The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Clemson survives at North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Clemson stuffed North Carolina’s 2point conversion attempt with 1:17 left and the No. 1 Tigers held off the Tar Heels 2120 on Saturday.
The Tigers (50, 30 Atlantic Coast Conference) had trouble all day in trying to extend their schoolrecord winning streak to 20 games. They didn’t go ahead for good until Trevor Lawrence hit Tee Higgins on a 38yard touchdown pass with 9:54 left, then came up with the stop after the Tar Heels went for the lead instead of a tie after Javonte Williams’ short scoring run.
The Tigers strung out Sam Howell’s option run to the right, with Xavier Thomas, James Skalski and Nolan Turner combining to bring down Howell as he turned toward the goal line.
Howell tried to pitch the ball back to Dazz Newsome as he was going down, but Newsome had nowhere to go near the sideline and was pushed out of bounds to put the Tar Heels (23, 11) short and effectively clinch the win for Clemson — though it was far tougher than expected for the 27point road favorite.
The Tar Heels fell to 010 against No. 1ranked teams in The Associated Press college football poll.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 59, MISSISSIPPI 31
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tua Tagovailoa and DeVonta Smith hooked up for five touchdown passes and a few school records in Alabama’s victory over Mississippi.
The Crimson Tide (50, 20 Southeastern Conference) actually trailed for the first time this season before flexing its muscles against the 371⁄2point underdogs. The Rebels (23, 11) couldn’t even slow down Smith, who sometimes gets overshadowed in a loaded receiving group.
Smith had 11 catches for school records of 274 yards and five TDs, all by early in the third quarter. He had 221 yards by halftime, and added a 27yard score to punctuate the biggest game of any Tide receiver.
Tagovailoa passed for a schoolrecord six touchdowns and rushed for a seventh.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 55, TEXAS 15
NORMAN, Okla. — Jalen Hurts passed for a careerhigh 415 yards and threw three touchdown passes in Oklahoma’s victory over Texas Tech.
Hurts also ran for 70 yards and another score for the Sooners (40, 10 Big 12). The senior transfer from Alabama had 485 yards of total offense, the eighthmost in school history.
CeeDee Lamb had career highs of 185 yards receiving and three touchdowns, Charleston Rambo had 122 yards receiving on just two catches and Trey Sermon ran for 76 yards and two scores for Oklahoma.
NO. 8 WISCONSIN 24, NORTHWESTERN 15
MADISON, Wis. — Jonathan Taylor ran for 119 yards and his 11th touchdown of the season and Wisconsin got two scores from its defense.
Taylor carried 26 times to help Wisconsin (40, 20 Big Ten) avenge its 3117 loss to the Wildcats last season. The junior reached 100 yards rushing for the 26th time in 31 career games and moved into fourth place on the Badgers’ career rushing list (4,730).
NO. 9 FLORIDA 38, TOWSON 0
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kyle Trask threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, helping Florida beat lowerdivision Towson for its ninth straight victory.
Trask completed 15 consecutive passes to open the game, giving him 18 straight completions and breaking Chris Leak’s mark (17) set against Wyoming in 2005.
NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 35, NO. 18 VIRGINIA 20
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Julian Okwara had three sacks of Notre Dame’s eight sacks and caused a fumble that was returned for a touchdown as the Fighting Irish overcame a halftime deficit to beat Virginia.
The Fighting Irish (31), coming off a 2314 loss at No. 3 Georgia, trailed 1714 at the break and then had the Cavaliers (41) complete a successful onside kick to open the second half. The Notre Dame defense held, setting the tone for the second half.
NO. 14 IOWA 48, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 3
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Nate Stanley threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns, Toren Young added a careerhigh 131 yards rushing and Iowa improved to 40 for the third time in 10 years.
NO. 20 MICHIGAN 52, RUTGERS 0
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Shea Patterson accounted for three touchdowns in the first half and ran for a fourth score in the third quarter for Michigan to rout Rutgers 520 on Saturday.
NO. 23 TEXAS A&M 31, ARKANSAS 27
ARLINGTON, Texas — Quartney Davis caught two of Kellen Mond’s three touchdown passes, including the goahead score Texas A&M.
NO. 25 MICHIGAN STATE 40, INDIANA 31
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Matt Coghlin made a tiebreaking 21yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining to help Michigan State beat Indiana.