Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Fromm throws 3 TDs, Georgia beats Florida
Jeremiah Holloman, Terry Godwin and Mecole Hardman were among the first wave of Georgia players to jump into the stands.
They screamed, danced and posed for pictures, frolicking in the aftermath of a second straight victory against rival Florida in the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”
Their Jacksonville leap was a huge turnaround after their Baton Rouge flop.
Jake Fromm threw three touchdown passes, ending speculation about freshman Justin Fields supplanting him in the starting lineup, and No. 7 Georgia beat ninth-ranked Florida 36-17 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) took advantage of Florida’s three turnovers and an injury to cornerback C.J. Henderson to bounce back from a 20-point loss at LSU and beat the Gators for the fifth time in the last eight years.
“There’s no other way to say it. We had to get better all around, including myself,” Fromm said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement. We had to win this football game. Our backs were kind of against the wall, and we had to win to keep every goal we want.”
Georgia now can repeat as SEC East champions with a victory at 12th-ranked Kentucky next week.
The Bulldogs can only hope to be as efficient on third down as they were against Florida. They scored all four touchdowns on the all-important down, gutpunching the Gators (6-2, 4-2) time and time again.
“That’s seven plays on the day that’s going to make a rough day for you,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said, lumping the turnovers in with the third-down lapses. (2) CLEMSON 59, FLORIDA
STATE 10 » Trevor Lawrence threw four touchdown passes, and Clemson (8-0, 5-0 ACC) handed Florida State (4-4, 2-4) its worst home loss in program history.
Lawrence completed 20 of 37 passes for 314 yards before leaving late in the third quarter. Tee Higgins and Amari Rodgers each had two touchdown receptions.
The Tigers moved to 8-0 for the seventh time in school history, including the third time in the last four seasons.
Florida State suffered its most-lopsided defeat at home — surpassing a 58-14 loss to Southern Miss in 1981. It also was the most points allowed by the Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium. (8) OKLAHOMA 51, KANSAS
STATE 14 » Kyler Murray passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to help Oklahoma (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) beat Kansas State (3-4, 1-4).
The Sooners rolled up a season-high 702 total yards and only punted once, and that was in the fourth quarter after Murray was done for the day. (12) KENTUCKY 15, MISSOURI
14» Terry Wilson threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Conrad on the final play to lift Kentucky (7-1, 5-1 SEC) past Missouri (4-4, 1-4).
Kentucky took over on its own 19 with 1:24 left. With 4 seconds left, Wilson threw toward Ahmad Wagner in the back left corner of the end zone. Wagner caught the ball out of bounds, but Missouri cornerback DeMarkus Acy was called for pass interference, giving Kentucky an untimed down that it turned into the winning score. CALIFORNIA 12, (15) WASHINGTON 10 » Linebacker Evan Weaver scored on a 36-yard interception return in the third quarter after Washington (6-3, 4-2) made a change at quarterback, and California (5-3, 2-3 Pac-12) overcome a sluggish day offensively. NORTHWESTERN 31, (20) WISCONSIN 17 » Clayton Thorson ran for two touchdowns and threw a scoring pass to help Northwestern (5-3, 5-1 Big Ten) beat Wisconsin (53, 3-2).
The first-place Wildcats solidified themselves as contenders for the Big Ten West championship while gaining some revenge for a loss at Camp Randall Stadium early last season. HOUSTON 57, NO. 21 USF 36 » D’Eriq King had a hand in a career-high seven touchdowns, throwing for 419 yards and five scores and running for 134 yards and two more touchdowns for Houston (7-1, 4-0 American) in beating South Florida (71, 3-1).
King threw touchdown passes of 15, 38, 30, 52 and 27 yards and had scoring runs of 47 and 36 yards. He finished 28 of 41 passing.