COLLEGE FOOTBALL / WEEK 2 : Pennington Comes Through as Marshall Stops Clemson

Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington came up the biggest when his team needed him most at Clemson, S.C.

Pennington was six-of-six passing during an 11-play, 74-yard fourth-quarter drive, which was capped by Doug Chapman’s seven-yard run with 1:10 to play as Marshall defeated Clemson, 13-10, Saturday night.

Pennington also ran for 12 yards on a third-and-10 play in the drive. He completed 29 of 44 passes in the game for 333 yards and Chapman, a 1,000-yard rusher each of the last three seasons, had 47 yards.

Clemson had a shot to send the game into overtime, but Chris Campbell’s 34-yard field goal with 10 seconds to play was wide left. Two Clemson kickers missed a combined three field goals in the game played in front of more than 80,000.

The Tigers took a 10-6 lead in the defensive struggle with a little more than seven minutes to play on Javis Austin’s three-yard run. The 10-play drive covered 67 yards but wasn’t enough to make Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden, who led Tulane to a 12-0 record in 1998, a winner in his debut for Clemson.

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A week after defeating Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic, No. 8 Miami jumped on Florida A&M; early and often, as James Jackson ran for two touchdowns and Kenny Kelly passed for two in a 31-point burst over 11:04 of the first half on the way to a 57-3 romp at Miami. The Hurricanes trailed their Division I-AA opponent, 3-0, midway through the first quarter until getting their offense untracked. Miami (2-0) then scored on five consecutive possessions and got its first team off the field. Jackson scored on runs of 43 and seven yards, finishing with 103 yards on 19 carries before leaving with 9 1/2 minutes left before halftime.

East

Redshirt freshman Michael Vick made a spectacular debut as No. 11 Virginia Tech’s quarterback before leaving with a bruised leg in the second quarter and the Hokies made their 1,000th game a laugher, a 47-0 victory over James Madison at Blaksburg, Va. Vick rushed for three first-half touchdowns, including a dazzling seven-yard scramble that made it 23-0 midway through the second quarter. Vick dove toward the end zone, got hit and upended, his body flipping completely before he landed on his feet a yard into the end zone. Vick lay on the field for several minutes being attended by trainers before he limped to the sidelines. X-rays showed no break, but Vick sustained a lower left leg contusion. . . . After an ineffective one-of-five performance by starter David Priestley, backup quarterback John Turman took over early in the second quarter to throw for a touchdown, run for another and set up two scores with his passing as Pittsburgh defeated Bowling Green, 30-10, at Pittsburgh. Antonio Bryant made a 26-yard scoring catch and had key receptions on Pitt’s first two scoring drives as the Panthers withstood an early 7-3 deficit to stop a seven-game losing streak that dated to last season. Nick Goings, an Ohio State transfer whose only previous extensive action as a running back came for the Buckeyes against Pitt in 1996, had two scoring runs in Pittsburgh’s 21st victory in its last 26 season openers.. . . . David Garrard scored on a one-yard sneak with 56 seconds left, lifting East Carolina to a 30-23 victory over West Virginia at Charlotte, N.C. Garrard’s score capped a game in which East Carolina rolled up 496 yards against a team that returned eight starters on defense from last year. . . . Kyle Atteberry missed an extra point in overtime and Boston College, behind Cedric Washington’s 177 yards rushing and three touchdowns, defeated Baylor, 30-29, at Boston. On Boston College’s overtime possession, Washington scored on a one-yard run and John Matich kicked the extra point. Baylor then scored on a one-yard run by Jermaine Alfred but Atteberry’s kick was wide left.

Southwest

Ahmad Charles returned a fumble 66 yards for a touchdown for Houston in a 28-3 season-opening victory over Rice in the resumption of their intracity rivalry. Houston recovered five of the Owls’ eight fumbles, snared a late interception and didn’t allow Rice inside its 30.. . . . Paul Smith ran for 138 yards in 32 carries to lead Texas El Paso to a 13-10 victory over New Mexico at El Paso, Texas. New Mexico had only 179 total yards. . . . John Mosley rushed for 161 yards and a touchdown as Tulsa defeated Division I-AA Southwest Missouri State, 45-21, at Tulsa, Okla.

West

Larry Ned rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns and Brian Russell threw for two touchdowns to lead San Diego State to a 41-12 season-opening victory over South Florida at San Diego. Ned, who carried 14 times, scored first-half touchdowns of 45 and five yards as the Aztecs took a 24-3 halftime lead over their Division I-AA opponent. Russell completed eight of 17 passes for 118 yards, but threw two 20-yard touchdowns. . . . Cale Bonds led a surprisingly effective pass attack and Scott Becker and Jeremy Laster each ran for two touchdowns as Air Force defeated Villanova, 37-13, at Colorado Springs, Colo. Bonds, in his first year as the regular starting quarterback, completed 11 of 17 passes for a career-high 199 yards. He also ran for 64 yards on 16 carries to help the Falcons win their fifth consecutive season opener. . . . Billy Volek had four touchdown passes for Fresno State in a 34-6 victory over Portland State at Fresno State.

Southland

Marcus Brady passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns, including an eight-yarder to Ethan Beck that put Cal State Northridge ahead for good in a 38-19 victory over Western Oregon at Northridge. The Matadors won their season opener under new Coach Jeff Kearin. . . . Jack Williams scored on a one-yard run in overtime to lift Azusa Pacific to a 26-19 victory over San Diego at Azusa. Azusa Pacific extended its winning streak to 11 games dating to last season when it won the NAIA championship.