>>Illinois Survives Texas State
Illinois combined two touchdowns and 190 yards rushing from Josh Ferguson with the kind of desperate, second-half comeback the Illini have relied on all season to escape Texas State on Saturday, 42-35.
All three Illinois (3-1) wins this season have come after trailing in the second half.
The game was delayed for almost two hours by lightning that started in the second quarter. Before the delay the game was almost all Texas State (1-2). And after, the Illini clawed back.
Texas State built a 21-6 second-quarter lead.
But the Illini scored 17 fourth-quarter points to put the game away.
Wes Lunt threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Illini.
Tyler Jones threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for another score but also threw a late interception that V'Angelo Bentley returned 45 yards for a touchdown to give the Illini a 42-28 lead.
>>Eastern Illinois Crushes Austin Peay
Jalen Whitlow threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more to put Eastern Illinois up 63-7 over Austin Peay on Saturday.
Whitlow was 13 of 15 for 159 yards passing and ran for a team-high 137 yards on 15 carries. He was replaced by Andrew Manley early in the third quarter once the Panthers (1-3, 1-0 Ohio Valley Conference) had achieved a 42-point lead.
In the first half, Whitlow and Jimmy Lera ran for two touchdowns each and Taylor Duncan caught a Whitlow TD pass to give the Panthers a 35-7 lead at the break.
Whitlow connected with Duncan again early in the third quarter for a touchdown. Less than two minutes later, Antoine Johnson blocked an Austin Peay punt and returned it 12 yards for another score, extending the Panthers' lead to 49-7.
The Governors (0-3) were held to just 224 total yards.
>>Western Makes Northwestern Earn Victory
Solomon Vault rushed for two touchdowns, Justin Jackson had 92 yards rushing and a score, and Northwestern snapped a six-game home losing streak with a 24-7 victory over Western Illinois on Saturday.
Vault and Jackson, both freshmen running backs, led the way as the Wildcats amassed 166 yards on the ground. Jackson had 21 carries for an average of 4.4 yards, while Vault had 31 yards on six carries, an average of 5.2.
Quarterback Trevor Siemian was 15 of 25 for 117 yards.
Northwestern (2-1) had lost nine of 10 games going back to last season. The Wildcats began last season with four straight wins and finished at 5-7.
Northwestern opened this season with losses against California (31-24) and Northern Illinois (23-15).
Western Illinois (2-2) lost despite having a 376-283 advantage in total yards.
NCAA Top-25 Football ("USA Today" Rankings)
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#1 Florida State Seminoles 23, #24 Clemson Tigers 17 (OT)
#2 Alabama Crimson Tide 42, Florida Gators 21
#3 Oregon Ducks 38, Washington State Cougars 31
#4 Oklahoma Sooners 45, West Virginia Mountaineers 33
#7 Texas A&M Aggies 58, SMU Mustangs 6
Mississippi State Bulldogs 34, #8 LSU Tigers 29
#11 Michigan State Spartans 73, Eastern Michigan Eagles 14
#14 Georgia Bulldogs 66, Troy Trojans 0
#16 South Carolina Gamecocks 48, Vanderbilt Commodores 34
#17 Wisconsin Badgers 68, Bowling Green Falcons 17
Indiana Hoosiers 31, #19 Missouri Tigers 27
#22 Nebraska Cornhuskers 41, Miami Hurricanes 31
#23 BYU Cougars 41, Virginia Cavaliers 33
East Carolina Pirates 70, #25 North Carolina Tar Heels 41
