Morning Box Score: Notre Dame Remains Undefeated, Northwestern Does Not
By Tim Bearden in News on Oct 7, 2012 2:30PM
Penn State 39, (24) Northwestern 28
Unlike the New Orleans Saints, Penn State continues to produce despite a tough end to last year and off season. Northwestern went into Saturday's game unbeaten, with one conference win under their belts. Northwestern led 28-17 going into the fourth quarter, but Penn State turned it up and scored 22 unanswered points and were more efficient following the Venric Mark 75-yard punt return for a touchdown wake up call. Mark also had 13 carries for 72 yards in the game.
(9) Notre Dame 41, Miami (FL) 3
This Notre Dame team is showing everyone that they're legit—they won their fifth straight game and remain undefeated for the first time since 2002. The Irish had a season high 587 total yards of offense. Contributing to those yards were Cierre Wood and George Atkinson III, who became Notre Dame's first duo to rush for 100 yards in one game in a decade. Everett Golson went 17 for 22 for 186 passing yards and 51 rushing yards. Notre Dame continues to dominate, but they'll have a tough match-up next week against Stanford.
The Illini continue to struggle despite a couple decisive victories this season. Illinois has fallen to 2-4 and 0-2 in the Big Ten. Nathan Scheelhaase had a bounce back week for the Illini with a five yard touchdown run, 178 passing yards and 84 rushing yards for 262 of Illinois' 287 overall yards. Ryan Lankford caught the only other touchdown of the game for the Illini.
Northern Illinois 35, Ball State 23
Jordan Lynch nearly single-handedly dominated Ball State with 402 yards. Lynch completed 16 of 23 passes for a total of 195 yards and no interceptions. He also ran for 207 yards on 29 carries and three rushing touchdowns. Northern Illinois has now won their fifth straight game following the season opener loss to Iowa.