No. 10 Auburn hands No. 2 Georgia 1st loss
AUBURN, ALA. » Kerryon Johnson ran for 167 yards and caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett Stidham and No. 10 Auburn smothered No. 2 Georgia’s running game in a 40-17 victory Saturday.
The Tigers (8-2, 6-1 SEC) remained in Western Division and potentially playoff contention after snapping a three-year losing streak to one of their top rivals.
The Bulldogs (9-1, 6-1) came in with the top spot in the playoff rankings and could get a rematch if Auburn can beat No. 1 Alabama in two weeks.
The first go around wasn’t pretty for Georgia. Auburn held Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and the SEC’s top ground game to 46 yards, 233 below their season average.
Johnson ran 32 times and caught two passes for 66 yards. Stidham threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns, all of 30-plus yards.
Georgia special teams blunders helped set up three Auburn touchdowns, including a roughing the penalty flag in the first half. The Bulldogs fumbled away a punt return and had a 15-yard personal foul penalty in the third quarter when Auburn pulled away with two touchdowns.
Ryan Davis returned a punt 26 yards into Georgia territory, with the flag pushing Auburn even closer to the goal line. Then Davis took a screen pass 32 yards for a touchdown to make it 30-7. Darius Slayton made a 42-yard scoring grab earlier.
(4) CLEMSON 31, FLORIDA STATE 14 » Travis Etienne ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns, including a 1-yard burst with 3:05 left, and Clemson won the ACC Atlantic Division with a victory over Florida State.
The Tigers (9-1, 7-1, No. 4 CFP) and their dominant defense looked to have this one wrapped up when they opened a 17-0 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter. But the Seminoles (3-6, 3-5) rallied on Jacques Patrick’s 9-yard scoring run and a double flea-flicker for a 60-yard TD catch by tight end Ryan Izzo.
(6) WISCONSIN 38, NO. 25 IOWA 14 » Receiver Kendric Pryor scored twice, and Wisconsin relied on stifling defense to overcome four turnovers and Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson’s two touchdowns.
The win allowed the Badgers (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten, CFP No. 8) to clinch a trip to the league conference title game as West champions.
Credit their defense for another overpowering outing at chilly Camp Randall Stadium. Leon Jacobs recovered two fumbles — one returned for a score — and fellow linebacker T.J. Edwards had an interception for the Badgers, who shut down an Iowa offense that had overwhelmed Ohio State last week.
The Hawkeyes (6-4, 3-4, CFP No. 20) were held to 66 total yards and five first downs, including just 15 yards and one first down in the first half.
(11) OHIO STATE 48, (13) MICHIGAN STATE 3 » J.T. Barrett threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, Mike Weber ran for 162 yards and two scores and Ohio State bounced back from a deflating loss last week to rout Michigan State.
The Buckeyes (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten, CFP No. 13) scored on five of their first six possessions, led 35-3 at the half and cruised the rest of the way to claim sole possession of first place in the Big Ten East.
In a season already marked by radical highs and lows, the Buckeyes took out their frustrations on the Spartans, using a runheavy attack to dominate them on both sides of the ball.
Ohio State outgained Michigan State 524195, and a defense that was smoked by unranked Iowa in the 55-24 loss limited Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke — who threw for 445 yards last week against Penn State — to 131 yards and forced two interceptions.
(12) OKLAHOMA STATE 49, (24) IOWA STATE 42» Mason Rudolph threw for 376 yards and three touchdowns — including two in the final 5:55 — and Oklahoma State rallied to beat Iowa State and keep its Big 12 title hopes alive.
Justice Hill had 134 yards and three TD runs for the Cowboys (8-2, 5-2 Big 12, No. 15 CFP). They remained tied for second place in the league with two games to go. The top two finishers in the Big 12 will meet in the championship game in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 2.
Rudolph found Marcell Ateman for a 30yard TD pass, and Hill’s 2-point conversion run tied it at 42 with 5:55 left. The Cowboys jumped ahead 49-42 just two minutes later as Rudolph found Dillon Stoner for a 19-yard touchdown reception. The Cyclones got inside Oklahoma State’s 3-yard line with 32 seconds left, but Zeb Noland threw an interception to A.J. Green to end the game.
(14) UCF 49, UCONN 24 » Otis Anderson ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns, McKenzie Milton passed for 311 yards and Central Florida pulled away from UConn.
Anderson had a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and helped the undefeated Knights (9-0, 6-0 American Athletic Conference, CFP, No. 18) break it open with a 65-yard touchdown run, making it 35-17 with 14:11 left. The freshman bounced back nicely after he had a costly fumble in the third quarter.
David Pindell passed for 201 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a score for UConn (3-7, 2-5).
GEORGIA TECH 28, (17) VIRGINIA TECH 22» TaQuon Marshall got two long touchdown passes out of his only completions, including an 80-yarder to Ricky Jeune with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, and Ajani Kerr swatted away a fourth-pass in the end zone to preserve Georgia Tech’s upset.
In a game with several huge momentum swings, Virginia Tech rallied from a 21-9 deficit in the second half. The Hokies (7-3, 3-3 ACC) went ahead 22-21 when Greg Stroman returned an interception 24 yards for a touchdown off a terrible pass by Marshall with 7:27 left.
The Georgia Tech (5-4, 4-3) quarterback made up for his mistake just two snaps later, after the Yellow Jackets recovered a fumbled kickoff. Jeune got loose behind the secondary, hauled in the long throw and just managed to stick the ball inside the pylon before tumbling out of bounds.
(21) MICHIGAN 35, MARYLAND 10 » Brandon Peters threw two touchdown passes, Chris Evans ran for two scores and Michigan dominated Maryland in the first half.
The Wolverines (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) have won three straight. The Terrapins (4-6, 2-5) have lost five of six.
(23) WEST VIRGINIA 28, KANSAS STATE 23 » Will Grier threw for 372 yards and four TDs, Justin Crawford added 113 yards rushing and West Virginia overcame its early mistakes to hold off Kansas State (5-3, 3-4).
Ka’Raun White had eight catches for 168 yards and two scores, and David Sills V also had a pair of TD catches, helping the Mountaineers (7-3, 5-2) stay alive in the race for the Big 12 title game.