Chanticleers stay perfect on the season
Backup quarterback Fred Payton three three touchdown passes and No. 25 Coastal Carolinawon its first game as a ranked team with a 28-14 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday.
The Chanticleers (5-0, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference) played without starting passer Grayson McCall, who had an upper body injury.
Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell said the team prepared allweek as if Paytonwould get the start, butwanted to see how McCall felt on gameday for a final decisionwas made.
Payton was more than ready to lead the newly ranked team.
“I was a backup quarterback” Chadwell said. “You’re great when you’re not going in and when your number’s called, you get nervous.”
No. 2 Alabama suffers loss in win:
No. 2 Alabama lost wide receiver Jaylen Waddle for the rest of the season on the opening kickoff.
That was about the only thing that didn’t go the Crimson Tide’s way Saturday. Mac Jones threw for 387 yards and ran for a touchdown, and Najee Harris ran for three more TDs as Alabama routed Tennessee 48-17 for the 14th straight win in this rivalry. The Crimson Tide (5-0) outgained Tennessee 587-302. But playing the Vols proved costly for Alabama a second straight season. A year ago, Tua Tagovailoa hurt an ankle in the second quarter and missed the next game against Arkansas.
On Saturday, Waddle rolled his right ankle as he was tackled on the opening kickoff. He was taken by cart to the locker room, and coach Nick Saban said at halftime that Waddle will be out the rest of the year and that the junior likely will need surgery.
Wake Forest scores upset: Walk-on freshman safety Nick Anderson had three interceptions, Christian BealSmith ran for 129 yards and Nick Sciba kicked three field goals to help Wake Forest beatNo. 19VirginiaTech 23-16 on Saturday.
Anderson stopped two deep Hokies drives and the third ended their final possession. Beal-Smith set the tone for the Demon Deacons (3-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) with a 58-yard run on the game’s first series. He later added runs of 26 and 19 yards.
Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman threw only 17 times, completing 12 for 110 yards. But he scrambled 9 yards for the game’s first score.
Brooks shines for Kansas State:
Kansas State leaned on special teams to extend its winning streak over Kansas to a series-record 12 straight games.
TheWildcats’ didn’t evenblock a kick, either. Instead, it was Phillip Brooks returning a pair of punts for touchdowns, BlakeLynch hitting every kickhe attempted and an opportunistic coverage unit that pounced on a muffed punt return that spurred No. 20 Kansas State to a 55-14 victory over the Jayhawkson a cold, blustery Saturday atBill Snyder Family Stadium.
Tar Heels answer first loss: North Carolina responded to its first loss with another dominating rushing performance, along with forcing the turnovers that had largely eluded the 14th-ranked TarHeels this season.
Javonte Williams ran for 160 yards and three touchdowns to helpUNCbeat No. 23 North Carolina State 48-21 on Saturday in the first meeting with both rivals rankedin theAPTop25 since 1993.
Michael Carter ran for 106 yards and a score of his own for the Tar Heels (4-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who used a run-through-and-over-tacklers ground game that helped them take control in the third quarter.
Cowboys win ranked battle: Spencer Sanders passed for 235 yards and ran for 71 and a touchdown in his return from injury, and No. 6 Oklahoma State defeated No. 17 Iowa State 24-21 on Saturday.
Sanders had been out since injuring his right ankle in the season-opener against Tulsa. Chuba Hubbard ran for 139 yards and a touchdown for Oklahoma State (4-0, 3-0 Big 12). With the win, the Cowboys joined Kansas State as the only remaining undefeated teams in conference play.
Wasn’t easy for No. 1 Clemson: Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown passes, Travis Etienne ran for three scores and No. 1 Clemson shook off a sluggish performance to win its 27th straightAtlantic CoastConference game and put away pesky Syracuse 47-21 on Saturday.
The Tigers opened 6-0 for the sixth straight season, but it took a late burst to get it done — just like usual against Syracuse (1-5, 1-4). The Orange were the last ACC team to beat the Tigers (5-0 ACC) with a 27-24 victory in 2017. Ayear later at Death Valley, Syracuse again looked primed for the upset as it held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before Clemson’s 27-23 escape to keep its national championship season intact.