Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Nov 1, 2009 4:30PM
College Football
- In one of the biggest surprises yesterday involving non-ranked teams, Illinois scored 31 straight points in the second half and rolled up 500 yards of offense as the Illini came out of nowhere to crush Michigan 38-13. Down by six at the half, the Illini steam-rolled the Wolverines the rest of the way, looking nothing like the team that had struggled so mightily this year. Juice Williams threw for 123 and ran for 97, scoring two touchdowns. Mikel LeShoure and Jason Ford were a two-headed monster on the running attack, gaining 150 and 128 yards respectively, and both getting in the endzone.
- It was an exciting first half up in Evanston where Northwestern kept things close with No. 12 Penn State early on, even leading 13-10 at halftime, but JoePa and the Nittany Lions were too much for the Wildcats, scoring three fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away for a 34-13 victory. Northwestern QB Mike Kafka was bothered by a hamstring and left the game in the second quarter, making way for Dan Persa; the two combined for 243 yards passing.
- No. 23 Notre Dame had no problem cake-walking past Washington 40-14 State in a game played in San Antonio. The Irish were up 23-0 before Wazzu even scored. Jimmy Clausen continues to be considered a candidate for the Heisman and he backed it up with 268 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns. Robert Hughes gained 131 yards on the ground for the Irish, who outgained the Cougars in total yards by a final total of 592-206. Notre Dame is now 15-0 when playing on Halloween.
- Rallying late was a trend that even NIU got in on. Down 10-6 to Akron after three quarters, the Huskies scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth for a 27-10 victory. Running back Chad Spann was the Huskie Hero with 125 yards gained on the ground plus a pair of touchdowns; DeMarcus Grady also ran for 109 yards in the winning effort.