College football: Central Florida keeps winning

McKenzie Milton threw for 346 yards and five touchdowns and No. 21 Central Florida routed Connecticut 56-17 on Thursday night to extend the longest winning streak in the nation to 14 games.

The reigning American Athletic Conference offensive player of the year completed 24 of 32 passes and ran for another 50 yards. Sophomore receiver Tre Nixon, a transfer from Mississippi, caught five passes for 101 yards, scoring on plays of 34 and 11 yards.

The game was marred by what appeared to be a serious injury to UCF defensive back Aaron Robinson on the opening kickoff.

The sophomore transfer from Alabama appeared to collide head-first with another UCF player while making the tackle. He had to be cut from his shoulder and was taken off the field on a stretcher, giving the crowd the thumbs-up sign as he was wheeled to an ambulance. His condition was not immediately known.

Northwestern 31, at Purdue 27: Jeremy Larkin ran for a career-high 143 yards and scored two touchdowns in his first game as Northwestern’s feature back and the Wildcats sealed the victory by running off the final 7:57. Northwestern won its ninth straight overall and ninth straight in Big Ten play — matching the school’s longest streak since the 1995 Rose Bowl season.

at Oklahoma State 58, Missouri State 17: Taylor Cornelius passed for 295 yards and five touchdowns in his first career start as the Cowboys rolled.

Cornelius had been Mason Rudolph’s backup for most of his career, but Rudolph now is with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cornelius, a fifth-year senior, seized his opportunity by completing 24 of 34 passes and rushing for 27 yards.

at Minnesota 48, New Mexico State 10: Freshman walk-on Zack Annexstad threw two touchdown passes to Tyler Johnson in his debut, and the Gophers overwhelmed the Aggies. Annexstad completed 16 of 33 passes for 220 yards and no interceptions.

Wake Forest 23, at Tulane 17 (OT): Wake Forest freshman Sam Hartman passed for 378 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut, and Cade Carney powered in for a short touchdown in overtime. Jonathan Banks connected with Terren Encalade for touchdown passes of 52 and 74 yards for Tulane, which had the ball on the edge of game-winning field goal range in the last minute of regulation before stalling after a false-start penalty.

at Texas A&M 59, Northwestern State 7: Trayveon Williams ran for 240 yards, the second-best in school history, and three touchdowns in just more than two quarters as the Aggies breezed in coach Jimbo Fisher’s debut.

Etc.

Notre Dame defensive back Shaun Crawford will miss the season with a left knee injury suffered in practice this week. Coach Brian Kelly said Thursday that Crawford tore an ACL during one-on-one drills Tuesday.

Furman quarterback Harris Roberts will get to start inside the Death Valley stadium where he usually parks near when attending classes at Clemson. Furman coach Clay Hendrix said Thursday Roberts had won the starting job. Roberts is a 6-foot-4 senior who is completing a dual engineering program where he’ll earn degrees from Furman and Clemson. Roberts spent his first three years attending Furman. He’s in his second year taking classes at Clemson.

Former Indiana and Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins says he gave up football because he needed to deal with his “deteriorating” mental health. Dawkins told Hoosiers coach Tom Allen on Sunday he was leaving the program after enrolling in school this summer as a graduate transfer from Arizona.