Alabama rolls; Vandy’s Fuller makes history with PAT
Alabama has been the dominant program in college football for more than a decade and Arkansas coach Sam Pittman has been coaching in the Southeastern Conference almost all of it. After the top-ranked Crimson Tide buried Pittman’s Razorbacks 52-3 on Saturday, the veteran coach said he believes the Crimson Tide has never been better.
“On tape, it’s the best Alabama team I’ve seen,” said Pittman, a longtime assistant at Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia in his first season has head coach. “(Alabama coach Nick Saban) is going to hate me for saying that. I think he calls that rat poison. But that’s how I believe. That’s the best squad I’ve seen.
They’re hard to stop.”
DeVonta Smith returned a punt 84 yards for a touchdown as visiting Alabama scored 28 points in a span of 11 minutes in the first half .
After the teams traded field goals, Smith started the Crimson Tide (10-0, CFP No. 1) barrage. Najee Harris scored consecutive touchdowns just 14 seconds apart and a final plunge from 1 yard by Brian Robinson Jr. had Alabama in cruising toward the SEC championship game next week against No. 6 Florida.
Alabama allowed 188 yards and kept Arkansas (3-7) from registering a first down for seven straight possessions from the first quarter to the third.
A No. 9 Georgia 49, No. 25 Missouri 14: JT Daniels threw three touchdown passes, two of them to George Pickens as the Bulldogs broke away from the host Tigers. Zamir White ran for 126 yards and a score while Georgia (7-2) dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Missouri (5-4) managed just 200 yards of offense after topping the 600yard mark each of the past two weeks.
A No. 11 Coastal Carolina 42, Troy 38: Jaivon Heiligh caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Grayson McCall with 45 seconds left and the Chanticleers (11-0, 8-0 Sun Belt Conference) preserved their first perfect regular season by beating the host Trojans (5-6, 34).
A No. 15 Northwestern 28, Illinois 10: Cam Porter ran for a career-high 142 yards and two touchdowns, Evan Hull added a seasonbest 149 yards on the ground, and the host Wildcats (6-1, 6-1, No. 14 CFP) tuned up for the Big Ten championship game by beating the Illini (2-5, 2-5).
A No. 19 Iowa 28, No. 25 Wisconsin 7: Spencer Petras threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns to Ihmir SmithMarsette to lead the host Hawkeyes (6-2 Big Ten) past the Badgers (2-3) for theirsixth win in a row.
A Utah 38, No. 21 Colorado 21: Ty Jordan scored twice, including a gamesealing 66-yard TD burst, and the Utes’ (2-2, 2-2 Pac-12) revamped defense forced three turnovers to help rally past the host Buffaloes(4-1, 3-1, No. 21 CFP), thwarting Colorado’s Pac-12 title hopes.
A No. 22 Oklahoma State 42, Baylor 3: Dillon Stoner had eight catches for 247 yards with three first-half touchdowns, freshman running back Dominic Richardson ran for 169 yards with three scores and the visiting Cowboys (7-3, 6-3 Big 12) won their regular season finale against the undermanned Bears. Baylor (2-7, 2-7 Big 12) played two days after their football facility was temporarily closed because of COVID-19 issues. Because of injuries and COVID-19, either positive tests or contact tracing, the Bears had 47 people — players, coaches and support personnel — that were unavailable for the game. This was the makeup of a game postponed Oct. 17. ... Cowboys’ redshirt junior running back Chuba Hubbard, who had missed the previous two games with a right ankle injury, will opt out of the rest of the season to prepare for the NFL draft. He rushed for 3,459 yards and 33 TDs in his career.
A No. 24 Buffalo 56, Akron 7: Jaret Patterson ran for 105 yards and matched a major-college football record by reaching 1,000 yards for the season in five games as the host Bulls
(5-0) routed the Zips (1-5) as a tune-up for the Mid-American Conference championship. Patterson scored two touchdowns before halftime, bringing his season totals to 1,025 yards and 18 rushing TDs for the Bulls. He is the 12th player in FBS history to surpass 1,000 yards in as many games. Kevin Marks Jr. led the Bulls with a career-high 175 yards and two touchdowns.
ARMY’S DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN NAVY
Tyhier Tyler scored on a 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter, the Army defense stoned Navy with a goal-line stand in the third, and the Black Knights beat their archrival 15-0 at fogshrouded Michie Stadium West Point, New York.
It was the first meeting between the teams at West Point since 1943. The game was moved to Michie Stadium from its customary site in Philadelphia because COVID-19 regulations in Pennsylvania would not have allowed the Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen to attend.
The Black Knights (8-2) posted their first shutout in the series since a 27-0 victory in 1969 and have won four of five against Navy (3-7). They had lost all three games played previously at West Point to the Midshipmen, including 13-0 in 1943 during World War II. Navy still leads the series 61-53-7.
FSU CRUSHES DUKE
A Florida State 56, Duke 35: Jashaun Corbin ran for three touchdowns while Jordan Travis threw for two TDs and ran for another as the host Seminoles (3-6, 2-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a three-game skid and beat the Blue Devils.
Travis threw for 192 yards and two TD passes to Ja’Khi Douglas, as Florida State won following a 28-day layoff that was prompted by two game postponements and a rescheduled matchup with Duke (2-9, 1-9).
The Seminoles are 21-0 in the all-time series vs. Duke.
Corbin had 16 carries for 72 yards and two of his three touchdowns came out of the wildcat formation. Florida State ran for 324 yards on 43 carries.
ELSEWHERE
A Vanderbilt: Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power Five conference football game by kicking an extra point for the Commodores. The goalkeeper for Vanderbilt’s Southeastern Conference women’s soccer champs didn’t get a chance on the Commodores’ first two drives against in-state rival Tennessee. But the Commodores drove late in the first quarter, running for a first down on fourth-and-1. On the next play, Ken Seals threw an 18-yard pass to Cam Johnson for a touchdown. Fuller came out for the extra point, which tied the game at 7 with 1:50 left in the first quarter. The 6-foot-2 senior ran off the field with a big smile with her family in the stands all with their arms up in the air. An official gave Fuller the ball on the sideline.
A Texas: Texas ended widespread speculation about coach Tom Herman’s future, announcing Saturday he will return in 2021 for his fifth season in Austin.
A Arizona: Head coach Kevin Sumlin was fired less than 24 hours after a 70-7 blowout loss to rival Arizona State that extended a record losing streak to 12 games over two seasons.
A Cal- Washington St., ppd: California’s game at Washington State was canceled less than two hours before kickoff Saturday because of a case of COVID-19 on the Cal team, the Pac-12 said. It’s the third Washington State game that has been postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.