Buckeyes cruise in top-10 showdown
COLUMBUS, Ohio — C.J. Stroud lit up No. 7 Michigan State early and gave his coach the rare luxury of being able to let his mind wander to next weekend’s showdown with Michigan.
Stroud tied a school record with six touchdown passes — all in the first half — as No. 5 Ohio State bolted out to a 49-point halftime lead on the way to a startling 56-7 rout Saturday that eliminated the Spartans from the East Division race in the Big Ten.
Next up for the Buckeyes (10-1, 8-0) is the annual rivalry game and hatefest against No. 8 Michigan that carries even greater meaning this year — the winner will secure the division crown, advance to the conference championship game on Dec. 4 and stay alive for the College Football Playoff.
“We’ve got everything riding on this thing coming up right around the corner,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “And I’ve got to tell you, the game wasn’t even over yet and I was thinking about it. There’s just so much going on here.”
Day should savor this one for at least a minute.
Stroud, who threw his first collegiate football pass less than three months ago, was 32-for-35 for 432 yards against the Spartans’ sketchy pass defense, which had allowed more yards through the air than any in major college football.
The redshirt freshman completed 17 straight passes, setting an Ohio State record, and positioned himself as maybe the Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the championship stretch of the season.
“My O-line did a great job the whole game,” he said. “I was back there chilling, in a sense.”
This is Stroud’s third 400-yard game in 10 career starts and his fourth game with at least five touchdown passes.
“You can see our capability,” Day said. “We’re playing really good football, clean football. We have a high ceiling.”
The Buckeyes scored on all seven first-half possession before backing off.
“We got blasted,” said Michigan State coach Mel Tucker, whose team fell to 9-2, 6-2. “We were not able to eliminate the explosive plays on defense and were not able to execute on offense.”
Michigan State Heisman hopeful Kenneth Walker III, the nation’s leading rusher, was turned into a nonfactor by the Buckeyes. Walker, who rolled his ankle in last weekend’s win over Maryland, had just six carries for 25 yards.
“He’s a little banged up right now, so we’re going to use the guys who can go,” Tucker said.
The Buckeyes’ top three receivers eclipsed the 100-yard mark and caught touchdown passes. Chris Olave had seven catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns, Garrett Wilson grabbed seven for 126 and a pair of scores and Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 10 for 105 and a touchdown.
Olave, a senior who played his last game in Ohio Stadium, broke the school record for career touchdowns with 35, one more than David Boston (1996-98).
“You always can remember days like this,” Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne said. “I’ll remember the feeling for a long time, coming in here and playing like we did.”
› No. 3 Cincinnati 48, SMU 14
CINCINNATI — Desmond Ridder threw three touchdown passes, ran for another score and even caught a touchdown pass to help Cincinnati roll past SMU.
Alec Pierce added a pair of touchdown catches for the Bearcats (11-0, 7-0 American Athletic Conference), who extended the nation’s second-longest active home winning streak to 26 games and kept alive hopes of becoming the first Group of Five program to reach the College Football Playoff.
SMU (8-3, 4-3) managed 199 yards of offense after averaging 498 through the first 10 games. Mustangs quarterback Tanner Mordecai, the AAC offensive player of the week last week for the fourth time this season, had only 63 yards through the air and was sacked three times.
› No. 6 Notre Dame 55, Georgia Tech 0
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jack Coan threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns in a little more than a half, and the Fighting Irish (101) had two defensive touchdowns as they won for the sixth straight game. Coan, a graduate transfer from Wisconsin, was 15-of-20 passing. He had first-half touchdown strikes of 52 yards to Michael Mayer and 20 yards to Logan Diggs as the Irish took a 45-0 halftime lead. Coan exited after one series in the third quarter and was replaced by freshman Tyler Buchner, who ripped off a 68-yard run on his first play.
With Coan directing the offense, and the Irish defense hounding Georgia Tech quarterback Jordan Yates all afternoon, coach Brian Kelly’s program reached 10 wins for the fifth straight season by outgaining coach Geoff Collins’ Yellow Jackets (3-8) by a 514-224 yardage margin.
› No. 7 Michigan 59, Maryland 18
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Mike Sainristil made a one-handed catch in the end zone for a second-quarter touchdown, Hassan Haskins scored two touchdowns of his own and Michigan did its part to raise the stakes of next weekend’s Big Ten showdown with Ohio State.
The Wolverines (10-1, 7-1) host the Buckeyes next week, and the winner will go to the league title game. Michigan hasn’t won the conference since 2004 and hasn’t beaten Ohio State since 2011.
If the Wolverines were looking ahead to that matchup, it didn’t affect their play much on this day. Maryland (5-6, 2-6) didn’t reach the end zone until Michigan was up 31-3 in the third quarter. Donovan Edwards had 10 catches for 170 yards and a touchdown for the Wolverines.
› No 11 Baylor 20, Kansas State 10
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Blake Shapen was sharp in place of injured quarterback Gerry Bohanon, and Baylor’s defense simply smothered Kansas State’s offense.
Shapen was 16-of-21 for 137 yards after Bohanon left shortly before halftime with a hamstring injury. The redshirt freshman got some help from Trestan Ebner, who ran for 86 yards and a touchdown, and Tyquan Thornton, who had five catches for 75 yards, as the Bears (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) won their fourth straight series meeting with Kansas State.
The Wildcats (7-4, 4-4) muffed a punt that led to the game’s first points, and Chris Tennant missed a 39-yard field goal attempt that would have made it a one-possession game with 10 minutes to go.
› No. 12 Oklahoma 28, Iowa State 21
NORMAN, Okla. — Caleb Williams passed for a touchdown and ran for another, and Jalen Redmond returned a fumble for a score as Oklahoma held off Iowa State.
Kennedy Brooks ran for 115 yards to help the Sooners (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) bounce back from a loss to Baylor and solidify their chances of reaching the Big 12 title game.
Iowa State has been a thorn in Oklahoma’s side in recent years, beating the Sooners in 2017 and 2020. Oklahoma beat the Cyclones in the Big 12 championship game last year.
Iowa State tight end Charlie Kolar, playing in his hometown, had career highs of 12 catches and 152 yards. Brock Purdy passed for 281 yards and a touchdown for Iowa State (6-5, 4-4), which was eliminated from the Big 12 title race.
The Cyclones got the ball at their 14-yard line while trailing 28-21 with two minutes left in the game. They drove to the Oklahoma 21-yard line, but Pat Fields intercepted a pass by Purdy with 15 seconds remaining.
› Clemson 48, No. 13 Wake Forest 27
CLEMSON, S.C. — Kobe Pace ran for a career-high 191 yards and two touchdowns as Clemson won its 13th straight series meeting with Wake Forest, delaying the Demon Deacons’ run to the Atlantic Division title in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Will Shipley gained 112 yards with two touchdowns and also threw a 2-yard jump pass for a score to Davis Allen for the Tigers (8-3, 6-2), who posted their 34th straight home win. Clemson, the ACC’s six-time reigning champion, also kept its hopes of a seventh straight trip to the league title game alive.
Wake Forest (9-2, 6-1) entered the game averaging 44.7 points and 498 yards a game. It left with a season low in points and had only 36 yards on the ground.
› No. 14 BYU 34, Georgia Southern 17
STATESBORO, Ga. — Jaren Hall had 211 of his 312 passing yards in the first half, and Jakob Robinson picked off two passes in the second half as BYU beat Georgia Southern.
Tyler Allgeier, the nation’s seventh-leading rusher, finished with 126 yards on 26 carries to help the Cougars (9-2) win their fourth straight game.
Before a near capacity crowd at 25,000-seat Paulson Stadium, Georgia Southern (3-8) fell short in its attempt to beat the highest-ranked team to visit Statesboro. The Eagles had played eight previous games against ranked opponents, beating Appalachian State in 2018 and 2019. › NO. 15 UTSA 34, UAB 31 SAN ANTONIO — Frank Harris threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Oscar Cardenas with three seconds left to lift the University of Texas at San Antonio past the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The Roadrunners (11-0, 7-0) beat the reigning three-time Conference USA West champion Blazers (7-4, 5-2) to clinch their first division title.
Trailing much of the game, the Roadrunners got the ball back with 1:09 left after stuffing the Blazers a yard short of a first down on third-and-4 at the UAB 42. After a punt, Harris drove UTSA 77 yards on seven plays. The winning touchdown came after Harris fumbled the snap and had his pass tipped by linebacker Noah Wilder before Cardenas caught it in the back of the end zone.
› No 18 Iowa 33, Illinois 23
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Charlie Jones had a 100-yard kickoff return for Iowa’s first touchdown, and the Hawkeyes went on to beat Illinois.
Iowa (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) was trailing Illinois (4-7, 3-5) 10-0 in the first quarter when Jones took the kick near the right corner of the end zone and ran through a hole on the left side for the score.
Hawkeyes wide receiver Arland Bruce IV had a 2-yard run for a touchdown and Caleb Shudak kicked four field goals, including a 51-yarder in the second quarter. Linebacker Jack Campbell added a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:36 to play.
› No. 19 Wisconsin 35, Nebraska 28
MADISON, Wis. — Braelon Allen ran for 228 yards and three touchdowns — including a tiebreaking 53-yarder with 3:50 remaining — to help Wisconsin outlast Nebraska for its seventh consecutive victory.
Nebraska drove to Wisconsin’s 11 in the final minute but ended up losing the ball on downs at the 21. Faion Hicks broke up Adrian Martinez’s fourth-down pass to Zavier Betts with four seconds left.
The Badgers (8-3, 6-2 Big Ten) handed Nebraska (3-8, 1-7) its fifth straight loss and moved a step closer to playing for a conference title. Wisconsin will clinch its fourth Big Ten championship game appearance in six years if it wins its regular-season finale at Minnesota.
› No. 20 Pittsburgh 48, Virginia 38
PITTSBURGH — Kenny Pickett threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns — all of them to Jordan Addison — in his final game at Heinz Field as the Panthers claimed their second ACC Coastal Division title in four years.
The Panthers (9-2, 6-1) earned a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Dec. 4 to play for the league title. Addison’s four scores tied a school record and boosted his season total to 15, tops in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Pitt needed every single one of them.
The Cavaliers (6-5, 4-3) kept hanging around until Addison outjumped a defender for a ball and raced the rest of the way for a 63-yard touchdown with 2:10 remaining. Addison, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award given to the best wide receiver in the country, finished with 14 receptions for 202 yards.
› No. 22 La.-Lafayette 42, Liberty 14
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Levi Lewis threw for 166 yards and three touchdowns, and Louisiana-Lafayette had five takeaways and seven sacks as the Ragin’ Cajuns beat Liberty in a nonconference game.
Louisiana-Lafayette (10-1) won its 10th straight game since a season-opening loss at Texas. Liberty dropped to 7-3.
Lewis completed one of his first eight passes, then connected on 13 of 17, with touchdown strikes of 4, 15 and 2 yards. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes against just one interception in his past four games.
Chauncey Manac had four of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ seven sacks.
› No 25 N.C. State 41, Syracuse 17
RALEIGH, N.C. — Devin Leary threw for two touchdowns, Zonovan Knight returned a kickoff for a score and North Carolina State beat Syracuse to keep its hopes alive for an ACC championship.
After neither team scored in the first 22 minutes, the Wolfpack (8-3, 5-2) scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in a matter of less than 3 1/2 minutes. It was all part of N.C. State’s 28-point burst in the last 6:14 of the first half.
Syracuse (5-6, 2-5) needs to beat Pittsburgh in its regular-season finale to secure bowl eligibility.