Clemson reserve QB steps in, saves day

CLEMSON, S.C. — Should No. 3 Clemson fulfill its championship aspirations this season, prepare to hear plenty about “The Drive.”

With new starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence knocked out of the game, reserve Chase Brice — who was about sixth on the depth chart last January — guided a 94-yard, fourth-quarter scoring drive that ended with Travis Etienne’s 2-yard touchdown run with 41 seconds and gave the Tigers a 27-23 victory against Syracuse on Saturday.

“I’ll never forget this one,” Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney said. “Some might say it’s the fifth game of the year, but it’s more than that. I saw a team that didn’t quit.”

This one was hard to forget, both for the week Clemson (5-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) endured in going from having one too many starting-caliber QBs to having none by the fourth quarter to the game’s dramatic finish.

Lawrence, a 6-foot-6 fivestar freshman, supplanted senior Kelly Bryant as starter. A day later, Bryant said he was transferring and that he felt he did not get a fair shake at keeping the job.

Then in the second quarter, a shaky Lawrence took a hard hit to the head, wobbled to the sidelines and did not return.

Things looked bleak for the Tigers when Eric Dungey’s second 1-yard rushing TD put Syracuse up 23-13 with less than 13 minutes left. That’s when Clemson put together a pair of touchdown drives to stay unbeaten and avoid a second consecutive season of being upset by Syracuse.

Etienne answered Dungey’s score less than two minutes later with a 26-yard run that cut it to 23-20.

Five minutes later, Clemson embarked on what might turn out to be the season’s defining drive.

“I think I’ll remember that forever,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said.

That was apparent. Brice, a redshirt freshman with eight career passes before Saturday, completed a 20yard pass to Tee Higgins on fourth-and-6 to keep the drive going. Brice ran for 17 yards to get the Tigers inside the 20. And Etienne carried it across the goal line to send Memorial Stadium into a frenzy.

“They told us someone had to step up,” said Etienne, a sophomore who had a career-high 203 yards and three TDs. “We all decided it had to be us.”

Dungey was sacked twice by freshman Xavier Thomas on Syracuse’s final drive. The Orange (4-1, 1-1) were trying for their first 5-0 start since 1987. Dungey finished with two rushing touchdowns. He was 26 of 41 passing for 250 yards and an interception.

NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 66, BAYLOR 33

NORMAN, Okla. — Kyler Murray sat out the Sooners’ first offensive series, then came on to pass for 432 yards and six touchdowns to help No. 6 Oklahoma defeat Baylor.

Austin Kendall opened the game, but Murray entered on the second possession and played nearly flawless football. His passing touchdown total tied for second-best in school history behind Baker Mayfield’s seven against Texas Tech in 2016. The school would not say why Murray didn’t start.

NO. 12 WEST VIRGINIA 42, NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 34

LUBBOCK, Texas — Will Grier threw for 370 yards with three touchdowns, Keith Washington thwarted a rally with 51-yard interception return for a score and No. 12 West Virginia held on for a victory over No. 25 Texas Tech.

Marcus Simms had 9 catches for a career-high 138 yards — all in the first half — for his third consecutive 100yard game. The Mountaineers (4-0, 2-0 Big 12) scored 28 first-quarter points.

NO. 13 CENTRAL FLORIDA 45, PITTSBURGH 14

ORLANDO, Fla. — McKenzie Milton threw for 328 yards and 4 touchdowns and No. 13 Central Florida extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 17 games with a rout of Pittsburgh.

A week after accounting for 6 TDs in a lopsided victory over Florida Atlantic, Milton also ran for 2 scores to give the junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, 7 TDs passing and 5 rushing in his past two games.

NO. 14 MICHIGAN 20, NORTHWESTERN 17

EVANSTON, Ill. — Karan Higdon ran for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns, Shea Patterson threw 196 yards and No. 14 Michigan overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Northwestern.

Higdon gave the Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) the lead with a 5-yard run with 4:06 remaining. Higdon averaged 3.8 yards on 30 carries, and Patterson completed 15 of 24 passes to help Michigan win its fourth consecutive.

NO. 18 TEXAS 19, KANSAS STATE 14

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Sam Ehlinger threw for 207 yards and a touchdown, D’Shawn Jamison returned a punt 90 yards for another score and No. 18 Texas held off Kansas State to snap a fivegame road losing streak to the Wildcats.

Keaontay Ingram churned for a first down with less than three minutes to go, allowing the red-hot Longhorns (41, 2-0 Big 12) to run out the clock after blowing much of a 19-0 halftime lead.

NO. 21 MICHIGAN STATE 31, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 20

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State recovered after a sluggish, error-filled opening quarter, getting two Brian Lewerke touchdown runs in the second period, and then survived more mistakes en route to a victory over Central Michigan. Lewerke finished 16-for25 for 185 yards and ran eight times for 39 yards.

With starting running back LJ Scott sitting out, the No. 21 Spartans got 56 yards and a 2-yard touchdown on 13 carries from true freshman La’Darius Jefferson, his first collegiate score.