Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Spartans score final 35 to rout Hoosiers
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Connor Cook threw three touchdown passes, Jeremy Langford ran for three more scores and No. 8 Michigan State scored the final 35 points in a 56-17 rout at Indiana.
Cook finished with 332 yards, Langford and Nick Hill each topped 100 yards on the ground and Tony Lippett had 123 yards receiving as coach Mark Dantonio moved into a tie for second on the school’s all-time victory list with No. 70.
The Spartans (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) have won five consecutive overall, 13 consecutive games over conference foes and tied the school record with an eighth consecutive road victory in league play.
The Hoosiers (3-4, 0-3) also had a scary moment when left tackle Jason Spriggs was carted off the field with 4:54 to play and taken to away in an ambulance. Team officials didn’t have an immediate update on the injury.
Indiana lost its second consecutive as Tevin Coleman extended the nation’s longest active streak of consecutive 100-yard games to nine.
In other games involving Big 10 teams, Will Likely returned an interception 45 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown, and
Maryland rallied from an early 14-point deficit to beat Iowa 38-31 in College Park, Md. The Terrapins (5-2, 2-1) scored 24 consecutive points after falling behind by two touchdowns to the Hawkeyes (5-2, 2-1) with 8½ minutes elapsed. It was 24-21 before Likely picked off a Jake Rudock pass and sprinted untouched into the end zone with 12:29 left. … David Cobb rushed for 194 yards and a touchdown and Ryan Santoso kicked a 52-yard field goal with 4:59 left to cap Minnesota’s comeback in Minneapolis, giving the Gophers (6-1, 3-0) a 39-38 victory over
Purdue (3-5, 1-3) and their first 3-0 start in Big Ten play since 1990. … J.T. Barrett completed his first nine passes, ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns and threw for three more scores to lead No. 13 Ohio
State (5-1, 2-0) past Rutgers (5-2, 1-2) 56-17 in Columbus, Ohio. The victory was Ohio State’s 18th in a row in the Big Ten, drawing within two of tying the conference mark set by the 2005-2007 Buckeyes. … Ameer Abdullah had four 1-yard touchdown runs and quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. scored on a 16-yard reception, leading No. 19 Nebraska (6-1, 2-1 Ten) to a 38-17 victory over Northwestern (34, 2-2) in Evanston, Ill. Abdullah finished with 146 yards on 23 carries.
Kessler leads USC blowout
LOS ANGELES — Cody Kessler set a school single-game record with seven touchdown passes, throwing five in the first half of No. 22 Southern California’s 5628 victory over Colorado on Saturday.
Nelson Agholor caught three touchdown passes from Kessler, who broke the mark previously held by Matt Barkley. He passed the record on a 24-yard touchdown pass to Steven Mitchell, who made a diving catch in the third quarter of a blowout victory for the Trojans (5-2, 4-1 Pac-12).
Kessler also became the first Pac-12 quarterback to throw seven touchdown passes in the first three quarters of a game, and the junior tied the conference record for touchdown passes in a non-overtime game. He finished 17 of 24 for 318 yards.
Nelson Spruce and Shay Fields each caught touchdown passes for Colorado (2-5, 0-4).
In other games involving Pac-12 teams, Brett Hundley threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns and added a third score on the ground to help UCLA (5-2, 2-2 Pac12) snap a seven-game skid at California (4-3, 2-3) with a 36-34 victory in Berkeley, Calif. Hundley accounted for 424 yards of offense to overcome his own fumble and interception as the Bruins won at Memorial Stadium for the first time since 1998. … Freshman Royce Freeman ran for 169 yards and four touchdowns and No. 9 Oregon (6-1, 3-1) extended its winning streak over Washington (5-2, 1-2) to 11 consecutive games with a 45-20 victory in Eugene, Ore. Marcus Mariota threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks. Freeman’s four touchdowns were the most rushing touchdowns in a single game for an Oregon player since Kenjon Barner had five against USC in 2012.