San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
HARRIS HELPS ALABAMA PASS TEST AGAINST OLE MISS
Najee Harris ran for 206 yards and five touchdowns and No. 2 Alabama beat host Mississippi and former Crimson Tide assistant Lane Kiffin 63-48 on Saturday night in the highest-scoring Southeastern Conference regulation game ever.
Matt Corral passed for 365 yards for Ole Miss (1-2) and the Rebels put up 647 yards on the Tide. The teams combined for an Sec-record 1,370 yards.
Alabama and Ole Miss traded touchdowns for much of the night, but with the Tide (3-0) leading 4942 the Rebels misfired in Alabama territory and had to settle for a field goal. That was as good as a stop in this game. Tide receiver Devonta Smith went 14 yards for a touchdown run to make it 56-45 with 3:16 left.
After another Ole Miss field goal, Alabama recovered an onside kick and Harris busted a 39-yard touchdown run moments later to seal it.
Alabama trailed 14-7 in the second quarter and then scored touchdowns on eight straight possessions on drives of 72, 75, 85, 52, 72, 44, 90 and 44 yards.
Kiffin, who was offensive coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama from 2014-16, became the latest former Saban assistant to come up short against the old boss.
Saban improved to 21-0 against his former assistants.
But Kiffin’s offense made the Tide work hard. The Rebels got nearly 250 yards rushing and four touchdowns from Snoop Conner (128 yards) and Jerrion Ealy (120).
“It’s a good win,” he said. “It’s a big win but they’re all big wins.”
No. 1 Clemson 42, No. 7 Miami 17: Trevor Lawrence threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another as host Clemson (3-0 ACC) proved once more who’s boss in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a beatdown of visiting Miami (3-1, 2-1).
No. 3 Georgia 44, No. 14 Tennessee 21: Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score and host Georgia (3-0, 3-0 SEC) bounced back from a goal-line stand by Tennessee (2-1, 2-1) on the final play of the first half, dominating the final 30 minutes.
No. 21 Texas A&M 41, No. 4 Florida 38: Isaiah Spiller ran for 174 yards and two touchdowns and host Texas A&M (2-1, 2-1 SEC) beat Florida (2-1, 2-1) on Seth Small’s 26-yard field goal as time expired.
Spiller helped get the Aggies get into position for Small’s decisive kick, giving Jimbo Fisher his first win over a top-five team since taking over as Texas A&M coach.
Kellen Mond threw a 51-yard pass to Caleb Chapman for a tying TD with about 4 minutes to go. The Gators were driving when Buddy Johnson forced a fumble by Malik Davis, and it was recovered by Demarvin Leal to set up the field goal.
Mond passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Kyle Trask had 312 yards passing and four TDS for Gators.
No. 5 Notre Dame 42, Florida
State 26: Kyren Williams ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns and safety Shaun Crawford helped thwart a potential rally with a goalline interception in Notre Dame’s (3-0, 2-0 ACC) victory over visiting Florida State (1-3, 0-3).
No. 13 Auburn 30, Arkansas 28: Anders Carlson made the most of his second chance, hitting a 39yard field goal with 7 seconds left to lift host Auburn (2-1, 2-1 SEC) past Arkansas (1-1, 1-1 SEC).
No. 15 BYU 27, USTA 20: Zach Wilson threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Allgeier ran for 116 yards and another score to lead BYU (4-0) past visiting UTSA (3-2).
Missouri 45, No. 17 LSU 41: Connor Bazelak threw for 406 yards and four touchdowns, and the maligned defense of Missouri (1-2. 1-2 SEC) stopped LSU (1-2, 1-2) four times at the 1-yard line in the final minute in a shootout moved from Baton Rouge because of Hurricane Delta.
No. 24 Iowa State 31, Texas Tech 15: Brock Purdy passed for 302 yards and two touchdowns, Breece Hall ran for 135 yards and two scores and host Iowa State (3-1, 3-0 Big 12) beat Texas Tech (1-3, 0-3).
Navy 31, Temple 29: Nelson Smith scored two touchdowns, Bijan Nichols kicked a critical 50yard field goal and Terrell Adams denied a 2-point conversion attempt in the final minute as Navy (2-2, 2-0 American) defeated visiting Temple (0-1, 0-1). With the 4,400-strong Brigade of Midshipmen in attendance for the first time this season, Navy scored first and led thereafter in giving Ken Niumatalolo his 100th career win, all at the academy.