- Associated Press - Saturday, October 15, 2011

STARS

_J.J. McDermott, SMU, threw for 358 yards and two TDs in a 38-17 victory over UCF.

_Riley Nelson, BYU, threw for 217 yards and three TDs, and rushed for 87 yards to lead the Cougars over Oregon State 38-28.

_Jeremy Smith, Oklahoma State, ran for 140 yards and scored on two long TDs runs on seven carries to help the No. 6 Cowboys beat No. 22 Texas 38-26.

_Keith Price, Washington, threw for 257 yards and had four first-half TD passes in an impressive 52-24 rout of Colorado.

_Josh McGregor, Jacksonville, threw for 346 yards and five TDs in a 50-14 win over Morehead State.

_James Franklin, Missouri, accounted for 373 yards and five TDs as the Tigers routed Iowa State 52-10.

_Chris Lum, Lehigh, threw for 413 yards and three TDs in a 34-12 win over Fordham.

_Jacory Harris, Miami, passed for 267 yards and three TDs to help the Hurricanes beat North Carolina 30-24.

_Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M, threw for 415 yards and a career-high six TDs to lead the No. 21 Aggies to a 55-28 win over No. 20 Baylor.

_Robert Griffin III, Baylor, threw for a school-record 430 yards and three TDs in a 55-28 loss to No. 21 Texas A&M.

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BIG EAST EXPANSION

The Big East knows which schools it wants to add. Now it’s just a matter of getting those programs to come aboard.

To help convince some of the candidates _ such as Boise State _ that the Big East will be stable in the long run, the conference has a plan in place to double its exit fee to $10 million.

An official in the Big East told The Associated Press that conference leaders are slated to vote Monday on raising that fee, which will clear the way to invite six new members.

Along with Boise State, which would be invited only to play football in the Big East, the league also wants to invite Air Force and Navy as football-only members and Conference USA members Central Florida, SMU and Houston to join in all sports.

The Big East has only six football schools committed to the league beyond this season. The conference would like to get to 12 football members and split into two divisions, East and West, and play a championship game.

Boise State president Robert Kustra says the university’s responsibility is to get the Broncos as close as possible to an automatic qualifying status in the BCS.

The Broncos bolted the Western Athletic Conference to join the MWC this year.

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ROLLING TIGERS

Even when top-ranked LSU isn’t playing its best, the Tigers are still finding ways to dominate games.

Jarrett Lee and LSU got off to a slower start than usual against Tennessee but wore the Volunteers down in a 38-7 victory on Saturday. It was a record sixth straight victory over a Southeastern Conference East Division opponent for the Tigers, and their seventh consecutive win by a double-digit margin.

It was a departure in the series between the two teams in which three of the last four games have been decided by a touchdown or less, including last year’s bizarre finish in Baton Rouge when LSU scored the winning touchdown after the game was extended by a Tennessee penalty for too many men on the field.

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NUMBERS

2_Wins in a row by Oklahoma State in Austin after 12 consecutive years of excruciating defeats. The sixth-ranked Cowboys beat No. 22 Texas 38-26.

9_Wins with no losses by Utah against current teams in the Big East after a 26-14 win over Pittsburgh.

91_Points scored, most ever in the series between Appalachian State and The Citadel. The Mountaineers won 49-42.

178_Career catches by Alabama State’s Nick Andrews to set a school record _ two more than Damon Hodge.

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JOEPA BACK TO THE BOX

Joe Paterno coached Penn State’s homecoming game against Purdue from the Beaver Stadium press box.

The 84-year-old Hall of Famer is recovering from right shoulder and pelvis injuries suffered after a receiver ran into him in practice Aug. 7. Paterno was feeling better last week before two of his players pulled him back to avoid another collision during the 13-3 win Oct. 8 over Iowa.

Paterno said that left him sore _ including his surgically repaired hip _ and that he was concerned that he might be a distraction to his players on the sideline. He was on the field for pregame warmups Saturday before heading upstairs for the Nittany Lions’ 23-18 victory.

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