College football: LSU upsets Auburn; Oklahoma edges Texas after blowing big lead
D.J. Chark returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown, Connor Culp kicked clutch field goals of 42 and 36 yards inside the final three minutes, and LSU rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat No. 10 Auburn 27-23 on Saturday at Baton Rouge, La.
LSU’s defense improved dramatically in the second half, not allowing a point. That enabled LSU (5-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) to win with special teams play.
Russell Gage made a diving 14-yard touchdown reception and had a 70-yard run that set up another TD for LSU.
Kerryon Johnson rushed for 156 yards and a short TD for Auburn (5-2, 3-1), which had won four in a row.
No. 12 Oklahoma 29, Texas 24: Baker Mayfield threw 59 yards to Mark Andrews for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter after the Sooners had blown a 20-point lead to defeat the Longhorns in Dallas.
Mayfield’s second TD throw of more than 50 yards came 68 seconds after freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger ran 8 yards to give the Longhorns (3-3, 2-1 Big 12) their first lead after trailing 20-0 in the second quarter.
The win kept the College Football Playoff hopes alive for the Sooners (5-1, 2-1) a week after a stunning home loss to Iowa State when they were ranked third with a nation-leading 14-game winning streak.
Lincoln Riley, the youngest FBS head coach at 34, topped Tom Herman in the first Texas-OU matchup since 1947 with both coaches leading their teams for the first time. Bud Wilkinson, who led the Sooners to three national titles, was the losing coach in that game.
at No. 11 Miami 25, Georgia Tech 24: Darrell Langham made another miracle happen, a 28-yard catch on a tipped fourth-down ball keeping the desperate Hurricanes’ drive alive and setting up Michael Badgley’s 24-yard field goal with four seconds left.
Langham — who had the winning catch to beat Florida State in the final seconds last week — pulled off a similar grab to get Miami to the Georgia Tech 15, and Badgley’s chip-shot came four snaps later as the Hurricanes (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) stretched their longest winning streak in more than a decade to 10 games.
Travis Homer rushed for 170 yards and had two scores — one rushing, one receiving for Miami, which escaped when Georgia Tech’s five-lateral attempt at a kickoff return was stopped as time expired. Lamont Simmons ran a botched onside kick back 42 yards for a touchdown and J.J. Green scored twice for Georgia Tech (3-2, 2-1).
at No. 1 Alabama 41, Arkansas 9: Damien Harris opened with a 75-yard touchdown run and the Crimson Tide rode a fast start to another win. Alabama (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) had raced to a 17-0 start by midway through the first quarter before the Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3) managed to slow down the onslaught for a while.
Harris ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries. His run on the game’s first offensive play matched his career long set last week at Texas A&M, putting the Tide in front just 15 seconds into the game.
at No. 4 Georgia 53, Missouri 28: Sony Michel ran for two touchdowns as No. 4 Georgia found its running game after a slow start and took control with 26 unanswered points to beat Missouri.
Georgia (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) recovered from an early scare by gaining 696 total yards, including 370 on the ground. Missouri (1-5, 0-4) suffered its fifth straight loss as it faded following a 21-all tie in the second quarter.
No. 6 Texas Christian 26, at Kansas State 6: Kenny Hill threw for 297 yards and ran for a touchdown, TCU’s defense shut down the Widlcats’ ailing offense and the Horned Frogs remained unbeaten with a weather-delayed win.
Sewo Olonilua added two short touchdown runs for the Horned Frogs (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), whose gritty defense held the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) without points both times they ventured into the red zone.
at No. 7 Wisconsin 17, Purdue 9: Jonathan Taylor ran for 219 yards in 30 carries, including a 67-yard touchdown, and the Badgers relied on their stifling defense to overcome a three-turnover afternoon.
Alex Hornibrook was 13 of 18 for 199 yards and a score but threw two interceptions for the Badgers, who held on to beat another division foe and take a commanding lead in the Big Ten West. Defense saved the game for Wisconsin (6-0, 3-0 in Big Ten).
Purdue (3-3, 1-2) drove from its 39 to the Wisconsin 10 before linebacker Leon Jacobs stepped in front of a sideline pass to Jackson Winthrop, staying inbounds for an interception with 8:14 left in the game.
No. 9 Ohio State 56, at Nebraska 14: J.T. Barrett passed for five touchdowns and ran for two others as the Buckeyes (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) scored on their first eight possessions. Ohio State continued its dominant surge since their loss to Oklahoma last month, tying their school record with a fourth straight game of scoring 50-plus points, and now get a week off before their East Division showdown with third-ranked Penn State.
They rolled up 633 total yards and had 41 first downs while scoring the most points by a Nebraska conference opponent in Lincoln and most overall since Minnesota won 61-7 in 1945 when the Huskers were in the Big Six. Barrett was 27 of 33 for a season-high 325 yards and rushed 10 times for 48 yards before giving way to backup Dwayne Haskins on the second series of the fourth quarter.
at No. 14 Oklahoma State 59, Baylor 16: Mason Rudolph passed for 459 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score for the Cowboys. Rudolph guided an offense that gained a school-record 747 yards. The senior got his first career win in four tries against the Bears.
Oklahoma State’s James Washington caught six passes for 235 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for a 2-yard score. It was the second-best yardage total of his career. Marcell Ateman caught four passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, and Justice Hill ran for 117 yards and a score for the Cowboys (5-1, 2-1 Big 12).
The Cowboys grabbed control with a 28-point second quarter that made it 35-10 at halftime. Terence Williams ran for 95 yards for Baylor (0-6, 0-3). Denzel Mims, one of the most productive receivers in the nation so far this season, was held to 20 yards on two catches.
No. 17 Michigan 27, at Indiana 20 (OT): Karan Higdon ran 25 yards for a touchdown on the first play of overtime and Tyree Kinnel intercepted a fourth-down pass in the end zone on the final play as the Wolverines picked up the win.
Higdon finished with 200 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, providing most the offense for Michigan (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) on another day when the Wolverines struggled to sustain drives. His 59-yard touchdown run with 10:25 remaining in the fourth quarter put Michigan up 20-10.
A 53-yard punt return by Indiana’s J-Shun Harris to the Michigan 20 set up an eight-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Ramsey to Whop Philyor with 3:33 that cut the lead to three. Griffin Oakes tied it for Indiana (3-3, 0-3) with a 46-yard field goal as regulation time expired.
at No. 18 South Florida 33, Cincinnati 3: Quinton Flowers eclipsed 3,000 yards career rushing and scored one touchdown Saturday night to help the Bulls (6-0, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 11 games.
Cincinnati (2-5, 0-3), blown out by a Florida team ranked in the Top 25 for the second straight week, has lost seven straight AAC games dating to last season.
Boise State 31, at No. 19 San Diego State: Alexander Mattison ran for 128 yards and a touchdown and the Broncos’ defense kept star running back Rashaad Penny in check as he gained 53 yards and scored once in 21 carries. It was his first game under 100 yards rushing this season for the Aztecs (6-1, 2-1 Mountain West).
Avery Williams returned a punt 53 yards for Boise State’s first touchdown, and less than two minutes later, Kekaula Kaniho returned a fumble by SDSU quarterback Christian Chapman 34 yards for a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. It was the start of an overwhelming performance for Boise State (4-2, 2-0) on defense. The Broncos had 12 tackles for a loss, including four sacks, and San Diego State didn’t cross the 50-yard line until the middle of the second quarter.
No. 20 North Carolina State 35, at Pittsburgh 17: Nyheim Hines ran for an 83-yard touchdown and returned a punt 92 yards for another score on his way to 249 total yards to help the Wolf Pack (6-1, 4-0 ACC) win their sixth straight game. Jaylen Samuels added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs for N.C. State, which matched its best ACC start since 2002 by relying on Hines early and Samuels late.
Ben DiNucci threw for 170 yards and a touchdown for Pitt (2-5, 0-3) before being replaced in the third quarter by freshman Kenny Pickett. Pickett completed five of 13 for 61 yards and ran for 18 yards in the first extended action of his career before DiNucci returned in the final minutes.
No. 21 Michigan State 30, at Minnesota 27: L.J. Scott returned from an injury to rush for a career-high 194 yards and two touchdowns , helping Michigan State to the road win after the start of the game was delayed 34 minutes by lightning strikes.
Madre London pitched in 74 yards rushing and a score, Matt Coghlin made three field goals and the Spartans (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten) maintained their momentum from their victory over Michigan.
Demry Croft relieved a struggling Conor Rhoda at quarterback for the Gophers (3-3, 0-3) in the middle of the second quarter and connected with Tyler Johnson for three touchdown passes in the fourth. The late surge wasn’t enough to overcome the bruising, pulling and trapping Spartans blockers who wore down an injury-depleted Gophers defense.
at No. 22 Central Florida 63, East Carolina 21: McKenzie Milton threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, and the Knights also got touchdowns on defense and special teams.
UCF moved to 5-0 for the first time in the program’s Division I era and remained tied with 18th-ranked South Florida for the American Athletic Conference East lead at 3-0. The Pirates (1-6, 1-3) have lost three straight.
Milton and Knights came in with the highest scoring offense in the nation (47.5 points per game) and dominated the worst scoring defense (47.8 points) in FBS this season. UCF totaled 600 yards of offense, exceeding 500 yards for the third straight game, its longest such streak since 1998.
at West Virginia 46, No. 24 Texas Tech 35: Will Grier threw four of his five touchdown passes in the second half as the Mountaineers overcame an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat a ranked opponent for the first time in 10 tries.
Nic Shimonek threw four first-half TD passes for Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders (4-2, 1-2) got little going after halftime and made plenty of mistakes to enable the Mountaineers to mount their comeback.
Ka’Raun White had fourth-quarter TD catches of 32 and 17 yards to give the Mountaineers (4-2, 2-1) their first lead, and Grier capped the scoring with an 11-yard pass to Sills with 3:23 left. Grier completed 32 of 41 passes for 352 yards. Shimonek went 24 of 39 for 323 yards.
at Memphis 30, No. 25 Navy 27: Riley Ferguson threw three touchdown passes and the Tigers took advantage of five turnovers to hand the Midshipmen their first loss.
Navy quarterback Zach Abey ran for 146 yards for Navy (5-1, 3-1 American), but the Tigers held the nation’s leading running game 100 yards under its 416-yard average. He surpassed 1,000 yards rushing this season with a 28-yard run late in the fourth quarter, but was responsible for all five turnovers.
Memphis (5-1, 2-1) beat a top-25 opponent for the third straight time, including two this season.
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