SALT LAKE CITY — Utah freshman Brian Blechen intercepted a pass on the first play of overtime, setting up Joe Phillips for a 21-yard field goal that gave the Utes a 27-24 victory against No. 15 Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Pittsburgh had rallied with 14 points in the fourth quarter, forcing overtime on Dan Hutchins’ 30-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.
But after Utah won the toss and elected to play defense, Blechen quickly doused any hopes the Panthers had of completing the comeback when he bolted in front of Panthers receiver Mike Shanahan and grabbed Tino Sunseri’s pass at the sideline.
Jordan Wynn passed for 283 yards with three touchdowns for Utah, including two to Jereme Brooks. Wynn’s third TD was a short pass over the middle that DeVonte Christopher broke for a 61-yard touchdown that put Utah up 24-13 with 7:59 left to play. The more comfortable margin didn’t even last a minute.
The Panthers struck back on a 44-yard pass from Sunseri to Jon Baldwin, who was all alone inside the 10-yard line because of a breakdown in Utah’s secondary. Sunseri went to Baldwin again for the two-point conversion that pulled the Panthers within a field goal at 24-21 with 7:11 left to play.
Utah wasn’t able to run enough time off the clock to keep the Panthers from one final drive, which Hutchins capped with the tying field goal despite having to kick the ball three times.
His first attempt went through the uprights, but Utah coach Kyle Whittingham called timeout just before the snap and Hutchins had to kick again. Whittingham did the same thing on the re-kick, which was wide and had fans and Utah players celebrating until they learned there was yet another kick to come. This time Hutchins was back on target and tied it at 24.
No. 2 Ohio State 45, Marshall 7
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Terrelle Pryor tossed three touchdown passes, Brandon Saine rushed for 103 yards and two scores and the Buckeyes rolled over the error-prone Thundering Herd.
Pryor completed 17-of-25 passes for 247 yards and TDs covering 6 and 11 yards to DeVier Posey and 65 yards to Dane Sanzenbacher.
It was a bleak debut for Marshall coach Doc Holliday. The Thundering Herd fumbled the opening kickoff and was down 14-0 before running its first play in Ohio State territory.
No. 13 Miami 45, Florida A&M 0
MIAMI — Jacory Harris completed 12-of-15 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns before sitting out the second half, and Miami got its first shutout since 2006.
“I went out there and took care of my business,” Harris said. “As a team, we came out there and did everything we had to do in the first half, and Coach sat us out for the rest of the game. I guess it was well-deserved.”
Leonard Hankerson caught the first two of Harris’ TD passes and finished with 115 receiving yards, as the Hurricanes ran out to a 35-0 lead in the first 25 minutes and wound up outgaining the Rattlers 405-110.
Iowa State 27, Northern Illinois 10
AMES, Iowa — Alexander Robinson rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns, and Austen Arnaud added 265 yards passing and a TD run.
Robinson’s 63-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter put the Cyclones ahead 14-0. Northern Illinois pulled within 17-10 midway through the fourth quarter, but Robinson’s 5-yard touchdown run with 5:05 left put the game out of reach.
No. 14 Southern Cal vs. Hawaii
HONOLULU — Late game.
The Associated Press
