MID-AMERICAN Miami rolls over Bobcats, 40-20



Akron was shut out by No. 12 Virginia; N. Illinois lost to Iowa State.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
OXFORD -- Mike Smith scored two touchdowns, Josh Betts threw two scoring passes and Ryne Robinson had a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown to lead Miami (Ohio) to a 40-20 victory over Ohio on Saturday in the 81st meeting between the rivals.
Smith, who had 41 yards rushing on 10 carries, scored on a 20-yard run and also caught a 38-yard TD pass from Betts.
Betts (21 of 32 passes for 268 yards with one interception) also threw a 23-yard scoring pass to Martin Nance for the RedHawks (2-2, 1-0 Mid-American Conference).
No. 12 Virginia 51, Akron 0
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Defensively dominant and offensively unstoppable, at least so far, Virginia has started the season with three straight wins for the first time since 1998.
Wali Lundy ran for three touchdowns for the third straight game and Marques Hagans threw two scoring passes to Heath Miller as Virginia led 34-0 by halftime, then held the Zips (0-3) to 16 yards in the second half.
Charlie Frye, who passed for 336 yards against Virginia two years ago, had no such luck this time. Frye, the owner of 49 school records, finished 10-for-23 for 72 yards, was intercepted twice and sacked four times before leaving late in the third quarter trailing 44-0.
The Zips finished with 84 yards in 58 plays and six first downs.
Iowa State 48, Northern Illinois 41
AMES, Iowa -- Freshman Todd Blythe caught three touchdown passes, the last a 4-yarder for the go-ahead score with 5:13 remaining.
In a game that had huge momentum swings both ways, Iowa State (2-1) scored 28 straight points to erase a 14-point second-half deficit. Northern Illinois (1-2) had come from 13 down in the first half to take the lead.
It was 34-all when DeAndre Jackson made Iowa State's third interception of the day off Phil Horvath, giving Iowa State the ball at the Northern Illinois 28. Six plays later, the 6-foot-5 Blythe ran a fade route to the right side of the end zone and Austin Flynn lofted the ball perfectly over 5-10 defensive back Jimmy Toussaint.
Blythe, who had dropped a pass in the end zone earlier, hauled in the ball just before going out of bounds.
Iowa State's Matt Robertson returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown with 19 seconds left to secure the victory. That touchdown looked even bigger when Horvath threw a 42-yard TD pass to Dan Sheldon on the game's final play.
Blythe also caught touchdown passes of 39 and 47 yards from Bret Meyer, becoming the first Iowa State player with three touchdown receptions in a game since Damien Groce did it against Texas Tech in 1998.
Northern Illinois seemed to have all the momentum after marching 98 yards in 12 plays to take a 34-20 lead on Horvath's third touchdown pass of the day, a 9-yarder to Shatone Powers with 7:05 left in the third quarter.
C. Michigan 44, SE Missouri St. 27
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Kent Smith threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores to lead Central Michigan.
It was the first win for the Chippewas' new coach, Brian Kelly, who led Grand Valley State to consecutive Division II national championships in 2002 and 2003. Kelly's spread offense helped Central (1-2) rack up 498 yards of offense.
Central led 14-0 after one quarter as Smith ran for a 1-yard score and connected with Damien Linson on a 32-yard scoring pass. Spencer Lewis, who ran for 134 yards, tacked on a 9-yard score in the second quarter.
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