Penn State routed by No. 5 Michigan
Banged-up QB McSorley struggles in defeat
The Associated Press
ANN ARBOR, MICH. >> Shea Patterson accounted for three touchdowns and No. 5 Michigan put together a dominant performance on defense in a 42-7 win over No. 14 Penn State on Saturday.
The Wolverines (8-1, 6-0 Big Ten, No. 5 CFP) moved a step closer toward their goals of winning a conference championship for the first time since 2004 and earning their first spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Nittany Lions (6-3, 3-3, No. 14 CFP) scored with 1:59 left, avoiding getting shut out for the first time since 2001 against Michigan.
Karan Higdon ran for 132 yards and a score that put the Wolverines up 35-0 early in the fourth quarter.
Michigan’s defense held Penn State to 186 yards and forced three turnovers, including Tommy Stevens’ interception that was returned 62 yards by Brandon Watson for its second score in the final minute of the third quarter.
The Nittany Lions started banged-up quarterback Trace McSorley and he was 5 of 13 for 83 yards with an interception and a fumble. McSorley hurt his right knee in last week’s loss to Iowa. He shared time with Stevens, who was 3 of 4 for 35 yards. Stevens scored on an 8-yard run late in the game.
Patterson was 11 of 17 for 144 yards with two touchdown passes, a 23-yard throw to Donovan PeoplesJones in the second quarter and a 7-yard strike to Zach Gentry. He ran 11 times, often on read-option plays, for 42 yards, including a 1-yard TD midway through the first quarter. VILLANOVA 45, RICHMOND 21 >> Aaron Forbes ran for 160 yards and a first-quarter touchdown and Nowooola Awopetu returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the third quarter as Villanova earned its first Colonial Athletic Conference victory in six tries, knocking off Richmond 45-21 on Saturday.
Villanova leads the series, 22-13, but the Spiders shutout the Wildcats in the previous two meetings.
Forbes capped a nineplay, 75-yard first-quarter drive with a 19-yard run and Drew Kresge sandwiched field goals from 40and 22-yards out around Qadir Ismail’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett McClenton to put Villanova (4-5, 1-5) up 20-7 at intermission.
Awopetu returned an interception 20 yards midway through the third quarter to make it 28-14 and another 18 yards with 2:40 left for a 38-14 lead.
NO. 2 CLEMSON 77, LOUISVILLE 16 >> Travis Etienne ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns and 350-pound defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence added a 2-yard scoring burst in No. 2 Clemson’s 77-16 victory over Louisville on Saturday.
The Tigers (6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 2 CFP) improved to 9-0 for the third time in four seasons and can wrap up their fourth ACC Atlantic Division title next week at Boston College.
Trevor Lawrence threw a pair of early touchdown passes. Etienne went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark and scored his ACCleading 15th touchdown. Tavien Feaster added 101 yards rushing.
Freshman Lyn-J Dixon ran for 116 yards, the second time this season Clemson has had three runners with 100 or more yards. They finished with a season high 492 yards rushing.
Linebacker Isaiah Simmons had a pick-six, the Tigers collected five sacks, coach Dabo Swinney’s eldest son Will caught a TD pass and even “Big Dex,” a junior defensive tackle projected as a can’t-miss, NFL first-rounder got in on the fun in the Tigers’ “Fridge Package” against overmatched Louisville (2-7, 0-6).
NO. 8 OHIO STATE 36, NEBRASKA 31 >> J.K. Dobbins ran for three touchdowns and Dwayne Haskins Jr. passed for two more scores to help Ohio State beat Nebraska.
After Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to JD Spielman to pull within five with 3 minutes left, Dobbins pounded away for two first downs to run out the clock.
Before the late Nebraska score, Dobbins broke through the right side and romped for a 42-yard touchdown with 5 minutes left to give Ohio State (81, 5-1 Big Ten, No. 10 CFP) breathing room.
Dobbins rushed for a season-high 163 yards — only his second 100-yard game this season. Running back Mike Weber added 91 yards on the ground.
Martinez threw for 266 yards and touchdown and rushed for two scores for Nebraska (2-7, 1-5). PURDUE 38, NO. 19 IOWA 36 >> Spencer Evans made a 25yard field goal with 8 seconds left Saturday, giving Purdue a 38-36 upset over No. 19 Iowa and putting the Boilermakers back in the Big Ten’s West Division title hunt.
David Blough threw three touchdown passes to Terry Wright and topped the 300-yard mark for the fifth time this season.
The Boilermakers (5-4, 4-2 Big Ten) have won five of their last six and beat their third ranked team this season — the first time they’ve achieved that feat since 2003 — to move within one game of division leader Northwestern.
The Hawkeyes (6-3, 3-3) lost their second straight road game despite Nate Stanley’s big day. The junior quarterback threw for 275 yards with one TD and ran for another but the conference’s No. 2 scoring defense allowed a seasonhigh point total.
And when the Hawkeyes needed one last stop, Blough drove Purdue 43 yards to set up Evans for the winning kick.
Blough was in complete control most of the game, going 23 of 32 with two interceptions while hooking up with Wright six times for 146 yards. Wright became the first Purdue receiver with three TD catches in one game since Gary Bush in 2012.
NO. 22 SYRACUSE 41, WAKE FOREST 24 >> Eric Dungey rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown, Jarveon Howard ran for two scores and Syracuse beat Wake Forest.
Dungey — whose average of 294.1 total yards per game ranks second in the ACC — was 23 of 35 for 157 yards and also ran for a 26-yard score to help the Orange (7-2, 4-2, No. 19 CFP) win their first game as a Top 25 team since the Dwight Freeney days in 2001.
Moe Neal added an 8-yard score, Chris Elmore had a 5-yard TD run and Andre Szmyt kicked two field goals for Syracuse, which earned its first conference road victory in more than two years.
Sam Hartman was 21 of 37 for 275 yards for the Demon Deacons (4-5, 1-4) with two touchdown passes.
NO. 24 BC 31, VA. TECH 21 >> Travis Levy ran for two touchdowns and No. 24 Boston College beat Virginia Tech 31-21 on Saturday to set up a huge home game against Clemson next week for the Eagles.
BC (7-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 22 CFP) limited the Hokies to 32 yards in the third quarter and erased a 14-7 deficit with 21 unanswered points after halftime. First-place in the ACC Atlantic Division will be on the line when the second-ranked Tigers visit Boston College.
Ryan Willis threw for 281 yards with three touchdown passes for Virginia Tech (4-4, 3-2), but the Hokies lost their third straight at home for the first time since 1992. It came on a day when they could have moved into a share of first place in the Coastal Division with a victory.
Levy scored on a 29yard run midway through the third quarter to tie the game at 14, and his 1-yard run with 8:51 to play made it 28-14. In between, Anthony Brown got them the lead with a 22-yard TD pass to Korab Idrizi after an interception by Brandon Sebastian.
AUBURN 28, NO. 25 TEXAS A&M 24 >> Seth Williams caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett Stidham with 1:41 left and Auburn rallied to beat Texas A&M.
The Tigers (6-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) had a 14-point outburst over the final 5:14 and the defense came up with big stops. Stidham delivered big on both final drives.
Kellen Mond and the Aggies (5-4, 3-3) pushed the ball into Auburn territory on their final drive, converting a fourth-and-5. Then a holding call pushed them back across midfield and Mond’s desperation pass into the end zone was incomplete. Officials put a second back on the clock, and Mond was sacked by Nick Coe on the final play.