EAST ROUNDUP : Pitt Gets Win Over Maryland

Alex Van Pelt rediscovered the deep pass, which helped No. 17 Pittsburgh win a game it easily could have lost.

Van Pelt completed 27 of 45 passes for a season-high 353 yards and two touchdowns, and freshman Vince Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown on the first carry of his career as the unbeaten Panthers held off Maryland, 24-20, Saturday at Pittsburgh.

“There were a lot of tense moments, but then there were a lot of close moments last week,” said Pitt Coach Paul Hackett, referring to a 14-13 victory over Minnesota. “I think last week prepared us for this type of game. This one was even more heart stopping.”

Maryland (1-3) was behind, 24-14, in the fourth quarter, but Jim Sandwisch connected with Marcus Badgett on a 58-yard pass play with 6:04 left to make it 24-20. Sandwisch’s pass on a two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete.

Sandwisch drove Maryland to Pitt’s 20 in the final minute before Doug Whaley intercepted his pass at the one-yard line on fourth and 10 with 23 seconds left.

Pitt (5-0) continued its best start since it was 7-0 in 1982 as Van Pelt connected on second-quarter scoring pass plays of 58 yards to freshman Dietrich Jells and 27 yards to Eric Seaman.

No. 12 Penn State 24, Temple 7--The Nittany Lions turned back three deep drives in the second half for the victory at Philadelphia.

Tony Sacca completed 15 of 21 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns for Penn State (5-1).

Temple (1-4), which had drives stall at the Penn State 21, 12 and 27-yard lines, hasn’t defeated the Nittany Lions since 1941.

Rutgers 14, Army 12--Antoine Moore scored on a one-yard run after Army botched a punt attempt late in the first half and the Scarlet Knights held on to defeat the Cadets at East Rutherford, N.J.

Rutgers (4-1) had three turnovers and Army (2-2) missed three field-goal attempts in the second half.

Virginia Tech, 20, West Virginia 14--James Hargrove swatted the ball out of quarterback Chris Gray’s hand on fourth and goal from the one with 16 seconds left at Morgantown, W.Va., preserving the victory for the Hokies.

Tony Kennedy rushed for 104 yards in 27 carries for Virginia Tech (2-3). West Virginia is 3-2.

Ivy League: Tom Ciaccio passed for three touchdowns as Holy Cross (4-0) defeated Harvard (1-2), 28-13, at Boston. . . . Fordham (1-3) rallied for two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes for a 20-16 victory over Columbia (0-3) at New York. . . . Cornelius Benton passed for two touchdowns to lead Connecticut (1-4) to a 34-20 victory over Yale (2-1) at New Haven, Conn. . . . Dario High-Smith rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns as Rhode Island (2-2) beat Brown (0-3), 38-36, at Providence, R.I. . . . Keith Elias scored three touchdowns and rushed for 200 yards to lead Princeton to a 30-21 victory over Colgate at Princeton, N.J. . . . Tom Kirchhoff ran for a touchdown and passed for another as Lafayette (2-2) defeated Pennsylvania (0-3), 20-12.