Ohio State wins the Big Ten title game.
INDIANAPOLIS — Dwayne Haskins added five more touchdown passes to his single-season record Saturday and No. 6 Ohio State relied on its staunch defense to hold off a second-half charge from No. 21 Northwestern for a 45-24 victory to claim its second straight Big Ten championship.
The Buckeyes (12-1, 9-1 Big Ten, No. 6 CFP) won their third title in five years and their fifth consecutive game — but it’s unlikely to get the Buckeyes into the four-team College Football Playoff.
Haskins finished 34 of 41 with 499 yards and one interception. It’s the fifth time he topped 400 yards this season.
Clayton Thorson went 27 of 44 with 267 yards, one TD and two interceptions as he helped Northwestern trim a 24-7 halftime deficit to 24-21 midway through the third quarter. The Wildcats (8-5, 8-2) couldn’t get any closer, though, as they lost only their second conference contest in their last 17 league games.
It still turned out to be a more intriguing game than many expected, especially after the Buckeyes’ fast start.
Haskins eluded a couple of defenders on third-and-11, buying just enough time to find Terry McLaurin for a 16-yard TD pass on the game’s opening possession.
Northwestern tied the score when little-used running back John Moten IV outran Ohio State’s defense for a 77-yard scoring run. It matched Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins for the secondlongest run in title game history. Dobbins had a 77-yard run in last year’s title game.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP NO. 5 OKLAHOMA 39, NO. 9 TEXAS 27
In Arlington, Texas, Kyler Murray threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns and Oklahoma beat Texas in the Big 12 championship game, with the Sooners avenging their only loss and making their case for a return to the College Football Playoff.
Murray, the Heisman Trophycontending dual-threat quarterback, threw two TD passes to Grant Calcaterra. That included an impressive 18-yard score on a third-and-10 play with two minutes left as the Sooners (12-1, No. 5 CFP) won their seventh consecutive game despite being held to fewer than 40 points for the first time in nine games.
Sam Ehlinger was 23-of-36 passing for 349 yards with two touchdowns, and ran for two scores for Texas (9-4), but his final pass was picked off by Tre Norwood at the 1 in the final minute.
Oklahoma is the first Power Five team to win four consecutive outright conference titles since Florida in the SEC in the mid-1990s.
The Sooners went ahead to stay on Austin Seibert’s third field goal, a 31-yarder with 12:37 left that was good after ricocheting off the top of the left upright to make it 30-27.
Two plays after Oklahoma’s only turnover, when receiver CeeDee Lamb fumbled inside the 10 after a 54-yard catch-and-run with nine minutes left, the Sooners got points anyway. Cornerback Tre Brown sacked Ehlinger in the end zone for a safety.
AAC CHAMPIONSHIP NO. 7 UCF 56, MEMPHIS 41
In Orlando, Fla., Darriel Mack shrugged off two early turnovers to rush for three second-half touchdowns and rally UCF past Memphis in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
With the red-shirt freshman filling in for injured McKenzie Milton, the Knights (12-0, No. 8 CFP) won their second straight league title and extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 25 games.
Mack also threw for 348 yards and two TDs without an interception.
Greg McCrae ran for 206 yards and a TD for the Knights, who beat the Tigers 62-55 in the 2017 AAC title game and rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to win 31-30 at Memphis in the regular season.
NO. 24 IOWA STATE 27, DRAKE 24
In Ames, Iowa, David Montgomery ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns and Iowa State barely survived a near-upset by nonscholarship FCS school Drake.
Brock Purdy had 153 yards passing and a TD for the Cyclones (8-4), who fought through persistent rain and a sloppy field to win their sixth straight home game, tying a school record.
The Bulldogs (7-4) forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions to open the second half. They turned the second one, a pick of Kyle Kempt’s pass, into a 19-yard TD pass from Grant Kraemer to Devin Cates and a 24-20 lead in the third quarter. Iowa State responded with a 7-yard touchdown reception by Deshaunte Jones to jump back on top, and Spencer Benton and JaQuan Bailey came up with sacks to force Drake punts. Montgomery’s 2-yard run on a third-down-and-1 with 1:26 left sealed it.