Saturday’s Football Results
Kent State 21, Merrimack 17
Northern Illinois 19, Holy Cross 17
Purdue 31, Ball State 0
Kentucky 24, Toledo 16
Temple 42, UMass 10
Texas State 52, Eastern Michigan 27
Stories Courtesy of the Associated Press
Kent State 21, Merrimack 17
Box Score
KENT, Ohio (AP) — Da’Realyst Clark returned a kickoff 100-yard for a touchdown to lift Kent State to a 21-17 win over Merrimack on Saturday, ending the Golden Flashes’ 21-game losing streak in interim coach Mark Carney’s first game.
The Warriors took their only lead on a 45-yard field goal by Carlton Thai with 5:40 to play. A turnover set up the score.
Clark then fielded the ensuing kickoff a couple yards deep in the end zone and burst up the right hash marks. He bounced off a couple of players just past the 30, kept his balance and raced to the end zone.
The last win for the Golden Flashes was a 38-10 decision over Central Connecticut, three games into the 2023 season.
A pair of touchdown receptions by Cade Wolford — from C.J. Montes for 30 yards in the second quarter and from Dru DeShields covering 79 yards early in the third — staked the Golden Flashes to a 14-3 lead.
Merrimack then scored on three of four possessions. Ayden Pereira found Seth Sweitzer behind the defense for 36 yards and then hit Aveon Smith for the 2-point conversion that made it 14-14.
The Warriors covered 34 yards in 11 plays before turning the ball over on downs at the Kent State 41 with 1:42 to play.
Wolford had the two catches for 109 yards for Kent State. Merrimack’s Pereira threw for 176 yards and ran for 103.
Northern Illinois 19, Holy Cross 17
DEKALB, Illinois (AP) — Dev’ion Reynolds returned a fourth-quarter kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown and Northern Illinois defeated Holy Cross 19-17 on Saturday in a season opener for both teams.
Reynolds' return gave NIU a lead that Cavon Wright extended to 19-10 with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Holy Cross' Alijah Cason closed the gap with a 97-yard kickoff return late in the game.
Northern Illinois' Josh Holst finished 12 of 18 with 101 yards passing and an interception before Jackson Porter replaced him after Holst had to be helped off the field due to injury.
NIU's Andrew Glass kicked field goals of 39 and 36 yards in the first half.
Wright picked up 45 yards on his first touch in a Huskies uniform and finished with 77 yards on 11 carries.
Cal Swanson went 17 of 29 with 155 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception for Holy Cross. Luis Palenzuela kicked a 33-yard field goal but missed from 41 in the third.
Purdue 31, Ball State 0
Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Ryan Browne threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another TD to lead Purdue to a 31-0 rout of Ball State in Saturday’s season opener for both teams.
The Barry Odom coaching era at Purdue got off to a fast start when the Boilermakers scored in the first 40 seconds on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Browne to Arhmad Branch.
The Boilermakers led 21-0 at halftime, adding a 5-yard TD run by Browne and a 4-yard touchdown run by Devin Mockobee.
Ball State missed its best opportunities to score when Carson Holmer missed field goals of 45 yards in the third quarter and 29 yards in the fourth quarter.
Former USC and Georgia wide receiver Michael Jackson III caught a 14-yard TD pass from Browne in the third quarter in his debut as a Boilermaker. Jackson had six catches for 72 yards. Purdue added a 28-yard field goal by Spencer Porath in the fourth quarter.
Mockobee was high for Purdue with 59 rushing yards on 14 attempts.
Kiael Kelly threw for 87 yards and ran for team-high 63 yards on 22 attempts for the Cardinals.
Kentucky 24, Toledo 16
Box Score
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Transfer running back Dante Dowdell rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown to lead Kentucky to a 24-16 win over Toledo on Saturday in a season opener.
Dowdell’s 79-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats the boost they needed to fend off the Rockets in the fourth quarter.
Kentucky quarterback Zack Calzada, a seventh-year transfer, threw for 85 yards and scored a rushing touchdown in the first quarter. Calzada is one of 55 new players on the Wildcats’ roster, including 27 that were added via the transfer portal during the offseason.
Dowdell, a Nebraska transfer, and Seth McGowen, also a transfer (New Mexico State), combined for 207 yards rushing. Kentucky finished with 305 yards offense.
Toledo’s Tucker Gleason threw for a game-high 270 yards. He threw for one score and rushed for another in the fourth quarter.
Temple 42, UMass 10
Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Evan Simon set a career high with six touchdown passes and Temple snapped an FBS-worst 20-game road losing streak in a 42-10 season-opening win over UMass on Saturday.
Temple’s last road win was in September 2021.
Simon was 19 for 25 with 248 yards. He connected with seven receivers.
Peter Clarke had four receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Ryder Kusch also caught two touchdown passes, while Terrez Worthy and Kajiya Hollawayne caught one each.
UMass failed to score twice from inside the 6-yard line.
In the second quarter, quarterback Brandon Rose was stopped at the 1-yard line on fourth down, leading to a 99-yard Temple touchdown drive. In the third quarter, Rose threw an interception in the end zone to set up a drive that ended with Simon’s fifth touchdown pass.
Rose was 23 for 38 with 193 yards and an interception.
UMass has now lost 13 straight games to FBS opponents, the third-longest current streak behind Kent State (22 games) and Southern Miss (14 games). It was UMass’ first game in the MAC conference after nine years as an independent team.
Both teams debuted new head coaches. Joe Harasymiak joined UMass after three seasons as Rutgers’ defensive coordinator. K.C. Keeler joined Temple after spending 10 years as the head coach at Sam Houston State University.
Texas State 52, Eastern Michigan 27
Box Score
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) — Brad Jackson and Beau Sparks connected for four touchdowns and the Bobcats’ rushing attack had 606 yards as Texas State beat Eastern Michigan 52-27 on Saturday evening in a season opener for both teams.
Jackson finished the night 18 of 26 with 214 yards and four touchdowns as the Bobcats racked up 593 total yards. Keldric Luster replaced Jackson in the fourth quarter, going 0 of 1.
Lincoln Pare led all rushers with 167 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Three running backs finished with over 50 yards and a touchdown for Texas State.
Jackson connected on 5-yard and 3-yard touchdown passes to Sparks in the third quarter en route to a 21-0 run for the Bobcats.
Noah Kim went 23 of 34 for 248 yards and a touchdown for Eastern Michigan. Dontae McMillan added 78 yards on the ground and Joey Mattord and Tavierre Dunlap each ran for a touchdown.
Sparks caught four touchdowns in seven receptions for 82 yards.
