College football: Syracuse stuns Clemson, California upsets Washington
SYRACUSE, New York: Eric Dungey threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns and Cole Murphy broke a tie with a fourthquarter field goal as Syracuse stunned No. 2 Clemson 27-24 on Friday night to put a damper on the Tigers’ chances to repeat as national college football champions.
Clemson (6-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had won 12 consecutive games on the opponent’s home field, the longest streak in Clemson history and tied for the second longest active streak in the nation. Clemson also had won 11 consecutive games overall, the longest active winning streak in the nation, and 12 straight away from home against ACC teams. Clemson lost its last road game of 2014 at Georgia Tech.
The Orange (4-3, 2-1) are 3-6 against the previous year’s national champion, also beating Penn State in 1987 and Michigan in 1998.
The Tigers took a big blow when quarterback Kelly Bryant suffered a concussion in the final minute of the first half. He was knocked down hard by defensive tackle Chris Slayton and lay on the turf for a couple of minutes before being helped off. Bryant passed for 116 yards and ran for minus-8 yards.
Bryant, who watched the second half from the sideline, entered the game averaging 277 yards of total offense, but noticeably favored an injured ankle as Syracuse gained a surprising 17-14 halftime lead.
California 37 No. 8 Washington 3: In Berkeley, California, Ross Bowers did an acrobatic flip into the end zone to cap a touchdown run for California as the Golden Bears used a dominant defensive performance to stun No. 8 Washington State for their first win in 14 years against a top 10 team.
Camryn Bynum had two of California’s five interceptions against Luke Falk, and the Bears (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) used seven turnovers and nine sacks to top the Cougars (6-1, 3-1) for a signature win under first-year coach Justin Wilcox.
Cal was just 1-52-1 against top 10 teams since 1978 with the only win coming over No. 3 Southern California in 2003 before breaking through against mistake-prone Washington State.
The Bears used short fields on their first four scoring drives before Bowers delivered the highlight of the night with his touchdown run early in the fourth that left the crowd gasping in amazement.