Marshall marks solemn day
On 50th anniversary of deadly plane crash, Wells leads team to win
Redshirt freshman Grant Wells threw a season-high five touchdown passes and Marshall commemorated the 50th anniversary of the worst disaster in U.S. sports history during a
42-14 victory over Middle Tennessee on Saturday.
Marshall (7-0, 4-0 Conference USA) got another standout performance from its defense and turned three turnovers into scores on a day when the university and surrounding community remembered 75 people killed in a Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash.
Marshall wore special black uniforms and the No. 75 on its helmets to honor those who were lost, which included most of the Thundering Herd football team. The crash occurred as the team’s plane was returning from a game at East Carolina. There were no survivors.
Middle Tennessee is 2-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play.
Florida 63, Arkansas 35: Kyle
Trask extended his school record for consecutive games with at least four touchdown passes to six and No. 6 Florida overwhelmed Arkansas in the Swamp. Trask threw for 356 yards and six scores against the Razorbacks (3-4), who were without coach Sam Pittman and without much of a chance by halftime. It was the second time this season Trask tossed six TDS in a game. He’s the only player in school history to accomplish that feat. Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks, a three-year starter for the Gators (5-1), was booed in his return to Florida Field and unable to do much to steal the spotlight from Trask.
Oregon 43, Washington State 29:
Tyler Shough threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns and No. 11 Oregon came back to beat Washington State.
Travis Dye caught two second-half touchdown passes to help Oregon improve to 2-0. The Ducks piled up 582 yards of total offense. Oregon has won 17 of its past 19 games and is on track to claim a second consecutive Pac-12 championship. Freshman Jayden de Laura threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns for Washington State (1-1).
Wisconsin 49, Michigan 11: Nakia Watson and Mason Stokke each scored two touchdowns in the first half, helping No. 13 Wisconsin build a big lead in a rout of Michigan. The Badgers (2-0) returned to competition after canceling two games of their all-big
Ten schedule due to a COVID-19 breakout within the program and didn’t look rusty at all against a hapless team. The Wolverines (1-3) fell behind 28-0 at halftime, their largest deficit at home since the Big House opened in 1927, and are off to their worst start since 1967.
Tulsa 28, SMU 24: Zach Smith threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns to help Tulsa recover from a 21-point second quarter deficit and upset No. 19 SMU. After throwing an interception and losing a fumble that led to another touchdown on his first two possessions, Smith bounced back. He completed 26 of 38 passes, including a 4-yard touchdown toss to James Palmer for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:11 remaining.
Southern California 34, Arizona 30: Vavae Malepeai bulled his way through multiple tacklers for an 8-yard
touchdown run with 25 seconds left, and No. 20 Southern California beat Arizona with another late rally. USC was outplayed by Arizona State last week in its opener before scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes to win 28-27. The Trojans again had two late scoring drives to win a game they were outplayed in for most of the afternoon.
Liberty 58, Western Carolina 14:
Malik Willis threw for 306 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores, leading No. 22 Liberty over Western Carolina. Liberty (8-0) won its 10th straight game and remained second behind Notre Dame for the nation’s longest active winning streak. Willis completed 14 of 19 passes with touchdown strikes of 44, 40 and 83 yards. He scored on runs of 11 and 43 yards and ran for 97 yards on eight carries.
Northwestern 27 Purdue 20: Peyton Ramsey threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns, all to Ramaud Chiaokhiao-bowman, and No. 23 Northwestern beat Purdue. The Wildcats’ defense also made two late stops to preserve a fifth straight Big Ten win and the school’s first 4-0 start in league play since coach Pat Fitzgerald was still playing in 1996.
Louisiana-lafayette 38, South Alabama 10: Levi Lewis passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns, No. 25 Louisiana-lafayette gained 254 yards on the ground and the Ragin’ Cajuns (7-1, 5-1 Sun Belt) wrapped up a third straight West Division title in the conference.