No. 3 Notre Dame slams Syracuse at Yankee Stadium
NEW YORK — Ian Book returned to the starting lineup for No. 3 Notre Dame and threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns as the Fighting Irish routed No. 12 Syracuse 36-3 at Yankee Stadium on Saturday to stay on target for a trip to the College Football Playoff.
The Fighting Irish held out Book from last week’s home game against Florida State with a rib injury, and he wasn’t missed as Notre Dame (11-0, No. 3 CFP) rolled with Brandon Wimbush at quarterback.
Notre Dame clearly wanted to be cautious with Book ahead of its trip to the Bronx to face high-scoring Syracuse (8-3, No. 12 CFP). The junior quarterback, who took over as the starter four games into the season, looked good as new.
The Irish had their running game bottled up much of the day, but their short-to-intermediate passing game more than made up for it. Donned in pinstripe uniforms in a tribute to the usual residents of the ballpark, Notre Dame went up 7-0 on its second possession on a 9-yard pass from Book to Dexter Williams.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 50, THE CITADEL 17
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tua Tagovailoa passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns, but Alabama struggled for 30-plus minutes before putting away The Citadel.
The Crimson Tide (11-0) went into halftime tied at 10 with the FCS Bulldogs (4-6). Alabama scored two touchdowns in a 12-second span on its way to a 27-point third quarter.
Tagovailoa completed 18 of 22 passes in three quarters, including touchdown strikes of 21 and 5 yards to Jaylen Waddle and a 68-yarder to tight end Irv Smith Jr. Tagovailoa broke AJ McCarron’s school single-season record of 30 touchdown passes, reaching 31.
NO. 2 CLEMSON 35, DUKE 6
CLEMSON, S.C. — Trevor Lawrence was 21 for 38 for 251 yards and two touchdowns and No. 2 Clemson overcame a slow start to beat Duke to finish a perfect Atlantic Coast Conference season.
Clemson (11-0, 8-0) fell behind 6-0 early. Lawrence was 0 for 7 on third downs in the first half and the Travis Etienne ran for just 4 yards as the Tigers led 14-6 at the break.
But Etienne ran for 77 yards on four carries in the second half with touchdowns runs of 27 and 29 yards, and Lawrence broke it open with a 10-yard TD pass to T.J. Chase early in the fourth quarter — his final play in another Clemson blowout. Daniel Jones was 24 of 43 for 158 yards for Duke (7-4, 3-4).
NO. 4 MICHIGAN 31, INDIANA 20
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Karan Higdon ran for a go-ahead touchdown early in the third quarter and Jake Moody set a Michigan record with six field goals.
The Wolverines (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten, No. 4 CFP) looked sluggish and it may have had something to do with looking ahead to next week’s game at No. 9 Ohio State, where they need a win to reach the Big Ten championship game for the first time.
The Hoosiers (5-6, 2-6) were competitive against Michigan as they have been lately, losing in overtime twice in the previous three meetings, but came up short again.
Indiana led 17-15 at halftime and finished with more yards (385) than anyone has had against Michigan’s top-ranked defense this season.
NO. 5 GEORGIA 66, UMASS 27
ATHENS, Ga. — Freshman Justin Fields threw two scoring passes and ran for another touchdown, Tyler Simmons had rushing and receiving scores, and Georgia protected its playoff hopes.
Another freshman, James Cook ran for 76 yards on only three carries, including his first two career scoring runs, from 26 and 27 yards. Georgia gained 701 yards, including 426 yards on the ground, and never punted. Fields led the Bulldogs with 100 yards rushing, including a career-long run of 47 yards and a 3-yard scoring run. He completed 5 of 8 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Georgia (10-1) leaned on its quick-strike offense on six scoring drives lasting no more than four plays. Starter Jake Fromm and Fields shared time at quarterback as the Bulldogs avoided looking ahead to next week’s state rivalry game against Georgia Tech or the Dec. 1 Southeastern Conference championship game against No. 1 Alabama. The Bulldogs led UMass (4-8) 42-13 at halftime.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 55, KANSAS 40
NORMAN, Okla. — Kyler Murray accounted for two of his five touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help Oklahoma survive Kansas freshman running back Pooka Williams Jr.’s big game.
Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1 Big 12, No. 6 CFP) moved closer to a spot in the conference championship game, and Murray boosted his Heisman Trophy campaign in likely his final home game.
Williams rushed for a careerhigh 252 yards and two touchdowns and threw for a score for Kansas (3-8, 1-7). The Jayhawks have lost seven of the past eight games.
Murray sealed the game with a breakaway 75-yard touchdown run with 13:44 remaining, sparking a 20-point fourth quarter. He added another touchdown in the quarter and finished with 272 yards passing and two touchdowns. He rushed for 99 yards and three touchdowns.
OKLAHOMA STATE 45, NO. 7 WEST VIRGINIA 41
STILLWATER, Okla. — Taylor Cornelius threw a touchdown pass to Tylan Wallace with 42 seconds remaining to rally Oklahoma State.
Will Grier led West Virginia (82, 6-2, No. 9 CFP) to the Oklahoma State 14, but couldn’t connect with David Sills V on the final play. The loss all but ended West Virginia’s shot at the College Football Playoff. West Virginia faces Oklahoma next Friday and still has a shot at reaching the Big 12 title game.
Cornelius passed for 338 yards and ran for 106 to help Oklahoma State (6-5, 3-5) become bowl eligible.
NO. 11 UCF 38, NO. 19 CINCINNATI 13
ORLANDO, Fla. — McKenzie Milton threw for 268 yards and accounted for four touchdowns to help 11 UCF remain unbeaten and extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 23 games.
The junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, passed for three TDs without an interception and scored on a 3-yard run as the Knights (10-0, 7-0) clinched the American Athletic Conference East Division title and a spot in the league’s championship game.
Milton rebounded from losing a fumble Cincinnati recovered in the end zone for a touchdown on UCF’s first offensive play to complete 13 of 25 passes, including TDs of 17 yards and 42 yards to Adrian Killins and 36 yards to Tre Nixon. Malik Clements’ goal-line sack and Kimoni Fitz’s fumble recovery gave the Bearcats (9-2, 5-2) the early lead.
NO. 13 TEXAS 24, NO. 18 IOWA STATE 10
AUSTIN, Texas — Sam Ehlinger ran for a touchdown and passed for another before leaving with a shoulder injury, and Texas smothered Iowa State freshman quarterback Brock Purdy.
Texas (8-3, 6-2, No. 15 CFP) is in
wanted (NWC), from the beginning of the year we said we wanted Northwest, our rivals,” Chavez said.
“That game can go either way at anytime,” Stallworth said. “They know us and we know them. We just have to get to the game.”
Kickoff will be Friday night at 7 p.m. at Campo Verde High School in Gilbert.
A win would the Shamrocks their fourth state title overall, and first since this season’s senior class was in eighth grade.
“It’s nice. We’ve done a lot to get back,” Stallworth said. “It’s been a painful process at times. We’ve paid the price to be there and we just need to finish at this point.” second place in the Big 12 and on track to play in the league title game if it wins at Kansas next week. Texas hasn’t won the Big 12 since 2009.
Texas had given up 114 points and 1,675 yards in its previous three games. The Longhorns allowed Iowa State just 224 total yards.
Shane Buechele took over for Ehlinger after halftime and his 27yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey with 36 seconds left in the third quarter put the game out of reach.
The No. 18 Cyclones (6-4, 5-3, No. 16 CFP) played the first half without running back David Montgomery, who was suspended for throwing a punch against Baylor a week earlier.
NO. 17 WASHINGTON 42, OREGON STATE 23
SEATTLE — Jake Browning threw three touchdown passes and Myles Gaskin rushed for 135 yards in the final home game of their careers, and Washington scored 28 first-quarter points.
The victory by the Huskies (8-3, 6-2 Pac-12) sets up a winner-take-all matchup with No. 8 Washington State in the Apple Cup next Friday for the Pac-12 North Division title. The winner of the 111th matchup will play in the conference title game with a Rose Bowl berth at stake.
The Huskies dominated Oregon State (2-9, 1-7) early then coasted the final three quarters. After getting a week off, Washington jumped to a 28-3 lead on the strength of two short TD runs by Salvon Ahmed and a pair touchdown passes by Browning. He hit Aaron Fuller with a 17-yarder after Oregon State fumbled a kickoff, and connected with tight end Cade Otton on a 21-yard TD strike.
Browning finished 17 of 23 for 242 yards and a 205.3 passer rating.