Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sooners survive
Spencer rattler threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Drake Stoops in the fourth overtime as Oklahoma survived a late rally from no. 22 texas in regulation to win 53-45.
OKLAHOMA 53, NO. 22 TEXAS 45, 4OT
DALLAS — Benched early and celebrating late, Spencer Rattler had quite the first experience in a most unusual version of the Red River rivalry.
The Oklahoma freshman threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Drake Stoops in the fourth overtime as the Sooners survived a late rally from No. 22 Texas in regulation for a 53-45 victory Saturday.
Rattler sat most of the second quarter in favor of Tanner Mordecai after an interception and a fumble, but came back with two of his three scoring passes in overtime as the Sooners (2-2, 1-2 Big 12) bounced back from their first back-to-back losses in the regular season since 1999.
“I thought Spencer did some good things early, then had a couple plays that I didn’t like,” Coach Lincoln Riley said. “I felt like Tanner would go play well. I also felt like it would help Spencer step back for a second and kind of see the whole thing a little bit and settle down, and I think that happened.”
So much about one of college football’s most unique settings was different because the pandemic reduced the crowd to 24,000 at the 93,000-seat Cotton Bowl and shut down the surrounding Texas state fair for the first time since World War II.
The dramatic ending was quite familiar, even if it was the first time since 1999 that neither team was ranked in the Top 20. It was just the second four-OT game in 25 seasons of the Big 12, joining Kansas State’s 53-50 victory over Texas A&M in 2011.
Sam Ehlinger, who had a career-high four rushing touchdowns, threw two TD passes in the final 3:28 of regulation after what appeared to be a game-sealing interception by Woodi Washington with the Sooners leading 31-17 with five minutes remaining.
But Ehlinger’s final pass was intercepted in the end zone by Tre Brown after Rattler’s toss to former OU coach Bob Stoops’ son, leaving the senior with a 1-4 record against his biggest rival, including a loss in the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game.
The Longhorns (2-2, 1-2) also left themselves little hope of playing for a Big 12 title, much less being part of the College Football Playoff conversation.
“We showed the football team we are there at the end when we stay out of our own way, without penalties, a lot of different things, mistakes that are self-inflicted,” said Ehlinger, who threw 53 passes and had 23 carries for a career-high 112 yards. “It’s unfortunate. We’ve got to get better.”
NO. 1 CLEMSON 42, NO. 7 MIAMI 17
CLEMSON, S.C. — Trevor Lawrence threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another as No. 1 Clemson proved once more who’s boss in the ACC with a beatdown of seventh-ranked Miami.
Travis Etienne rushed for 149 yards and two scores, including a 72-yard burst down the left sidelines as the Tigers opened 4-0 for a sixth consecutive season.
This is was billed as an ACC showdown where the Hurricanes (3-1, 2-1) could prove the swagger had truly returned to “The U.”
Instead, Miami’s offense was suffocated by the Tigers (3-0) and held without an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter.
Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King came in alongside Lawrence as the ACC’s dominant, dynamic playmakers. The Houston transfer, though, was swarmed by Clemson all game and completed just 12 of 28 passes for 121 yards and his first 2 interceptions of the season.
NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 42, FLORIDA STATE 26
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Kyren Williams ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns and safety Shaun Crawford helped thwart a potential Florida State rally with a goalline interception in No. 5 Notre Dame’s victory.
Williams fumbled at his own 32 on the second play from scrimmage, then riddled Florida State the rest of the way, picking up 130 yards and both his TDs by halftime as the Fighting Irish (3-0, 2-0 ACC) took a 35-20 lead.
Ian Book completed 16 of 25 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 58 yards and another score.
With Notre Dame leading 42-26, the Seminoles (1-3, 0-3) drove 73 yards to the 5, but Crawford picked off Jordan Travis’ pass with 8:21 left.
NO. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 56, NO. 19 VIRGINIA TECH 45
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Michael Carter ran for a career-high 214 yards and two touchdowns — including a 62-yarder midway through the fourth quarter — for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels (3-0, 3-0 ACC) leaned on a dominating running game. Javonte Williams also ran for a career-best 169 yards and two scores, with both backs finding gaping lanes and weaving through defenders to keep the chains moving on the way to 399 yards on the ground.
Throw in Sam Howell’s three touchdown passes, and North Carolina finished with its highest scoring output ever against the Hokies along with 656 total yards.
Khalil Herbert ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns for Virginia Tech (2-1, 2-1).
NO. 15 BRIGHAM YOUNG 27, TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO 20
PROVO, Utah — Zach Wilson threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns, and Tyler Allgeier ran for 116 yards and another score to lead Brigham Young past Texas-San Antonio.
The Cougars (4-0) equaled their best start since 2014 while rolling up 472 yards. Allgeier posted his second 100yard game of his career to help rescue an inconsistent BYU offense.
Lowell Narcisse threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns for UTSA (3-2).
NO. 24 IOWA STATE 31, TEXAS TECH 15
AMES, Iowa — Brock Purdy passed for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns, Breece Hall ran for 135 yards and 2 scores and Iowa State beat Texas Tech.
The Cyclones (3-1, 3-0 Big 12) opened conference play with three consecutive wins for the first time since 2002 and only the second time since 1950.
The Cyclones rolled up 516 yards of offense and held Texas Tech (1-3, 0-3) under 100 yards until early in the fourth quarter.