COLLEGE FOOTBALL / TOP 25
James McCourt kicked a 39-yard field as time expired and Illinois pulled off the biggest upset of the college football season, knocking off No. 6 Wisconsin 24-23 on Saturday in Champaign, Ill. Tony Adams picked off a pass by Jack Coan for the 30 1/2-point underdog Illini (3-5, 1-3 Big Ten) at midfield with 2:33 remaining. Dre Brown’s tackle-breaking 13-yard run got Illinois to the Wisconsin 25, setting up McCourt to attempt the winner. The junior’s kick was down the middle to give coach Lovie Smith the most significant victory of his four-year tenure in Champaign. Wisconsin had not trailed this season and was looking to roll into a showdown with No. 3 Ohio State next week in Columbus. Instead, the Badgers (6-1, 4-1) blew a nine-point lead in the final 9:46 of the fourth quarter.
Joe Burrow threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns to break the LSU season record with 29. LSU (7-0, 3-0 SEC) had 415 yards of total offense and averaged 6.9 yards per play. Mississippi State (3-4, 1-3) sacked Burrows three times and regularly confounded the Tigers on third down, but LSU managed to score points on every drive of the first half and led 22-7 at the break. A pair of third-quarter touchdowns sealed the win. Burrows was 25 of 32 and again threw prolifically to Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase. Jefferson had eight catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. Chase had five catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. Racey McMath and Derrick Dillon also caught TD passes.
Trevor Lawrence overcame two early interceptions to throw three touchdown passes, Travis Etienne ran for 192 yards and a score and Clemson routed Louisville for its 22nd consecutive victory. Darien Rencher and Chez Mellusi added rushing TDs for the Tigers (7-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who missed first-quarter chances to build a big lead when Lawrence’s passes were picked off twice near the goal line. The sophomore settled down to hit Joseph Ngata and Justyn Ross with second-quarter touchdown passes for a 17-3 halftime lead. The Tigers also had six sacks and kept Louisville (4-3, 2-2) out of the end zone until Javian Hawkins’ late 3-yard run.
Jalen Hurts passed for 316 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 75 yards and two more scores for Oklahoma. Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) is unbeaten in eight games against West Virginia (34, 1-3) since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012. The Sooners have won 20 of their last 21 games. Oklahoma, which rolled up 562 yards of offense, has scored at least 34 points in 17 straight games, the second-longest such streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 1980. The Sooners didn’t score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, though; they’ve now scored a touchdown in every quarter but two this season.
Kyle Trask threw a career-high four touchdown passes, three in the fourth quarter, to help Florida bounce back from its loss at LSU. The Gators (7-1, 4-1 SEC) slogged through a soggy field from Tropical Storm Nestor for much of the game. The rallied past a South Carolina (3-4, 2-3) team looking to take down a Top 10 opponent for the second straight week after its 20-17 double-overtime win at Georgia. Instead, it was Florida, off its 42-28 defeat at LSU, that kept making plays on the way to its best start since 2015. In the final period, down 20-17, Trask faced fourth-and-3 on South Carolina’s 34 before scrambling from pressure to pick up the first down with a 9-yard pass to Kyle Pitts. Trask followed with the go-ahead 25-yard touchdown throw to Lamical Perine.
Bo Nix passed for three touchdowns and ran for another for Auburn. Nix turned a close game into a blowout by throwing two TD passes in a 22-seconds in the third quarter. Before the quick scores, Arkansas had pulled within 17-3 on Connor Limpert’s 28-yard field goal. Nix, a true freshman, hit Seth Williams down the right sideline on a 48-yard pass with 4:19 left in the third quarter, then after an Auburn interception, connected with Anthony Schwartz on a 15-yard scoring strike to give the Tigers (6-1, 3-1 SEC) some breathing room. Arkansas is 0-4 in the SEC and 2-5 overall.
Justin Herbert hit Jaylon Redd for a 5-yard touchdown with 5:10 left, the last of his four scoring passes, and Oregon overcame a 14-point deficit to beat Washington. Herbert was 24 of 38 for 280 yards. He threw TDs of 12 yards to Spencer Webb and 16 yards to Redd in the first half. The victory gave Oregon (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) complete control in the North Division. Four of the five other teams already have three conference losses, with Oregon State at 2-2 the closest to the Ducks. Jacob Eason was 23 of 30 for 289 yards and three touchdowns for Washington (5-3, 2-3).