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SALT LAKE CITY - Morgan Scalley returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Alex Smith threw three touchdowns and ran 70 yards for another, leading Utah past UNLV 63-28 on Saturday night.
The Utes improved to 7-0 for the fourth time and first since 1994 and scored the most points since 66 against Idaho State, also in 1994.
Smith left the game in the third, going 11-of-19 for 147 yards. He also ran nine times for 77 yards, including a 70-yarder that made it 28-7 late in the first quarter.
Smith faked a handoff to Marty Johnson then took off down the left sideline. He cut inside, spun around end Mario Hill, made another move that stopped cornerback Charles Ealy cold and continued with his long stride the rest of the way.
Up 42-10 at halftime, lineman Steve Fafita returned an interception 6 yards for a score, Utah recovered a fumble at the UNLV 7 to set up another and Shaun Harper recovered a blocked punt in the end zone with 14 seconds left in the third."They are a national championship-caliber team," said UNLV coach John Robinson, who won a national title with USC in 1978. "They are playing good football and are as good as any team in the nation."
BYU 41, AIR FORCE 24: John Beck threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns for the visiting Cougars, who have won three of four. After struggling for most of the first half, BYU scored three touchdowns and outgained the Falcons 222-49 to turn a seven-point deficit into a 24-10 lead.
NEW MEXICO 19, SAN DIEGO ST. 9: Kole McKamey ran for a touchdown and threw for one for the host Lobos. New Mexico, which forced six turnovers in last week's win, had five sacks, two interceptions and allowed minus 19-yards rushing.
NAVY 14, RICE 13: Quarterback Aaron Polanco ran for a career-high 179 yards for the host Midshipmen. Down 14-0, Rice pulled within one on Ed Bailey's 11-yard catch with 4:41 left. But Brennan Landry missed the extra point.
UTEP 44, LA. TECH 27: Jordan Palmer passed for 259 yards and four touchdowns for the visiting Miners. UTEP led 30-27 lead with less than six minutes to go when Palmer found Chris Francis for a 13-yard touchdown on third and 12. UTEP then stopped Tech on four consecutive plays.
TOLEDO 27, CENTRAL MICH. 22: Lance Moore caught a 43-yard touchdown and returned a punt 89 yards for a score for the host Rockets. Moore's punt return and quarterback Bruce Gradkowski's 7-yard run made it 24-7 in the second quarter.
N. ILLINOIS 59, W. MICHIGAN 38: Josh Haldi threw for a career-high 333 yards and six touchdowns for the visiting Huskies. Northern Illinois scored on its first four possessions, including Garrett Wolfe's 78-yard run on the game's first play.
AKRON 35, BALL ST. 23: Brett Biggs rushed for 195 yards and scored three touchdowns for the host Zips. Domenik Hixon's 85-yard punt return in the third and Biggs' 14-yard run early in the fourth made it 35-10.
BOWLING GREEN 41, OHIO 16: Omar Jacobs passed for 389 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score for the visiting Falcons. His 1-yard run 4:40 in made it 7-0, and Bowling Green did not trail.
MARSHALL 48, BUFFALO 14: Stan Hill threw four touchdowns for the host Thundering Herd. Hill completed seven of his first nine passes, all to Josh Davis, whose 21-yarder made it 28-7 at halftime.
MIDDLE TENN. 34, IDAHO 14: Clint Marks threw for a touchdown and ran for one for the host Blue Raiders. Terry Jackson's 52-yard run early in the third set up his 1-yard score that put Middlee Tennessee up 24-14. The Blue Raiders allowed fans to stay for a free concert afterward by hip-hop star Big Boi, an effort to meet the NCAA's 15,000 minimum attendance requirement to stay in I-A. It drew 16,718.