No. 4 Auburn holds off No. 7 Rebels 35-31
OXFORD, Mississippi: Cassanova McKinzy recovered a fumble in the end zone to preserve No. 4 Auburn’s 35-31 victory over No. 7 Mississippi on Saturday in what amounted to the first College Football Playoff knockout game.
The Tigers got a reprieve after Rebels receiver Laquon Treadwell lost the ball at the end of a tackle-breaking catch-andrun to the end zone with 1:30 left. It was ruled a touchdown, but the replay official determined he lost the ball before crossing the goal line.
Auburn milked a minute off the clock before Ole Miss got the ball back at its 49 with 26 seconds left and no timeouts. Bo Wallace, who had fumbled at Auburn’s 6 on the previous drive, threw three straight incompletions before a final desperation play went nowhere.
The Tigers gained 507 yards against the nation’s top scoring defense, the only unit that hadn’t given up 20 points in a game coming into this SEC West clash. An Ole Miss offense held to seven points in a loss to No. 16 LSU matched them nearly yard for yard, gaining 492.
Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 331 yards and a touchdown for No. 1 Mississippi State in a 17-10 win over Arkansas.
Mississippi State trailed until the third quarter and didn’t take the lead until Prescott’s 69-yard touchdown pass to Fred Ross made it 17- 10 with 13: 21 remaining.
Oregon’s Marcus Mariota threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for two more scores in a 45-16 win over Stanford.
Thomas Tyner returned from an injury to run for two touchdowns to help the Ducks end a two-game losing streak to the Cardinal.
At Landover, Maryland, Everett Golson became the first player in Notre Dame history to throw for three touchdowns and run for three scores as the No. 6 Fighting Irish beat Navy 49-39 after blowing a 21-point lead.
Florida downed No. 9 Georgia 38-20 after Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor combined for 389 yards rushing and four touchdowns, while Jaden Oberkrom kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to lift No. 10 TCU over No. 20 Virginia 31-30.
In other games, Jake Waters threw two touchdown passes and Charles Jones ran for a pair of scores as No. 11 Kansas State downed Oklahoma State 48-14, No. 12 Baylor trounced Kansas 60- 14, No. 13 Ohio State thumped Illinois 55-14 and No. 15 Arizona State beat No. 18 Utah 19-16 in overtime.
Brett Hundley passed for 189 yards and ran for 131 more as No. 25 UCLA defeated No. 14 Arizona 17-7, No. 17 Nebraska beat Purdue 35-14, No. 19 Oklahoma downed Iowa State 59-14, Temple overcame No. 21 East Carolina 21-10 and No. 24 Duke was a 51-48 overtime winner over Pittsburgh.