College football roundup: Huskers win on 57-yarder

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini had no doubt Alex Henery would make his 57-yard, game-winning field goal.

Henery wasn’t so sure. But Henery said yes, anyway, when Pelini asked if he thought he could get the distance with Nebraska trailing by a point late in Friday’s game against Colorado.

Henery made the kick with room to spare with 1:43 left, and defensive end Ndamukong Suh ran back an interception 30 yards for a touchdown seconds later to punctuate the Cornhuskers’ 40-31 win.

“I love games like this. The crazier the better,” Pelini said. “I just wish we had ended it a little bit earlier.”

Colorado, an 18-point underdog, hung with Nebraska until the end, thanks to a couple big offensive plays in the first quarter, a botched Nebraska fake field goal that led to a CU touchdown and Joe Ganz’s fumble inside the Buffs’ 5 early in the fourth quarter.

“Our guys battled and scrapped and gave it everything they had. Not an inch left,” CU coach Dan Hawkins said.

The Huskers (8-4, 5-3 Big 12) are in position to end Pelini’s first season as head coach in a New Year’s Day bowl game.

No. 9 Boise State 61, Fresno State 10

BOISE, Idaho — Kyle Wilson returned a punt 90 yards, wide receiver Tanyon Bissell threw for another touchdown on a smooth reverse pass, and No. 9 Boise State went from endangered to dazzling by scoring 48 points after halftime to beat Fresno State 61-10.

Ian Johnson ran for 128 yards and scored two touchdowns as scouts from three BCS bowls watched from the press box. The senior tied the WAC record of 57 rushing touchdowns set by Marshall Faulk at San Diego State from 1991-93.

The Broncos (12-0) led by just 13-10 early in the third quarter before Jeremy Avery ran for a 43-yard touchdown three minutes after halftime. Then came three more touchdowns in a 3½-minute span to clinch Boise State’s third undefeated regular season in four years.

Arkansas 31, LSU 30

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Casey Dick threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to London Crawford on fourth-and-1 with 22 seconds remaining to give Arkansas a 31-30 victory over LSU.

The Razorbacks trailed 30-14 early in the third quarter when Dick replaced his younger brother Nathan at quarterback. With the help of several LSU penalties, Arkansas slowly chipped away before converting twice on fourth down on the winning drive.

No. 25 Mississippi 45, Mississippi State 0

OXFORD, Miss. — Jevan Snead threw for 213 yards and four touchdowns, Greg Hardy had three of Mississippi’s school-record 11 sacks and the 25th-ranked Rebels beat Mississippi State 45-0 in the most lopsided Egg Bowl in 37 years.

The Rebels (8-4, 5-3 Southeastern Conference), spurred by an opportunity to play in a top-tier bowl, scored 2:20 seconds in, led 24-0 after the first quarter and dominated the fading Bulldogs (4-8, 2-6) in every phase. The margin of victory was the largest in the series since Ole Miss beat Mississippi State 48-0 in 1971.

Snead completed his first nine passes for 117 yards and touchdowns of 10 yards to Shay Hodge and 17 yards to Mike Wallace.

Pittsburgh 19, West Virginia 15

PITTSBURGH — LeSean McCoy scored his second touchdown with 52 seconds left to finish off a 183-yard performance, and Pittsburgh beat rival West Virginia 19-15 to make Cincinnati the Big East champions.

McCoy carried all but one play on the 59-yard, game-winning touchdown drive in the closing minutes.

Pitt (8-3, 4-2 in Big East) had to rally from a 15-7 deficit after Bill Stull threw two interceptions and a pair of drives inside the West Virginia 10 ended with no points.

Pat White scored on a 54-yard touchdown run, but West Virginia (7-4, 4-2) lost for the second year in a row in the Backyard Brawl.

East Carolina 53, UTEP 21

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Brandon Simmons ran for three scores and had a touchdown catch to help East Carolina beat UTEP 53-21 on in its final home game.

Patrick Pinkney threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns for the Pirates (8-4, 6-2 Conference USA), who have already clinched a berth in next week’s league championship game. Though there was nothing to play for in the standings, the Pirates came out with probably their best performance of the season and quickly turned the game into a rout.

E. Michigan 56, Cent. Michigan 52

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Andy Schmitt broke the NCCA record for completions, Tyler Jones tied the NCAA Division I record for receptions and Eastern Michigan upset Central Michigan 56-52 in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Schmitt’s 58 completions broke the record NCAA record of 57, which was set by Jeremy Moses of Stephen F. Austin earlier this season. The NCAA Division I record of 55 was shared by Purdue’s Drew Brees in 1998 and Wake Forest’s Rusty LaRue in 1995.

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