No. 6 Michigan beats No. 2 Ohio St.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Hassan Haskins scored five touchdowns and Aidan Hutchinson had three sacks, helping No. 6 Michigan finally beat No. 2 Ohio State 42-27 on Saturday to give Jim Harbaugh his first win as a coach against the Buckeyes.
The Wolverines clinched the Big Ten East and will play in the conference title game next week with playoff hopes in hand after snapping an eight-game losing streak to Ohio State.
Michigan (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten, No. 5 CFP) advanced to the conference championship for the first time. The Wolverines now have a chance to win a Big Ten title for the first time since 2004 and a national championship for the first time since 1997.
Minutes after the game, long-suffering fans filled the Big House turf to celebrate a rare win in the storied series, and they were in no rush to leave as music blared.
Ohio State had a schoolrecord winning streak in the rivalry, taking 15 of 16 to turn The Game into its game.
The Buckeyes (10-2, 8-1) blew their chances to continue their dominance with 10 penalties, many before the snap, and because they simply could not stop Michigan’s running game.
Harbaugh clearly had his team ready to beat the Buckeyes.
After Harbaugh’s pay was slashed in his new deal last winter in part because of his lack of success against the Buckeyes, he reshaped his coaching staff again and renamed a running-heavy period of practice the “Beat Ohio,” drill for to add another layer of focus on the rivalry. It seemed to work. Haskins had 169 yards rushing on 28 carries, scoring a go-ahead touchdown late in the second half and four more after halftime to pad Michigan’s lead. Blake Corum returned from a two-plus game absence to run six times for 87 yards, helping the Wolverines gain a total of 297 yards on a ground against a rival that has pushed them around for much of this century.
NO. 1 GEORGIA 45, GEORGIA TECH 0
ATLANTA — Stetson Bennett passed for 255 yards and four touchdowns, including two to tight end Brock Bowers, and Georgia finished its undefeated regular season by overwhelming Georgia Tech.
Georgia (12-0) gained momentum for next week’s much-anticipated Southeastern Conference championship game against No. 3 Alabama in Atlanta. It is the first undefeated regular season for the Bulldogs since 1982, when they capped a streak of three consecutive SEC championships with tailback Herschel Walker.
The renewal of the battle for state bragging rights was a mismatch.
Georgia, which began the day leading the nation with
its averages of 7.5 points and 236 yards allowed, posted its third shutout while giving up only 171 yards.
Bowers had a 77-yard touchdown catch, and Kenny McIntosh added a 59yard scoring run. Bowers, a freshman, also scored on a 9-yard catch. He has 10 touchdown receptions, a school record for tight ends.
Georgia Tech (3-9) finished with three wins for the third consecutive season under coach Geoff Collins, who acknowledged this week he will need to show improvement next year. The Yellow Jackets closed the season with six consecutive losses following a 3-3 start.
NO. 9 BAYLOR 27, TEXAS TECH 24
WACO, Texas — Blake Shapen threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for Baylor, and the Bears held on for a win over Texas Tech that kept alive their hopes of making the Big 12 championship game for the second time in three seasons.
Abram Smith ran for 117 yards and a touchdown for the Bears (10-2, 7-2 Big 12, CFP No. 8), who had to wait for the outcome of Saturday night’s game between No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Oklahoma. The Cowboys were already locked into their first Big 12 title game, and a win over the Sooners in Bedlam would put Baylor in next Saturday’s game with them.
Shapen hit Trestan Ebner in stride down near the 25 for a 61-yard catch-andrun score on the game’s opening drive that put Baylor ahead to stay. Shapen had a decisive 9-yard TD pass to tight end Ben Sims with 7 minutes left to immediately respond to a Tech score.
The Red Raiders (6-6, 3-6) still had one more chance after stopping Baylor on fourth down on its 12 with 1:18 and no timeouts left. They got in position for
a 53-yard field goal attempt by Jonathan Garibay, who had plenty of leg but pushed the kick wide left on the final play. Garibay had a game-ending 62yarder to beat Iowa State two week earlier.
NO. 12 MICH. ST. 30 PENN ST. 27
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Payton Thorne threw two touchdown passes and ran for another to lead No. 12 Michigan State to a victory over Penn State.
Kennett Walker III rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries as the Spartans (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) bounced back from last week’s 56-7 loss to Ohio State. Michigan State finished undefeated at home for the first time since 2015.
Sean Clifford threw three touchdown passes, two to Jahan Dotson, for the Nittany Lions (7-5, 4-5). Penn State closed out the regular season with five losses in its last seven games.
Daequan Hardy’s 27-yard interception return for a touchdown put Penn State up 20-17. Thorne’s 1-yard plunge late in the third quarter gave the Spartans a 23-20 advantage.
Thorne connected with Jayden Reed on a 20-yard scoring pass on a fourthand-15 with 5:10 left to give Michigan State some cushion.
Clifford threw to Parker Washington for a 15-yard TD in the final minute.
The Spartans scored touchdowns on their first two possessions, including a 99-yard drive, and led 17-14 at halftime.
NORTH TEXAS 45, NO. 15 UTSA 23
DENTON, Texas — UTSA’s undefeated season ended in a blowout as North Texas running backs DeAndre Torrey and Ikaika Ragsdale combined for five touchdowns in a rout of the Roadrunners.
Quarterback Frank Harris had two of UTSA’s three lost fumbles among six overall before sitting the second half at UNT’s rainsoaked
Apogee Stadium, a 10-year-old facility where a Top 25 team had never played.
UTSA (11-1, 7-1 Conference USA), which never started with more than five consecutive wins in the program’s first nine seasons, is still hosting the conference championship game Friday night against either Western Kentucky or Marshall. No. 1 Georgia and fourth-ranked Cincinnati are the remaining undefeated FBS teams.
The Roadrunners, ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense, had given up six touchdowns on the ground all season. The Mean Green (6-6, 5-3) matched that late in the third quarter of their fifth consecutive victory that followed a six-game losing streak as UNT earned bowl eligibility.
NO. 21 WAKE FOREST 41, BOSTON COLLEGE 10
BOSTON — Wake Forest earned a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, getting three passing touchdowns and one more on the ground from Sam Hartman to beat Boston College.
The Demon Deacons (10-2, 7-1 ACC) will attempt to claim their first league title since 2006 when they face No. 20 Pittsburgh on Dec. 4.
Hartman ran it in from 7 yards out midway through the first quarter and made it 14-0 on a 33-yard pass to A.T. Perry. It was 17-10 late in the second when Brandon Sebastian intercepted Hartman in the end zone, but BC went three-and out and then Wake Forest scored on Hartman’s 7-yard pass to Perry just before halftime.
BC (6-6, 2-6) ran off three straight three-and-outs — along with an interception — to start the third quarter, while Wake Forest extended its lead with a field goal and a 3-yard run by Christian Turner that made it 34-10.