NORTHWESTERN 24, WESTERN ILLINOIS 7
By JOHN JACKSON The Associated Press
AP Photo
Northwestern running back Solomon Vault (right) scores a touchdown past Western Illinois defensive back Myles Spearman (left) during the first half Saturday in Evanston. “We have to be there for each,” Vault said. “When he does good, I get happy. When I do good, he’s the first one there on the sidelines. I think we really have each others’ backs.”
The running backs had the offense’s back because the Wildcats weren’t able to produce much in the passing game. Quarterback Trevor Siemi-
an was 15 of 25 for 117 yards, and no receiver had more than three receptions or 21 yards receiving. Without top receivers Christian Jones (out for the season) and Tony Jones (lower
BIG TEN ROUNDUP
Roberts’ TD gives Indiana upset over No. 18 Missouri The ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBIA, Mo. – D’Angelo Roberts scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds remaining and Nate Sudfeld passed for 252 yards and a touchdown to help Indiana upset No. 18 Missouri, 31-27, on Saturday. After giving up 10 consecutive points to Missouri in the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers (2-1) traveled 75 yards on six plays to reclaim the lead. Tevin Coleman ran 44 yards to the Missouri 15-yard line to setup the game-winning score. Coleman finished with 132 yards on 19 carries. Utah 26, Michigan 10: At Ann Arbor, Michigan, Travis Wilson returned after a frighten-
ing fall in the first half to throw a third-quarter touchdown pass, and Utah finally finished off a 26-10 win over Michigan on Saturday after a lightning delay in the fourth quarter of 2 hours, 24 minutes. The game was delayed with 7:51 remaining, and when it resumed, not much was left of the announced crowd of 103,890. Michigan (2-2) was already down 26-10 at that point.
No. 24 Nebraska 41, Miami 31: At Lincoln, Nebraska, Ameer Abdullah ran for 229 yards to lead a punishing ground game, and No. 24 Nebraska celebrated the 20th anniversary of its 1994 national championship team with an emotional victory over Miami. The Cornhuskers (4-0) will
start Big Ten play next week off a performance that drew a Memorial Stadium record crowd of 91,585 that came to see a meeting of programs that combined for eight national titles from 1983 to 2001.
No. 11 Michigan State 73, Eastern Michigan 14: At East Lansing, Michigan, Connor Cook threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score as No. 11 Michigan State scored the third-most points in program history, smashing Eastern Michigan. Iowa 24, Pittsburgh 20: At Pittsburgh, Mark Weisman ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns, including a 1-yard plunge with 6:56 remaining as Iowa rallied for the win. The Hawkeyes (3-1) trailed
by 10 at the half but surged when C.J. Beathard replaced starting quarterback Jake Rudock in the third quarter. Rutgers 31, Navy 24: At Annapolis, Maryland, Justin Goodwin ran for 104 yards on 26 carries, replacing the injured Paul James, as Rutgers beat Navy. James left the game with an apparent leg injury with 11:01 left in the second quarter. He had 96 yards on seven carries before being helped off the field. Penn St 48, UMass 7: At State College, Pennsylvania, Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak rushed for a pair of touchdowns each, Christian Hackenberg threw for 179 yards and Penn State defeated Massachusetts. Purdue 35, S. Illinois 13: At
West LaFayette, Indiana, Purdue converted two first-quarter turnovers into touchdowns and used those 14 points as the springboard to a victory against Southern Illinois on Saturday.
No. 19 Wisconsin 68, Bowling Green 17: At Madison, Wisconsin, Melvin Gordon rushed for career highs of 253 yards and five touchdowns, and No. 19 Wisconsin ran for a Big Ten-record 644 yards to trample Bowling Green.
Maryland 34, Syracuse 20: At Syracuse, N ew York, C.J. Brown threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns, cornerback William Lively returned an interception 88 yards for another score, and Maryland beat mistake-prone Syracuse.
• Sunday, September 21, 2014
EVANSTON – Northwestern won its first game of the season Saturday, but coach Pat Fitzgerald said he isn’t planning on easing up on his players just yet. “My size-12 is going where the sun doesn’t shine with this team for the rest of the year,” he said. “It’s not gonna end until we get where we need to be. We’re not there yet; we’re far from being there.” Still, it was an improvement over the first two games. 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. Vault and Jackson, both freshman 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. Both players may be competing for carries over the next four years, but right now neither views the other as competition.
body injury), the passing game just isn’t in sync. “We’ve been a different wide-receiver unit since midway in camp,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t think there’s enough trust and continuity in the passing game.” Northwestern (1-2) 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. Quarterback Trenton Norvell was 29 of 50 for 292 yards with a touchdown and an interception for WIU. Wide receiver Lance Lenoir had 11 receptions for 115 yards. But the difference was four turnovers by the Fighting Leathernecks and four NU sacks. “Unfortunately when you play teams of that caliber, you can’t make the kinds of mistakes we did today,” WIU coach Bob Nielson said. “We were minus-3 turnover margin and had two kicks blocked. You’re going to have a hard time beating anybody.”
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Northwestern claims first win of season
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