Perine lifts Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Lamical Perine was too slow to play for Auburn three years ago, a hurtful evaluation that’s stuck with him.
He showed plenty of speed while running away from the Tigers — and a few guys he played against in high school — in the Swamp on Saturday.
Perine broke loose for an 88-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Florida’s defense delivered another gem and the No. 10 Gators beat seventh-ranked Auburn 24-13 in a matchup of unbeaten teams.
Perine broke linebacker K.J. Britt’s tackle at the line of scrimmage and scampered down the sideline for the program’s longest TD run in more than 30 years. It gave the Gators (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) extra breathing room in a game they never trailed.
Doing it against Auburn was extra special.
“Almost brought tears to my eyes,” said Perine, whose run was the longest for Florida since Emmitt Smith’s 96-yarder against Mississippi State in 1988.
Perine finished with a career-high 130 yards on 14 carries.
The junior from Theodore, Alabama, closed out the upset. But Florida’s defense really carried the team.
Jon Greenard and David Reese were the stars of the show for Florida, which has given up a measly 16 points in four home games this season.
The Gators kept JaTarvious Whitlow in check and harassed freshman quarterback Bo Nix, whose father, Patrick, upset top-ranked Florida in Gainesville in 1994.
“That’s the kind of defense we expect to play around here,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said.
Auburn (5-1, 2-1) finished with 269 yards — the ninth-fewest in coach Gus Malzahn’s seven seasons and converted just 2 of 14 third-down tries. The Tigers also had four turnovers and six three-and-outs.
“We just didn’t get it done offensively,” Malzahn said. “That starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of having our guys ready . ... Any time you turn the ball over four times on the road, you’re going to have a tough time winning.”
› No. 4 Ohio State 34, No. 25 Mich. State 10 COLUMBUS, Ohio — Justin Fields threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, J.K. Dobbins rushed for 172 yards and a touchdown and Ohio State overcame a sluggish start to roll over Michigan State.
The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) had to work to figure out Michigan State’s defense to start, after blowing out every opponent through the first five games. They gained just 16 yards on 16 plays in the first quarter, but got unstuck and put away the Spartans (4-2, 2-1) with big plays.
Dobbins ran the ball 24 times, averaged over 7 yards per carry and had an electrifying 67-yard breakaway for a touchdown late in the first half.
Fields finished 17-for-25
for 206 yards and threw an interception for the first time in his first 175 pass attempts as a Buckeye. He also was sacked three times — twice by Michigan State linebacker Joe Bachie.
Brian Lewerke was 20-for-38 for 218 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans.
› No. 5 LSU 42, Utah State 6
BATON ROUGE, La. — Joe Burrow became the first LSU quarterback to eclipse 300 yards passing in four straight games and threw for five touchdowns to help the Tigers defeat Utah State.
Burrow completed 27 of 38 passes for 344 yards and was intercepted once on a tipped pass against Utah State before being replaced by Myles Brennan on LSU’s second series of the fourth quarter. Burrow also rushed for 42 yards and touchdown.
Justin Jefferson caught two scoring passes for LSU (5-0). The Aggies (3-2) totaled 159 yards of offense.
› No. 6 Oklahoma 45, Kansas 20
LAWRENCE, Kan. —
Jalen Hurts threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 56 yards and two more TDs and added another line to his Heisman Trophy resume in leading Oklahoma to a victory over Kansas.
Rhamondre Stevenson added 109 yards rushing and a score on just five carries for the Sooners (5-0, 2-0 Big 12), who spotted Kansas (2-4, 0-2) a touchdown lead before ripping off seven straight scores.
› No. 8 Wisconsin 48, Kent State 0 MADISON, Wis. — Jonathan Taylor had four rushing touchdowns and caught a TD pass, Zack Baun had a career-high three sacks, and the Badgers coasted to a win over Kent State.
Taylor had 19 rushes for 186 yards, eclipsing the 100yard mark for the 27th time in 32 career games with the Badgers (5-0).
The Badgers, who entered the day with the nation’s top-ranked defense, held Kent State (2-3) to 124 yards of total offense. › No. 9 Notre Dame 52, Bowling Green 0
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Ian Book threw five touchdown passes and had only four incomplete passes in a little more than two quarters as Notre Dame rolled over Bowling Green.
The Irish (4-1) had 573 total yards, with senior Tony Jones Jr. rushing over 100 for the third time this season. Jones had 102 yards on seven carries. Notre Dame limited the Falcons (1-4) to 228 yards.
› No. 12 Penn State 35, Purdue 7
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Sean Clifford threw for 264 yards with three touchdowns and ran for another score as Penn State routed Purdue.
The Nittany Lions (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) were dominant on defense, with 10 sacks, one shy of the school single-game record. The Boilermakers (1-4, 0-2) were held to 104 yards.
› No. 19 Michigan 10, No. 14 Iowa 3
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Zach Charbonnet ran for a 2-yard touchdown to give Michigan an early double-digit lead and its defense did the rest against Iowa, forcing four turnovers and tallying eight sacks in a win.
The Wolverines (4-1, 2-1 Big Ten) were held scoreless over the final three quarters because they could not run or pass effectively, scoring just three points off the Hawkeyes’ turnovers.
Iowa (4-1, 1-1) failed to take advantage of favorable field position on its final two drives.
› Texas Tech 45, No. 21 Okla. State 35
LUBBOCK, Texas — Jett Duffey passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in his first start of the season as Texas Tech knocked off Oklahoma State.
Texas Tech (3-2, 1-1 Big 12), coming off a 55-16 loss at Oklahoma two weeks ago, built a 20-0 lead 30 seconds into the second quarter to win its second straight in the series after going 0-102 in the teams’ previous 12 meetings.
Duffey completed 26 of 44 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for a 16-yard touchdown.
Oklahoma State (4-2, 1-2) committed five turnovers.