Purdue’s Milton Wright finds space in the Maryland defense for an eventual touchdown catch during a 40-14 Boilermaker win over the Terrapins. (Photo by Dave Deak)

WARSAW JV 26, NORTHWOOD 22

A pair of Patrick Zollinger touchdowns helped the Tiger juniors to a win over the Panthers in Nappanee. Colton Wampler had a rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion, Cameron Moore recovered a fumble for a score and added an interception, and Luke Anderson recover a fumble in the win for the Tigers.

BALL STATE 29, EASTERN MICHIGAN 23

Drew Plitt threw two touchdown passes, ran for two more scores and rallied Ball State in the second half to beat Eastern Michigan 29-23 on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals (3-3, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) trailed by three at halftime and fell behind 23-14 late in the third quarter. Plitt rallied his team, rolling right to unleash a 46-yard scoring strike to Justin Hall to close to 23-21. He then made good following an EMU interception with an 11-play, 61-yard drive capped by a 1-yard keeper for another Ball State touchdown. His 2-point conversion pass to Riley Miller gave the Cardinals a 29-23 edge with 11:36 to play.

EMU was threatening to score again with eight seconds left when Jordan Williams sacked Mike Glass III nine yards out, forcing a fumble which was recovered by Ball State’s Amechi Uzodinma II to preserve the Cardinals’ win.

Glass threw for 283 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores for the Eagles (3-3, 0-2). He was intercepted three times.

PURDUE 40, MARYLAND 14

Jeff Brohm switched it up Saturday.

He plugged in three new starters on the offensive line and cobbled together a winning combination.

Jack Plummer threw for 420 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs, and Cory Trice returned the first of his two interceptions for a 37-yard score late in the first half to help Purdue pull away from Maryland 40-14.

“Today I thought we came out and played freer and looser and I think we found some things that worked,” coach Jeff Brohm said after the Boilermakers snapped a three-game losing streak.

He needed to do something after allowing 10 sacks in last week’s loss at No. 12 Penn State and Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan to complete all but one pass the previous week, Brohm started over.

So Brohm plugged in Mark Stickford at left guard, Sam Garvin at center and redshirt freshman Eric Miller at right tackle. The results could not have been any better.

Plummer took advantage of his protection by repeatedly finding open receivers. He finished 33 of 41 and was only sacked once while receivers Brycen Hopkins and David Bell each topped the 100-yard mark.

King Doerue was equally effective on the ground, carrying 19 times for 69 yards and a score as the Boilermakers churned out a season-high 127 yards rushing.

The changes paid off on defense, too.

Trice, who has started the last two games at cornerback after moving from safety, became the first Purdue player since the 2016 season finale with multiple interceptions in a game and changed the game when he jumped in front of Chigoziem Okonkwo, picked off the pass and ran 37 yards for the score to make it 30-14 with 18 seconds left in the half.

“A lot of things worked,” Brohm said. “New people are stepping up, it’s a credit to the guys we put in and what the coaches put in.”

Maryland (3-3, 1-2) struggled with Tyrrell Pigrome starting in place of Josh Jackson at quarterback.

Purdue led 13-0 after only two possessions, forcing the Terrapins to play catch-up the rest of the day.

Javon Leake cut the deficit to 13-7 with a 21-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter but Plummer answered by hooking up with Milton Wright for a 59-yard TD pass,

Pigrome fooled the Boilermakers on the next series when he faked a run up the middle on third-and-1, kept the ball, turned the right corner and sprinted 61 yards to make it 20-14.

But after J.D. Dellinger’s short field gave Purdue a 23-14 lead, Trice scored on the interception and Maryland never recovered. Bell sealed Purdue’s victory with an 8-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter.

INDIANA 35, RUTGERS 0

Reakwon Jones couldn’t believe his eyes. There was the football, rolling on the Memorial Stadium tuff on the very first play from scrimmage of Indiana’s Big 10 game with Rutgers on Saturday.

Despite his initial disbelief, Jones recovered enough to scoop up the loose ball and carry it 17 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 Hoosiers lead 10 seconds into the contest. That touchdown sparked a 35-0 rout of the Scarlet Knights.

“It’s not something you expect at the beginning of a game,” said Jones, who had just one thought when he saw the loose ball. “I gotta go get it. I gotta score this.”

The touchdown was the fastest in Memorial Stadium’s 60-season history.

Demarcus Elliott caused the fumble with a hit on Rutgers’ Johnny Langan, setting a defensive tone that allowed Rutgers pass offense just one net yard gained for the entire game.

And the quick score was the first of three Hoosiers touchdowns in the opening 6:52.

“It was 21-0 before you could blink,” said Indiana coach Tom Allen.

After a Rutgers three-and-out, Indiana (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) needed just 47 seconds and two plays to cover 70 yards as Michael Penix Jr. completed a 56-yard pass to Whop Philyor and then a 14-yard TD pass to Peyton Hendershot.

After another Rutgers three-and-out, Indiana took a bit more time, needing five plays to cover 59 yards in 2:43 with Nick Westbrook scoring on a 19-yard Penix pass.

Rutgers (1-5, 0-4) has been outscored 165-7 in conference play, including 117-0 on the road this season and now has lost 16 straight Big 10 Conference games.

In just his second game as interim head coach after Chris Ash was fired September 29, Nunzio Campanile was at a loss for words.

“Not a lot of great things to say after that,” he said. “I don’t know that I’ve been a part of too many games where the offense played so poorly. One hundred percent on me.”

No Big Ten team has been shut out more since 2000 than Rutgers (10), and the Scarlet Knights didn’t join the conference until 2014.

Langan had only 1 yard passing. Convinced they couldn’t pass, the visitors repeatedly called running plays in third-and-long situations. It’s the ninth time since 2016 that a Rutgers quarterback has passed for less than 50 yards in a game.

“Obviously we only threw for 1 yard,” Campanile said. “I don’t know, that’s almost impossible.

“We’ve got a get a lot tougher on offense. We’ve got to get a lot more physical. In order to play in this league, I think that’s a requirement.”

Indiana was inspired after having two weeks to dwell on a 40-31 loss at Michigan State in which the underdog Hoosiers had tied the game with 2 minutes remaining. The victory snapped a four-game conference losing streak.

“Our defense was excellent from start to finish,” Allen said.

Penix completed 20 of 29 passes for 282 yards and three TDs with one interception. Indiana sophomore running back Stevie Scott III, a former Rutgers recruit who backed out of the commitment, ran for 164 yards on just 12 carries, an average of 13.7 yards per carry.

The Hoosiers had a 557-75 advantage in total yards.

NOTRE DAME 30, USC 27

Tony Jones Jr. rushed for a career-high 176 yards and Jonathan Doerer kicked three long field goals as No. 9 Notre Dame held off longtime rival Southern California 30-27 Saturday night.

The Fighting Irish (5-1), who rushed for a season-high 308 yards, clinched their third straight victory over the Trojans (3-3) on Ian Book’s 8-yard run with 3:33 left.

“An exciting football game,” coach Brian Kelly said. “Our guys prepared so well for this game. They (USC) were coming off a bye week and we knew there were some things we’d have to adjust to. We took USC’s best shot.”

Book, who rushed for 49 yards and added 165 yards through the air on 17-of-32 passing, credited offensive coordinator Chip Long for “great play calling. They were bringing pressure off the edge, so I just wanted to bring it up the middle. The line did a good job.”

The Irish finished with 473 total yards to USC’s 426.

The Trojans’ Markese Stepp, who ran for 82 yards, scored from the 2 with 1:04 left to make it 30-27. But Notre Dame’s Brock Wright recovered the onside kick, and the Irish ran out the clock.

“Notre Dame is a good football team and we are, too, and I can’t wait to watch the next six games,” said USC coach Clay Helton, who fell to 1-4 against Notre Dame.

Jones’ fourth 100-yard game of the season came on 25 carries. He had 12 runs for 120 yards in the first half.

The Irish led 17-3 at half after Book threw a 10-yard TD pass to Cole Kmet, wide receiver Braden Lenzy ran 51 yards on a reverse and Doerer kicked a 43-yard field goal. The half ended with the teams engaging in some pushing and shoving before they headed to their locker rooms.

Doerer added field goals of 52 and 43 yards in the second half to keep the Irish ahead.

USC freshman Kedon Slovis completed 24 of 35 passes for 255 yards in his first game back from a concussion three weeks ago.

Slovis threw touchdown passes of 38 yards to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the third quarter and 5 yards to Tyler Vaughns in the fourth.