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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, September 16, 2007

Michigan ends skid with rout of Notre Dame, 38-0

Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan took care of Mike Hart's guarantee with ease.

Hart ran for 187 yards on 35 carries and scored two touchdowns, and Ryan Mallett threw for three scores, leading the Wolverines to a 38-0 win over Notre Dame yesterday.

"You couldn't write it any better than that," Hart said.

Michigan handed the Fighting Irish their worst loss since beating them by the same score in 2003. The Wolverines (1-2) also avoided their first 0-3 start in seven decades.

Notre Dame (0-3) is winless after three games for just the second time in school history, putting coach Charlie Weis in unwanted company with Bob Davie. The Fighting Irish have lost five straight for the first time since the 1985-86 seasons, Gerry Faust's last year and Lou Holtz's first.

"My confidence isn't shaken," Weis said. "But as an organization, we haven't done a very good job."

Hart, who after last week's 39-7 loss to Oregon guaranteed the Wolverines would beat Notre Dame, had a sensational performance, even against a defense stacked to stop him.

"I did it to fire myself up, and my team up," Hart said. "It worked out, I guess."

Michigan State 17, Pittsburgh 13: Jehuu Caulcrick rushed for a touchdown, Travis Key ran back an interception for a score, and Brett Swenson kicked a 23-yard field goal with 2:54 left as the Spartans (3-0) held off the Panthers (2-1) at East Lansing, Mich.

Purdue 45, CENTRAL Michigan 22: Curtis Painter passed for 360 yards and three touchdowns, and the Boilermakers (3-0) overcame four fumbles and an interception to beat the Chippewas (1-2) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Indiana 41, Akron 24: Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis rushed for a career-high 199 yards and two touchdowns, and completed 19 of 24 passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns to power the Hoosiers (3-0) past the Zips (1-2) at Bloomington, Ind.

Duke 20, Northwestern 14: Thaddeus Lewis threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Blue Devils (1-2) snap the longest losing streak in the country at 22 games with a victory over the Wildcats (2-1) at Evanston, Ill.

ATLANTIC COAST

Wake Forest 21, Army 10: Aaron Curry returned an interception 84 yards for a touchdown, and Kenneth Moore brought a punt back 55 yards for another score to lead the Demon Deacons (1-2) over the Black Knights (1-2) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Virginia 22, North Carolina 20: Cedric Peerman rushed for 186 yards and a touchdown, and Chris Gould tied a school record with five field goals as the Cavaliers (2-1, 2-0) held off the Wolfpack (1-2, 0-1) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Miami 23, Florida International 9: Kyle Wright threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Lance Leggett for the Hurricane's (2-1) longest offensive score in nearly two years in their victory over the Golden Panthers (0-3) at Miami.

BIG 12 CONFERENCE

Iowa State 15, Iowa 13: Bret Culbertson tied a school record with five field goals, including a 28-yarder with 1 second left, lifting the host Cyclones (1-2) over the Hawkeyes (2-1) for coach Gene Chizik's first win.

MISSOURI 52, WESTERN MICHIGAN 24: Chase Daniel threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third, completing 27 of 46 passes for 328 yards, and Jeremy Maclin and Tony Temple each add two TDs to lead the Tigers (3-0) past the Broncos (0-3) at Columbia, Mo.

Kansas 45, Toledo 13: Todd Reesing threw for 313 yards and four touchdowns, raising his three-game total to 831 yards and 10 scores, as the Jayhawks (3-0) grounded the Rockets (0-3) at Lawrence, Kan.

Florida State 16, Colorado 6: Antone Smith ran 36 yards for a touchdown and Gary Cismesia kicked three field goals to help the Seminoles (2-1) beat the Buffs (1-2) at Boulder, Colo.

BIG EAST CONFERENCE

Illinois 41, Syracuse 20: Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns, Juice Williams threw for one touchdown and ran for another, powering the Illini (2-1) over the Orange (0-3) at Syracuse, N.Y.

CONFERENCE USA

Texas Tech 59, Rice 24: Graham Harrell threw a personal best six touchdown passes, three to freshman Michael Crabtree, and the visiting Red Raiders (3-0) routed the Owls (0-3) in Houston.

Houston 34, Tulane 10: Anthony Alridge had 136 yards total offense and two touchdowns as the visiting Cougars (1-1) defeated the Green Wave (1-1) in the Conference USA opener for both teams in the Superdome at New Orleans.

Tulsa 55, BYU 47: Paul Smith passed for a career-high 454 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Golden Hurricane (2-0) past the Cougars (1-2) at Tulsa in a game in which the teams combined for 1,289 yards, including 1,027 in the air.

MID-AMERICAN

Cincinnati 47, Miami 10: Sophomore Marshawn Gilyard blocked a punt for a safety and caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter and Dustin Grutza threw for two scores to spark the visiting Bearcats over the Redhawks (1-2) at Oxford, Ohio.

Eastern Michigan 21, Northern Illinois 19: Senior tailback Pierre Walker scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs as the Eagles (1-2, 1-1) rallied past the Huskies (0-3, 0-1) at De Kalb, Ill.

PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE

Oregon State 61, Idaho State 10: Sean Canfield threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns, Sammie Stroughter had 160 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and the Beavers (2-1) rolled up 607 yards in offense to rout the Bengals (1-1) at Corvallis, Ore.

New Mexico 29, Arizona 27: Donovan Porterie threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns, and John Sullivan kicked a 44-yarder field goal for a 29-20 lead with 6:41 remaining as Lobos (2-1) beat the Wildcats (1-2) at Tucson, Ariz.

SOUTHEASTERN

Mississippi State 19, Auburn 14: Christian Ducre scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:15 to play and the Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) stopped Tigers (1-2, 0-1) inside the 10 in the final seconds at Auburn, Ala.

Vanderbilt 31, Mississippi 17: Chris Nickson threw for 200 yards and ran for 78 more and a touchdown, and Cassen Jackson-Garrison had three touchdowns to lead the Commodores (2-1, 1-1) over the Rebels (1-2, 0-1) at Nashville, Tenn.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE

Florida Atlantic 42, Minnesota 39: Rusty Smith threw for 463 yards and five touchdowns, and the Owls (2-1) forced seven turnovers to beat the Golden Gophers (1-2) in Miami.

INDEPENDENTS

Ball State 34, Navy 31: Jake Hogue kicked a 24-yard field goal in overtime, leading the Cardinals (2-1) over the Midshipmen (1-2), who played the second half and overtime without starting quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada (two sprained ankles) at Annapolis, Md.

OTHERS

Appalachian State 34, Northern Arizona 21: Trey Elder threw three touchdown passes and rushed for 82 yards, helping the Mountaineers (3-0) pull away from the Lumberjacks (1-2) at Boone, N.C., to extend Division I's longest winning streak to 17 games.

Portland State 35, Sacramento State 24: Brian White threw a 42-yard TD pass to Tremayne Kirkland with 2:06 left for a 28-24 lead and Jordan Senn returned an interception 76 yards for a score less than a minute later as the Vikings (1-2) and new coach Jerry Glanville beat the Hornets (1-2).