Alabama rolls past Texas A&M, 33-14
Nebraska, Wisconsin win; West Virginia beats TCU; Houston upset
Jonathan Allen returned a fumble 29 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to help No. 1 Alabama beat sixth-ranked Texas A&M, 33-14, on Saturday.
The host Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) moved on as the powerhouse league’s last unbeaten team, getting yet another in a long string of defensive scores. Allen, a lineman, scooped up the ball after Ryan Anderson knocked it loose from Keith Ford to finally build a cushion over the Aggies (6-1, 4-1), who led 14-13 well into the third.
Alabama’s freshman quarterback, Jalen Hurts, ran 37 yards for another score, stepping out of a defender’s grasp and making a nifty move to get past another.
Alabama had five sacks of Trevor Knight, who led Oklahoma’s Sugar Bowl upset of Alabama as a redshirt freshman with a 348-yard, four-touchdown performance. He passed for 164 and ran for 24.
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 54, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 13: Lamar Jackson broke a school single-season record with four first-half touchdowns, the host Cardinals had three interceptions and Louisville (6-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) burst past the Wolfpack (4-3, 1-2).
Jackson passed for three touchdowns and ran for a 36-yard score on the opening drive, giving him 34 touchdowns with five games to play. He passed Dave Ragone and Brian Brohm, who each had 33.
NO. 8 NEBRASKA 27, PURDUE 14: Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 303 yards of total offense and two touchdowns, and the host Cornhuskers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten Conference) came back from a four-point halftime deficit to defeat the Boilermakers (3-4, 1-3).
Purdue managed only 94 yards in the second half in interim coach Gerad Parker’s first game since taking over for the fired Darrell Hazell.
The Boilermakers pulled out to a 14-10 lead on David Blough’s two touchdown passes to DeAngelo Yancey, the second one an 88-yard catchand-run. But the Cornhuskers scored on three straight possessions after going three-and-out on their first series of the second half.
NO. 10 WISCONSIN 17, IOWA 9: Corey Clement ran for 134 yards and a touchdown and the visiting Badgers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) used a stout defense to beat the Hawkeyes (5-3, 3-2) and end a two-game skid.
Alex Hornibrook had 197 passing yards for Wisconsin, which won for the fourth straight time in Iowa City.
Wisconsin allowed just 236 yards on 60 plays and held the Hawkeyes without a touchdown for the first time all season. C.J. Beathard had 153 passing yards for Iowa, which lost its third straight at home.
SOUTHERN METHODIST 38, NO. 11 HOUSTON 16: Ben Hicks threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score and the host Mustangs (3-4, 1-2) stunned the Cougars (6-2, 3-2 American) for their biggest victory since the pre-death penalty Pony Express era in the early 1980s.
The Cougars lost for the second time after a 5-0 start that included a season-opening win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma that vaulted Houston into the top 10.
Greg Ward Jr. couldn’t shake a persistent SMU pass rush or find receivers for big plays, finishing with 241 yards passing — almost 100 below his average — and just 3 yards rushing on 17 carries because of seven sacks.
NO. 12 WEST VIRGINIA 34, TCU 10: Skyler Howard threw four touchdown passes and the host Mountaineers (6-0, 3-0 Big 12 Conference) held the Horned Frogs (4-3, 2-2) scoreless in the second half in a victory.
West Virginia is off to its best start since winning its first seven games in 2006.
Howard had first-half touchdown passes of 10, 22 and 11 yards to three receivers to stake West Virginia to a 21-10 halftime lead. Howard finished 16 of 23 passing for 231 yards.
NO. 21 AUBURN 56, NO. 17 ARKANSAS 3: Eli Stove broke free for a 78-yard touchdown run on the Tigers’ first play, giving host Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) momentum it never lost in a surprisingly dominant victory over the Razorbacks (5-3, 1-3).
The Tigers held out starting running back Kerryon Johnson and still ran for 543 yards, a school record for an SEC regular-season game. With former Auburn star Bo Jackson watching, Kamryn Pettway had 192 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The Tigers held Arkansas total yards.
NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA 35, VIRGINIA 14: Mitch Trubisky threw three touchdown passes and the visiting Tar Heels (6-2, 4-1 ACC) beat the Cavaliers (2-5, 1-2).
Trubisky hit Bug Howard for 40 yards on a trick play, Thomas Jackson for 10 yards and Austin Proehl for 46 yards for touchdowns for North Carolina, which won its seventh straight in the series and ninth road game in a row.
NORTHWESTERN 24, INDIANA 14: Clayton Thorson passed for 285 yards and three touchdowns and the host Wildcats (4-3, 3-1 Big Ten) bolted to an early lead and coasted past the Hoosiers (3-4, 1-3) for their third straight victory.
Thorson became the first Northwestern quarterback since at least 2000 to throw three or more touchdown passes in three consecutive games. He was 24-for-43 and did not throw an interception.
MINNESOTA 34, RUTGERS 32: Emmitt Carpenter’s 28-yard field goal with 10 seconds left helped the host Golden Gophers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) survive for a victory against the Scarlet Knights (2-6, 0-5).
Rodney Smith had a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and ran for 111 yards and a touchdown for Minnesota. Mitch Leidner returned after missing one game with a concussion and was 11-for-18 passing for 156 yards and an interception.
COLORADO 10, STANFORD 5: Phillip Lindsay rushed for 131 yards despite being held out most of the second half and the visiting Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Pacific-12 Conference) overcame a sloppy day offensively to beat the Cardinal (4-3, 2-3) to become bowleligible for the first time in a decade.
SYRACUSE 28, BOSTON COLLEGE 20: Eric Dungey threw for three touchdowns and the visiting Orange (4-4, 2-2) beat the Eagles (3-4, 0-4), handing Boston College its 12th straight ACC loss.
Amba Etta-Tawo, a graduate transfer from Maryland, had a game-high 10 catches for 144 yards and one touchdown, a one-handed 68-yard reception to make it 28-20 with 9:18 to play in the fourth quarter. to 215