It’s a Struggle, but Nebraska Edges Pittsburgh at Finish

Nebraska capitalized on four Pittsburgh turnovers and batted down a pass in the end zone on the game’s last play to preserve a 24-17 win Saturday in the first meeting of the teams since 1958.

The win kept visiting Nebraska (2-1) from dropping below .500 for the first time in 23 years.

The Cornhuskers got into trouble when Joe Dailey threw a fourth-quarter interception that allowed the Panthers (1-1) to pull within a touchdown in the closing minutes.

On Pitt’s final play, Tyler Palko scrambled from the 20 and threw a floater into the end zone, but cornerback Titus Brothers batted it down.

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In other games involving teams from the Big East: Walter Reyes ran for 117 yards and a touchdown to lead Syracuse (2-1) to a 19-7 victory over Cincinnati (1-2) at Syracuse, N.Y.... Walter Washington rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns at Philadelphia to help Temple (1-2) end a nine-game losing streak with a 38-7 win over Florida A&M; (0-3).... Ryan Hart threw two touchdown passes and Rutgers (2-1) converted two bad punt snaps by Kent State (1-2) into 16 points in a 29-21 at Piscataway, N.J.

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MIDWEST

Bruce Gradkowski threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more to lead Toledo (1-2, 1-0) to a 42-32 victory over Eastern Michigan (1-2, 1-1) in a Mid-American Conference game at Ypsilanti, Mich.... Josh Betts threw two scoring passes to lead Miami of Ohio (2-2, 1-1) to a 40-20 victory over Ohio (1-2, 0-1) in a MAC game at Oxford.... Kent Smith threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns to lead Central Michigan (1-2) to a 44-27 victory over Southeast Missouri State (0-3) at Mount Pleasant, Mich.

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SOUTH

Tim Goodwell return a fumble 10 yards for a touchdown with 2:22 left and No. 25 Memphis (3-0) scored 21 points in the last three minutes for a 47-35 comeback victory over Arkansas State (1-2) at Jonesboro, Ark.... Jared Allen threw three second half touchdowns to lead Florida Atlantic (3-0) to a 27-20 victory over Middle Tennessee (1-1) at Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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SOUTHWEST

Alex Smith threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and No. 15 Utah (3-0) converted three turnovers into touchdowns for a 48-6 victory over Utah State (1-2) at Logan, Utah.... Kyle Eckel scored three touchdowns, Navy rolled up 332 yards rushing and the Midshipmen won their first three games for the first time since 1979 after a 29-0 victory over Tulsa (0-3) at Tulsa, Okla.... Anthony Evans ran for 282 yards and two touchdowns to lead Houston (1-2, 1-0) to a 35-21 victory over Army (0-2, 0-2) in a Conference USA game at Houston. Army has lost 17 in a row.... Jared Zabransky threw for 392 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 23 Boise State (3-0, 1-0) to a 47-31 victory over Texas El Paso (1-2, 0-1) in a Western Athletic Conference game at El Paso. Boise State has won 14 games in a row.... Greg Henderson ran for 135 yards and three touchdowns to lead Rice (2-0, 1-0) to a 41-29 victory over Hawaii (0-2, 0-1) in a WAC game at Houston.... Quarterback Buck Pierce tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Travis Samuel with 2:05 left to lead New Mexico State (1-2, 1-0) to a 22-18 win Troy State (2-1, 0-1) in a Sunbelt Conference game at Las Cruces, N.M.

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WEST

Shaun Carney completed 12 of 14 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns to lead visiting Air Force (2-1, 1-0) to a 27-10 victory over Nevada Las Vegas (0-3, 0-1) in a Mountain West Conference game.... Wendell Mathis rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 19 Fresno State (3-0) to a 27-17 victory over visiting Portland State (1-1).... Receiver Nichiren Flowers caught nine passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns to lead Nevada (2-1) to a 38-13 victory over Buffalo (0-3) at Reno, Nev.... Tyson Thompson rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns to lead San Jose State (1-1) to a 47-28 victory over Morgan State (1-2) at San Jose.

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SOUTHLAND

Sam Mathews rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns as Pennsylvania (1-0) extended the nation’s longest Division I-AA winning streak to 17 games with a 61-18 win at San Diego (1-2).... Adam Martinez rushed for 87 yards, including a six-yard touchdown run with two minutes left to lead Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (3-0) to a 27-14 victory over Montana State (1-1) at Bozeman, Mont.... Chase Twedell scored the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard run in overtime to lead Chapman (2-0) to a 24-17 victory at Pomona-Pitzer (0-3).... Ben Buys scored on touchdown runs of one and four yards to lead Azusa Pacific (3-0) to a 17-10 victory over visiting Humboldt State (2-2).... David Gaspar scored two touchdowns to lead Whittier (1-0) to a 34-22 victory over visiting Colorado College (0-2).... Kyle Havercroft rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown to lead visiting Whitworth, Wash. (2-0) to a 43-23 victory over La Verne (1-1).... Jerrold Jones rushed for 215 yards to lead Trinity, Texas (3-0) to a 51-27 victory over Redlands (0-2) at San Antonio.... Aaron Bean caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in overtime to lead visiting Puget Sound (2-0) to a 12-9 win over Claremont-Mudd (1-1).