TOP 25 ROUNDUP
NO. 2 CLEMSON 28, WAKE FOREST 14
CLEMSON, S.C. - Kelly Bryant threw for 200 yards and a touchdown before leaving with an ankle injury and Clemson beat Wake Forest to reach to 6-0 for a third straight season.
There was no immediate word on the severity of Bryant’s injury. He left in the third quarter after Travis Etienne’s 1-yard touchdown run put Clemson ahead 21-0. Trainers looked at Bryant’s ankle and took him into the sideline medical tent. Bryant tested his legs with a few short jogs once he came out and remained on the sidelines with teammates. Bryant did not re-enter the game as Clemson (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Demon Deacons (4-2, 1-2) for a ninth straight time.
NO. 5 GEORGIA 45, VANDERBILT 14
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nick Chubb ran for two touchdowns and 138 yards, and Georgia routed Vanderbilt despite missing three players from the Bulldogs’ stingy defense.
Georgia (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) is off to its best start since 2005 when the Bulldogs won their first seven games and longest winning streak since reaching the SEC championship in 2012. The Bulldogs also avenged a 17-16 loss to Vanderbilt last year by beating the Commodores for the 20th time in the past 23 games in this series.
NO. 8 TCU 31, NO. 23 WEST VIRGINIA 24
FORT WORTH, Texas - Kenny Hill avoided a defender in the backfield and lunged forward through two more for a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:53 left and TCU remained the Big 12’s only undefeated team.
Hill also threw a 45-yard touchdown pass and was on the receiving end of a 48-yard score for the Frogs (5-0, 2-0). His winning TD run came only five plays after an apparent interception was reversed on a replay review.
Will Grier threw for 366 yards and three TDs for West Virginia (3-2, 1-1), including two long catch-and-run scores in a span of about 2 1/2 minutes late in the third quarter. It was tied at 24 after Grier hooked up with David Sills V on a 64-yard scoring play and then Ka’Raun White for a 76-yarder.
After those two long West Virginia TDs, the Frogs used a little trickery to go ahead again. KaVontae Turpin took a handoff and swept to the right before stopping and throwing back to Hill, who sprinted down the left sideline for the score.
West Virginia got even at 31 on Sills’ 4-yard TD catch with 9:50 left, a nice reaching grab in the back of the end zone. He had seven catches for 116 yards and now has nine TD catches this season.
NO. 10 OHIO STATE 62, MARYLAND 14
COLUMBUS, Ohio - J.T. Barrett threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in the first half, and Ohio State had its most dominant defensive effort in nearly 60 years.
The stingy Buckeyes (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten) held Maryland (3-2, 1-1) to 66 total yards — their fewest yards allowed since yielding 60 against Indiana in 1960.
Barrett, a fifth-year senior and holder of most of the school’s passing records, was 20 for 31 for 261 yards before taking a seat near end of the third quarter. Barrett threw scoring passes to Binjimen Victor, Austin Mack and Terry McLaurin.
NO. 12 AUBURN 44, MISSISSIPPI 23
AUBURN, Ala. - Kerryon Johnson rushed for a career-high 204 yards and three touchdowns for Auburn.
Johnson and the Tigers (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) continued a recent tear with their third straight lopsided win over a league team. Johnson, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, has 11 touchdown runs during that hot streak after missing two games with a right hamstring injury.
Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham completed 14 of 21 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. That included a screen pass which Ryan Davis took 75 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, the Tigers’ longest offensive play of the season.
NO. 13 MIAMI 24, FLORIDA STATE 20
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Malik Rosier threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Langham with 6 seconds remaining and Miami beat Florida State to end a seven-game losing streak in the series.
Rosier, who came into the game leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in passing efficiency, had a rough start as he completed only four of his first 16 passes. The junior found a rhythm in the second half and finished 19 of 44 for 254 yards and three touchdowns.
After Florida State (1-3, 1-2) took a 20-17 lead with 1:24 remaining on James Blackman’ 20-yard pass to Auden Tate, Rosier drove Miami (4-0, 2-0) 75 yards in nine plays and 1:18. The junior found Langham in single coverage up the right sideline and he beat Tarvarus McFadden.
Blackman, who was 8 of 18 for 61 yards and two interceptions in the first three quarters, was 9 of 10 for 142 yards over the final 15 minutes. Cam Akers had his first 100-yard rushing game with 129 yards on 14 carries. Florida State is 1-3 for the first time since 1976, which was Bobby Bowden’s first season, and has dropped consecutive home games for the first time since 2009. It also is the first time since 1974 that the Seminoles have dropped their first two home games of a season.
LSU 17, NO. 21 FLORIDA 16
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Danny Etling threw a short touchdown pass in the second half and LSU rebounded from a stunning home loss to beat Florida.
The Tigers (4-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) moved the ball well early with jet sweeps and then pounded it between the tackles late, doing just enough to upend the Gators (3-2, 3-1).
The difference was Florida’s usually stout kicking game. Eddy Pineiro missed the first extra point of his career in the third quarter and never got a chance to atone for it. He had made 45 in a row.