Robert Morris edged Bryant 24-20, comes from 13 points down
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — Garrett Houser pulled in a 75-yard pass from George Martin for the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter as Robert Morris came from behind to defeat Bryant 24-20 Saturday to remain undefeated in the Northeast Conference.
The Colonials (4-4, 3-0) fell behind 13-0 by halftime, their largest deficit since trailing Sacred Heart by 14 in 2010 — also a comeback win.
The Colonials outscored the Bulldogs (2-7, 1-3) 24-7 in the final two periods despite being outgained in rushing and passing yards.
Back-to-back Bryant turnovers turned into 10 points. Brady Ours intercepted Bryant’s Kory Curtis, leading to a Nick Bisceglia 29-yard field goal as the Colonials cut the gap to 13-10. The Bulldogs’ Gavin Rowley was pushed back for a 16-yard loss on the next possession and fumbled. Jacob Thomas snatched it up at the 3 and scored for a 17-13 Colonials lead.
Bryant took a 20-17 lead early in the fourth on Harrison Easton’s 5-yard TD run, but Robert Morris responded with a three-play, 74-yard drive and the winning TD pass
Jesse Nemerowicz, with six tackles, grabbed the career record for Bryant with 289. The previous record was 285.

Late TD pass lifts Miami past Pittsburgh 16-12
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Miami head coach Manny Diaz kept telling quarterback Jarren Williams to be ready. That at some point the Hurricanes would need him even though Diaz awarded the starting job to N’Kosi Perry.
Whether Williams initially bought in to whatever Diaz was selling him is up for debate. Neither Williams nor Diaz declined to get into specifics when asked if Williams missed practice in the days ahead of Saturday’s visit to Pittsburgh.
“On the internal stuff, that’s not something I get into,” Diaz said. “I don’t talk about stuff like that.”
Besides, it doesn’t matter now anyway. Consider Williams all in. Let him offer his play during Miami’s game-winning drive in Pittsburgh on Saturday as proof. Thrust into the lineup midway through the fourth quarter after Perry struggled, Williams led the Hurricanes on a 62-yard drive in the final minutes, the last 32 yards coming on a catch-and-run by wide receiver KJ Osborn with 58 seconds remaining that gave Miami a 16-12 victory.
“I said, ‘Hey, it’s time for me to come and step up,'” Williams said. “The guys need me. The team needs me. This program needs me. I’m going to give everybody everything I’ve got.”
Miami (4-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) needed everything Williams had after coming in for Perry, who completed 10 of 24 passes for 104 yards and an interception. Diaz inserted Williams into the lineup after Alex Kessman’s fourth field goal gave the Panthers (5-3, 3-2) a 12-10 lead. Miami went three-and-out on Williams’ first possession. On his second, he directed a drive the Hurricanes hope alters the course of their wildly uneven season.
Williams completed a short pass to Osborn on fourth down at the Miami 47 to keep Miami alive. He later scrambled for a first down that pushed the ball to the Pitt 32. Two snaps later he connected with Osborn, who did most of the work while shedding a pair of defenders on his way to the end zone.
“It was crunch time,” Osborn said. “I braced myself and bounced off some guys. Once I was running, I was happy.”
And Miami was finally in control. Pitt didn’t go anywhere on its final drive, done in by a pair of drops, a sack and a fourth-down heave by Kenny Pickett heave that sailed wide of intended receiver V’Lique Carter. Pickett finished 18 of 32 for 146 yards with the two picks as the Panthers saw their four-game winning streak end on a day they limited Miami to 208 total yards.
“The defense played well enough to win except for that last play,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said. “I think we probably gave up one big play the entire game, which doesn’t happen very often, but it was the one play that they needed to put the game away, and we just didn’t make enough plays period.”
And too many turnovers. The Panthers gave it away three times in the opening 16 minutes, two of them coming on interceptions by Miami cornerback DJ Ivey, the other on a fumble by Pitt wide receiver Taysir Mack. Cam’Ron Harris, starting for injured starter DeeJay Dallas, ran for 60 yards for the Hurricanes, including a 1-yard dive in the second quarter after Ivey’s second pick gave the Hurricanes the ball at the Pitt 17.
Still, an early 10-3 lead wouldn’t hold, forcing Diaz to turn to Williams in the fourth quarter with the game — and perhaps the season — in the balance. After some initial missteps, Williams delivered, though Diaz isn’t exactly in a hurry to name a starter for next week’s visit to rival Florida State.
“As for what this means tomorrow or the next day, I’ll deal with that tomorrow,” Diaz said.
DEJA VU
Last month, Pitt opted to attempt a field goal rather than go for it on fourth-and-goal at the Penn State 1 while trailing by a touchdown. Kessman missed and the Panthers lost. Trailing by a point and with the ball at the Miami 1, Narduzzi again opted to kick, this time intentionally taking a delay of game to give Kessman a better angle to kick. He made it to put the Panthers in front and Pitt’s defense held on Miami’s next possession before faltering late.
Ultimately, Narduzzi believes he made the right call.
“When you’re down, three points puts you ahead and your defense is playing — I don’t know. Again, could go either way,” Narduzzi said. “It’s just got to play the odds, and I guessed wrong, so it’s my fault.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Miami: The Hurricanes still have plenty of questions on offense but at least they have some momentum after coming out on the wrong end of a series of narrow losses in recent weeks.
Pitt: The Panthers have thrived in tight games this year — they came in having won four straight by a combined 10 points — but couldn’t get the one stop they needed and will need considerable help if they want to win the ACC Coastal Division for the second straight year.
UP NEXT
Miami: Visits longtime rival Florida State next Saturday. The Hurricanes have won two straight in the series, including a 24-20 victory in Tallahassee in 2017.
Pitt: Travels to Georgia Tech next Saturday. The teams have split their six meetings since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013.
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Allen’s punt-return TD leads Duquesne past Wagner 28-24
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mark Allen returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown 24 seconds into the fourth quarter and Duquesne held on for a 28-24 victory over Wagner on Saturday.
After a scoreless first quarter, Wagner built a 14-0 lead halfway through the second when Christian Alexander-Stevens capped back-to-back drives with scoring runs of 16 and 9 yards, respectively.
Duquesne (5-2, 3-0 Northeast Conference) responded with two touchdowns in the final 1:55 of the quarter. Daniel Parr capped an 11-play, 69-yard drive with a 16-yard TD toss to Davie Henderson on third-and-13. The Dukes’ Jake Dixon forced Myron Morris to fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Connor Barrett recovered at Wagner’s 24-yard line. Duquesne used 10 plays to score with A.J. Hines running it in from 1-yard.
Duquesne opened the third quarter with an eight-play, 77-yard drive that ended with Allen’s 2-yard TD run for a 21-14 lead. Allen followed with his punt return for a two-score lead.
Alexander-Stevens’ third rushing TD pulled the Seahawks (1-7, 1-2) within 28-21 with 12:40 remaining. Eric Silvester’s 32-yard field goal reduced the deficit to four with 7:47 left. Mason Williams ended it when he picked off Alexander-Stevens with 1:41 left.
Hines finished with 113 yards on 26 carries for Duquesne, which amassed 218 yards on the ground but just 72 through the air.
Alexander-Stevens ran for 61 yards on 11 carries and completed 14 of 28 passes for 191 yards and the costly pick.

No. 6 Penn State handles Michigan State 28-7
By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Pat Freiermuth scored the game’s first two touchdowns.
Turned out that was all No. 6 Penn State really needed against Michigan State’s anemic offense.
Freiermuth and the Nittany Lions would add more points later, and unbeaten Penn State beat the Spartans 28-7 on Saturday. Sean Clifford threw four touchdown passes on a rainy day, and the Nittany Lions avenged close losses to Michigan State from each of the past two seasons.
“I’m very excited that we’re undefeated still, and that’s the only goal I’ve had all season and I plan on going through the whole season doing that,” Clifford said.
The Spartans (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) wrapped up a dreadful stretch in which they lost to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State by a combined score of 100-17.
Penn State (8-0, 5-0) moves on to a surprising matchup of undefeated teams Nov. 9 at Minnesota. The Nittany Lions had lost five of their previous six against Michigan State.
Clifford’s first touchdown pass to Freiermuth, a 16-yarder, opened the scoring in the first quarter, and those same two players gave Penn State a 13-0 lead with a 19-yard strike in the second. KJ Hamler’s 27-yard TD catch with 1:20 left in the half — plus a successful 2-point conversion — made it 21-0.
A fumbled punt by Michigan State set up Clifford’s 6-yard touchdown toss to Freiermuth in the third quarter. Then the Spartans finally scored for the first time in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 2 seconds of game time. Brian Lewerke found Cody White for a 49-yard pass, and Anthony Williams scored on a 4-yard run.
“From my perspective, we need to execute better,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. “There are things that we can do from a call situation, but we’ve got the same — a lot of the same plays are the same plays that other people run as well, timing and who to go to and those type of things. But we’ll look at everything.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Penn State: The Nittany Lions haven’t won the Land Grant Trophy that often lately, but they had an easy time Saturday. Last weekend, Penn State nearly let a 21-point lead slip away in a win over Michigan. The Nittany Lions had no problems holding on to their big advantage against the Spartans.
“We were able to score enough early on in the first half before things got too messy to be able to get a win. I’m pleased with that,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “The bye week is coming at a tremendous time for us.”
Michigan State: The Spartans might not be as bad as these past three opponents made them look, but they’re struggling just to reach a bowl, and the offense is showing no signs of being able to function effectively against good teams.
EJECTION
Penn State defensive tackle Antonio Shelton was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected in the fourth quarter. The Nittany Lions had nine penalties for 104 yards.
ROUGH STRETCH
The was the third time in school history that Michigan State played three straight games against teams in the AP top 10. It didn’t go any better the previous two times. In 1970, the Spartans lost 29-0 to Notre Dame, 29-0 to Ohio State and 34-20 to Michigan. The 1972 Michigan State team lost 51-6 to Southern California, 16-0 to Notre Dame and 10-0 to Michigan.
“We just got to loosen up,” Michigan State linebacker Antjuan Simmons said. “We carry a lot of pressure, put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We want to be the best. It kind of wears on you. We had to go back to the basics, just have fun, just trusting our job. Second half, I feel for the most part, we did that. We competed.”
POLL IMPLICATIONS
No. 5 Oklahoma’s loss to unranked Kansas State gives Penn State a chance to move up.
UP NEXT
Penn State: The Nittany Lions are off next weekend before traveling to play Minnesota.
Michigan State: The Spartans also have an open date — their second in three weeks. They host Illinois on Nov. 9.
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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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This version has been corrected to show Michigan State went 2 hours, 11 minutes, 2 seconds of game time without scoring.