STARS
Andrew Luck, Stanford, shook off the rain and the chill to throw for 206 yards and three TDs in the No. 4 Cardinal’s 38-13 victory over Oregon State.
Kain Colter, Northwestern, ran for two TDs and passed for another after replacing injured starter Dan Persa in a 28-25 upset of No. 9 Nebraska.
J.J. McDermott, SMU, threw for 322 yards and three TDs to lead the Mustangs to a 45-24 victory against Tulane.
Aaron Murray, Georgia, threw five second-quarter TD passes and for 238 total yards in the No. 18 Bulldogs’ 63-16 rout of New Mexico State.
Joe Bergeron, Texas, ran for 191 yards and three TDs to help the Longhorns rout Texas Tech 52-20.
Montee Ball, Wisconsin, rushed for a career-high 223 yards with three TDs and the No. 19 Badgers rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 62-17 rout of Purdue.
Kirk Cousins, Michigan State, threw for 296 yards and a pair of TDs in the No. 15 Spartans’ 31-24 win over Minnesota.
Dawrence Roberts, Grambling State, ran for 201 yards and scored on a 10-yard run with 1:24 left in a 26-23 win over Jackson State.
Jordan Cramer, Campbell, ran for 170 yards and four TDs in a 41-31 win over Morehead State.
Nick Schwieger, Dartmouth, ran for a school-record 257 yards and a score in a 33-24 win over Cornell.
Austin Sumner, South Dakota State, threw for 328 yards and four TDs in a 45-34 win over Southern Illinois.
Ryan Aplin, Arkansas State, ran for four TDs and passed for another to help the Red Wolves beat Florida Atlantic 39-21.
Nick Fanuzzi, Rice, threw for 405 yards and three TDs to lead the Owls to a 41-37 win over UTEP.
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INJURED RECEIVERS
Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles and Stanford wideout Chris Owusu suffered serious injuries in separate games.
Broyles, an All-American, was lost for the season with a torn ligament in his left knee after going down in the third quarter of the seventh-ranked Sooners’ 41-25 win over Texas A&M. The senior had two catches for 87 yards and both helped set up touchdowns.
In Corvallis, Ore., Owusu was taken from Reser Stadium by ambulance after a helmet-to-helmet hit by Oregon State’s Jordan Poyer.
He was prone on the field for several minutes after the hit midway through the second quarter, but gave a thumbs-up after he was loaded on to a stretcher and placed into the ambulance.
Stanford reported that Owusu had a concussion but was conscious and had a full range of motion in his extremities. He was taken to the hospital for X-rays.
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NUMBERS
2_Blocked extra points by Georgia Southern in its 14-12 win over The Citadel.
6_School-record field goals by Montana’s Brody McKnight in a 32-7 win over Western Oregon.
11_Consecutive Mountain West Conference road wins by TCU with its 31-20 victory over Wyoming. The Horned Frogs matched the conference record set by BYU from 2005-07.
29_Straight losses by Valparaiso after Marist beat the Crusaders 30-7. Valparaiso hasn’t won since a 20-17 victory over Concordia (Wis.) on Sept. 12, 2009.
42_Carries by Terrence Lefall to set a school record in Howard’s 10-7 win over Hampton.
59_Years since No. 4 Stanford last opened a season 9-0.
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BIG 12 EXPANSION
Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas said the conference has no plans to expand further prior to next season, although that doesn’t mean a move back to 12 teams couldn’t happen eventually.
Leaders of the conference’s schools have been divided over whether the league is best with 10 schools, where it settled after losing Nebraska and Colorado prior to this season, or finding a way to expand back to 12.
With Texas A&M and possibly Missouri headed to the SEC, the Big 12 has added West Virginia and TCU this year in an attempt to stabilize.
Neinas said the conference would be OK with 10 or 11, if Missouri stays.
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