Illini, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois Win; ISU Loses

Sep 30, 2013 8:15 AM

>>Illini Crush Miami

Nathan Scheelhaase threw for 278 yards and five touchdowns and Illinois used a 29-point second quarter to blow by Miami of Ohio 50-14 on Saturday.

The senior quarterback had all five touchdown throws for Illinois (3-1) by halftime. He finished 19 of 24 for 278 yards with one interception

Illinois took a 36-0 lead into halftime on Scheelhaase's 45-yard touchdown pass to Matt LaCosse with just over five minutes left in the second quarter.

The Illini got their third win of the season early after finishing 2-10 a year ago and closing with nine-straight losses.

Miami lost its third-straight game to a BCS school after falling to Cincinnati last weekend and Kentucky two weeks ago.

The RedHawks were down 43-0 before they scored a point.

Quarterback Austin Boucher finished 7 of 13 for 95 yards and a touchdown. Fellow signal-caller Austin Gearing carried the ball 16 times for 81 yards.

NCAA Football ("USA Today" Top-25 Poll)
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#1 Alabama Crimson Tide 25, #21 Ole Miss Rebels 0
#2 Oregon Ducks 55, California Golden Bears 16
#3 Ohio State Buckeyes 31, #24 Wisconsin Badgers 24
#4 Clemson Tigers 56, Wake Forest Demon Deacons 7
#5 Stanford Cardinal 55, Washington State Cougars 17
#10 Georgia Bulldogs 44, #6 LSU Tigers 41
#8 Florida State Seminoles 48, Boston College Eagles 34
#9 Texas A&M Aggies 45, Arkansas Razorbacks 33
West Virginia Mountaineers 30, #11 Oklahoma State Cowboys 21
#14 Oklahoma Sooners 35, #22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 21
#13 South Carolina Gamecocks 28, UCF Knights 25
#15 Miami (FL) Hurricanes 49, South Florida Bulls 21
#19 Florida Gators 24, Kentucky Wildcats 7
#20 Washington Huskies 31, Arizona Wildcats 13
#23 Fresno State Bulldogs 42, Hawaii Warriors 37

>>Top-Five Remain Unchanged In "USA Today" Poll

(Undated) -- The top-five remain unchanged in the newest edition of the "USA Today" Top-25 College Football Poll. Alabama earned 59 of the 62 first-place votes to hold on to the number-one spot. Oregon is second with two first-place votes while Ohio State rounds out the top-three. Clemson has the other first-place vote in fourth, and Stanford is fifth. Georgia jumped into sixth after defeating now 11th-ranked LSU. Ole Miss, Notre Dame and Wisconsin all dropped from the rankings while Northern Illinois, Arizona State and Nebraska are now ranked 23rd through 25th, respectively.

>>Western Downs North Dakota

Trenton Norvell led a balanced offensive attack as Western Illinois (3-2, 1-0 MVC) finished with a 24-10 victory over South Dakota in a Missouri Valley Conference game on Saturday.

Norvell was 11 of 23 for 102 yards and one touchdown. J.C. Baker rushed for 104 yards on 13 carries and Nikko Watson carried 22 times for 96 yards and one touchdown. Kevin Kintzel recovered a bad snap on a South Dakota punt in the second quarter and ran 11 yards for a touchdown, putting Western Illinois ahead 10-3 by halftime.

The Coyotes (1-3, 0-1) compiled only 242 total yards and gave up two fumbles. QB Josh Vander Maten was replaced in the final quarter by Kevin Earl, who put together a successful 8-play drive for the lone Coyote touchdown.

The Leathernecks answered on their next possession with a touchdown pass from Norvell to Joey Borsellino to seal the win.

>>EIU Downs Eastern Kentucky

Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns as Eastern Illinois thrashed Eastern Kentucky, 42-7, in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both schools.

Garoppolo, who completed 26 of 39 attempts, combined with Keiondre Gober on 30- and 40-yard touchdown passes in the first and third quarters, respectively, and threw a 21-yard score to Jeff LePak as the Panthers (4-1, 1-0 Ohio Valley) built a 35-0 lead at halftime. EIU was a combined 35 of 52 through the air for 407 yards and four touchdowns.

Anthony Goodman scooped up a Jared McClain fumble and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown to cap the first-half rout.

Six runners combined to gain 169 yards on the ground for the Colonels (2-3, 0-1 Ohio Valley), who avoided the shutout with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that saw Caleb Watkins score from the 3 with 3:33 left in the game.

>>ISU Falls To Missouri State

Kierra Harris threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another to finalize Missouri State's first victory of the season, 37-10, over Illinois State Saturday.

Harris rushed for a touchdown in the third quarter to stretch a four-point lead into a 21-10 game for the Bears in their Missouri Valley Conference opener (1-4, 1-0). He has scored six of the Bears eleven rushing touchdowns for the season.

Dorian Buford exceeded the 1,000-yard mark for receptions with a 73-yard touchdown catch- he needed 62 yards at the start of the game- for the last score before the end of the half.

Blake Winkler had a game-high 168 yards passing for the Redbirds (1-3, 0-1). He was 15 of 29 and one interception. Illinois State had a combined 46 yards rushing for one touchdown, compared to 272 yards and three touchdowns for the Bears.

>>Lane Kiffin Fired At USC

(Los Angeles, CA) -- The University of Southern California has fired head football coach Lane Kiffin. USC Athletic Director Pat Haden announced early Sunday morning that Kiffin had been relieved of his coaching duties when the team arrived back in Los Angeles after losing to Arizona State 62-41 on Saturday. USC's football team has lost seven of its last 11 games and has yet to win a game this year in the Pac-12 conference.