UNC replaces Liberty in rankings
Al a b a ma b e c a me a unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press college football poll, and Northwestern moved up to No. 11 on Sunday for its best ranking in 24 years.
For the second straight week, t he t o p e i g ht teams in the poll held their spots. The Crimson Tide received all 62 firstplace votes after beating Kentucky 63-3, making Alabama the first unanimous No. 1 team in a regular season since 2018.
Notre Dame was No. 2, followed by Ohio State, Clemson and Texas A&M.
Liberty took its first loss of the season, falling 15-14 at North Carolina State, and became the only team to fall out of the Top 25. Replacing the Flames was new No. 25 North Carolina.
Late Saturday
(with last week’s rankings) No. 1 Al a b a ma 6 3, Kentucky 3
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — DeVonta Smith caught nine passes for 144 yards and set the Southeastern Conference career record with two more touchdowns in Alabama’s victory over short-handed Kentucky.
Mac Jones passed for 230 yards and two touchdowns and Najee Harris ran for a pair of scores for the Crimson Tide (7-0 SEC), both in less than three quarters. A slow start for Alabama turned into a breezy return from a three-week layoff after LSU was forced to call off last week’s scheduled game because of COVID19 troubles. The Wildcats (3-5) were missing a number of key players because of injuries or coronavirus protocol.
Smith broke Amari C o o p e r ’s SEC and Alabama record with his 32nd touchdown catch, a 10-yarder from Jones
in the second quarter. He added an 18-yarder from freshman backup Bryce Young.
No. 6 Florida 38, Vanderbilt 17
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kyle Trask passed for 383 yards and three touchdowns for Florida, becoming the first quarterback in Southeastern Conference history with 30 TD passes in seven games.
Already in uniform, the Gators (6-1, 6-1 SEC) pulled into Vanderbilt Stadium an hour before kickoff, hoping to avoid the visitors’ locker room as a coronavirus precaution. The Commodores (0-7, 0-7) opened the game by
driving for a touchdown, but Trask completed 26 of 35 passes to nine receivers.
No. 7 Cincinnati 36, UCF 33
ORLANDO, Fla. — Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores, and the Bearcats headed unbeaten into Tuesday’s release of the first College Football Playoff rankings.
The Bearcats (8-0, 6-0 American) fell behind 14-3 in the first quarter to Central Florida but recovered as Ridder passed for 338 yards and ran for 57.
Dillon Gabriel threw for 243 yards, three touchdowns and one interception as the Knights (5-3,
4-3) lost at home for the second time this season. No. 13 Georgia 31,
Miss. State 24
ATHENS, Ga. — JT Daniels made quite a debut between the hedges, throwing for 401 yards and four touchdowns for Georgia (5-2, 5-2 SEC) against Mississippi State (2-5, 2-5).
Playing for the first time since the 2019 opener with Southern California, Daniels became the third quarterback to start for Georgia (5-2, 5-2 SEC) this season.
The transfer from USC delivered one big play after another, capped by a 40-yard touchdown pass
to Kearis Jackson that broke a 24-24 tie with 9:50 remaining.
No. 18 Oklahoma 41, No. 14 Okla. State 13
NORMAN, Okla. — Spencer Rattler passed for 301 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score for the Sooners.
Rhamondre Stevenson ran for a career-high 141 yards, and Theo Wease caught two touchdown passes for the Sooners in their fifth straight victory. Oklahoma (6-2, 5-2) won its sixth straight in the series.
Iowa State leads the Big 12 with just one conference loss, and Oklahoma State (5-2, 4-2) joined
Oklahoma and Texas with two league losses in the race to qualify for the Big 12 championship game.
No. 17 Iowa State 45, Kan. State 0
AMES, Iowa — Brock Purdy passed for 236 yards and three touchdowns as Iowa State (6-2, 6-1 Big 12) posted its most lopsided win over Kansas State (4-4, 4-3) in 77 years.
Iowa State matched its school record for conference wins. The Wildcats had won 11 of the last 12 games in the series.
No. 20 USC 33, Utah 17
SALT LAKE CITY — Kedon Slovis threw for two touchdowns, and Southern California used a strong defensive performance to ruin Utah’s long-delayed opener.
Slovis completed 24 of 35 passes for 264 yards for USC (3-0, 3-0 Pac-12), but the Trojans’ defense took center stage, forcing five turnovers.
No. 2 3 Auburn 3 0, Tennessee 17
AUBURN, Ala. — Smoke Monday returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown for Auburn (5-2, 5-2 SEC), which overcame a 10-0 deficit to the Volunteers (2-5, 2-5). Bo Nix completed 17 of 26 passes for 220 yards.
Michigan 48, Rutgers 42, 3OT
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Michigan (2-3, 2-3 Big Ten) had to switch quarterbacks and go three overtimes to avoid the program’s worst start in 53 years. Rutgers (1-4, 1-4) suffered its fourth straight loss.
Hassan Haskins dove in from less than a yard on fourth down in the third overtime, and the Wolverines then stopped the Scarlet Knights’ third overtime possession to snap a threegame losing streak. Sophomore QB Cade McNamara replaced Joe Milton in the second quarter.