South Carolina Turns Over Game

South Carolina Coach Lou Holtz has seen a lot in his 26 college seasons, but seven turnovers by his team was something new.

Virginia converted three turnovers into Matt Schaub touchdown passes in a 34-21 victory over 22nd-ranked South Carolina Saturday night at Charlottesville, Va.

“I’ve been in this game a long time, and I don’t ever remember being in a situation like this,” Holtz said. “There were times we didn’t have nearly that many turnovers in a season.”

Virginia, which began its season with three opponents currently ranked in the Top 25, avoided its first 0-3 start since 1982.

Billy McMullen, a 6-foot-4 receiver who struggled to get open in the first two games, took advantage of South Carolina’s smaller secondary, catching four passes for 72 yards. McMullen had a 35-yard touchdown reception and another of his catches was a one-hander on third-and-11 on a pass thrown well behind him.

“Even when I don’t make the perfect throw, I know he’ll make the play,” Schaub said. “It’s a good security blanket.”

South Carolina (1-1) fumbled six times and threw an interception. Two of the turnovers came deep in Virginia territory.

No. 4 Tennessee 26, Middle Tennessee 3--Cedric Houston ran for a touchdown and Jason Witten scored on a pass from Casey Clausen for the Volunteers (2-0) at Knoxville, Tenn.

After the offense faltered in the second half, the Tennessee defense added a safety on a blocked punt and fumble recovery in the end zone.

The Volunteers had 400 total yards, but much of that came in building a 17-0 lead by the middle of the second quarter.

Then Tennessee started to make mistakes, with Houston and Clausen losing fumbles on consecutive possessions and Phillip Newman missing on two field goal attempts. But Middle Tennessee (0-2)--playing the Volunteers for the first time--couldn’t take advantage.

No. 24 Louisiana State 35, The Citadel 10--Domanick Davis ran for two touchdowns for theTigers (1-1) at Baton Rouge, La.

Division I-AA The Citadel (0-1) was outscored, 21-0, and outgained, 317-106, in the first half.

The Bulldogs only made it past midfield once in the half, and then only to the LSU 49-yard line.

Mississippi 38, Memphis 16--Eli Manning shook off another slow start to throw for three touchdowns and 174 yards, and Robert Williams rushed for 107 yards to lead the Rebels at Oxford, Miss.

Mississippi (2-0) has won nine of the last 11 games with Memphis (1-1).

Manning, who started 0 for 5 against Louisiana Monroe last week, completed his first pass, then threw seven consecutive incompletions.

Midway through the second quarter, he was six for 18, but threw touchdown passes on Mississippi’s last two drives of the half.

Manning, who finished 14 for 30 with no interceptions, received treatment for a swollen knee after the game.

He scrambled for eight yards on the second play of the game and three defenders hit him when he opted not to slide.

Kentucky 77, Texas El Paso 17--Ten different Kentucky players scored touchdowns at Lexington, Ky., as the Wildcats scored the second-most points in school history. Kentucky beat North Dakota, 83-0, in 1950.

Jared Lorenzen threw touchdown passes of seven, 12, 35, 49 and 58 yards, all to different receivers.

Kentucky improved to 2-0 for the first time since 1998. Texas El Paso is 1-1

Auburn 56, Western Carolina 0--Carnell Williams rushed for first-quarter touchdowns of 20 and 42 yards at Auburn, Ala., as the Tigers (1-1) ended a losing streak dating to last season at four.

Auburn had 335 yards in the first half--five days after gaining only 35 in the second half against USC.

Division I-AA Western Carolina is 1-1.

Arkansas 41, Boise State 14--Matt Jones threw three touchdown passes at Fayetteville, Ark., for the Razorbacks in their season opener.

Boise State (0-2) lost quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie early in the second quarter to a sprained ankle and didn’t score until the fourth quarter.

Vanderbilt 49, Furman 18--Bobby Johnson beat his old team at Nashville, Tenn., for his first victory as the Commodore coach. Johnson was coach for Division I-AA Furman for eight seasons.

Jay Cutler ran for three touchdowns and threw two scoring passes to Dan Stricker to lead to Vanderbilt (1-1) to its biggest home opener victory since 1950.