Alabama, LSU on course with wins
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bryce Young passed for 249 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 6 Alabama’s defense continued its domination of No. 24 Mississippi State in a 30-6 victory Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (7-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from their first loss of the season, a 52-49 defeat to Tennessee last weekend. Alabama defenders got a measure of redemption after giving up more points than any Alabama team since 1907.
Normally prolific quarterback Will Rogers and the Bulldogs (5-3, 3-3) still couldn’t reach the end zone against Alabama until the final play. It was the first touchdown Mississippi State had managed against the Tide in three meetings under coach Mike Leach, getting outscored 120-15.
Rogers was 30-of-60 passing for 231 yards, and Jo’quavious Marks scored on a 1-yard run to end the game.
Alabama’s Young completed 21 of 35 passes with a couple of long ones on scrambles, including a 31-yard touchdown to JoJo Earle.
This one didn’t turn into a showdown of star quarterbacks, however, but a statement game for the Tide’s defense. Alabama, which started LSU transfer Eli Ricks for the first time, broke up 15 passes and had four sacks after getting victimized by the Volunteers.
Ricks, who didn’t play against Tennessee, and fellow cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry each broke up four passes.
Alabama has won the past four meetings at Bryant-Denny Stadium by a combined 136-9.
Mississippi State has now dropped two straight games. The Bulldogs had failed fourth-down calls from the Tide’s 15 and their own 30 in the first half. They went for it on fourth down six times, converting three.
The Tide also cleaned up their act after getting flagged a school-record 17 times against Tennessee. Alabama committed two penalties for 18 yards.
Mississippi State wore “SW 78” stickers on their helmets in honor of Sam Westmoreland, a freshman offensive lineman who died Wednesday. There was a moment of silence before the game. The coroner said no foul play was suspected but didn’t release details.
Alabama defensive tackles DJ Dale and Jaheim Oatis watched the game in street clothes, with Dale wearing a boot on his left leg. Linebacker Deontae Lawson also didn’t play. However, wide receiver Jermaine Burton started after Alabama looked into a postgame incident in which he appeared to strike a female Tennessee fan coming off the field last weekend at Neyland Stadium.
› LSU 45, No. 7 Ole Miss 20
BATON ROUGE, La. — Jayden Daniels ran for three touchdowns and passed for two scores as LSU roared back from an early two-touchdown deficit to hand Ole Miss its first loss this season.
The performance gave the dynamic Daniels the LSU record for touchdowns rushing by a quarterback in a season with nine. He finished with 258 yards passing and 121 rushing without a turnover.
Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins rushed for two touchdowns and helped Ole Miss to a 17-3 second-quarter lead.
LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC) outscored Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1) 41-3 the remainder of the game and finished with 500 total yards to 404 for coach Lane Kiffin’s vaunted Rebels offense.
Reveling in the resounding triumph over a historical and highly ranked rival, LSU fans stormed the field as the game ended. Now the Tigers are back in the race to win the SEC West Division — if they can beat Alabama.
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No. 2 Ohio State 54, Iowa 10
COLUMBUS, Ohio — C.J. Stroud overcame a slow start to throw four second-half touchdown passes and Ohio State’s defense took advantage of six Iowa turnovers to key the Big Ten rout.
Tanner McCallister had two interceptions and Tommy Eichenberg had a pick-six as Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) took advantage of an inept Iowa offense to consistently start drives with good field position.
Miyan Williams rushed for a first-half touchdown, and Stroud threw to Marvin Harrison, Emeka Egbuka, Julian Fleming and Mitch Rossi for second-half touchdowns.
Noah Ruggles contributed four field goals.
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No. 5 Clemson 27, No. 14 Syracuse
CLEMSON, S.C. — Freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik rallied Clemson to two fourth-quarter touchdowns after replacing mistake-prone starter DJ Uiagalelei and the Tigers won their Atlantic Coast Conference-record setting 38th straight game at home.
Will Shipley ran for two touchdowns and a career-high 172 yards as the Tigers (8-0, 6-0) won their 14th straight game overall — but not without a bigtime scare from the Orange (6-1, 3-1).
Uiagalelei was picked off twice and had a fumble Ja’Had Carter returned 90 yards for a touchdown as Clemson trailed 21-10 at halftime.
The Tigers caught fire with former five-star recruit Klubnik behind center. He led a 15-play, 80-yard series that ended with Phil Mafah’s 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal to cut the deficit to 21-16.
After a Syracuse punt, the Tigers and Klubnik got going again. He started with an 11-yard run before Shipley burst through the line for the 50-yard touchdown run for a 22-21 lead. Clemson went for two, and Klubnik escaped one tackler in the backfield before finding Joseph Ngata for the final points.
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No. 10 Oregon 45, No. 9 UCLA 30
EUGENE, Ore. — Bo Nix threw for 283 yards and five touchdowns as Oregon handed UCLA its first loss of the season.
The win extended Oregon’s
winning streak at Autzen Stadium to 23 games, matching a school record. The Ducks (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) have won six straight since a season-opening loss to top-ranked reigning national champion Georgia in Atlanta and are the lone remaining undefeated team in Pac-12 play.
The loss snapped a ninegame overall winning streak for the Bruins, who have not won in Eugene since 2004. UCLA (6-1, 3-1) hasn’t defeated the Ducks since 2017.
Nix, a transfer from Auburn, has thrown for 17 touchdowns and rushed for eight this season. He completed 21 of 28 passes in this one, counting eight to Troy Franklin for 132 yards and two scores.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and Zach Charbonnet rushed for 151 yards and a score for the Bruins.
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No. 11 Oklahoma State 41, Texas 34
STILLWATER, Okla. — Spencer Sanders passed for 391 yards and two touchdowns, including the 41-yard winner to Bryson Green with just more than three minutes remaining as Oklahoma State bounced back from a double-overtime loss to TCU the previous week.
Green had five catches for a career-high 133 yards for Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-1 Big 12).
The Cowboys intercepted Quin Ewers three times, two by Jason Taylor II, the other by Kendal Daniels in the final minute to end the Longhorns’ final threat.
Bijan Robinson ran for 140 yards and a touchdown and caught a 41-yard touchdown pass for Texas (5-3, 3-2). Ewers passed for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
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No. 13 Wake Forest 43, Boston College 15
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Sam Hartman threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score as Wake Forest won its third straight game.
All of Hartman’s touchdown throws — including two each to Taylor Morin and Jahmal Banks — were to receivers already in the end zone. He completed 25 of 40 passes for 313 yards for the Demon Deacons (6-1, 2-1 ACC).
Phil Jurkovec threw for a touchdown and ran for another for Boston College (2-5, 1-4), which hasn’t defeated an opponent in the AP Top 25 since 2018.
› No. 21 Cincinnati 29, SMU 27
DALLAS — Ryan Coe kicked a school-record five field goals, including a season-long 52-yarder and Cincinnati broke up a 2-point play in the closing minutes to hold on.
Charles McClelland and Ryan Montgomery scored on runs of 76 yards and 1 yard for the Bearcats (6-1, 3-0 American Athletic Conference), who won their 19th in a row against against league opponents.
Tyler Lavine scored on a 1-yard plunge with 1:57 to pull SMU (3-4, 1-2) within two, but Preston Stone’s 2-point conversion pass intended for Roderick Daniels Jr. fell incomplete.
Stone, a redshirt freshman, replaced starter Tanner Mordecai, who left the game and the field late in the third quarter with an apparent injury.
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No. 25 Tulane 38, Memphis 28
NEW ORLEANS — Michael Pratt threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and Tyjae Spears ran for 125 yards and a score as Tulane celebrated its first AP Top 25 ranking since 1998.
The Green Wave (7-1, 4-0 AAC) scored on three of their first four possessions and took a 35-0 lead into the second half before the Tigers rallied.
Seth Henigan had 257 of his 312 passing yards in the second half for the Tigers (4-4, 2-3), finishing with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Eddie Lewis caught two touchdown passes, finishing with three receptions for 94 yards.
› Missouri 17, Vanderbilt 14
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Luther Burden III had touchdowns on the ground and through the air, Missouri kept Vanderbilt’s offense off the board until late in the fourth quarter, and the Tigers held on for a nerve-wracking SEC victory.
Mike Wright, who took over when Commodores quarterback AJ Swann left with an illness, found Gamarian Carter for an 80-yard touchdown reception with 3:59 to go, and Vanderbilt’s first offensive points in more than eight quarters gave second-year coach Clark Lea’s team a chance of ending a 24-game conference losing streak.
Vanderbilt (3-5, 0-4) got the ball back with just less than three minutes to go and got a quick first down after a penalty. But a third-down throw to Ben Bresnahan that appeared to give the Commodores a first down was moved back a yard on review, bringing up fourth-and-1, and Ray Davis was stuffed at the line of scrimmage to effectively end the game.
Brady Cook passed for 211 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Cody Schrader came off the bench to run 14 times for 84 yards as the Tigers (3-4, 1-4) beat Vanderbilt for the sixth time in the past seven meetings.