Buckeyes shut down Missouri

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - In the end, there really was no option against No. 1 Ohio State.

"That was a good old, rock 'em, sock 'em football game," coach John Cooper said after his Buckeyes (3-0) beat No. 21 Missouri 35-14.

The Buckeyes, though, were sloppy and sluggish through three quarters against the Tigers (2-1), who are 0-8 against No. 1 teams.

No. 8 Penn St. 20, Pittsburgh 13

Now this is how Penn State-Pitt games used to be - and how almost nobody outside of Pittsburgh's locker room predicted it would be.

Kevin Thompson hit Chafie Fields on a 60-yard scoring pass in the third quarter and No. 8 Penn State, played unexpectedly tough by 25-point underdog Pittsburgh, was forced to rely on its defense to win 20-13 Saturday.

Penn State (3-0) sacked Pitt's Matt Lytle eight times - four by LaVar Arrington - for 53 yards. Arrington also made an interception.

No. 14 Wisconsin 52, UNLV 7

Ron Dayne and the Wisconsin Badgers don't usually whoop and holler when records are broken.

This one was different.

The bruising 250-pound junior tailback set the school career rushing record Saturday, gaining 108 yards as the 14th-ranked Badgers rolled over winless UNLV 52-7 at Camp Randall Stadium.

Dayne, who rushed for an NCAA freshman record 2,109 yards in 1996 and 1,457 last year, entered the game 33 yards shy of Billy Marek's mark.

No. 16 Arizona 35, Iowa 11

So far, so good in the two-quarterback system at Arizona.

With Keith Smith nearly perfect in 1 1/2 quarters, and Ortege Jenkins making some big plays in the middle half of the game, the 16th-ranked Wildcats pounded Iowa 35-11 on Saturday night.

Trung Canidate and Kelvin Eafon each rushed for a pair of touchdowns as Arizona (3-0) won its home opener for the 11th consecutive year and ran its winning streak to seven games dating to last year, the Wildcats' longest victory string since they opened the 1993 season 7-0.

Northwestern 23, Rice 14

Northwestern reached into its bag of tricks Saturday and pulled out a victory over Rice.

The Wildcats successfully used a fake punt, an onside kick, a quick kick, unusual formations and a hurry-up offense that caught the Owls flatfooted and helped propel Northwestern to a 23-14 victory Saturday night.

Northwestern (2-1) also showed up with a defensive set the Owls (1-2) did not expect and could not solve.

Kentucky 31, Indiana 27

In Kentucky, a 79-yard touchdown off a fake punt is no big surprise. The real shocker in Kentucky's 31-27 victory over Indiana was the defense coming to the rescue of the Wildcats' usually high-powered offense.

Linebacker John Rader's 45-yard interception return of an ill-considered shovel pass by Hoosiers quarterback Antwaan Randle El gave Kentucky (3-0) its first lead of the game at 31-27 early in the fourth quarter. The defense sealed the win by stopping Indiana on its final two possessions.

Minnesota 41, Memphis 14

Thomas Hamner rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown and Minnesota (3-0) scored on a fumble return and a blocked punt to beat Memphis 41-14 Saturday.

Memphis (0-3) got 102 yards rushing from Gerald Arnold against a defense that came into the game ranked third nationally against the run. Arnold also caught a pass for a score.

Louisville 35, Illinois 9

LeRoy Collins scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns Saturday and Louisville broke a 10-game losing streak with a 35-9 victory over Illinois.

Louisville (1-2) hadn't won since beating Illinois (1-2) on Sept. 13, 1997.

Illinois led only briefly, taking a 3-0 lead on Neil Rackers' 43-yard field goal with 7:49 left in the first quarter.

09-21-98