Syracuse coughed one up against Rutgers, while Connecticut and Louisville lost late leads at home to teams from the Mid-Atlantic Conference and Conference USA, respectively. West Virginia and Cincinnati continued to impress, while Pittsburgh surprised some with their rout of No. 16 South Florida.
PITTSBURGH 44, NO. 16 SOUTH FLORIDA 17
Ray Graham ran for 226 yards and two scores as the Pittsburgh Panthers topped No. 16 South Florida, 44-17. The Panthers held just a three-point lead at the half, but opened things up in the second scoring 24 unanswered points. Bulls QB B.J. Daniels was held in check, managing 223 yards through the air.
NEXT GAME (PITTSBURGH): 10/08 @RUTGERS
NEXT GAME (SOUTH FLORIDA): 10/15 @UCONN
CINCINNATI 27, MIAMI (OH) 0
The Cincinnati defense continued to impress, opening the second half against Miami (OH) with a goal-line stand. The Bearcats also forced two turnovers but were themselves held to just six points before the half. It was an uncharacteristic day for QB Zach Collaros who despite throwing for 251 yards and running for 89 more, had two end zone picks and fumbled inside the Redhawks 15-yard line. Isaiah Pead provided the majority of the offense for Cincinnati. Despite being held to 49 yards on the ground, Pead contributed two rushing scores.
NEXT GAME: 10/15 VS. LOUISVILLE
CONNECTICUT 31, WESTERN MICHIGAN 38
QB Alex Carder threw for 479 yards and five touchdowns as Western Michigan outlasted Connecticut, 38-31. Jordan White caught two of those scores and finished with 173 yards receiving. The Huskies had a chance to tie and send the game to overtime, but Ryan Griffin fumbled the ball after a 26-yard gain that would have put the ball inside the Western Michigan 15-yard line. Johnny McEntee appears to have emerged as the starting quarterback for the Huskies. He completed 22 of 39 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns.
NEXT GAME: 10/08 @NO. 22 WEST VIRGINIA
LOUISVILLE 13, MARSHALL 17
Rakeem Cato threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns, including a four-yard score to C.J. Crawford with less than two minutes to play to give Marshall a 17-13 win at Louisville. Cardinals true freshman QB Teddy Bridgewater was picked off twice, including one late in the fourth quarter that sealed the win for Marshall. This is Louisville’s second disappointing home loss of the season after falling to FCS opponent FIU, 24-17.
NEXT GAME: 10/08 @UNC
NO. 22 WEST VIRGINIA 55, BOWLING GREEN 10
Dustin Garrison ran for 291 yards and two touchdowns as No. 22 West Virginia routed Bowling Green, 55-10. It was the second-highest single-game performance by a running back in Mountaineers history. The Mountaineer defense forced five turnovers and QB Geno Smith continued his solid season, throwing for 238 yards and three touchdowns.
NEXT GAME: 10/08 VS. UCONN
RUTGERS 19, SYRACUSE 16 2 OT
NEXT GAME (RUTGERS): 10/08 VS. PITTSBURGH
NEXT GAME (SYRACUSE): 10/08 @TULANE