With Tagovailoa at helm, Tide keeps rolling
No. 9 West Virginia survives turnovers; Northwestern upsets No. 20 Michigan St.
Tua Tagovailoa passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns and top-ranked Alabama ran its winning streak against host Arkansas to 12 with a 65-31.
It took just one play for Alabama (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) to set the tone as Tagovailoa hit tight end Irv Smith Jr. on a pass across the middle that Smith took 76 yards to the end zone and a 7-0 lead just 21 seconds into the game.
On the Crimson Tide's second possession, Tagovailoa hit Smith again, and the 6-foot-4 junior ripped off another big gain before he was stripped from behind by Ryan Pulley. Alabama receiver Henry Ruggs III picked up the fumble in stride and carried it the remaining 12 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 10:01 left in the first quarter. The margin grew to 21-0 before Arkansas (1-5, 0-3) got on the scoreboard.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 49, INDIANA 26: Dwayne Haskins Jr. passed for a career-best 455 yards and school record-tying six touchdowns and Ohio State pulled away in the fourth quarter.
A week after a gritty victory at Penn State, the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) were forced to work hard by quarterback Peyton Ramsey and an Indiana offense that took advantage of plenty of early defensive mistakes. The Buckeyes didn't get a handle on this one until Haskins hooked up with Terry McLaurin for a 17-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth, and then added a 30-yard scoring pass to Binjimen Victor with seven minutes left.
Haskins completed 33 of 44 passes and connected for two touchdowns each with Parris Campbell and McLaurin, and one each to Johnnie Dixon and Victor.
NO. 4 CLEMSON 63, WAKE FOREST 3: Travis Etienne rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 4 Clemson ran for 471 yards.
Three Tigers had at least 100 yards rushing, the first time they’ve done that since 2006 during their most productive rushing performance since 1981.
In addition to Etienne — who scored on runs of 59, 3 and 70 yards — Lyn-J Dixon rushed for 163 yards and Adam Choice had 128. Dixon had touchdown runs of 65 and 52 yards, and Choice had a 64-yard TD run.
Trevor Lawrence was 20 of 25 for 175 yards with a 55-yard touchdown pass to Justyn Ross and a 20-yarder to Tee Higgins in about 21⁄2 quarters before leaving with the score out of hand. They helped the Tigers (6-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) open with six victories for the fourth straight year.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 23, NO. 8 AUBURN 9: Nick Fitzgerald ran for 195 yards and two touchdowns and Mississippi State's defense had another dominant performance.
Mississippi State (4-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) came into the game among the nation's top 10 in scoring defense, and the Bulldogs were brilliant on that side of the ball once again. The Tigers hit on a couple big plays, but once they neared the end zone the Bulldogs clamped down.
Auburn (4-2, 1-2) settled for three field goals, which wasn't nearly enough.
NO. 9 WEST VIRGINIA 38, KANSAS 22: Will Grier threw four touchdown passes, and committed four turnovers, and No. 9 West Virginia survived against Kansas.
West Virginia (5-0, 3-0 Big 12) has won its first five games for the second time in three seasons. The heavily-favored Mountaineers had no trouble moving the ball but Grier's efforts to throw into tight coverage near the goal line cost his team plenty of points.
The Heisman Trophy hopeful was intercepted three times in the first half either in the end zone or at the goal line, two of them by cornerback Hasan Defense. Kansas (2-4, 0-3) entered the game leading the Big 12 with eight interceptions, including three returned for touchdowns.
Grier also had a third-quarter fumble on a scramble. West Virginia had committed six total turnovers in its previous four games.
NO. 17 MIAMI 28, FLORIDA STATE 27: N’Kosi Perry threw four touchdown passes, and No. 17 Miami pulled off its biggest comeback ever against Florida State by rallying from 20 points down to top the Seminoles 28-27 on Saturday night.
Brevin Jordan’s 41-yard touchdown grab with just under 12 minutes left put the Hurricanes (5-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) ahead for good, as Miami rallied from a 27-7 second-half deficit.
The win was Miami’s first at home over Florida State (3-3, 1-3) since 2004, snapping a six-game slide in South Florida against its archrival.
Perry’s numbers weren’t great — 13 for 32, 204 yards — but he made some big throws when they mattered most. The go-ahead score to Jordan came one play after Perry threaded a 32-yard throw to Jeff Thomas on third-and-10, meaning in the span of about a half-minute the Hurricanes went 73 yards for the lead.
NORTHWESTERN 29, NO. 20 MICHIGAN STATE 19: Clayton Thorson threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns and Northwestern recovered from another second-half slip to beat Michigan State.
The Spartans (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) entered with the nation’s top-ranked run defense and held Northwestern (2-3, 2-1) to 8 yards on the ground, but it didn’t matter. The Wildcats moved the ball consistently well through the air, and Michigan State’s offense was mostly inept.
NO. 21 COLORADO 28, ARIZONA STATE 21: Besmirch the unblemished Buffaloes all you want, Colorado proved it belongs in the rankings. Knocked for a weak schedule with their opponents a cumulative 1-16 entering the weekend, the Buffaloes (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) delivered big on both sides of the ball.
Laviska Shenault Jr. , the nation's leading receiver, scored four times, twice on receptions, twice on runs.
NO. 23 N.C. STATE 28, BOSTON COLLEGE 23: Reggie Gallaspy ran for a careerbest 104 yards and two touchdowns and North Carolina State held on after squandering most of a big second-half lead.
Ryan Finley threw for two touchdowns for the Wolfpack (5-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which led 28-3 on Finley’s scoring strike to Kelvin Harmon with 2:57 left in the third. But the Eagles (4-2, 1-1) responded with 20 straight points, including a blocked punt return for a score with 3:33 left.
Finley made the clinching play, connecting with Stephen Louis on the right sideline for 21 yards on a third down to move the chains with 1:08 left and send the Wolfpack into kneeldown mode. The Wolfpack won despite committing four turnovers and having a blocked field goal to go with the blocked punt.
PITTSBURGH 44, SYRACUSE 37: Pittsburgh’s Darrin Hall ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in overtime, as the Panthers rallied past Syracuse. Hall’s 3-yard burst on the opening possession of the extra period put the Panthers up and Pitt sophomore defensive back Therran Coleman picked off Syracuse’s Eric Dungey in the end zone on the Orange’s first offensive snap to give the Panthers a stirring victory.