Oregon holds off tenacious California
EUGENE, Ore., Oct 16, (AP): Anthony Brown scored on an 11-yard keeper with 4:50 left and ninthranked Oregon held off surprisingly tenacious California 24-17.
The Golden Bears took a 17-10 lead early in the final quarter, but Brown answered with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jaylon Redd to tie it. The Ducks (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) pulled in front on Brown’s scamper into the end zone.
Cal threatened on the ensuing possession. The Golden Bears got to the Oregon 3 after Chase Garbers’ fourth-down pass to Kekoa Crawford preserved the drive, but his fourth-and-2 attempt with just 2 seconds left fell incomplete.
Oregon was coming off a bye following an overtime loss at Stanford. The rebound win was the Ducks’ 16th straight victory at Autzen Stadium.
Travis Dye ran for 145 yards and a score as Oregon leaned on him in the absence of CJ Verdell, who was injured against Stanford and is out for the season. Brown threw for 244 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 44 yards and another score.
California (1-5, 0-3) has not defeated an FBS opponent this season - the team’s lone win came against Sacramento State.
Garbers, who went into the game leading the league in total offense (281.2 yards per game) and ranked third in passing yards (249 per game), threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
Cal, also coming off a bye, defeated Oregon last season in Berkeley, 21-17, with Garbers accounting for a pair of touchdowns, one via pass and the other on a keeper.
SDSU 19, SJSU 13, 2OT
In San Jose, Calif., Lucas Johnson threw TD passes to Jesse Matthews in both overtime periods as No. 24 San Diego State finally got going offensively after a rough regulation and beat San Jose State 19-13.
Neither team scored a touchdown in regulation before Johnson delivered a 14-yard pass on the opening possession of overtime for the Aztecs (6-0, 2-0 Mountain West).
Tyler Nevens answered with a 1-yard run for the Spartans (3-4, 1-2). But Trenton Thompson intercepted Nick Nash to start the second overtime.
That set the stage for Johnson and Matthews to end it with a 24yard pass on third down to help San Diego State improve to 6-0 for the second time in 46 years.
The game was an offensive slog with the teams combining for 14 punts, four field goals, one fumble, one missed field goal and a turnover
on downs without scoring a touchdown in regulation.
Clemson 17, Syracuse 14
In Syracuse, N.Y., DJ Uiagalelei passed for 181 yards and one touchdown, Kobe Pace rushed for 76 yards and another score, and Clemson held off Syracuse 17-14.
Clemson (4-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coming off a bye week, played its first game as a team not ranked by the AP since Nov. 22, 2014, a 28-0 win against Georgia State, and held on for the victory after Syracuse place-kicker Andre Szymt missed a 48-yard field goal attempt with 38 seconds left.
Syracuse (3-4, 0-3) came into the game off two ACC losses decided on the final play of each game, and that seemed a possibility again on a night Orange tailback Sean Tucker continued his amazing season with 157 yards rushing on 22 carries.
Clemson had only surrendered five offensive touchdowns this season, the second fewest in the country. Syracuse got one in the second quarter and a stunner midway through the fourth when Garrett Shrader hit Trebor Pena for a 62-yard score just over two minutes after B.T. Potter’s 40-yard field goal had given the Tigers a seemingly insurmountable 17-7 lead.
Uiagalelei, who finished 21 of 34 passing, guided Clemson on a 13-play, 58-yard scoring drive that broke a 7-7 tie with time winding down in the second quarter. He keyed the drive with three pretty completions - a 17-yarder to Davis Allen on a fourth-and-5 play, an 11-yarder on the left side to Ajou Ajou to the Syracuse 13, and a 6-yarder over the middle to Justyn Ross to set up Kobe Pace’s 2-yard touchdown run with nine seconds left for a 14-7 lead.