Lion hearted
Penn St. makes playoff case with comeback win
Trace McSorley threw four touchdown passes and No. 8 Penn State stunned No. 6 Wisconsin 38-31 on Saturday night in Indianapolis, overcoming a 21-point first-half deficit in the greatest comeback in Big Ten title game history.
Penn State (11-2, No. 7 CFP) won its first conference title in eight years. The Nittany Lions must wait to see if the selection committee rewards them with one of the four coveted playoff spots Sunday.
Penn State trailed 28-7 with 5:15 left in the first half, but McSorley led the Nittany Lions to touchdowns on each of its next four possessions, finally taking a 35-31 lead on an 18-yard pass to Saquon Barkley with 13:41 left.
Things looked bleak early, but McSorley repeatedly burned the nation’s No. 3 defense with long passes on a record-breaking night.
McSorley finished 22 of 31 for 384 yards. The yardage and TD passes were both Big Ten championship game records. He also broke the school’s single-season records for yards passing and touchdown passes. And he wasn’t the only one to have a memorable performance. Saeed Blacknall caught six passes, two for touchdowns, and finished with a championship-game record 155 yards.
Wisconsin (10-3, No. 6 CFP) played without starting quarterback Alex Hornibrook but still jumped to a 28-7 lead behind Corey Clement, who ran 21 times for 164 yards including a 67-yard TD run in the first quarter.
Clemson 42, Virginia Tech 35
In Orlando, Fla., Deshaun Watson bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy by passing for three touchdowns and running for two more to lead Clemson past Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Winning consecutive league titles for the first time in 28 years likely will send the Tigers (12-1, No. 3 CFP) back to the four-team College Football Playoff for the second straight year, providing Watson with an opportunity to resolve unfinished business from last January, when his team lost to Alabama in the national championship game.
The Clemson star completed 23 of 34 passes for 288 yards, including TDs of 21 and 10 yards to Jordan Leggett and 15 yards to Hunter Renfrow for a 42-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter. He also rushed for 85 yards on 17 attempts for the Tigers, who have won back-to-back ACC titles for the first time since winning three straight from 1986-88.
Watson’s counterpart, Jerod Evans, was just as impressive for Virginia Tech (9-4, No. 23 CFP). The 6-foot-3, 238-pound ran for two touchdowns and rallied the Hokies from a 21-point deficit to make it close at the end.
Alabama 54, Florida 16
In Atlanta, Alabama showed off all its weapons in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Now, the Crimson Tide (13-0, No. CFP) can expect a return trip to Atlanta for the College Football Playoff.
The nation’s No. 1 team scored off a blocked punt and an interception return before wearing down No. 15 Florida (8-4, No. 15 CFP) in the second half with a dominant running game. The result was a rout that positioned Alabama to go for its second straight national title and its fifth crown in the last nine years under coach Nick Saban.