Tampa, Fla. – Amarri Jackson saw no reason why South Florida shouldn’t beat Louisville.
“I’m not saying Louisville is a bad team. They’re a great team,” the sophomore receiver said Saturday night after running for two touchdowns and throwing for a third to pace a 45-14 rout of the ninth-ranked Cardinals in the Bulls’ Big East debut. “I just thought we were just as good as them talent-wise.”
After barely playing a role in the offense in his team’s first three games, Jackson was Mr. Versatile in helping South Florida (3-1) beat a ranked opponent for the first time in six tries and stop the nation’s third-longest Division I-A winning streak at nine games.
Louisville (2-1) had not lost since a 41-38 setback at Miami on Oct. 14. The Cardinals entered the Big East opener with one of the country’s most prolific offenses, but never fully got on track in losing to South Florida on the road for the second time in three years.
“This is the type of game that challenges a team’s leadership,” Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. “We can either come together or fall apart.”
Jackson, who had two receptions for 15 yards in South Florida’s first three games, set up Andre Hall’s 1-yard, first-quarter TD run with a 57-yard catch-and-run on the Bulls’ second offensive play.
The 6-foot-5 receiver scored on a 51-yard reverse up the right side of the field to make it 14-0, then circled around the left end on a 12-yard reverse for a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Three minutes after South Florida’s Chad Simpson returned the second-half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, Jackson struck again when took a handoff from quarterback Pat Julmiste and tossed an 11-yard scoring pass to Derek Carter to put the Bulls ahead 38-7.
Jackson finished with 63 yards rushing on two carries and two receptions for 75 yards. Hall, who added a 3-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, gained 83 rushing on 22 attempts.
Louisville’s Brian Brohm completed 29-of-47 passes for 389 yards.
No. 4 Virginia Tech 51,
No. 15 Georgia Tech 7
Blacksburg, Va. – Marcus Vick threw for a career-best 223 yards and a touchdown and the special teams and defense produced another 21 points.
“When everybody’s clicking on all cylinders like that, there’s no better time,” said defensive end Chris Ellis, who returned a third-quarter interception 29 yards for a TD as part of a 17-point barrage in 44 seconds.
The Hokies (4-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) also got a blocked field goal that turned into a 78-yard scoring run by D.J. Parker and an interception for a touchdown by Xavier Adibi.
Virginia Tech has outscored its opponents 161-23.
Georgia Tech (3-1, 1-1) was trying to start a season with four consecutive victories for the first time since they shared the national title with Colorado in 1990.
Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball, who sat out last weekend’s victory against Connecticut while being treated for viral meningitis and had limited practice time, was 11-of-27 for 143 yards.
No. 5 Florida 49,
Kentucky 28
Lexington, Ky. – Chris Leak threw four touchdown passes, all in the first half, and DeShawn Wynn scored four touchdowns as the Gators got their offense rolling.
After a blocked punt led to an early Kentucky touchdown, Florida (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) scored on seven straight possessions and led 49-7 at halftime. Leak, who made his first collegiate start two years ago at Kentucky, was 25-of-32 for 319 yards.
“Chris Leak played terrific,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “I think this was the best he’s thrown the ball … Chris ran the offense really well.”
Wynn became the first player in Florida history to record two four-touchdown games.
Florida’s win was its 19th straight over the Wildcats (1-3, 0-1).
No. 7 Georgia 23,
Mississippi State 10
Starkville, Miss. – D.J. Shockley passed for a career-high 312 yards in his first career road start, leading the Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0 SEC).
Mississippi State (2-2, 0-2) was looking for its second huge upset of a ranked SEC East team in two seasons under coach Sylvester Croom.
No. 8 Ohio State 31,
No. 21 Iowa 6
Columbus, Ohio – Troy Smith threw two touchdown passes to Anthony Gonzalez and ran for two scores and the Buckeyes’ defense shut down the Hawkeyes.
Iowa (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) finished with 18 rushes for minus-9 yards as A.J. Hawk and Mike Kudla each were credited with 1 1/2 sacks for 15 yards in losses. The Buckeyes harassed Iowa quarterback Drew Tate all day, sacking him five times for minus-43 yards.
The Hawkeyes, averaging 428 yards per game, mustered just 70 through the first three quarters and ended up with 137.
Antonio Pittman rushed for 171 yards for the Buckeyes (3-1, 1-0), with Smith adding 127 yards on 18 carries – including TD runs of 16 and 4 yards. They became the first Ohio State quarterback-tailback tandem to top 100 yards in the same game since 1976, when Jeff Logan had 112 yards rushing and quarterback Rod Gerald added 104 in a 49-21 win over Michigan State.
Wisconsin 23,
No. 14 Michigan 20
Madison, Wis. – John Stocco scored on a 4-yard quarterback draw with 24 seconds left, giving the Badgers the win and snapping the Wolverines’ 23-game winning streak in Big Ten openers.
It was just the second loss for Michigan (2-2) in its past 38 conference openers.
Brian Calhoun rushed 35 times for 155 yards and gained another 59 yards on seven receptions for Wisconsin (4-0).
No. 16 Notre Dame 36,
Washington 17
Seattle – Charlie Weis led Notre Dame (3-1) to the same kind of lopsided romp over Washington (1-3) that Tyrone Willingham did a year ago when he was coaching the Fighting Irish.
Quarterback Brady Quinn compiled 327 yards passing and sophomore halfback Darius Walker rushed for a career-high 128 yards on 21 carries. Walker became the first running back in Notre Dame history to rush for more than 100 yards in each of his first four games.
No. 17 Michigan St. 61,
Illinois 14
Champaign, Ill. – Drew Stanton set a school record with five touchdown passes and the Spartans scored on six-of-eight first-half possessions in a romp in the Big Ten opener.
Michigan State (4-0), which entered the game with the fourth-ranked offense in the nation, rolled up 705 yards.
Javon Ringer rushed for 194 yards on 13 carries for Michigan State. Its offensive output set a Memorial Stadium record for total yards by an Illinois (2-2) opponent. The 61 points was the most scored by the Spartans since they scored 76 against Northwestern in 1989.
No. 20 Alabama 24,
Arkansas 13
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The Crimson Tide (4-0, 2-0 SEC) has opened with four straight wins for the first time since 1996.
Arkansas (1-3, 0-2) used a deep tailback corps to pound out 237 yards rushing against the nation’s No. 2 run defense.
No. 23 Virginia 38, Duke 7
Charlottesville, Va. – Marques Hagans threw four touchdown passes and Virginia’s defense forced four turnovers in an easy win over Duke (1-3, 0-2 ACC).
The only bad news for the Cavaliers (3-0, 1-0) was an injury to left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson, one of the best lineman in the country, who left the game late in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury and did not return.
