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No. 14 Pitt starts slowly but beats Syracuse 37-10
  
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Finally, No. 14 Pittsburgh can look ahead to Notre Dame, West Virginia and Cincinnati. Even if it seemed the Panthers were already doing exactly that during most of the first half against Syracuse.
Greg Williams’ 51-yard interception return for a touchdown just before halftime got slow-starting Pittsburgh going, and the Panthers extended their best start to a season since 1982 by beating Syracuse 37-10 on Saturday.
Dion Lewis ran for 110 yards and a touchdown for the freshman’s sixth 100-yard game, tight end Dorin Dickerson caught his 10th touchdown pass this season and the Panthers (8-1, 5-0 in Big East) won their fifth in a row heading into next Saturday’s game against No. 19 Notre Dame.
“It is a big game. We’ve got to have a good week of practice, bring our ‘A’ game and we can’t start off slowly like we did today,” Lewis said. “We’ve got to keep coming.”
Bill Stull was 16 of 23 for 225 yards and no interceptions as the Panthers, who last were 8-1 in Dan Marino’s senior season 27 years ago, set themselves up for a possible Big East title-deciding game against No. 4 Cincinnati on Dec. 5.
If the Bearcats beat Connecticut on Saturday night and West Virginia on Friday, the Cincinnati-Pitt game will determine the conference’s BCS bowl participant regardless of the Pitt-West Virginia result on Nov. 27.
“Now we’ve got three tough games and we’ll take them one by one,” defensive lineman Gus Mustakas said.
Pitt played much of the first half as if it couldn’t wait to begin its difficult closing stretch, leading 6-3 until Williams intercepted a pass by Greg Paulus that was tipped by Jabaal Sheard for his third career touchdown with 1:20 left in the half. Pitt outscored Syracuse 24-7 after that.
“I think we did a good job of keeping our feet on the ground, knowing the importance of this conference game putting us 5-0, coming out and not taking nothing for granted,” coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We got it going in the second half.”
Lewis, lightly recruited in prep school last season but fourth nationally in rushing with 1,139 yards, finished off a 55-yard drive by scoring from the 1 early in the third quarter to make it 20-3. His 78 points on 13 touchdowns tie Tony Dorsett (1973) for the second most by a Pitt freshman, trailing only LeSean McCoy’s 90 points two seasons ago.
“My teammates and coaches expect me to make big plays and that’s what I’m out there doing,” said Lewis, who has surpassed former Big East backs such as Steve Slaton, Ray Rice, Amos Zereoue and Kevin Jones in freshman-season rushing.
Paulus to Williams normally is a productive combination for Syracuse (3-6, 0-4), which lost its 29th in its last 32 Big East games. But the Orange clearly missed leading receiver Mike Williams, who quit the team on Monday after averaging 106.6 yards receiving per game.
Neither Paulus (12 of 18, 120 yards, 2 interceptions) nor backup Ryan Nassib (5 of 16, 21 yards, 1 interception) did much as Delone Carter’s 143 yards rushing represented most of Syracuse’s offense. The Orange came into the game ranked 106th in offense.
“We didn’t execute, we didn’t score and that’s disappointing,” Carter said.
Syracuse not only played without Williams and three suspended players — running back Antwon Bailey, defensive end Torrey Ball and guard Andrew Tiller — but tight end Cody Catalina (knee) and safety Max Suter (arm) didn’t return after being injured in the first half.
“We only traveled with 55 players,” coach Doug Marrone said. “Some of those injuries forced us to come out of our packages. That obviously limited us on both sides of the ball.”
Pitt won its fifth in a row and seventh in eight games in the series. Syracuse has lost its last nine to ranked opponents.
The Panthers led 481-285 in yardage and have a 967-497 edge while winning their last two games by a combined 78-24, beating South Florida 41-14 on Oct. 24. Pitt ran for 247 yards against a Syracuse defense that came in allowing an average of 88.9. The Panthers also had six sacks, giving them 39 for the season.
Dickerson, who had two career TD catches coming into his senior season, leads all major college tight ends with his 10 touchdowns — the most by any Pitt receiver since Greg Lee had 10 in 2004.
Wright returns punt for TD in 35-7 win over Army
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) — Kevin Fogler caught a 73-yard TD pass and Anthony Wright returned a punt 88 yards for a score, helping Air Force beat Army for a fourth straight time with a 35-7 victory Saturday.
Asher Clark rushed for two second-half scores as the Falcons (6-4, 4-2 Mountain West) broke open a tight game to become bowl eligible.
Before the game, the Air Force Academy held a moment of silence in honor of the shooting victims at Fort Hood. The flags on the campus also were lowered to half mast.
With their quest for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy already spoiled, the Falcons tarnished Army’s chances as well.
Navy is secured of taking the trophy for a seventh straight season in the annual competition between the service academies. The Midshipmen, who beat Air Force earlier in the season, will either win the trophy outright by beating Army on Dec. 12 or retain it if they lose by virtue of capturing the crown last season.
Trent Steelman rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown for the Black Knights (3-6), who have dropped three straight.
Air Force pulled away in the second half, scoring on four of their five drives.
Clark got the offense rolling right after halftime, finding a hole in Army’s defense and racing 36 yards for his first touchdown of the season. He later added another on an 8-yard burst.
Fogler got behind the Black Knights’ secondary late in the third quarter and Tim Jefferson hit him in stride. Fogler zigzagged his way into the end zone. He had 129 yards receiving on three catches.
Jefferson, who was constantly fleeing from Army’s aggressive defense, added a 2-yard TD plunge in the fourth. He finished with minus-25 yards rushing on eight carries.
In recent years, rarely has the Army-Air Force game been close. Counting Saturday, of the last 15 games between the service academy rivals, only one has been decided by a touchdown or less.
Early on, though, it appeared like this one might stay tight.
Army’s defense bottled up Air Force in the first half, limiting the Falcons to just 39 total yards. The Black Knights had three sacks, nine tackles for loss and limited the fourth-best rushing attack in the nation to only 4 yards on 21 carries.
But it didn’t last. Air Force finished with 160 yards rushing as Jared Tew gained 102 yards and Clark went for 82.
Despite Army’s dominating display on defense in the first half, the game was tied at 7 heading in for halftime.
The Black Knights trailed early, but Steelman used his speed to blaze around the edge for a 42-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
Wright returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter as he followed a wave of blockers all the way to the end zone. Wright’s punt return for a score was the first for a Falcons player in 11 years.
Wright has been turning in big plays all season for Air Force. The sophomore defensive back also has returned two interceptions for scores.
Robert Morris beats Albany 13-10
ALBANY (AP) — Garrett Clawson kicked a 20-yard field goal as time expired to propel Robert Morris to a 13-10 win over Albany (N.Y.) on Saturday.
Camdin Crouse, who came into the game in relief of Robert Morris’ starting quarterback Jeff Sinclair, engineered the 14-play drive that won the game. He had completions of 22 and 13 yards and picked up a first down on Albany’s 3-yard line, setting up the winning kick. Crouse finished 6-for-7 with 90 yards passing.
Trailing 10-3 at halftime and after a scoreless third quarter, Albany pulled even when Vinny Esposito threw an 11-yard TD pass to Paul Booker midway through the fourth.
Clawson also connected on a 39-yard kick just before halftime for Robert Morris (3-6, 3-3 Northeast Conference).
Esposito was 13-for-31 with 168 yards and two interceptions for Albany (6-4, 5-2), who had their school record 12-game home winning streak halted.
Greg Williams’ 51-yard interception return for a touchdown just before halftime got slow-starting Pittsburgh going, and the Panthers extended their best start to a season since 1982 by beating Syracuse 37-10 on Saturday.
Dion Lewis ran for 110 yards and a touchdown for the freshman’s sixth 100-yard game, tight end Dorin Dickerson caught his 10th touchdown pass this season and the Panthers (8-1, 5-0 in Big East) won their fifth in a row heading into next Saturday’s game against No. 19 Notre Dame.
“It is a big game. We’ve got to have a good week of practice, bring our ‘A’ game and we can’t start off slowly like we did today,” Lewis said. “We’ve got to keep coming.”
Bill Stull was 16 of 23 for 225 yards and no interceptions as the Panthers, who last were 8-1 in Dan Marino’s senior season 27 years ago, set themselves up for a possible Big East title-deciding game against No. 4 Cincinnati on Dec. 5.
If the Bearcats beat Connecticut on Saturday night and West Virginia on Friday, the Cincinnati-Pitt game will determine the conference’s BCS bowl participant regardless of the Pitt-West Virginia result on Nov. 27.
“Now we’ve got three tough games and we’ll take them one by one,” defensive lineman Gus Mustakas said.
Pitt played much of the first half as if it couldn’t wait to begin its difficult closing stretch, leading 6-3 until Williams intercepted a pass by Greg Paulus that was tipped by Jabaal Sheard for his third career touchdown with 1:20 left in the half. Pitt outscored Syracuse 24-7 after that.
“I think we did a good job of keeping our feet on the ground, knowing the importance of this conference game putting us 5-0, coming out and not taking nothing for granted,” coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We got it going in the second half.”
Lewis, lightly recruited in prep school last season but fourth nationally in rushing with 1,139 yards, finished off a 55-yard drive by scoring from the 1 early in the third quarter to make it 20-3. His 78 points on 13 touchdowns tie Tony Dorsett (1973) for the second most by a Pitt freshman, trailing only LeSean McCoy’s 90 points two seasons ago.
“My teammates and coaches expect me to make big plays and that’s what I’m out there doing,” said Lewis, who has surpassed former Big East backs such as Steve Slaton, Ray Rice, Amos Zereoue and Kevin Jones in freshman-season rushing.
Paulus to Williams normally is a productive combination for Syracuse (3-6, 0-4), which lost its 29th in its last 32 Big East games. But the Orange clearly missed leading receiver Mike Williams, who quit the team on Monday after averaging 106.6 yards receiving per game.
Neither Paulus (12 of 18, 120 yards, 2 interceptions) nor backup Ryan Nassib (5 of 16, 21 yards, 1 interception) did much as Delone Carter’s 143 yards rushing represented most of Syracuse’s offense. The Orange came into the game ranked 106th in offense.
“We didn’t execute, we didn’t score and that’s disappointing,” Carter said.
Syracuse not only played without Williams and three suspended players — running back Antwon Bailey, defensive end Torrey Ball and guard Andrew Tiller — but tight end Cody Catalina (knee) and safety Max Suter (arm) didn’t return after being injured in the first half.
“We only traveled with 55 players,” coach Doug Marrone said. “Some of those injuries forced us to come out of our packages. That obviously limited us on both sides of the ball.”
Pitt won its fifth in a row and seventh in eight games in the series. Syracuse has lost its last nine to ranked opponents.
The Panthers led 481-285 in yardage and have a 967-497 edge while winning their last two games by a combined 78-24, beating South Florida 41-14 on Oct. 24. Pitt ran for 247 yards against a Syracuse defense that came in allowing an average of 88.9. The Panthers also had six sacks, giving them 39 for the season.
Dickerson, who had two career TD catches coming into his senior season, leads all major college tight ends with his 10 touchdowns — the most by any Pitt receiver since Greg Lee had 10 in 2004.
Wright returns punt for TD in 35-7 win over Army
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) — Kevin Fogler caught a 73-yard TD pass and Anthony Wright returned a punt 88 yards for a score, helping Air Force beat Army for a fourth straight time with a 35-7 victory Saturday.
Asher Clark rushed for two second-half scores as the Falcons (6-4, 4-2 Mountain West) broke open a tight game to become bowl eligible.
Before the game, the Air Force Academy held a moment of silence in honor of the shooting victims at Fort Hood. The flags on the campus also were lowered to half mast.
With their quest for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy already spoiled, the Falcons tarnished Army’s chances as well.
Navy is secured of taking the trophy for a seventh straight season in the annual competition between the service academies. The Midshipmen, who beat Air Force earlier in the season, will either win the trophy outright by beating Army on Dec. 12 or retain it if they lose by virtue of capturing the crown last season.
Trent Steelman rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown for the Black Knights (3-6), who have dropped three straight.
Air Force pulled away in the second half, scoring on four of their five drives.
Clark got the offense rolling right after halftime, finding a hole in Army’s defense and racing 36 yards for his first touchdown of the season. He later added another on an 8-yard burst.
Fogler got behind the Black Knights’ secondary late in the third quarter and Tim Jefferson hit him in stride. Fogler zigzagged his way into the end zone. He had 129 yards receiving on three catches.
Jefferson, who was constantly fleeing from Army’s aggressive defense, added a 2-yard TD plunge in the fourth. He finished with minus-25 yards rushing on eight carries.
In recent years, rarely has the Army-Air Force game been close. Counting Saturday, of the last 15 games between the service academy rivals, only one has been decided by a touchdown or less.
Early on, though, it appeared like this one might stay tight.
Army’s defense bottled up Air Force in the first half, limiting the Falcons to just 39 total yards. The Black Knights had three sacks, nine tackles for loss and limited the fourth-best rushing attack in the nation to only 4 yards on 21 carries.
But it didn’t last. Air Force finished with 160 yards rushing as Jared Tew gained 102 yards and Clark went for 82.
Despite Army’s dominating display on defense in the first half, the game was tied at 7 heading in for halftime.
The Black Knights trailed early, but Steelman used his speed to blaze around the edge for a 42-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
Wright returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter as he followed a wave of blockers all the way to the end zone. Wright’s punt return for a score was the first for a Falcons player in 11 years.
Wright has been turning in big plays all season for Air Force. The sophomore defensive back also has returned two interceptions for scores.
Robert Morris beats Albany 13-10
ALBANY (AP) — Garrett Clawson kicked a 20-yard field goal as time expired to propel Robert Morris to a 13-10 win over Albany (N.Y.) on Saturday.
Camdin Crouse, who came into the game in relief of Robert Morris’ starting quarterback Jeff Sinclair, engineered the 14-play drive that won the game. He had completions of 22 and 13 yards and picked up a first down on Albany’s 3-yard line, setting up the winning kick. Crouse finished 6-for-7 with 90 yards passing.
Trailing 10-3 at halftime and after a scoreless third quarter, Albany pulled even when Vinny Esposito threw an 11-yard TD pass to Paul Booker midway through the fourth.
Clawson also connected on a 39-yard kick just before halftime for Robert Morris (3-6, 3-3 Northeast Conference).
Esposito was 13-for-31 with 168 yards and two interceptions for Albany (6-4, 5-2), who had their school record 12-game home winning streak halted.
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