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October 11, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Michigan State 24, Illinois 14

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Keith Nichol threw for 179 yards in his first start to lead Michigan State. Larry Caper rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown for Michigan State (3-3, 2-1). Glenn Winston ran for 69 yards and a score in the first half before leaving with a knee injury. Nichol, a sophomore, started in place of Kirk Cousins, who entered the game late. Nichol was 13-for-25 with an interception. Illinois (1-4, 0-3) had its own first-time starter at quarterback, junior Eddie McGee. Illinois coach Ron Zook made McGee the starter this week over senior Juice Williams to try to spark the sputtering Illini. But McGee’s run lasted just over 32 minutes. Zook pulled him early in the third quarter after watching him complete two of his 11 passes for 31 yards. Williams was 7-for-17 for 109 yards and a touchdown in relief.

Minnesota 35, Purdue 20

MINNEAPOLIS — Lee Campbell intercepted a pass and blocked a field goal to set up touchdowns for Minnesota in a victory over mistake-prone Purdue. Kevin Whaley rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown for the Golden Gophers (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten), who forced three turnovers in their first victory at home since beating Air Force on Sept. 12. Purdue’s Keith Smith caught seven passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, and Joey Elliott threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. The Boilermakers (1-5, 0-2) have lost five in a row. The Gophers overcame poor days from quarterback Adam Weber and receiver Eric Decker. Weber was just 5 for 9 for 74 yards with two interceptions, and Decker had three catches for 50 yards, his lowest output of the season. Aaron Valentin added eight catches for 80 yards and a touchdown for Purdue.

Northwestern 16, Miami, Ohio, 6

EVANSTON, Ill. — Quarterback Mike Kafka ran for two touchdowns and Northwestern’s defense came up with four turnovers to beat winless Miami of Ohio. Northwestern (4-2) overcame a sluggish performance by its own offense, sacking Miami quarterback Zac Dysert seven times — five in the first half — and intercepting him three times. Northwestern’s Brian Peters had an interception and recovered a fumble by Dysert in the third quarter to set up Northwestern’s second touchdown. Peters returned the fumble 27 yards to the Miami 27. And on the next play, Kafka hit fullback Jacob Schmidt with a 25-yard pass to the Miami 2 before sneaking the ball in three plays later, putting the Wildcats ahead 16-0. Miami (0-6) got in the end zone with 1:19 left when Dysert completed a 23-yard TD pass to Andy Cruse to cap a 62-yard drive. The two-point conversion pass failed.

Virginia 47, Indiana 7

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Mikell Simpson ran for four touchdowns and cornerback Ras-I Dowling forced two turnovers to set up scores for Virginia. Jameel Sewell passed for 308 yards as Virginia rolled up more than 500 yards total offense for the first time since 2004. Simpson’s first two 5-yard touchdown runs came after big plays by Dowling — a forced fumble that Rodney McLeod returned 32 yards and an interception. Dowling also had a third-down sack after Indiana (3-3) reached the Cavaliers’ 32. Zane Parr’s sack on the next play gave the ball back to Virginia (2-3), and eight plays later Simpson was untouched on a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:34 left in the first half. He also had a 1-yard TD run before being injured in the third quarter. Nick Turner’s 12-yard touchdown run was the only score for the Hoosiers.

Associated Press