McNabb and Syracuse Silence Michigan’s Big Crowd, 38-28

Big numbers are nothing new for Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb. Saturday, he had the power to silence the largest football crowd ever on a college campus.

McNabb passed for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead No. 19-ranked Syracuse to a 38-28 victory over No. 13 Michigan at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Orangemen (1-1) scored the first three times they had the ball on their way to a 38-7 lead before 111,012 fans in Michigan Stadium. The biggest previous crowd on a college campus was 107,608 in 1996 to see Florida and Tennessee at the Volunteers’ Neyland Stadium, which has 102,654 seats.

The addition of 5,000 seats during the off-season raised the official capacity to 107,501, making it the largest college-owned stadium in the country.

“It was great to look up in the fourth quarter and see that some of the fans had left,” McNabb said.

McNabb, who has led Syracuse to 26 regular-season and two bowl victories in three years as as starter, completed 21 of 27 passes for 233 yards and ran 18 times for 62 yards.

Michigan became the first defending national champion to lose its first two games since Penn State started 0-3 in 1983. The Wolverines are 0-2 for only the second time since 1959.

No. 1 Ohio State 49, Toledo 0--Joe Germaine had three touchdown passes and Michael Wiley ran for a career-high 151 yards and two touchdowns for the Buckeyes at Columbus, Ohio.

In only its third game against an in-state school in 64 years, Ohio State (2-0) scored 21 first-quarter points on drives that took just 4 1/2 minutes. It was 42-0 by halftime, with the Buckeyes holding a 371-32 advantage in yards and 16-1 in first downs.

Chris Wallace was 13-of-34 for 73 yards with five interceptions for Toledo (1-1).

No. 17 Wisconsin 45, Ohio 0-- Ron Dayne returned to Badger lineup and ran for 111 yards and three touchdowns in 20 carries at Madison, Wis.

The Badgers (2-0) stifled Ohio’s triple option attack, with the Bobcats (0-2) getting only 65 yards in 38 carries. Ohio had 361 yards rushing in a 34-31 loss last week to North Carolina State.

Purdue 21, Rice 19--Drew Brees was 20-of-31 passing for 250 yards and two touchdowns as the Boilermakers (1-1) held off the Owls (1-1) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Rice pulled within two points on Chad Richardson’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Jason Blackwell with 3:58 left, but the Owls failed on the two-point conversion when cornerback Michael Hawthorne broke up a pass.

Purdue then moved from its 20-yard line to the Rice 19 as time ran out.

Indiana 45, Western Michigan 30--Antwaan Randle El, a freshman quarterback who wasn’t announced as starter until game time, passed for three touchdowns, ran for three others and set an school-record for total offense with 467 yards in the Hoosiers’ season-opener at Bloomington, Ind.

Randle El, who will also play basketball for Indiana, was 22-of-29 passing for 385 yards and ran 23 times for another 82 yards. The former Indiana record for total yards of 458 was set by Bob Hoernschemeyer at Nebraska in 1943.

Tyrone Browning caught 13 of Randle El’s passes for 258 yards.

Western Michigan is 1-1.

Duke 44, Northwestern 10--The Blue Devils had a 575-205 advantage in total yards and 30-8 in first downs at Evanston, Ill. to open a season 2-0 for the first time since 1994, when they went 8-4 and went to the Hall of Fame Bowl. Northwestern is 1-1.

Iowa State 27, Iowa 9--Darren Davis--the brother of record-setting Troy Davis--had 244 yards and a touchdown in 37 carries at Iowa City, Iowa as the Cyclones (1-1) defeated the Hawkeyes (1-1) for the first time in 16 years. It was also the first time Iowa State has won on the road in 31 games.

Illinois 48, Middle Tennessee 20--Rocky Harvey and Steve Havard rushed for a combined 390 yards and five touchdowns at Champaign, Ill., as the Illini (1-1) ended a losing streak at 18 games against a Division I-AA opponent.