell’s career rushing record.

Southern Miss extended its 20-point halftime lead up to 30 points in the third quarter thanks to a 25-yard field goal by Britt Barefoot and a three-yard run by Bubba Kirksey.  The score by Kirksey capped a 10-play, 82-yard drive for the Golden Eagles.

Cajuns quarterback Michael Desormeaux paced the offense with 16 carries for 146 yards.  It is his eighth career 100-yard rushing performance.  He finished the night 9-of-20 passing for 98 yards.  Desormeaux moved into sixth place on the Cajuns career rushing list and is 25 yards shy of fifth all-time.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Brad McGuire entered the game midway through the fourth quarter and directed a five-play, 49-yard scoring drive.  McGuire hit Pierre Hill with a 21-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone.

It’s safe to assume that most people in Louisiana on Saturday afternoon had their focus on the impending arrival of Hurricane Gustav.  For the Cajuns, their focus seemed to be somewhere other than football.

The Cajuns committed three penalties and had a pair of turnovers in the first quarter en route to a 14-0 deficit.

The Cajuns went deep on the first play of the game.  Michael Desormeaux’s pass was on target for Jason Chery, who had a step on the defender, but Chery was dragged down from behind for an obvious penalty.  Instead of a sure homerun, the Cajuns gained only 15 yards on the pass interference flag.

ULL came up empty on the possession as Desormeaux was intercepted near midfield on third-and-17.

Southern Miss wasted no time, quickly moving 56 yards in five plays to take an early 7-0 lead.  Fletcher ran three times on the drive for 37 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown.

USM needed two plays to score a touchdown following Desormeaux’s second interception.  Fletcher started things with a 32-yard run before Austin Davis hit Ed Morgan with a 23-yard scoring pass.

The hosts opened the second quarter by finishing off a 16-play, 68-yard scoring drive that ended with a one-yard jaunt by Davis.  USM held a 21-0 lead with 13:51 remaining in the first half.

The Cajuns used their running game to get on the board.  Desormeaux sparked a seven-play, 59-yard drive with a 33-yard rush.  Fenroy followed with three straight runs for 21 yards.  Julian Shankle ended the drive with his first career touchdown, a one-yard plunge, to trim the Cajuns deficit to 21-7.

Less than two minutes later, Fletcher scored his second touchdown to push the USM lead back to 21 points.

ULL countered with a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive.  The drive’s key play came on a 23-yard pass from Desormeaux to Chery into USM territory.  Fenroy finished things off with a three-yard scoring run to pull the Cajuns within 14 points.

USM quickly scored again to extend their lead at the half.  The Golden Eagles traveled 78 yards in six plays, using only 1:38 off the clock.  Barefoot missed the extra point, keeping the USM led at 34-14.

#10 Auburn 34, Louisiana-Monroe 0

AUBURN, Ala. - Ben Tate ran for 115 yards on 13 carries and No. 10 Auburn scored touchdowns on defense and special teams in a 34-0 opening win over Louisiana-Monroe Saturday night.

The Tigers scarcely needed to pass in debuting Tony Franklin's new spread offense, resorting to a still punishing ground game and defense while alternating quarterbacks on every series for much of the game.

Michael Goggans scored on a 9-yard fumble return and Robert Dunn added a 66-yard punt return for a TD in the first quarter -- the latter breaking the nation's longest drought. It was more than enough to ensure that the Warhawks wouldn't duplicate last season's upset at Alabama, which had been only their third win in 33 tries against Southeastern Conference opponents.

Kodi Burns opened the game at quarterback in a decision coach Tommy Tuberville kept under wraps all week, but he headed to the locker room midway through the third quarter with a cut on his leg and didn't return. His status wasn't immediately known.

Burns and Chris Todd combined for a paltry 28 yards passing in the first three quarters.

Burns completed 4 of 9 passes for 15 yards but ran for 69 yards and three long first downs. Todd was 9-for-18 for 70 yards with an interception and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Chris Slaughter in the fourth. The Tigers' longest pass play heading into that final quarter was 7 yards.

The running game remained the offensive forte with 321 yards. Tate had a 49-yard run while freshman Eric Smith gained 66 yards and Brad Lester finished with 52, including a 3-yard touchdown.

The shutout remained intact after the Warhawks missed their second field goal with 50 seconds left.

The Tigers' big plays early came from defense and special teams.

Auburn scored when Antonio Coleman jarred the ball loose from quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster on the Warhawks' first offensive play. Coleman's fellow defensive end Goggans scooped it up for an easy touchdown.

Then, Dunn scampered up the middle to break the Tigers' 144-game, 12-year streak without scoring on a punt return. Every other Football Championship Subdivision team had returned one the distance since Auburn's last in 1996.

Dunn, a projected starter who was demoted to fourth-team receiver for unspecified reasons, juked one defender, changed directions and won a foot race the rest of the way.

Auburn had not scored on special teams, offense and defense in a game since the 2003 meeting with Louisiana-Monroe.

Playing without starting receivers Darrell McNeal and LaGregory Snapp, the Warhawks managed just 220 total yards and were just 2-of-18 on third downs. Lancaster passed for 136 yards and ran for 33.

Kansas State 45, North Texas 6

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Josh Freeman threw two of his three touchdown passes to Brandon Banks and ran for two more scores, helping Kansas State beat North Texas 45-6 Saturday night in another easy home opener for the Wildcats.

Freeman was quietly efficient to open his third season as Kansas State's starter, connecting with Banks on a 30-yard touchdown in the second quarter, then on a 43-yarder to put the Wildcats up 35-0 less than a minute into the second half.

Freeman also hit Lamark Brown on 6-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter, finishing 18-for-24 for 232 yards to pass Chad May and Carl Straw for second on Kansas State's all-time passing list (5,365). He scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and on an 8-yarder midway through the third.

It wasn't much of a surprise; the Wildcats have a habit of routing teams from smaller conferences, especially in home openers.

Kansas State is 50-3 at home in non-conference since 1990, just four of those games against schools from BCS conferences. The Wildcats also have won 14 straight home openers, none against BCS teams.

North Texas found itself in familiar territory as well, opening the season with a lopsided loss to a Big 12 school for the fourth time in five seasons. The Mean Green lost 79-10 to Oklahoma last year, 56-7 to Texas the year before and 65-0 to the Longhorns in 2004.

Running the spread in Todd Dodge's first season as coach, the Mean Green had the nation's 18th-best passing offense at 289.7 yards per game a year ago, with quarterback Giovanni Vizza throwing for 2,388 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 games.

The Mean Green had poor field position most of the game, thanks to three muffed kickoff returns, and didn't score until Vizza hit Alex Lott on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 5 seconds left in the third quarter. That score, which made it 42-6, came after Kansas State backup Carson Coffman threw an interception inside the Wildcats' 30-yard line.

Vizza finished 16-for-29 for 100 yards.

Indiana 31, WKU 13

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Kellen Lewis accounted for 341 yards of total offense and four touchdowns as Indiana picked up a 31-13 win over the Western Kentucky University football team Saturday at Memorial Stadium in the 2008 season opener for both teams.

Lewis rushed for a game-high 197 yards — two yards shy of his career-best.  He also completed 17 of 27 passes for 144 yards and a pair of scores.

“I’ll tell you what, Kellen Lewis is a difference maker, and he really made the difference today,” said Hilltopper head coach David Elson.  “I was encouraged we came out and we competed — not well enough to win — but we competed hard all afternoon.  You have to make plays to win, and Indiana made more plays than we did today.”

After being forced into a three-and-out on their opening drive, the Hoosiers struck quickly the second time they had the ball.  Jeremy Moore backed IU up to its own 10 yard line on a put, but in just three plays Indiana marched down the field — getting a 75-yard touchdown run by Lewis to put the first points on the board.

More punted seven times on the day, averaging 43.9 yards per kick, and backing the Hoosiers up inside the 20 on five of those punts.

The Hoosiers added three more points on their next possession thanks to a 28-yard Austin Starr field goal to take a 10-0 lead at the end of a quarter.  Indiana made it three straight scoring drives, opening the second quarter with a 12-play, 85-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to Ray Fisher to take a 17-point lead.  That would prove to be the final score of the half as IU took a 17-0 lead into the locker room.

The Hoosiers held a 263-72 advantage in total yardage in the opening half, with Lewis accounting for 203 of IU’s yards — 112 rushing and 91 passing.  The Topper defense which was able to limit IU to 187 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes, gave the offense a short field on WKU’s first three drives of the second half.

The Hilltoppers got their best field position of the game after Trent Calhoun picked off a Lewis pass at the IU 32 on the opening drive of the second half, but on the first play a K.J. Black pass to Jake Gaebler was fumbled at the one-yard line, giving the ball back to the Hoosiers.  WKU took advantage another short field on their next possession, however, as Zac Minturn connected on his first collegiate field goal — a 27-yard make — to put the Hilltoppers on the board and make it a 17-3 game.

Minturn added a 22-yard field goal on WKU’s next possession to cut the deficit to 17-6.

Indiana was able to seize momentum back on the ensuing possession, however, driving 72 yards on seven plays, scoring on a five-yard pass from Lewis to Damarlo Belcher to stretch the lead to 24-6 with 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter.  For the Hoosiers, it was their first score since the 11:12 mark of the second period.

The Hilltoppers found the endzone for the first time in 2008 when Black connected with Gaebler on a 32-yard scoring pass to cut the IU lead to 24-13 with 9:39 remaining in the game, but on the very next snap for the Hoosiers, Lewis broke a 62-yard touchdown run for the final score of the game, pushing the Indiana lead to 31-13.

WKU was limited to 63 rushing yards on the afternoon, as Black led the way with 47 yards on 15 carries.  He also completed 19 of 31 passes for 219 yards.  Both his pass attempts and passing yards were career highs. Gaebler pulled in six catches for 81 yards, with Quinterrance Cooper racking up a game-high 83 receiving yards on five catches.

Defensively, Alonzo Higgins finished with a career-best 11 tackles, while Blake Boyd made nine stops — including 2.5 tackles for loss.

The Hilltopers play their second of three straight road games to open the 2008 campaign next Saturday, visiting Eastern Kentucky at 5 p.m. (CDT) in the 85th “Battle of the Bluegrass”.

#11Texas 52, Florida Atlantic 10

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Colt McCoy and Texas defeated Florida Atlantic 52-10 Saturday.

On a night when Texas retired the No. 10 jersey of Vince Young, McCoy passed for three touchdowns, ran for another and the No. 11 Longhorns coasted to a 52-10 win over Florida Atlantic that got testy at times when the Owls popped Colt McCoy for three late hits.

McCoy never wavered as Texas ran up a 28-10 halftime lead. His third touchdown pass made it 42-10 and he left early in the fourth quarter with 222 yards on 24 of 29 passing. He also did his best to imitate Young with 103 yards rushing on 12 carries.