UCF rips Pitt, extends nation’s longest streak
Milton passes for four TDs for Central Florida; No. 1 Alabama breezes, 56-14
McKenzie Milton threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns and No. 13 UCF extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 17 games with a 45-14 rout of Pittsburgh on Saturday in Orlando, Fla..
A week after accounting for six TDs in a lopsided victory over Florida Atlantic, Milton also ran for two scores to give the junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, seven TDs passing and five rushing in his past two games.
UCF (4-0) now moves into the heart of its American Athletic Conference schedule, hoping to go undefeated for the second straight year to play its way into consideration for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Pitt (2-3) has had a knack for stunning teams with national title aspirations in recent seasons, however the Panthers were no match for a Milton-led offense that’s scored at least 30 points in every game during its school- and AAC-record winning streak.
Running back Adrian Killins, Jr., scored on a 71-yard reception, and Milton tossed TD passes of 24 yards to Gabriel Davis, 2 yards to Michael Colubiale and 13 yards to Otis Anderson.
Pitt surprised eventual national champion Clemson on the road two years ago. The Panthers ended a disappointing 2017 season by defeating unbeaten Miami, which at the time had the longest winning streak in the country and was in contention for a CFP berth.
The Panthers scored on Maurice Ffrench’s 58-yard catch-and-run and Rafael Araujo-Lopes’ 86-yard punt return.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 56, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 14: Jaylen Waddle returned a punt for a touchdown and caught two scoring passes, including a 94-yarder, for host Alabama.
Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts staked the Crimson Tide (5-0) to a 49-0 halftime lead over the Ragin’ Cajuns (1-3) en route to the defending national champions’ latest blowout.
Then third-teamer Mac Jones got into the act with his 94-yarder to the freshman Waddle late in the third quarter. It tied for the second-longest TD catch in Alabama history. Alabama has scored at least 45 points five games in a row for the first time in program history.
Tagovailoa completed all eight of his attempts for 128 yards and two touchdowns, mostly in the first quarter. Hurts was 4 of 6 for 118 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown to Henry Ruggs III.
NO. 2 GEORGIA 38, TENNESSEE 12: D’Andre Swift ran for two touchdowns, including a late 14-yarder, and Georgia used dominant defense to overcome a sluggish offensive start.
Freshman quarterback Justin Fields scored on runs of 12 and 15 yards, and Isaac Nauta had a 31-yard fumble return for a scpore. The Bulldogs led by 12 points early in the final quarter before pulling away.
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) scored touchdowns on its last drive of the first half and opening possession after halftime but otherwise couldn’t maintain momentum. Jake Fromm completed 16 of 22 passes for 185 yards while sharing time with Fields.
Tennessee (2-3, 0-2) was held to 209 yards.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 66, BAYLOR 33: Kyler Murray sat out Oklahoma's first offensive series then came on to pass for 432 yards and six touchdowns.
Austin Kendall opened the game, but Murray entered on the second possession and played nearly flawless football. His passing touchdown total tied for secondbest in school history behind Baker Mayfield's seven against Texas Tech in 2016. The school would not say why Murray didn't start.
Murray also ran for 45 yards and a score for the Sooners (5-0, 2-0 Big 12).
Marquise Brown caught five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, CeeDee Lamb had 101 yards receiving and Lee Morris caught two touchdown passes for the Sooners.
Murray completed 10 of 11 passes for 192 yards and four touchdowns in the first half to help the Sooners take a 28-9 lead. Murray threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Brown later in the third quarter, then scored on a 1-yard run on an untimed down on the last play of the period to put the Sooners up 49-23.
FLORIDA 13, NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI STATE 6: Feleipe Franks threw for 219 yards and Florida's defense dominated.
Coach Dan Mullen won in his return to Starkville, guiding Florida to success in his first appearance at Davis Wade Stadium since leaving Mississippi State in November after nine mostly successful seasons.
Florida wasn't great offensively, but it didn't matter. The Gators (4-1, 2-1) broke through in the third quarter when Franks threw a lateral to Kadarius Toney, who then threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Moral Stephens for a 10-6 lead.
From that point forward, Florida slowly grinded toward the win. A 10-play, 36-yard drive in the fourth quarter led to a 21-yard field goal by Evan McPherson — giving the Gators a 13-6 lead — and the Mississippi State offense was never able to respond. Mississippi State (3-2, 0-2) had its chances to win and led 6-3 at halftime.
NO. 14 MICHIGAN 20, NORTHWESTERN 17: Karan Higdon ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns, Shea Patterson threw 196 yards and No. 14 Michigan overcame a 17-point deficit.
Higdon gave the Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) the lead with a 5-yard run with 4:06 remaining. Higdon averaged 3.8 yards on 30 carries, and Patterson completed 15 of 24 passes to help Michigan win its fourth straight. Michigan held Northwestern to 97 yards of total offense in the final three quarters and had six sacks for the game.
Clayton Thorson completed 16 of 27 passes for 174 yards for Northwestern (1-3, 1-1) in the Wildcats' third straight loss.
NO. 18 TEXAS 19, KANSAS STATE 14: Sam Ehlinger threw for 207 yards and a touchdown, D’Shawn Jamison returned a punt 90 yards for another score and Texas snap a five-game road losing streak to Kansas State.
Keaontay Ingram churned for a first down with less than three minutes to go, allowing the red-hot Longhorns (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) to run out the clock after blowing much of a 19-0 halftime lead.
Skylar Thompson threw for 96 yards in relief of ineffective quarterback Alex Delton, and he led the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2) to a pair of touchdowns in the second half. But after they got the ball back with 7:12 to go, Thompson threw a pair of incompletions as Kansas State went three-and-out, and coach Bill Snyder’s offense never got another opportunity with the ball.
NO. 21 MICHIGAN STATE 31, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 20: Brian Lewerke ran for two touchdowns in the first half, and Michigan State overcame a slow start and an underwhelming finish.
The Spartans (3-1) entered with the nation’s top-ranked run defense and held CMU (1-4) to 5 yards on the ground in the first half. Michigan State led 31-3 before letting the Chippewas rally.