Penn State remains unbeaten at halfway point | College football weekend recap

Saquon Barkley rushed for 75 yards on 16 carries Saturday afternoon at Northwestern. Still, it was his 53-yard touchdown late in the third quarter of a 31-7 win that Heisman Trophy voters figure to remember most.

The play was designed to go up the middle. But there was congestion. So he navigated his way through some defenders, broke to the right sideline and reached the end zone untouched to make it 24-zip.

His longest run before that had been eight yards.

The Wildcats (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) wouldn't score until the final two minutes.

Coupled with Oklahoma's 38-31 upset loss at home to Iowa State, the Nittany Lions (6-0, 3-0) moved up a spot to third in the rankings. It's the Nittany Lions' best
ranking since 2008, moving up one spot and taking advantage of the biggest upset of the season so far.

Two weeks ago, in their first conference road game, the Lions won on the last play at Iowa.

They have a bye this week before hosting Michigan, which suffered its first loss (also at home) to once-beaten Michigan State on Saturday night.

In September 2016, the Wolverines beat the Nits (6-0, 3-0) in Ann Arbor, 49-10. I'm pretty sure nobody in Happy Valley has forgotten.

Trace McSorley completed 15 straight passes to break Kerry Collins' program record of 14, set in 1994. That year, the Lions didn't lose.

One of McSorley's two TD passes was a 10-yarder to backup quarterback Tommy Stevens.

The visiting Owls (3-3, 1-2 American), after losing two straight, scored 24 points in the second quarter.

Logan Marchi threw for a career-best 321 yards against the Pirates, who fell to 1-5, 1-2.

The Owls, who were 14-for-20 on third downs, had 246 more yards and kept the ball for 15 more minutes. ECU rushed for only 34 on 22 carries. Temple's David Hood had a career-high 106 on 20 attempts.

The Owls got their first road win and had a season-high for points. They'd lost at Notre Dame and South Florida, both in the Top 25. This Saturday, they host Connecticut (1-4, 0-3), which just lost at home to Memphis (4-1, 1-1) 70-31.

After that, they go to Army (4-2), which beat them here in the 2016 opener, and host Navy (5-0, 3-0) for a rematch of last year's AAC title game, which Temple won at Annapolis, Md.

The Wildcats (4-2, 2-1 Colonial) were playing at home for just the second time this season. In the first, on Sept. 16, they whacked Lafayette, 59-0.

It's the first time they've had two shutouts in a season since 1966. It's their first back-to-back home shutouts in 53 years.

They forced six turnovers, including four interceptions. And partially blocked two punts and forced the punter to run on a third (he didn't move the chains). Freshman Jaquan Amos returned a fumble 99 yards — which set a Villanova record and tied an FCS record — to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter.

Maine rushed for 29 yards. Josh Mack, who was averaging 167 a game, had 22 on 18 touches. It's the eighth straight game the Wildcats have held an opponent under 100.

The injury-depleted offense (redshirt freshman Jack Schetelich got his first career start in place of Zach Bednarczyk) had six three-and-outs. Didn't matter. It might this week when they head to No. 1 James Madison (5-0, 2-0), which will be coming off a bye. JMU won at East Carolina by 20 in its opener.

The last time they played a No. 1 was 2010, when they met four in as many weeks (three in the playoffs). They won the first three, two by big margins, and nearly got the fourth at eventual national champion Eastern Washington in the semifinals.

The Quakers (2-2) have dropped their last two. This was their final non-Ivy League game.

It was 21-0 early in the second quarter, following a 79-yard interception return on Will Fischer-Colbrie's (2 for 6, two picks) last play before he left with an abdominal injury. Nick Robinson (15 of 22, 186 yards) threw for three TDs to get Penn within seven at the half. But the Quakers didn't score again, and the home team had TD drives of 86 yards in the third period and 88 in the fourth.

The Blue Devils (3-3) rushed for 294 yards and four TDs on 53 carries.

Justin Watson had seven catches and two TDs for the Quakers. Karekin Brooks ran for 86 on 13 tries. Tre Solomon (ankle) did not play for the third straight game. He went down early in the opener.

This week, Penn visits Columbia, which, in former Penn coach Al Bagnoli's third season with the Lions, is 4-0 for the first time since 1996. The two-time defending champion Quakers have already lost to unbeaten Dartmouth at home.

The last time anyone got a share of the title with two losses was 1982. The only other time it happened was 1963. Penn was one of the three that ended up in a tie 35 years ago.

1. Alabama (6-0): Beat Texas A&M, 27-19. Saturday: vs. Arkansas. Has beaten Arkansas 10 straight.
2. Clemson (6-0): Beat Wake Forest, 28-14. Saturday: at Syracuse. Only loss to Orange in five meetings was 1996 Gator Bowl (41-0). Last year was 54-0.
3. Penn State (6-0): Beat Northwestern, 31-7. Next: Oct. 21 vs. Michigan. Two weeks is a long time to think about 49-10. So is 13 months.
4. Washington (6-0): Beat Cal, 38-7. Saturday: at Arizona State. Had lost 10 straight to ASU before last year (44-18).
5. Georgia (6-0): Beat Vanderbilt, 45-14. Saturday: vs. Missouri. Beat Mizzou by a point last year and by three in 2015.
6. Washington State (6-0): Beat Oregon, 33-10. Friday: at Cal. Won last year's game, 56-21. Lost 10 of 11 in series before that.
7. Wisconsin (5-0): Beat Nebraska, 38-17. Saturday: vs. Purdue. Hasn't lost to Boilermakers since 2003.
8. TCU (5-0): Beat West Virginia, 31-24. Saturday: at Kansas State. Lost to K-State at home last year, 30-6.
9. Ohio State (5-1): Beat Maryland, 62-14. Saturday: at Nebraska. Beat Huskers a year ago 62-3.
10. Southern Cal (5-1): Beat Oregon State, 38-10. Saturday: vs. Utah. Lost to Utes last year, and two of last three (both on road, each close). Beat them in LA in 2016 by 18.

Next in line: Auburn, Miami, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech.

Oklahoma: So much for that win at Ohio State. Is it me, or does something like Saturday's home loss to Iowa State happen to Sooners most every year?
Oklahoma again: Yeah, it was that bad.
Michigan: Maybe the Wolverines just aren't that good.
Florida: Probably shouldn't be losing at home to an LSU team that just lost at home to Troy.
Harvard: Probably shouldn't be losing to a winless Cornell team for first time in 12 years, even on the road. Especially when you score first 14 and then don't add anymore in the last 39-plus minutes.