College Football Thursday’s games

Missouri Valley Conference

E. Michigan 52, Indiana State 0.

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Terrance Blevins ran for a career-high 176 yards and scored two touchdowns as Eastern Michigan shut out Indiana State on Thursday night. Blevins scored on runs of 4 and 61 yards for the Eagles (1-0), who tallied 637 yards of total offense. Indiana State (0-1) has lost 15 straight games, extending back to 2006.

North Dakota State 41, Austin Peay 6

FARGO, N.D. — Nick Mertens passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns as North Dakota State opened its season with an easy win over Austin Peay. The Bisons rolled up 453 yards in total offense, while holding Peay to just 56 yards rushing and 35 passing. Kole Heckendoft caught all three of Mertens’ touchdown passes, while Tyler Roehl rushed for 74 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.

Mid-American Conference

Cent. Michigan 31, E. Illinois 12.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Dan LeFevour threw for 213 yards and had three touchdown passes as Central Michigan defeated Eastern Illinois. LeFevour was 21-of-31 and had 42 yards rushing on 11 carries for the Chippewas (1-0). Central Michigan never trailed, as Ontario Sneed scored the first touchdown of the season on a 23-yard run to put CMU up 10-3 in the second quarter. Sneed finished with 88 yards rushing on 13 carries. Bodie Reeder threw for 201 yards for Eastern Illinois (0-1) and one touchdown, a 15-yard touchdown pass to Sean McGrath. Bryan Anderson had nine receptions for 66 yards for Central Michigan, including a 5-yard touchdown reception, while Jean Pitts and Sean Skergen also had touchdown catches for the Chippewas. Frank Zombo had 21‚Ñ2 sacks to lead the Central Michigan defense, which held the Panthers to 83 yards rushing. Central Michigan won its season opener for the first time since 2002.

Buffalo 42, Texas-El Paso 17.

AMHERST, N.Y. — Drew Willy threw four touchdown passes to help Buffalo open its season with a win over Texas-El Paso. Willy was 10-of-16 for 221 yards with no interceptions. His first completion broke Cliff Scott’s school record for career completions, and he went on to dismantle the UTEP defense, which surrendered 484 total yards. Willy threw touchdowns to Brian Kisabeth, Gary Rice and Naaman Roosevelt, who scored on passes of 68 and 56 yards. Buffalo rushed for 263 yards, as James Starks led the Bulls with 179 yards on 31 attempts while Brandon Thermilus scored twice, rushing for 102 yards on 16 carries.

UTEP(0-1), making its first trek into New York state, rolled up 266 yards but had three turnovers and muffed a punt snap deep in its own territory.

Big East

Cincinnati 40, Eastern Kentucky 7.

CINCINNATI — Dustin Grutza made Cincinnati’s quarterback transition go smoothly Thursday night, throwing for three touchdowns and running for another in a victory over Eastern Kentucky that eased the Bearcats’ biggest concern — at least for now. The senior threw touchdown passes 15 and 47 yards to Mardy Gilyard, who had never caught more than one in a game. The last one came off the same type of play that Mauk ran so well last year, a play-action rollout that let Gilyard get behind the coverage. Eastern Kentucky (0-1), the defending Ohio Valley Conference champs, had trouble against a defense that was one of the nation’s best last season. The Bearcats were missing tackle Terrill Byrd, suspended for the opener because of a marijuana citation. Allan Holland, the OVC’s offensive player of the year last season, was 12-of-17 for 141 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown pass to Cody Watts after the Colonels trailed 40-0. Sophomore running back Aaron Bradley hurt his right knee in the first half and didn’t return.

Connecticut 35, Hofstra 3.

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Donald Brown ran for 146 yards and four first-half touchdowns as Connecticut won its season opener over Hofstra. It was the Huskies’ seventh win without a loss against Championship Subdivision teams since UConn started playing major college football in 2002. Brown, a junior, split time with Andre Dixon a year ago. But Dixon rolled an ankle in practice this week, leaving Brown to carry the load. Brown had two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters, and 130 yards rushing at halftime. He finished with 23 carries in less than three quarters of work. Hofstra announced just before kickoff that senior quarterback Bryan Savage would miss the game with an injured back. Junior Cory Christopher took his place, throwing for 130 yards and two interceptions. He also carried the ball 21 times for just 25 yards, and was sacked seven times.

Associated Press