SMU pulls away from undermanned Temple
PHILADELPHIA » Shane Buechele threw four touchdown passes, two to Tyler Page, and No. 18 SMU broke away from undermanned Temple 47-23 Saturday.
The game was pushed back from it s original Thursday date while Temple dealt with virus-related issues. The Owls were missing 15 players who were in COVID-19 protocol.
SMU led 20-16 before Buechele connected with Kylen Granson on a 24-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Mustangs (7-1, 4-1 American Athletic Conference) scored four touchdowns in the first 7 ½ minutes of the period.
Temple (1-4, 1-4) scored on the first play of the game, with wide receiver Randle Jones going 75 yards on a screen pass from Trad Beatty.
Page, who came into the game fifth on the Mustangs this year in yards receiving, caught nine passes for 131 yards.
Playing in the slot most of the game, Page took advantage of a soft middle of the Temple defense and then used his speed to rack up most of his yards after making the catch. Buechele was 24 for 35 for 355 yards.
Tayvon Ruley’s 3-yard touchdown run helped Temple build a 13-10 halftime lead.
Buechele put SMU ahead for good when he found Page with a 44-yard strike on the first drive of the second half.
In the fourth quarter, Buechele added a 33-yard TD toss to Rashee Rice while Tyler Lavine had a 2-yard touchdown plunge and TaMerik Williams added a 49-yard scoring scamper.
The Owls added a touchdown in the final minute on an 11-yard pass from Re-al Mitchell to tight end Aaron Jarman. It was the first touchdown pass at Temple for Mitchell, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Iowa State.
NO. 13 INDIANA 38, NO. 23 MICHIGAN21» Michael Penix Jr. passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 13 Indiana beat No. 23 Michigan 38-21 on Saturday for its first victory against the Wolverines in 33 years.
With a chunk play here, a free play there and a few dinks and dunks thrown in to keep drives alive, Penix helped Indiana snap a 24game losing streak in the series — tied for the longest active skid in the Football Bowl Subdivision. It was the Hoosiers’ first win against the Wolverines since Oct.
24, 1987, just their second in 41 games and only the second in the 21 games played at Memorial Stadium.
The Wolverines (1-2) still don’t have a top-15 road win since beating Notre Dame in 2006. Their second consecutive loss could turn up the pressure on coach Jim Harbaugh in his sixth season at Michigan.
Indiana’s celebration on the field was muted, a possible sign of the team’s growing confidence.
The Hoosiers (3-0) earned their fourth consecutive Big Ten win. If they match the school record next week at Michigan State, it could set up a showdown between the East Division’s only unbeaten teams Nov. 21 at No. 3 Ohio State.
Penix was 30 of 50, helping Indiana convert nine of 16 third downs. Ty Fryfogle caught seven passes for a career-high 142 yards — all in the first half. Whop Philyor caught 11 passes for 79 yards, and Stevie Scott III ran for two second-half scores. Charles Campbell kicked a career-long 52-yard field goal.
Defensively, the Hoosiers dominated. They set the tone by forcing Michigan into three-and-outs on three of its first four series, gave up 13 yards rushing and only allowed the Wolverines to take five snaps in Indiana territor y through the f irst three quarters. And then, when it appeared Michigan might rally, Jaylin Williams undercut Joe Milton’s pass and returned the interception 36 yards to set up Indiana’s final score.
It was clear right from the
start that this game would be different.
Miles Marshall capped Indiana’s first possession by outjumping Gemon Green for a 13-yard score to make it 7-0.
Michigan’s only productive first-half possession came when Hoosiers safety Jamar Johnson was ejected for throwing a punch. On the next play, Milton tied the score with a 37-yard TD pass to Cornelius Johnson. Then it was all Hoosiers. Penix threw a 24-yard TD pass to Fryfogle, Campbell made the long field goal and Penix found Peyton Hendershot for a 1-yard score and a 24-7 halftime lead.
Milton was better in the second half, throwing a 13yard TD pass to Roman Wilson and a 21-yarder to Ronnie Bell but that was it.
Scott’s 2-yard scoring run with 8:40 left sealed it. NO.20USC28,ARIZONASTATE 27 » Drake London caught a 21-yard touchdown pass with 1:20 to play, and No. 20 Southern California rallied from a late 13-point deficit for a 28-27 victory over Arizona State on Saturday in the Pac-12’s long-delayed season opener.
Bru McCoy caught a deflected 26-yard TD pass with 2:52 left for the Trojans (1-0), and Max Williams recovered the onside kick. On fourth and 9, Kedon Slovis fired a pass down the middle to London, and the two-sport athlete beat double coverage to haul it in for an electrifying score.
USC ’s defense then stopped Arizona State (0-1) on downs near midfield with 50 seconds left to preserve an astonishing comeback for perpetually embattled coach Clay Helton’s team.
Until their rally, the Trojans were struggling through a game that began at 9 a.m. USC agreed to its earliest kickoff in at least 70 years for a national television audience, but it looked like another embarrassment for Helton and his Trojans — before it abruptly turned into a thrilling triumph.
Slovis passed for 381 yards for USC, while Stephen Carr and Markese Stepp made scoring runs in the first half. London also caught eight passes for 125 yards, but the Trojans seemed finished after they committed three turnovers and turned the ball over on downs two more times — all inside ASU territory.
Freshman DeaMonte Trayanum rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns, while Rachaad White had a 55-yard TD reception in a similarly strong debut for the Sun Devils, who got agonizingly close to an impressive road win for coach Herm Edwards and new offensive coordinator Zak Hill.
Jayden Daniels passed for 134 yards and ran for 111 more, but the Sun Devils’ star quarterback threw four straight incompletions to end their last-ditch drive.
New Arizona State co-defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis also was on the verge of a strong debut before the Trojans broke through.
The USC defense had a decent start under new coordinator Todd Orlando, but the Sun Devils showed a knack for big plays like White’s exceptional run to score on an ordinary screen pass in the second quarter.
USC trailed 17-14 at halftime despite outgaining the Sun Devils. The Trojans lost a fumble at the goal line by Vavae Malepeai and later got stopped on downs near midfield. Slovis then threw an interception with the Trojans in field-goal range right before the break.
Trayanum’s second TD run from 17 yards out put the Sun Devils up 24-14 midway through the third quarter
rizona State’s defense had its biggest moment shortly afterward, stopping two running plays for no gain by the Trojans from the Sun Devils 6 for a turnover on downs.
Stepp then fumbled on fourth down at the ASU 23 with 6:04 to play, but the Trojans’ offense finally caught a break when McCoy made his first career TD catch when a contested pass deflected straight to him in the end zone.