Rushing record falls in Heels’ victory
NO. 17 NORTH CAROLINA 62, NO. 10 MIAMI 26
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Michael Carter and Javonte Williams accomplished something that no teammates in major college football history had previously done.
The Orange Bowl — where North Carolina has never been — might be their reward.
Carter and Williams set a Football Bowl Subdivision record by combining for 544 yards rushing, and No. 17 North Carolina embarrassed No. 10 Miami 62-26 on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Carter ran for 308 yards and two touchdowns, while Williams had 236 yards and three touchdowns for the Tar Heels (8-3, 7-3 ACC). Per the NCAA, it was the seventh time that two teammates each ran for at least 200 yards, the first since 2016 and the first such instance in ACC history.
“Remarkable,” North Carolina Coach Mack Brown said.
“Humiliating,” Miami Coach Manny Diaz said.
There were many numbers, all of them bad for Miami (8-2, 7-2). The combined total by Carter and Williams topped the NCAA’s listed FBS record for teammates, set on Nov. 30 when Jaret Patterson (409) and Kevin Marks (97) rushed for 506 for Buffalo against Kent State.
North Carolina finished with 778 yards — the most ever yielded by Miami and a Tar Heels record — and 554 yards rushing, also the most allowed in Hurricanes history. Sam Howell threw for a score, ran for a score and caught a TD pass for the Tar Heels. It was the first instance of a North Carolina player doing that since 2014, and it almost became an ancillary note given how Carter and Williams played.
“We’re just in a moment right now,” Carter said. “Something that nobody ever did before. It’s a blessing.”
D’Eriq King completed 18 of 30 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns for Miami, which had won five in a row and probably lost any hope of playing in the Orange Bowl.
NO. 16 IOWA 28, WISCONSIN 7
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Spencer Petras threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns to Ihmir Smith-Marsette to lead Iowa past Wisconsin for the Hawkeyes’ sixth win in a row.
Iowa (6-2) beat the Badgers (2-3) for the first time since 2015 to reclaim the Heartland Trophy.
Smith-Marsette finished with seven catches for 140 yards, and Tyler Goodson had 106 yards rushing.
The Badgers gained just 225 total yards, 56 on the ground.
NO. 13 COASTAL CAROLINA 42, TROY 38
TROY, Ala. — Grayson McCall threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jaivon Heiligh with 45 seconds left and No. 13 Coastal Carolina preserved its first perfect regular season with a victory over Troy.
McCall needed just 45 seconds to move the Chanticleers (11-0, 8-0 Sun Belt), who didn’t have any timeouts, 75 yards for the score. He completed all four of his passes, three of them to Heiligh.
Troy (5-6, 3-4) didn’t make it easy for the highest-ranked team to visit Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Backup quarterback Jacob Free, who replaced an injured Gunnar Watson in the fourth quarter, hit Tray Eafford on a 6-yard touchdown with 1:20 left. The play was set up with an interception by star middle linebacker Carlton Martial, who also had 21 tackles.
McCall completed 24 of 29 passes for 338 yards and 3 touchdowns. Heiligh caught 11 passes for 138 yards and 2 TDs.
NO. 14 NORTHWESTERN 28, ILLINOIS 10
EVANSTON, Ill. — Cam Porter ran for a career-high 142 yards and two touchdowns, Evan Hull added a season-best 149 yards on the ground, and Northwestern tuned up for the Big Ten championship game by beating Illinois.
Porter came in with just 32 yards and one TD. But the freshman broke out in a big way, leading the Wildcats (6-1, No. 14 CFP) to an easy victory over the Illini (2-5).
NO. 15 USC 43, UCLA 38
PASADENA, Calif. — Kedon Slovis threw an 8-yard touchdown to Amon-Ra St. Brown with 16 seconds left for his fifth passing TD of the game, and No. 15 Southern California rallied from an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to beat UCLA.
UCLA took a 38-36 lead with 52 seconds remaining on Nicholas Barr-Mira’s 43-yard field goal, but USC (5-0) answered quickly. Gary Bryant returned the kickoff 63 yards to the Bruins 43, Slovis connected with Tyler Vaughns on a 35-yard reception and St. Brown caught his second TD of the game on the next play.
Slovis completed 30 of 47 passes for 344 yards with 2 touchdowns each to St. Brown and Drake London. Vaughns caught 8 passes for 110 yards and Vavae Malepeai ran for 110 yards in the 90th Crosstown Showdown.
UTAH 38,
NO. 21 COLORADO 21
BOULDER, Colo. — Ty Jordan scored twice, including a sealing 66-yard burst, and Utah’s revamped defense forced three turnovers to help the Utes rally past Colorado in the snow to thwart the Buffaloes’ Pac-12 title hopes.
The soon-to-be-unseated Pac-12 South champion Utes (2-2, 2-2) found their footing on the frozen field in the second half, turning around a 21-10 deficit by scoring 28 consecutive points.
Colorado freshman Brenden Rice showed off his speed by scoring twice — on an 81-yard punt return and on a 61-yard catch off a bubble screen. But it wasn’t enough as the Buffaloes (41, 3-1) suffered their first loss under Coach Karl Dorrell.
NO. 22 OKLAHOMA STATE 42, BAYLOR 3
WACO, Texas — Dillon Stoner had eight catches for 247 yards with three first-half touchdowns, freshman running back Dominic Richardson ran for 169 yards with three scores and Oklahoma State won its regular season finale.
Stoner had a 75-yard catch-and-run on the second play of the game when he got behind the secondary for his first touchdown this season. Stoner reached through cornerback Raleigh Texada to catch a lobbed 15-yard TD, and made turned a crossing pattern into a 40-yard score that put the Cowboys (7-3, 6-3) ahead 21-0 only a minute into the second quarter.