Spartans sputter, but pull away late

NO. 15 MICHIGAN STATE 35, WESTERN MICHIGAN 13

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Payton Thorne played well in spurts, allowing No. 15 Michigan State to earn a lopsided win over Western Michigan despite struggling for long stretches of the opener on both sides of the ball.

Thorne capped three consecutive drives with touchdown passes in the first half and threw for a fourth score in the final quarter to help the Spartans pull away and beat the Broncos 35-13 on Friday night.

“We got a lot of work to do,” Michigan State Coach Mel Tucker said. “But I like what I saw in the locker room after the game. We’re a hungry football team and we know we need to get better.”

After taking a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter, the Spartans allowed an average Mid-American Conference team to pull within eight points late in the third after outscoring them 10-0 in the quarter.

“We didn’t play very well in the third quarter,” Thorne said. “I don’t know the official stats. It was pretty bad.”

Michigan State was fortunate Thorne’s uneven performance included four touchdowns, matching Connor Cook’s school record of throwing four touchdowns in four games. Thorne finished 12 of 24 for 233 yards with an interception.

Wisconsin transfer Jalen Berger ran for a career-high 120 yards and a touchdown that gave the Spartans a 2813 lead with 6:28 remaining. Thorne’s fourth touchdown, a 43-yard pass to Tre Mosley, on the next drive ended any doubt about the outcome.

INDIANA 23, ILLINOIS 20

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Connor Bazelak took Indiana on a 75- yard scoring march on its final series and Shaun Shivers capped it by scoring on a 1-yard run with 23 seconds left to give the Hoosiers a victory over Illinois.

Indiana’s season- opening victory snapped an eight-game losing streak and a nine-game skid in Big Ten play. Bazelak finished 28-of-52 passing for 330 yards and one TD in his Hoosiers debut.

It was a frustrating finish for the Illini, who allowed only 70 yards in the second half before the final series.

Chase Brown ran for 199 yards and Tommy DeVito threw two touchdown passes for Illinois (1-1, 0-1). Brown became the first Illinois player to open a season with consecutive 100-yard games since 1944.

And yet it still wasn’t enough to prevail in this slugfest.

KANSAS 56, TENNESSEE TECH 10

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Jalon Daniels threw for 182 yards with touchdowns on the ground and through the air, Kansas piled up 297 yards rushing against overmatched Tennessee Tech, and the Jayhawks rolled to a season-opening victory.

Devin Neal took a handoff 80 yards for a touchdown and finished with 108 yards rushing and two scores. Nebraska transfer Sevion Morrison, Daniel Hishaw and backup quarterback Jason Bean also had touchdown runs for the Jayhawks.

Kansas also got a 61-yard TD return by Jacobee Bryant off a blocked field goal that set the tone early.

Their revamped defense was just as good: The Jayhawks held Tennessee Tech to 93 yards rushing on 43 carries.

DUKE 30, TEMPLE 0

DURHAM, N. C. — Riley Leonard threw for two touchdowns and completed his first 15 passes of the season, boosting Duke to a victory over Temple as Coach Mike Elko won in his debut Friday night.

Duke recorded its first shutout of a Football Bowl Subdivision team since 1989 at North Carolina.

Leonard, a sophomore, completed 24 of 30 passes for 328 yards. He also was the top rusher in the game with 64 yards on 11 carries.

Elko was in his first game as a head coach after replacing David Cutcliffe, who spent 14 seasons in charge of the Blue Devils. Duke is coming off three consecutive losing seasons with a combined 10-25 record during that stretch.

Temple was held to 179 yards of total offense, with just 50 in the first half compared to Duke’s 337 by halftime.

OLD DOMINION 20, VIRGINIA TECH 17

NORFOLK, Va. — Blake Watson scored on a 1-yard run with 33 seconds to play and Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech for the second time in as many tries on its home field.

The Monarchs made a big splash in their debut as a member of the Sun Belt Conference and spoiled the debut of Hokies Coach Brent Pry. He was coaching against a longtime colleague at Vanderbilt and Penn State, Ricky Rahne.

When it was over, as they had in 2018 when the Monarchs knocked off the then- No. 13 Hokies 49- 35, fans streamed on to the field in celebration. ODU is 2-12 in its history against Power Five programs, but 2-2 against Tech.

Keshawn King ran for 111 yards and caught a touchdown pass from transfer quarterback Grant Wells for the Hokies. Wells also ran for a score, but threw two first-half interceptions, and then one to set up the decisive drive.

The Hokies were driving and trying to put the game away when Wells’ pass from ODU’s 40 bounced off of Jalen Holston to the Monarchs’ Ryan Henry. A 15-yard penalty against ODU moved the ball back to their 26 with 2:58 left, but a long completion by Hayden Wolff and then a defensive pass interference call set the Monarchs up at the 1-yard line.

VILLANOVA 45, LEHIGH 17

PHILADELPHIA — Connor Watkins was 11-of-15 passing for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Villanova scored the opening 24 points in routing Lehigh.

Villanova, which has won 10 in a row in the series, is coming off a 10-3 season that ended in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. Watkins took over for three-year starter Daniel Smith.

Watkins threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as Villanova led 31-14. Watkins had scoring plays of 66 yards to Dez Boykin and 68 yards to Jaaron Hayek. Hayek had four catches for 125 yards and two scores in the first half.