LSU ambushes Auburn in second half, 27-23
BATON ROUGE, La. — D.J. Chark returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown, Connor Culp kicked clutch field goals of 42 and 36 yards inside the final three minutes, and LSU rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat No. 10 Auburn 27-23 on Saturday.
LSU’s defense improved dramatically in the second half, not allowing a point. That enabled LSU (5-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) to win with special teams play.
Russell Gage made a diving 14-yard touchdown reception and had a 70-yard run that set up another TD for LSU.
Kerryon Johnson rushed for 156 yards and a short TD for Auburn (5-2, 3-1), which had won four in a row.
Arden Key’s sack of Jarrett Stidham with 2 seconds left squelched Auburn’s last hope of an improbable comeback, sending the volume in Tiger Stadium about as high as it has been this season despite an unusual number of empty seats visible for a competitive SEC game.
After LSU quarterback Danny Etling kneeled to end it, LSU players streamed wildly onto the field and then ran toward the corner of the end zone closest to their locker room to acknowledge the school’s frenzied student section.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron, under heavy scrutiny since a lopsided loss to Mississippi State and a stunning upset against Troy, calmly shook hands with Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, who then walked away alone — save for police and camera men shadowing him — and cocked his head to the left as he appeared to ponder how his team was suddenly shut down after outscoring its previous three SEC opponents by 21 or more.
Auburn had only 64 yards of offense in the second half.
Derrius Guice rushed for 71 hard yards for LSU, including a crucial third-down conversion in which he ran through a tackler at the first-down marker, setting up the go-ahead field goal.
South Carolina 15 Tennessee 9
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Parker White made all three of his field-goal attempts, including a a tiebreaking 21-yarder with 5:17 remaining, and South Carolina produced a goal-line stand in the closing seconds.
After being completely shut down the entire second half, Tennessee’s offense reached South Carolina’s 2-yard line with nine seconds left before Jarrett Guarantano threw three straight incompletions to close the game. The game ended on a pass intended for Brandon Johnson in the right corner of the end zone.
Tennessee (3-3, 0-3 SEC) hasn’t scored a touchdown in its last 10 quarters and
settled for field goals after having firstand-goal on two separate drives in the first half.
“When you play good red-zone defense, it’s going to give you a chance to win ballgames,” South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said.
The Volunteers’ third loss in their last four games will turn up the pressure on coach Butch Jones, who already was occupying one of the hottest seats in college football.
“I think they showed their character (today) and we’ll continue to show our character in this football season,” Jones said.
White, who had been 4 of 11 on fieldgoal attempts before Saturday, made his tiebreaking 21-yarder in the fourth quarter plus a 36-yarder with 1:13 left. White also had a 47-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Ole Miss 57 Vanderbilt 35
OXFORD, Miss. — Shea Patterson threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns and Mississippi beat Vanderbilt.
Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) snapped its three-game losing streak while Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4) has now lost four straight.
Vanderbilt led 14-7 in the second quarter after Ralph Webb ran for two touchdowns, but Ole Miss responded with 28 straight points in less than seven minutes. The offensive avalanche was helped by two Vanderbilt turnovers that gave the Rebels excellent field position.
Ole Miss kept the momentum early in the third quarter, earning a safety after forcing Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur to fumble into the end zone. Less than a minute later, Patterson hit A.J. Brown for a 29-yard touchdown pass and a 44-21 lead and the game was no longer in doubt.
Brown caught eight passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. DaMarkus Lodge also caught two touchdown passes.
Shurmur threw for 174 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for the Commodores. Webb ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 7 Wisconsin 17 Purdue 9
MADISON, Wis. — Jonathan Taylor ran for 219 yards on 30 carries, including a 67-yard touchdown, and No. 7 Wisconsin relied on its stifling defense to overcome a three-turnover afternoon and beat Purdue.
Alex Hornibrook was 13 of 18 for 199 yards and a score but threw two interceptions for the Badgers, who held on to beat another division foe and take a commanding lead in the Big Ten West.
Defense saved the game for Wisconsin (6-0, 3-0).
Purdue (3-3, 1-2) drove from its 39 to the Wisconsin 10 before linebacker Leon Jacobs stepped in front of a sideline pass to Jackson Winthrop, staying inbounds for an interception with 8:14 left in the game.
No. 20 N.C. State 35 Pittsburgh 17
PITTSBURGH — Nyheim Hines ran for an 83-yard touchdown and returned a punt 92 yards for another score on his way to 249 total yards, helping North Carolina State to its sixth-straight victory.
Jaylen Samuels added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs for the Wolfpack (6-1, 4-0), who matched their best Atlantic Coast Conference start since 2002 by relying on Hines early and Samuels late.
Ryan Finley completed 14 of 25 passes for 198 yards and a 3-yard touchdown to Jakobi Meyers late in the third quarter to put N.C. State ahead to stay. Finley extended his streak of consecutive passes without an interception to 313, the second-longest in ACC history.
Ben DiNucci threw for 170 yards and a touchdown for Pitt (2-5, 0-3) before being replaced in the third quarter by freshman Kenny Pickett. Pickett completed 5 of 13 for 61 yards and ran for 18 yards in the first extended action of his career before DiNucci returned in the final minutes.
West Virginia 46 No. 24 Texas Tech 35
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —Will Grier threw four of his five touchdown passes in the second half and West Virginia overcame an 18-point deficit to get the win.
West Virginia (4-2, 2-1) beat a ranked opponent for the first time in 10 tries.
Nic Shimonek threw four first-half TD passes for Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders (4-2, 1-2) got little going after halftime and made plenty of mistakes to enable the Mountaineers to mount their comeback.
Ka’Raun White had fourth-quarter TD catches of 32 and 17 yards to give the Mountaineers their first lead, and Grier capped the scoring with an 11-yard pass to Sills with 3:23 left.
Grier completed 32 of 41 passes for
352 yards. Shimonek went 24 of 39 for
323 yards.
No. 12 Oklahoma 29 Texas 24
DALLAS — Baker Mayfield threw 59 yards to Mark Andrews for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter after Oklahoma had blown a 20-point lead, and the 12th-ranked Sooners held on to beat Texas.
Mayfield’s second TD throw of more than 50 yards came 68 seconds after freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger ran 8 yards to give the Longhorns their first lead after trailing 20-0 in the second quarter.
The win kept the College Football Playoff hopes alive for the Sooners (5-1,
2-1 Big 12) a week after a stunning home loss to Iowa State when they were ranked third with a nation-leading 14-game winning streak.
Lincoln Riley, the youngest FBS head coach at 34, topped Tom Herman in the first Texas-OU matchup since 1947 with both coaches leading their teams for the first time. Bud Wilkinson, who led the Sooners to three national titles, was the losing coach in that game.
Ehlinger, the second straight freshman to start against Oklahoma for Texas (3-3,
2-1), had to be replaced by last year’s starter, Shane Buechele, on the drive after the Sooners went back in front.
After going to the pop-up medical tent when he went down hard on his right shoulder and helmet on the Texas sideline, Ehlinger returned five plays later.
The series ended on downs, and the Sooners had to stop the Longhorns once more on a drive that started at the Texas 4 with 49 seconds left.
It finally ended on a desperation lateral play at the Texas 48, clinching a tense OU win that looked early to be a blowout but instead was the fourth straight in the series decided by seven points or fewer.
No. 6 TCU 26 Kansas State 6
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kenny Hill threw for 297 yards and ran for a touchdown, TCU’s defense shut down Kansas State’s ailing offense and the sixth-ranked Horned Frogs remained unbeaten with a weather-delayed victory over the Wildcats.
Sewo Olonilua added two short touchdown runs for the Horned Frogs (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), whose gritty defense held the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) without points both times they ventured into the red zone.
Kansas State was forced to play without quarterback Jesse Ertz, who was hurt in last week’s double-overtime loss at Texas. Sophomore backup Alex Delton got his first start and was 11 of 29 for 146 yards, struggling to run coach Bill Snyder’s complex offense against the Big 12’s best defense.
No. 11 Miami 25 Georgia Tech 24
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Darrell Langham made another miracle happen, a 28-yard catch on a tipped fourth-down ball keeping desperate Miami’s drive alive and setting up Michael Badgley’s 24-yard field goal with 4 seconds left as the 11thranked Hurricanes somehow rallied to stun Georgia Tech.
Langham — who had the winning catch to beat Florida State in the final seconds last week — pulled off a similar grab to get Miami to the Georgia Tech 15, and Badgley’s chip-shot came four snaps later as the Hurricanes (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) stretched their longest winning streak in more than a decade to
10 games.
Travis Homer rushed for 170 yards and had two scores — one rushing, one receiving for Miami, which escaped when Georgia Tech’s five-lateral attempt at a kickoff return was stopped as time expired.
Lamont Simmons ran a botched onside kick back 42 yards for a touchdown and J.J. Green scored twice for Georgia Tech
(3-2, 2-1).
No. 14 Oklahoma State 59 Baylor 16
STILLWATER, Okla. — Mason Rudolph passed for 459 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to help No. 14 Oklahoma State beat Baylor.
Rudolph guided an offense that gained a school-record 747 yards. The senior got his first career win in four tries against the Bears.
Oklahoma State’s James Washington caught six passes for 235 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for a 2-yard score. It was the second-best yardage total of his career. Marcell Ateman caught four passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, and Justice Hill ran for 117 yards and a score for the Cowboys (5-1, 2-1 Big 12).
No. 17 Michigan 27 Indiana 20, OT
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Karan Higdon ran 25 yards for a touchdown on the first play of overtime and Tyree Kinnel intercepted a fourth-down pass in the end zone on the final play, helping the Wolverines hold off Indiana.
Higdon finished with 200 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, providing most of the offense for Michigan (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) on another day when the Wolverines struggled to sustain drives. His 59-yard touchdown run with 10:25 remaining in the fourth quarter put Michigan up 20-10.
A 53-yard punt return by Indiana’s J-Shun Harris to the Michigan 20 set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Ramsey to Whop Philyor with 3:27 left that cut the lead to three. Griffin Oakes tied it for Indiana (3-3, 0-3) with a 46-yard field goal as time expired.
Indiana’s losing streak to Michigan is now 22 games, but the last two times the Wolverines have come to Bloomington it has gone to overtime. The Hoosiers have one victory (1987) against Michigan since 1967.
Memphis 30 No. 25 Navy 27
MEMPHIS — Riley Ferguson threw three touchdown passes, and Memphis took advantage of five turnovers by No.
25 Navy to hand the Midshipmen their first loss.
Navy quarterback Zach Abey ran for
146 yards for Navy (5-1, 3-1 American Athletic Conference), but the Tigers held the nation’s leading running game 100 yards under its 416-yard average. He surpassed
1,000 yards rushing this season with a 28yard run late in the fourth quarter, but was responsible for all five turnovers.
Memphis (5-1, 2-1) beat a Top-25 opponent for the third-straight time, including two this season.
Ferguson passed for 279 yards and Anthony Miller had 10 receptions for 90 yards and two TDs.