Ohio State rallies to beat Penn State
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Dwayne Haskins threw two touchdown passes in the final seven minutes and No. 4 Ohio State wiped out a 12-point deficit to beat No. 9 Penn State 27-26 on Saturday night in another wild game between the Big Ten powerhouses.
Trace McSorley had 461 total yards, including a career-high 175 rushing and threw two touchdown passes, and the Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-1) went up 26-14 with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter on Miles Sanders’s 1-yard plunge.
For the second straight season, Ohio State (5-0, 2-0) made a fourth-quarter rally from a double-digit deficit. Haskins connected with Binjimen Victor, who weaved and slipped through tacklers for a 47-yard touchdown catch and run that cut it to 26-21 with 6:42 left.
Penn State could not put the Buckeyes away with a closing drive, but the Nittany Lions buried Haskins and Ohio State at their own 4 with 4:35 left on the clock.
A screen to J.K. Dobbins got 35 and took Ohio State out of the hole. Mixing runs and passes, the Buckeyes worked their way into Penn State territory. Haskins hit K.J. Hill with a quick pass to the outside and the receiver picked up a couple of blocks, broke a tackle and went in for a 24-yard score that made it 27-26 with 2:03 left.
McSorley and Penn State could not come up with a response. On fourth-and-5 from the Ohio State 43, McSorley handed off to Sanders on a read option and his was smothered by Chase Young, who had a huge game at defensive end for Ohio State.
NO. 3 CLEMSON 27, SYRACUSE 23
CLEMSON, S.C. — With new starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence knocked out of the game, Travis Etienne scored on a 2-yard run with 41 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter for Clemson.
Etienne had three TDs and a career-high 203 yards rushing to bail out the quarterback-depleted Tigers (5-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). They went from having one too many starting-caliber QBs earlier in the week to not enough by the second half against the Orange (4-1, 1-1).
Lawrence left his first career start late in the second quarter with a possible concussion. Lawrence was promoted to starter earlier in the week by coach Dabo Swinney and that prompted senior Kelly Bryant, who had started the first four games and led the Tigers to the College Football Playoff last year, to leave the team. That left one-time third-stringer Chase Brice to lead the comeback — and it looked bleak when Syracuse’s Eric Dungey bulled his way in for a 1-yard score with 12:58 remaining to make it 23-13.
Etienne’s 26-yard touchdown run with 11:08 to go drew Clemson within a field goal and Brice, a redshirt freshman with just eight career passes, directed a 94-yard scoring drive that included a 20-yard completion on fourth-and-6 to keep things going.
Dungey was sacked twice by freshman Xavier Thomas on Syracuse’s final drive. The Orange were trying for their first 5-0 start since 1987. Dungey finished with two rushing touchdowns. He was 26 of 41 passing for 250 yards and an interception.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 56, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 14
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jaylen Waddle returned a punt for a touchdown and caught two scoring passes, including a 94-yarder, for Alabama.
Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts staked the Crimson Tide (5-0) to a 49-0 halftime lead over the Ragin’ Cajuns (13) en route to the defending national champions’ latest blowout.
Then third-teamer Mac Jones got into the act with his 94-yarder to the freshman Waddle late in the third quarter. It tied for the second-longest TD catch in Alabama history. Alabama has scored at least 45 points five games in a row for the first time in program history.
NO. 2 GEORGIA 38, TENNESSEE 12
ATHENS, Ga. — D’Andre Swift ran for two touchdowns, including a late 14-yarder, and Georgia used dominant defense to overcome a sluggish offensive start.
Freshman quarterback Justin Fields scored on runs of 12 and 15 yards, and Isaac Nauta had a 31-yard fumble return for a scpore. The Bulldogs led by 12 points early in the final quarter before pulling away.
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) scored touchdowns on its last drive of the first half and opening possession after halftime but otherwise couldn’t maintain momentum. Jake Fromm completed 16 of 22 passes for 185 yards while sharing time with Fields.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 66, BAYLOR 33
NORMAN, Okla. — Kyler Murray sat out Oklahoma’s first offensive series then came on to pass for 432 yards and six touchdowns.
Austin Kendall opened the game, but Murray entered on the second possession and played nearly flawless football. His passing touchdown total tied for second-best in school history behind Baker Mayfield’s seven against Texas Tech in 2016. The school would not say why Murray didn’t start.
Murray also ran for 45 yards and a score for the Sooners (5-0, 2-0 Big 12).
Marquise Brown caught five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, CeeDee Lamb had 101 yards receiving and Lee Morris caught two touchdown passes for the Sooners.
Murray completed 10 of 11 passes for 192 yards and four touchdowns in the first half to help the Sooners take a 28-9 lead. Murray threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Brown later in the third quarter, then scored on a 1-yard run on an untimed down on the last play of the period to put the Sooners up 49-23.
NO. 12 WEST VIRGINIA 42, NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 34
LUBBOCK, Texas — Will Grier threw for 370 yards and three touchdowns, Keith Washington thwarted a rally with 51-yard interception return for a score for West Virginia.
Marcus Simms had nine catches for a career-high 138 yards — all in the first half — for his third straight 100yard game. The Mountaineers (4-0, 2-0 Big 12) scored 28 first-quarter points.
Texas Tech true freshman Alan Bowman, the nation’s leading passer coming in, didn’t return after getting injured in the first half when he was sandwiched on hits by Ezekiel Rose and Washington as he threw a pass.
NO. 14 MICHIGAN 20, NORTHWESTERN 17
EVANSTON, Ill. — Karan Higdon ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns, Shea Patterson threw 196 yards and No. 14 Michigan overcame a 17-point deficit.
Higdon gave the Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) the lead with a 5-yard run with 4:06 remaining. Higdon averaged 3.8 yards on 30 carries, and Patterson completed 15 of 24 passes to help Michigan win its fourth straight.
NO. 17 KENTUCKY 24, SOUTH CAROLINA 10
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Benny Snell Jr. ran for 99 yards and one of Kentucky’s three consecutive first-half touchdowns and the Wildcats held off South Carolina.
Kentucky (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) quashed initial concerns about a letdown following their first Top 25 ranking since November 2007 by scoring on four straight drives to lead 24-3 at halftime. The Wildcats ended up needing that cushion to offset a scoreless second half and Jake Bentley’s 58yard, third quarter TD pass that kept the Gamecocks (2-2, 1-2) within striking distance.
NO. 18 TEXAS 19, KANSAS STATE 14
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Sam Ehlinger threw for 207 yards and a touchdown, D’Shawn Jamison returned a punt 90 yards for another score and Texas snap a fivegame road losing streak to Kansas State.
Keaontay Ingram churned for a first down with less than three minutes to go, allowing the redhot Longhorns (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) to run out the clock after blowing much of a 19-0 halftime lead.
Skylar Thompson threw for 96 yards in relief of ineffective quarterback Alex Delton, and he led the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2) to a pair of touchdowns in the second half. But after they got the ball back with 7:12 to go, Thompson threw a pair of incompletions as Kansas State went three-and-out, and coach Bill Snyder’s offense never got another opportunity with the ball.
NO. 21 MICHIGAN STATE 31, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 20
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Brian Lewerke ran for two touchdowns in the first half, and Michigan State overcame a slow start and an underwhelming finish.
The Spartans (3-1) entered with the nation’s topranked run defense and held CMU (1-4) to 5 yards on the ground in the first half. Michigan State led 31-3 before letting the Chippewas rally.
Connor Heyward and La’Darius Jefferson also ran for touchdowns for the Spartans.