LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Lamar Jackson broke a school single-season record with four first-half touchdowns, Louisville had three interceptions and the seventh-ranked Cardinals burst past North Carolina State 54-13 on Saturday.
Jackson passed for three touchdowns and ran for a 36-yard score on the opening drive, giving him 34 TDs with five games to play. He passed Dave Ragone and Brian Brohm, who each had 33.
Jackson, the sophomore quarterback and a Heisman frontrunner, had 359 of his 431 yards on offense by halftime.
Jeremy Smith ran for a pair of 1-yard TDs for Louisville (6-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which reclaimed its high-scoring ways a week after managing a season-low 24 points against Duke.
Jaylen Smith had a 74-yard TD reception, tight end Cole Hikutini added a 3-yard score and Jamari Staples a 16-yard catch for the Cardinals. Blanton Creque had four field goals and six conversions to set a single-game school scoring record for a kicker with 18 points.
Whatever hope North Carolina State (4-3, 1-2 ACC) had of slowing the Cardinals and Jackson was quashed after kickoff.
Jackson completed his first three passes for 36 yards before running another 36 on the left side for his first TD just as 55,218 were settling into their seats on homecoming. After Blanton Creque's 37-yard field goal made it 10-0, Jackson hit Jaylen Smith in stride down the middle and the receiver took off for the longest TD for him and the QB, who wasn't done making big plays.
Jackson's 67-yard pass to Hikutini -- who finished with a career-best 118 yards receiving on six catches -- set up Jeremy Smith's first touchdown run. Hikutini's TD catch capped the next drive and Staples grabbed his first scoring pass of the season. Louisville outgained the Wolfpack 553-250.
All this against an N.C. State defense that last week forced four turnovers and returned an interception for a TD at then-No. 3 Clemson before falling in overtime. The Wolfpack managed two third-quarter touchdowns to avoid a shutout, but not the rout.
No. 3 Michigan 41,
Illinois 8
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Wilton Speight threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters before watching No. 3 Michigan finish off Illinois 41-8 Saturday.
The Wolverines (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were leading 34-0 in the fourth quarter when Jim Harbaugh put backup quarterback John O'Korn in the game and rested Speight.
The Fighting Illini (2-5, 1-3) were relegated to starting their third-string quarterback with a familiar name. Jeff George Jr., son of the former Illinois and NFL quarterback, was 4 of 15 for 95 yards with a TD, an interception and a fumble in his first start. The redshirt freshman played because Wes Lunt and Chayce Crouch are injured.
Speight, who completed 16 of 23 passes, threw a 3-yard TD pass to Jake Butt and a 21-yard pass to Tyrone Wheatley Jr. for a score in the first quarter. Khalid Hill's ninth touchdown and De'Veon Smith's 4-yard run gave the Wolverines a 28-0 lead after their first four possessions.
After Michigan botched a fake punt near midfield in the fourth quarter with a 34-0 lead, George threw a 43-yard TD pass to Malik Turner on the next snap and followed with a 2-yard conversion pass to Zach Grant.
Karan Higdon scored on a 45-yard run on the ensuing possession and finished with 106 yards rushing on just eight carries for the Wolverines.
No. 8 Nebraska 27,
Purdue 14
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 303 yards of total offense and two touchdowns, and No. 8 Nebraska came back from a four-point halftime deficit to defeat Purdue 27-14 on Saturday.
The Cornhuskers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) probably didn't convince the skeptics who say they aren't worthy of a top-10 ranking, but they'll head to No. 10 Wisconsin next week with their best record since 2001.
Purdue (3-4, 1-3) managed only 94 yards in the second half in interim coach Gerad Parker's first game since taking over for the fired Darrell Hazell.
The Huskers lost 55-45 at Purdue last year, and Memorial Stadium was in a stunned silence as the Boilermakers pulled out to a 14-10 lead on David Blough's two touchdown passes to DeAngelo Yancey, the second one an 88-yard catch-and-run.
But the Huskers scored on three straight possessions after going three-and-out on their first series of the second half.
Armstrong's 40-yard pass to De'Mornay Pierson-El gave the Huskers the lead. The Boilermakers looked to have Nebraska stopped on its next series after an offensive pass interference created a third-and-16, but Armstrong passed 24 yards to Brandon Reilly and Alonzo Moore went 24 yards for a touchdown on a jet sweep. Drew Brown kicked a career-long 51-yard field goal for the game's final points.
Armstrong was 17 for 31 for 252 yards and ran 10 times for 51. Terrell Newby had 82 yards on 22 carries. Blough was 25 of 43 for 309 yards, with Yancey catching four passes for 100 yards.
No. 10 Wisconsin 17, Iowa 9
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Corey Clement ran for 134 yards and a touchdown and 10th-ranked Wisconsin used a stout defense to beat Iowa 17-9 on Saturday and snap a two-game skid.
Alex Hornibrook had 197 yards passing for the Badgers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten), who won for the fourth straight time in Iowa City.
Backup Bart Houston threw a touchdown pass for Wisconsin, and Clement's 1-yard TD run put the Badgers ahead 14-6 midway through the third quarter.
But Wisconsin was carried by its defense. The Badgers allowed just 236 yards on 60 plays and held the Hawkeyes (5-3, 3-2) without a touchdown for the first time all season -- just a week after Iowa scored 49 points against Purdue.
C.J. Beathard had 153 yards passing for Iowa, which lost its third straight at home.
No. 12 West Virginia 34, TCU 10
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Skyler Howard threw four touchdown passes and No. 12 West Virginia's improving defense held TCU scoreless in the second half of a 34-10 win Saturday.
West Virginia (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) is off to its best start since winning its first seven games in 2006.
Howard had first-half TD tosses of 10, 22 and 11 yards to three different receivers to stake West Virginia to a 21-10 halftime lead. Howard finished 16 of 23 passing for 231 yards.
West Virginia used scoring drives of 11 and 15 plays in the third quarter to eat up most of the clock.
TCU (4-3, 2-2) had only five second-half possessions. Three ended in punts, Deante' Gray fumbled away a kickoff and the final possession ended on downs.
The Mountaineers scored touchdowns in the game's first six minutes after two TCU turnovers -- another fumbled kickoff by Gray and Rasul Douglas' interception of Kenny Hill.
No. 19 Utah 52,
UCLA 45
PASADENA, Calif. -- Joe Williams rushed for a school-record 332 yards and four touchdowns in his second game back from retirement, and No. 19 Utah held off pass-happy UCLA 52-45 Saturday.
Cory Butler-Byrd returned the opening kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown on a day of stunning superlatives for the Utes (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) in their second straight win at the Rose Bowl.
Williams, who quit football last month before returning last week, broke off TD runs of 3, 43, 64 and 55 yards in the most prolific rushing performance ever by a UCLA opponent.
Mike Fafaul also set UCLA records for pass attempts (70) and completions (40) while throwing for 464 yards, third most in school history. The former walk-on had five touchdown passes and four interceptions for the Bruins (3-5, 1-4), whose wholesale overhaul of their offensive approach didn't prevent their fourth loss in five games.
Williams broke Mike Anderson's Utah single-game record shortly before shredding Edgerrin James' record for a Bruins opponent on his fourth scoring run with 10:28 to play.
UCLA's Austin Roberts caught a TD pass with 4:38 left to trim Utah's lead to seven points. The Bruins got the ball back with 40 seconds left, but couldn't move.
Bolu Olorunfunmi scored two touchdowns, Nate Iese caught two TD passes and Jordan Lasley caught a 75-yard TD pass for the Bruins.
Sports on 10/23/2016