Michigan’s Kenneth Grant intercepts a deflected pass during Saturday’s game against Nebraska, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP photo)
LINCOLN, Neb. — J.J. McCarthy passed for two touchdowns to Roman Wilson and ran for another, and second-ranked Michigan rolled past Nebraska 45-7 in record heat Saturday.
Michigan (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) made fast work of the Cornhuskers, scoring on its first three possessions and leading 28-0 at half.
The Wolverines came in having allowed a nation-low 5.8 points per game, and they held the Huskers (2-3, 0-2) scoreless until the final five minutes.
On a sunny afternoon when the temperature reached a record high of 96 degrees shortly after kickoff, Michigan went 75 yards in 11 plays on the first series. The Wolverines converted a fourth-and-1 two plays before McCarthy threw a dart to Wilson in the back of the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown.
Safety Omar Brown just missed getting a hand on the ball as he ran in front of Wilson in coverage. Wilson somehow pulled the ball in with safety Isaac Gifford hanging all over him.
The Wolverines got the ball right back when defensive lineman Kenneth Grant intercepted a tipped ball, and Blake Corum scored on a 20-yard burst up the middle three plays later.
McCarthy broke off a 21-yard TD run and found Wilson in the left corner of the end zone for a 16-yard TD just before half.
McCarthy led a long touchdown drive on Michigan’s first series of the second half and then turned the game over to his backups, Indiana transfer Jack Tuttle and Jayden Denegal. McCarthy finished 12 of 16 for 156 yards.
Corum had 74 yards on 16 carries to lead a Michigan rushing attack that produced a season-high 249 yards. The Huskers entered the game second nationally in rushing defense, having allowed none of their first four opponents to run for more than 58 yards.
Wilson’s two touchdown receptions gave him a Big Ten-leading eight for the season.
Nebraska, which has scored in 344 straight games since 1996, ended Michigan’s shutout bid when Joshua Fleeks ran 74 yards for a touchdown with 4:17 left.
The Huskers, who came in as the top rushing team in the Big Ten, was held to a season-low 106 yards on the ground.
Penn State 41, Northwestern 13
EVANSTON, Ill. — Drew Allar threw a touchdown and ran for another in Penn State’s win over Northwestern.
The Nittany Lions (5-0, 3-0 Big Ten) buried the Wildcats (2-3, 1-2) in the second half, scoring 17 in the third quarter to break open a game that was tied at 10 at halftime, and won their 10th in a row since losing to Ohio State last October.
Allar completed 18 of 33 passes for 189 yards. Nick Singleton ran for 80 yards and a score and had a touchdown catch. Trey Potts also ran for a TD and caught one.
Wildcats quarterback Ben Bryant threw for just 122 yards after passing for 396 and four touchdowns in the previous game.
Minnesota 34, Louisiana-Lafayette 24
MINNEAPOLIS — Daniel Jackson caught a pair of touchdown passes Saturday and Minnesota pulled away in the second half to beat Louisiana-Lafayette 35-24 and end a two-game slide.
It was a somewhat solid bounce-back performance for Minnesota, which blew a 21-point fourth-quarter lead in last week’s 37-34 overtime loss at Northwestern.
Minnesota (3-2) did it without freshman running back Darius Taylor who ran for 198 yards before injuring his leg late in last week’s loss. His 133 rushing yards per game rank second nationally, and he’s received three straight Big Ten freshman of the week honors.
Without their bell cow, Minnesota saw three running backs and quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis get between 10 and 15 carries apiece. Zach Evans ran for 85 yards with his first 15 carries of the season, Bryce Williams had 53 yards and a score, and Sean Tyler had 47 yards. Kaliakmanis added 17.
“Everybody wants to play but are you ready when your opportunity comes and what do you do with it? Because if you’re not ready and it comes, you probably won’t get many more opportunities,” said coach P.J. Fleck. “A guy like Zach Evans took huge advantage of that today. … Bryce played hard today, Sean did well today.”
Dual-threat quarterback Zeon Chriss passed for 172 yards and ran for 74 for Louisiana (3-2). The Ragin’ Cajuns went in averaging 38.8 points per game but got only a 52-yard run by Jacob Kibodi for second-half points.
Evans capped an 11-play drive with an 18-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter for Minnesota for a 21-17 lead. Williams added a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter and Kaliakmanis later found Jackson for a 37-yard score.
“We were able to take a deep breath and just focus on what we need to do,” said Kaliakmanis, who finished 12 of 14 for 146 yards and two touchdowns. “We were put in the same position to go and win the game. Northwestern, we came up a little short, but today I’m so proud of the guys the way we finished the game. … We all responded.”
Louisiana-Lafayette had 211 yards of offense in the first half but ran just eight plays and gained 30 yards in the third quarter. That included an incomplete fourth-down pass near midfield and an interception by Minnesota’s Tyler Nubin. Playing in front of about a dozen family and friends, Louisiana-native Jack Henderson added a fourth quarter pick.
Eclipsing more than 500 total yards in each of its past two games, Louisiana-Lafayette finished with 349 against the Golden Gophers.
“We knew we were going to have make all our possessions count … We just didn’t do that in the second half,” said coach Michael Desormeaux.
On an 80-degree, muggy day with no wind, the Ragin’ Cajuns scored on three of their first four drives, including a 7-yard touchdown reception by Peter LeBlanc and a 6-yard score by Robert Williams en route to a 17-14 halftime lead. Kaliakmanis threw a 10-yard score to Jackson and snuck in from the 2 for Minnesota.
Maryland 44, Indiana 17
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 352 yards and accounted for all six Maryland touchdowns, leading the Terrapins to a rout of Indiana and their first 5-0 start since 2001.
Tai Felton caught seven passes for 134 yards and three first-half TDs for the Terrapins, who are 2-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since joining the league before the 2014 season. Now they face their first big test of the season when they play at No. 4 Ohio State next weekend.
Tagovailoa’s five touchdown passes were one shy of the school record, set by Frank Reich in his famous comeback victory over Miami in 1984.
The Terps didn’t score on every drive in the first half, but when they did it was quick. Tagovailoa threw a 62-yard pass to Jeshaun Jones on the game’s first play from scrimmage, and his 13-yard TD toss to Felton capped a 25-second drive.
Later in the first quarter, Maryland started a drive on the Indiana 29 after the Hoosiers (2-3, 0-2) committed a catch interference on a punt. The Terps needed one play to score when Felton was left open over the middle for his second touchdown catch, which made it 14-3.
After a nice punt return by Jones, Maryland started its next drive at the Indiana 21. The Terps needed two plays this time, with Tagovailoa scoring on a 19-yard run.
Felton’s third TD of the half came on a 9-yard catch late in the second quarter. That drive lasted five plays, 50 yards and 26 seconds.
It was 27-3 at halftime. Tagovailoa threw second-half touchdown passes of 3 yards to Dylan Wade and 14 yards to Kaden Prather.
Indiana quarterback Tayven Jackson threw for 113 yards with an interception. Brendan Sorsby relieved him and threw two touchdown passes in the final quarter.
Purdue 44, Illinois 19
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Hudson Card threw two touchdown passes, Devin Mockobee and Dylan Downing each had TD runs and Purdue used a 21-point third-quarter scoring flurry Saturday to pull away from Illinois.
The Boilermakers (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing streak and gave first-year coach Ryan Walters his first home victory against his former team. Walters spent the previous two seasons as defensive coordinator of the Fighting Illini.
Illinois (2-3, 0-2) has lost four straight in the battle for The Cannon — all three in coach Bret Bielema’s tenure.
The Boilermakers turned a close game into a rout with three third-quarter touchdowns — Card’s 28-yard TD pass to Garrett Miller on the first possession of the second half, Mockobee’s 3-yard scoring run late in the third quarter and Card’s 10-yard TD pass to Deion Burks following a fourth-down stop.
It was a strange and, at times, ugly game.
Bielema won an early coach’s challenge, an overturned replay review led to a Purdue takeaway, Illinois blocked two kicks and even the scoreboard stopped working late in the first half.
But the biggest surprise might have been how quickly a close game turned into a rout.
Illinois took a 3-0 lead on the game’s first possession, it gave the lead away when quarterback Luke Altmyer fumbled in the end zone and Malik Lagnham recovered it. The extra point was blocked.
Josh McCray’s 7-yard TD run gave the Illini a 10-6 lead, but the Boilermakers answered with Downing’s 16-yard TD run, a 40-yard field goal and the big third quarter to seal the victory.
Card was 18 of 26 with 217 yards. Tyrone Tracy Jr. ran 21 times for 112 yards and scored the day’s final touchdown. Burks had five receptions for 83 yards.
Altmyer finished 16 of 25 with 202 yards and one TD. Isaiah Williams caught six passes for 113 yards.
