Baker City herald., October 27, 2020, Page 6, Image 6

6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
NFL ROUNDUP
Broncos debut with win on The Blue
Steelers hold off
Titans, 27-24, to
stay undefeated
By Jason Chatraw
The Associated Press
Associated Press
Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes
to Diontae Johnson, and the Pittsburgh Steelers
remained perfect by holding off Tennessee for a 27-24
victory Sunday in a game originally postponed when
the Titans came down with the NFL’s fi rst COVID-19
outbreak of the season.
In a matchup of the AFC’s two remaining undefeated
teams, the Titans rallied from 17 down. They failed to
complete the comeback when Stephen Gostkowski,
who made a 51-yarder earlier, missed from 45 yards
wide right with 14 seconds left. That sent the Steelers
running around the fi eld in celebration and the Titans
(5-1) stunned.
The Steelers improved to 6-0 for their best start since
1978, when Pittsburgh won its fi rst seven on the way to
the Super Bowl. This was just the fi fth time undefeated
teams had met in Week 7 or later, and the winner of the
previous four all made the Super Bowl.
Benny Snell Jr. added a 1-yard TD run and Ray-
Ray McCloud set up a touchdown with a 57-yard punt
return.
Pittsburgh outgained Tennessee 362-292 and held
the NFL’s second-best scoring offense under 31 points
for the fi rst time since the opening week of the season.
But the Titans had won four of their fi rst fi ve by ral-
lying in the fi nal two minutes of regulation or overtime,
and they scored 17 straight to pull within 27-24.
Ryan Tannehill hit A.J. Brown on a short pass that
the receiver took to the end zone for a 73-yard TD.
Jayon Brown picked off a batted pass, setting up Gost-
kowski’s fi eld goal. Derrick Henry capped a 12-play
drive with a 1-yard TD with 10:13 left.
The Titans had their fi nal chance after Amani
Hooker intercepted Roethlisberger in the back of the
end zone with 2:35 left. It was Roethlisberger’s third of
the game, which Tennessee turned into only a fi eld goal.
BOISE STATE FOOTBALL VS. UTAH STATE
BOISE — No fans were on
hand to witness Boise State’s
42-13 season-opening win
over Utah State on Saturday
evening, but if they had been,
they would have felt like they
had seen this game before.
Hank Bachmeier threw for
268 yards and three touch-
downs and George Holani
rushed for 100 yards and had
a pair of scores to power the
Broncos to another dominat-
ing performance against the
Aggies.
Boise State won its home
opener for the 11th straight
time and hasn’t dropped a
conference opener since 1999.
Utah State continued its
abysmal record against the
Broncos, losing for the 17th
time in the last 18 matchups.
Despite the game taking
place in an empty stadium
with less atmosphere than
a spring game, Boise State
brought plenty of intensity on
defense and sprinkled in its
trademark pizzazz on offense.
“The opportunity to compete
and go out and just play
another opponent was excit-
ing,” Boise State coach Bryan
Harsin said. “We were just
trying to keep it as normal
as we could without fans and
Darin Oswald / Idaho Statesman-TNS
Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier (19) dives into the end zone for a touchdown
in the second quarter against Utah State on Saturday at Albertsons Stadium in Boise.
all that energy. That was a
challenge and I think our guys
handled that really well. We
were prepared mentally to
play and we had a fast start in
the fi rst half.”
By every metric, Boise State
started fast, beginning with
the defense.
The Broncos held Utah
State to 45 yards in the fi rst
half, keeping Utah State quar-
terback Jason Shelley under
constant duress.
Meanwhile, Bachmeier
shined in his return after an
injury-mired 2019 season. He
utilized his full complement of
receivers, completing passes to
eight different players. Khalil
Shakir led the corps with
seven receptions and a pair of
touchdowns, including a 52-
yard scoring strike.
“We had our moments, but
we allowed the big plays to
take place,” Utah State coach
Gary Anderson said. “And
that’s what a good quarterback
does. (Bachmeier) took the
check downs when they were
there and some of those turned
into big plays. He played like a
savvy seasoned veteran.”
After falling behind 28-0 at
halftime, Utah State tried to
scratch its way back into the
game. The Aggies cut the lead
to 28-7 on a 1-yard TD run
by Jaylen Warren late in the
third quarter before capital-
izing on a botched Boise State
punt. Utah State recovered
a loose ball that was punted
into the back of a Bronco kick
protector on the Boise State
21 and scored six plays later.
But Boise State fl exed its
offensive muscles and put the
game away by scoring on its
next two possessions.
See Roundup/Page 7A
Indiana upsets No. 8 Penn State with 2-point conversion
By Michael Marot
AP Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In-
diana coach Tom Allen had grown
weary of close calls in big games.
On Saturday, Allen went for it —
and Michael Penix Jr. made those
gambles pay off the Big Ten rivals’
fi rst game of the delayed season,
After leading the Hoosiers on
a touchdown drive in the fi nal
minute of regulation and scoring
on a 2-point conversion to force
overtime, Penix hooked up with
Whop Philyor for a 9-yard TD pass
in overtime and dove into the pylon
for the decisive 2-point conversion
to give Indiana a 36-35 victory over
No. 8 Penn State — its fi rst win
over a Top 10 team in more than 33
years.
“We’d been close so many times,
and I was tired of being close,” Allen
said. “We liked the call and stayed
with the call (after Penn State
called timeout) and stayed with the
call. We felt like we had our three
players involved in the play and one
of those was going to get the ball or
Michael was going to keep it. It felt
like the right thing to do.”
Indiana snapped the longest
streak of consecutive losses to Top
10 foes at 42, a skid that dated to a
31-10 victory at Ohio State on Oct.
10, 1987 — a game the late Earle
Bruce dubbed as the darkest day in
Buckeyes history.
Cliff Bentz
for Congress
RANCHER. FARMER. BUSINESSMAN.
Paid For By Cliff Bentz For Congress
CLIFFBENTZ.COM
See Upset/Page 8A