>>North Dakota State Tops Illinois State For Conference Crown
Sam Ojuri and John Crockett each rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown, Marcus Williams returned a kickoff a career-long 98 yards for a score, and North Dakota State won the Missouri Valley Conference title Saturday, beating Illinois State 38-20 in both teams' regular-season finale.
Ojuri had 118 yards on the ground, including a 1-yard TD that capped a 21-point fourth quarter for the Bison (10-1, 7-1). Crockett scored on a 5-yard run and totaled 109 yards rushing.
Brock Jensen added two short rushing scores for NDSU, which improved to 11-0 on the road the past two seasons. Jensen had just 96 yards passing, but NDSU rolled up 274 yards on the ground.
Matt Brown threw for 212 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown to Jordan Neukirch, and ran for a score for the Redbirds (8-3, 5-3), who could have claimed a share of the title with a victory.
>>Purdue Holds On At Illinois
Akeem Hunt turned a short pass into a 63-yard touchdown, and Purdue took another step toward a second consecutive bowl berth with a 20-17 victory at Illinois on Saturday.
Hunt's big play gave the Boilermakers (5-6, 2-5 Big Ten) a 13-3 lead in the third quarter. After Illinois pulled within 13-10 on a 16-yard touchdown run by Dami Ayoola, Ralph Bolden's 63-yard run set up Akeem Shavers' 6-yard TD scamper for a 20-10 Purdue lead.
With their first back-to-back Big Ten road wins since 2009, the Boilermakers stayed alive in its chase for postseason play. If Purdue can beat Indiana at home next Saturday to earn bowl eligibility, it will be its first 3-game winning streak in one season since 2007.
Illinois (2-9, 0-7) remained the only team in the Big Ten without a conference win. The Illini have a 13-game conference losing streak.
>>Southern Illinois Throttles Western
Kory Faulkner threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score as Southern Illinois defeated Western Illinois 35-0 Saturday in the season finale for both teams.
Steve Strother ran for 90 yards for the Salukis (6-6, 5-3 Missouri Valley), who held Western Illinois to 16 yards rushing and 126 total yards. Kevin Reed returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown for SIU.
Southern Illinois sacked three Western quarterbacks five times, and the Leathernecks (3-8, 1-7) punted 11 times in the game.
NCAA Football (BCS Standings)
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Baylor Bears 52, #1 Kansas State Wildcats 24
#13 Stanford Cardinal 17, #2 Oregon Ducks 14 (OT)
#3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 38, Wake Forest Demon Deacons 0
#4 Alabama Crimson Tide 49, Western Carolina Catamounts 0
#5 Georgia Bulldogs 45, Georgia Southern Eagles 14
#6 Florida Gators 23, Jacksonville State Gamecocks 0
#7 LSU Tigers 41, Ole Miss Rebels 35
#8 Texas A&M Aggies 47, Sam Houston State Bearkats 28
#9 South Carolina Gamecocks 24, Wofford Terriers 7
#10 Florida State Seminoles 41, Maryland Terrapins 14
#11 Clemson Tigers 62, North Carolina State Wolfpack 48
#12 Oklahoma Sooners 50, West Virginia Mountaineers 49
#14 Nebraska Cornhuskers 38, Minnesota Golden Gophers 14
#17 UCLA Bruins 38, #18 USC Trojans 28
Utah State Aggies 48, #20 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 41 (OT)
#21 Michigan Wolverines 42, Iowa Hawkeyes 17
#22 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 10, Cincinnati Bearcats 3
#24 Oklahoma State Cowboys 59, #23 Texas Tech Red Raiders 21
#25 Washington Huskies 38, Colorado Buffaloes 3
