No. 2 Miami is stunned
After the 24-14 setback against Pitt, the Hurricanes will have trouble making the College Football Playoff.
Miami’s perfect season is over. The Hurricanes can only hope their shot at a spot in the College Football Playoff isn’t gone too.
Freshman Kenny Pickett ran for two touchdowns and threw for another and Pittsburgh stunned No. 2 Miami 24-14 on Friday, ending the Hurricanes’ nation-best winning streak at 15 games.
“I still think there’s an awful lot to play for,” Miami coach Mark Richt said. “We have no idea what’s going to happen in the big picture, how many teams lost a game on a Friday and came back and got in the top four? How many teams lost one game and won a conference championship and got right back in it? Who knows? So we don’t know.”
Pickett bulled over from six yards in the first half, flipped a five-yard shovel pass to Qadree Ollison in the third quarter to put the host Panthers up 10 and gave Pitt (5-7, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) all the cushion it would need with a 22-yard fourthdown sprint to the end zone with 2:54 remaining.
Pickett completed 18 of 29 passes for 193 yards and the one score while adding 60 yards rushing in his first start as Pitt finished a disappointing season.
Malik Rosier completed 15 of 34 for 187 yards and two scores but was ineffective for most of the day, even briefly getting replaced by backup Evan Schirreffs in the fourth quarter.
The Hurricanes (10-1, 7-1) were held to a season-low 229 yards. The Coastal Division champions will face No. 4 Clemson in the conference championship game next Saturday.
at No. 15 Central Florida 49, South Florida 42: Mike Hughes returned a kickoff 95 yards for the final touchdown with 1:28 remaining as the Knights completed the first unbeaten regular season in program history to clinch the American Athletic Conference’s East Division title. Central Florida (11-0, 8-0 AAC) will host Memphis in the conference title game on Dec. 2.
Hughes’ touchdown capped a crazy 53-second span where the Knights took an eight-point lead, South Florida tied it and then the Knights took the lead for good. The Bulls (9-2, 6-2) tied it at 42 when Quinton Flowers connected with Darnel Salomon for an 83-yard touchdown, and then found D’Ernest Johnson for a twopoint play. Flowers finished with 605 yards of total offense, including a career-high 503 yards passing.
On the ensuing kickoff, Hughes found an opening on the right side and scored.
at No. 12 Texas Christian 45, Baylor 22: Kenny Hill threw touchdown passes to three receivers and ran three yards for another score to help TCU wrap up a spot in the Big 12 championship game.
The Horned Frogs (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) will play No. 3 Oklahoma for the Big 12 title on Dec. 2. That will come three weeks after TCU’s 38-20 loss to the Sooners.
TCU coach Gary Patterson signed a contract extension through the 2023 season.
Defensive end Mat Boesen set a TCU record with 51⁄2 of the Horned Frogs’ eight sacks.
Hill completed 26 of 36 passes for 325 yards, including touchdown passes to Desmon White and Jalen Reagor in the third quarter, a week after he didn’t even travel to Texas Tech because of an apparent concussion.
Iowa 56, at Nebraska 14: Akrum Wadley ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns and the Hawkeyes scored 28 points in less than a sevenminute span over the halves on their way to a rout in what could have been coach Mike Riley’s last game with the Cornhuskers.
Missouri 48, at Arkansas 45: Missouri’s Drew Lock threw for 448 yards and five touchdowns and the Razorbacks fired coach Bret Bielema after five disappointing seasons, moments after the game. The loss left Arkansas with a 4-8 record, capping only the second losing season of Bielema’s 12-year career. It also left him with a 29-34 record in his five seasons with the Razorbacks, including 1129 in the Southeastern Conference.
at San Diego State 35, New Mexico 10: Snubbed earlier in the week by the Doak Walker Award selection committee, Rashaad Penny ran 22 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns in his final regular-season game to crack the 2,000-yard mark and lead the Aztecs to an easy victory.
No. 25 Virginia Tech 10, at Virginia 0: Josh Jackson threw a touchdown pass and the Hokies beat the Cavaliers for the 14th consecutive time.
Texas Tech 23, at Texas 20: Cameron Batson caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Nic Shimonek with 1:47 to go as the Red Raiders rallied.