Pass-Happy Day for Air Force

Chance Harridge threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Don Clark with 17 seconds left to lift Air Force over Utah, 30-26, Saturday at Salt Lake City.

The Falcons (4-0, 2-0 Mountain West) scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to win their fourth consecutive game. Their last three victories have come in overtime or the last minute of regulation.

The Utes (2-3, 0-1) lost their third in a row.

Clark caught two touchdown passes and Harridge ran for one as the Falcons took advantage of six Utah turnovers and a blocked punt.

Utah’s Brandon Warfield ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns, but fumbled three times. The Utes also had a season-high 148 yards on 13 penalties, including four for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Air Force entered the game as the worst passing team in the nation. Harridge was only six of 16 for 99 yards, and the 20-yarder to Clark was the longest of the game. Utah held the Falcons to a season-low 188 rushing yards.

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Bradlee Van Pelt ran for 128 yards and a touchdown and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Joel Dreessen with 2:43 left to help No. 25 Colorado State (4-1) come from behind for a 32-28 win over Nevada (2-2) at Reno. Cecil Sapp had 125 yards rushing.

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ATLANTIC COAST

T.A. McLendon rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns and Lamont Reid scored two touchdowns on special teams to lead No. 17 North Carolina State (6-0) to a 56-24 victory over Division I-AA Massachusetts (2-2) at Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack is off to its best start since 1991, and improved to 17-1 against nonconference opponents under Coach Chuck Amato.... Georgia Tech (4-1, 1-1) didn’t miss a beat without injured tailback Tony Hollings as backup Ajenavi Eziemefe, a freshman, rushed for 136 yards and one touchdown in a 21-13 victory over North Carolina (1-3, 0-1) at Chapel Hill, N.C. Eziemefe went over the 100-yard mark midway through the third quarter and finished with 32 carries without a fumble.... Alex Wade ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver Senterrio Landrum ran for a 69-yard touchdown as Duke (2-3) handed Navy (1-3) its 12th consecutive home loss, 43-17, at Annapolis, Md.... Chris Downs rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown as Maryland (3-2) rolled to a 37-8 victory over Wofford (3-1) at College Park, Md.... Matt Schaub threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns as Virginia (3-2, 1-1) rallied for a 38-34 victory over Wake Forest (2-3, 0-2) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

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BIG EAST

Lee Suggs ran for a touchdown and caught a pass for another as fifth-ranked Virginia Tech (5-0) overcame a sluggish start for a 30-0 victory over Western Michigan (1-3) at Kalamazoo, Mich. The Hokies held the Broncos to 35 yards rushing in 27 carries.... Rod Rutherford, booed at home earlier this season, passed for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead slow-starting Pittsburgh (4-1) to a 37-19 victory over visiting Toledo (3-2). Rutherford completed 18 of 27 passes for 316 yards.... Avon Cobourne ran for a career-high 260 yards and broke the school’s career rushing yardage record as West Virginia (3-1) scored a 37-17 victory over East Carolina (1-3) at Morgantown, W.Va. Backup Quincy Wilson had a career-high 198 yards as West Virginia set a Big East record with 536 yards rushing, breaking the mark of 500 set by Virginia Tech against Pittsburgh in 1993. Cobourne, who has 4,093 career yards, broke the school record of 4,086 set by Amos Zereoue from 1996-98.... Gino Guidugli passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, to help Cincinnati (2-2) come back for a 35-22 victory over Temple (1-4) at Philadelphia.... Brian St. Pierre threw two of his three touchdown passes to Jamal Burke as Boston College (3-1) cruised to a 43-0 victory over Central Michigan (3-2) at Boston. It was the Eagles’ first shutout since a 17-0 win over Pittsburgh on Oct. 7, 1995.

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CONFERENCE USA

Chris Johnson caught nine passes for 92 yards and a touchdown and Army quarterback Matt Silva threw six interceptions as Southern Mississippi (4-1, 2-0) defeated Army (0-4, 0-2), 27-6, at West Point, N.Y. Derrick Nix had 87 yards rushing and a touchdown for Southern Miss. Silva’s interceptions set a team record, breaking the mark set by Chris Cagle against Stanford in 1928.... Freshman quarterback Darrell Hackney, making his first start, ran for a touchdown and completed 13 of 22 passes to lead Alabama Birmingham (2-3, 1-0) to a 31-17 victory over visiting Memphis (2-3, 1-2).

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MID-AMERICAN

Ime Akpan scored on a two-yard touchdown run in the second overtime and finished with 251 yards in 37 carries to lead Eastern Michigan (2-3) to a 48-45 victory over Southern Illinois (2-3) at Ypsilanti, Mich. Southern Illinois’ Mo Abdulqaadir rushed for a school-record 312 yards in 43 carries.... Michael Turner rushed for 203 yards to lead Northern Illinois (2-3, 1-0) to a 13-6 victory over Kent State (2-3, 0-2) at Dekalb, Ill. Dan Sheldon’s school-record 90-yard punt return provided the scoring punch for the Huskies in the second quarter.... Tony Romo threw three touchdown passes to lead Eastern Illinois (2-2) to a 45-10 victory over Illinois State (2-2) at Charleston, Ill.... Ohio (1-4, 1-0) ended a 10-game losing streak as Kevin Kerr kicked a 37-yard field goal with 10 seconds left for a 34-32 victory over Buffalo (1-4, 0-1) at Athens, Ohio.... Luke Clemens rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns to lead Miami of Ohio (3-2, 2-0) to a 48-31 victory at Akron (0-5, 0-2).

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WESTERN ATHLETIC

A 77-yard pass from Paul Pinegar to Jermaine Jamison with 3:12 left gave Fresno State (2-3, 1-0) a 31-28 victory over Rice (0-4, 0-2) at Houston. Rice’s Brennan Landry was short on a 43-yard field-goal attempt with four seconds left.... B.J. Rhode threw for 376 yards and five touchdowns as Boise State (3-1) rolled to a 63-38 victory over Utah State (1-4) at Boise, Idaho.... Receiver Charles Pauley threw a touchdown pass, returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and ran for another score as San Jose State (3-2, 1-0) beat UTEP (1-4, 0-2), 58-24, at San Jose.

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SOUTHLAND

Eric Nielsen kicked a 25-yard field goal with one second left to lead Pomona-Pitzer (1-2) to a 27-24 victory over Rhodes College (1-3) after blowing a 24-7 fourth-quarter lead.... Luke Winslow completed 14 of 26 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns to lead Azusa Pacific (4-0) to a 43-10 victory at Cal Lutheran (0-2).... Ryan Gocong scored on two touchdown runs to lead Claremont-Mudd (3-0, 1-0) to a 34-17 SCIAC victory over La Verne (1-2, 0-1).