THURSDAY UConn wins first in Big East

Cornell Brockington led the Huskies past Pittsburgh.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Cornell Brockington rushed for 185 yards and one touchdown Thursday night to lead Connecticut to a 29-17 victory over Pittsburgh, the Huskies' first Big East win as a conference member.
His 11-yard TD run with 6:25 remaining in the game gave UConn (4-1, 1-1) the 29-17 lead. The Panthers (2-2, 0-1) were playing their first road game of the season and struggled against the crowd noise throughout the game.
Dan Orlovsky was 23-of-43 for 237 yards and one TD for UConn, which is in its third full season as a Division I-A program. He and Keron Henry hooked up for an 8-yard TD pass with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter, which proved to be the game winner.
Panthers quarterback Tyler Palko was pressured all night by the UConn defenders. He was sacked four times for 29 yards and Pittsburgh was plagued by poor field position.
Cornerback Justin Perkins intercepted Palko midway through the first half and ran it back 9 yards for the Huskies' first score. Palko was 11-of-31 for 267 yards. He threw for one score -- a 77-yard bomb to Greg Lee -- and ran for another. Palko's 1-yard scoring run late in the third quarter gave Pittsburgh its only lead, 17-16.
Navy 24, Air Force 21
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Geoff Blumenfeld picked a good time to make his first field goal of the season, converting a 30-yarder with four seconds remaining.
Navy (5-0) had lost six straight games to Air Force before beating the Falcons 28-25 last season to earn the Commander-in-Chief Trophy for the first time since 1981.
After losses to California and Utah, both ranked teams, Air Force (2-3) is off to its worst start since opening the 1994 season 0-3.
The matchup between two of the nation's top rushing teams was decided by a couple of key passes down the stretch -- and one kick by Blumenfeld.
Air Force, eighth in the nation with 278 yards rushing per game, managed just 182 against the Midshipmen before turning to the air.
Shaun Carney, who was replaced by Adam Fitch in the third quarter, returned to hit J.P. Waller on a 38-yard pass between two defenders and Alec Messerall on a 10-yarder to Navy's 19. Carney, who finished with 221 yards, hit Darnell Stephens for a touchdown on the next play, then ran in for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-all.
Navy, which had 22 total yards and no first downs in the third quarter, countered with a 66-yard pass from Aaron Polanco to Marco Nelson on a third-and-2. That set up Kyle Eckel's 3-yard touchdown run on an option right.