>>Illinois State Crushes ISU
Lechein Neblett caught three passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns, including a 61-yard second quarter strike from Tre Roberson, to lead Illinois State to a 34-15 win over Eastern Illinois in the annual Mid-America Classic on Saturday.
Marshaun Coprich had 21 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns for the Redbirds (2-0), whose defense forced three turnovers, including two interceptions of Panthers quarterback Jalen Whitlow.
Nick Bruno kicked two field goals for the Panthers (0-3). Whitlow scored the only Eastern Illinois touchdown, a 14-yard run on the first drive of the third quarter, which cut the Redbirds lead to 21-13. Illinois State, however, would score the final 13 points.
The 0-3 start for Eastern Illinois is just its third such start since moving to Division I in 1981.
The game was the 103rd meeting between the two schools dating back to 1901.
>>Illinois Crushed Saturday
Linebacker Shaq Thompson returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown, picked up a fumble and rumbled 52 yards for another score, and Washington routed Illinois 44-19 on Saturday, improving to 3-0 under Chris Petersen.
Thompson became the first Washington player to score via fumble and interception in the same game since at least 1978, according to the school's records. Thompson was on the verge of adding a TD on offense but stumbled on a 13-yard run when it looked like he had a clear path to the end zone.
Washington quarterback Cyler Miles threw a 75-yard touchdown to John Ross as part of a 21-point blitz that took less than six minutes of the first half. Dwayne Washington's 12-yard TD run gave the Huskies a 28-3 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Wes Lunt threw for 230 yards for the Fighting Illini (2-1), but was unable to take advantage of Washington's depleted secondary. Illinois was trying for just the fifth 3-0 start in the past 25 years.
>>Western Illinois Tops Drake
Trenton Norvell accounted for two touchdowns to lead Western Illinois to a 38-13 victory over Drake Saturday.
Norvell completed his first five pass attempts, then rushed for a 7-yard touchdown on Western Illinois' opening drive. He threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Quadarias Mireles in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring for the Leathernecks.
Norvell was 15 of 22 for 205 yards and J.C. Baker ran for 130 yards on 20 carries to lead Western Illinois (2-1).
Cody Thibault came off the bench and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Michael Hudson and Ben Tesson kicked a 43-yard field goal to pull Drake (1-2) within 14-10 at the half.
David McDaniel blocked a Cam Bohnert punt and Brad Blumenshine returned it 27 yards for a touchdown to give Western Illinois a 28-10 lead in the third quarter.
>>FSU, Alabama Still Atop "USA Today" Poll
(Undated) -- Florida State and Alabama are still one-two in the latest "USA Today" college football top-25 poll. The idle Seminoles received 50 first-place votes while the Crimson Tide held serve with an easy win over Southern Miss. Oregon moved up to third from the fourth spot while Oklahoma dipped down a spot. Auburn remains fifth while Baylor, Texas A&M, LSU, Notre Dame and UCLA round out the top-ten. USC took the biggest fall after a loss to Boston College, dropping from tenth to 21st. Georgia also fell from sixth to 14th after losing to South Carolina while the Gamecocks jumped from 23rd up to 16th. BYU is the lone new team to the poll at 23rd while Virginia Tech fell out.
