Ohio State continues domination
Ohio State has turned what’s known as The Game into ITS Game, making one of the greatest rivalries in sports a one-sided series with little suspense.
Chasing a national championship, not simply beating the Wolverines, is how the Buckeyes measure a successful season.
And under first-year coach Ryan Day, they have put themselves in a position to potentially win it all for the second time since the 2014 season and third time this century.
J.K. Dobbins ran for four touchdowns and Justin Fields threw four TD passes, providing plenty of firepower for topranked Ohio State to rout No. 13 Michigan 56-27 on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a school-record eighth straight win in the series.
“It feels great just to continue the legacy of this great Ohio State tradition,” defensive end Chase Young said. “We’re just going to try to keep it moving and keep it rolling next week.”
The Buckeyes (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) will head to the Big Ten championship game to face No. 12 Wisconsin next Saturday with a spot in the College Football Playoff in sight.
Missouri fired football coach Barry Odom on Saturday, ending the four-year stay of a respected former player who took over a program in disarray but could never get the Tigers over the hump in the brutal SEC.
Missouri dumps Odom: The Tigers finished 6-6 and 3-5 in the conference after beating Arkansas on Friday. That left Odom with a 25-25 record, a perfectly middling mark after Gary Pinkel’s successful run.
Athletic director Jim Sterk called the dismissal a “difficult” but “necessary” move.
“He and his staff have worked diligently during the past four years,” Sterk said in a statement. “Coach Odom has represented our program with integrity and dedicated himself to developing our student-athletes on and off the football field for which we are grateful.”
The Tigers were projected to contend for the top of the SEC East this season with the return of several key players and the arrival of high-profile Clemson transfer Kelly Bryant at quarterback. But the season began with a bumbling loss to Wyoming and never really got on track, and the Tigers were forced to beat Arkansas just to become bowl-eligible.
Lawrence carries Clemson: Dabo Swinney simply couldn’t contain his joy over Trevor Lawrence and midway through the Tigers’ latest blowout, Clemson’s coach just had to let the kid know.
“Man,” Swinney said he told Lawrence, “it’s just so much fun watching you play quarterback.”
Swinney should get at least a couple more opportunities to see Lawrence shine this postseason, starting next Saturday with the ACC championship game against Virginia.
Lawrence threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns as the third-ranked Tigers won their 27th straight and finished their second consecutive 12-0 regular season with a 38-3 victory over rival South Carolina on Saturday.
Lawrence, who led Clemson to a national title his first year, showed off a full range of skills with highlight-show touchdown throws to Tee Higgins and a knack for running the Tigers out of trouble.
Lawrence finished 26 of 36 passing and completed an ACC record-tying 18 straight throws to keep the Tigers rolling. He also led Clemson with 66 yards rushing, several of his runs going for first downs.
Georgia blasts rival: This trip to Atlanta was barely an annoyance for No. 4 Georgia.
The Bulldogs are really focused on their return to the A-T-L next weekend.
Jake Fromm threw four touchdown passes and Georgia cruised into the Southeastern Conference championship game with a 52-7 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday — the Bulldogs’ biggest win ever against their state rival.
The Bulldogs (11-1) were 28-point favorites and this one was never in doubt, even as they fumbled the ball away three times, dealt with injury woes, had a key player ejected, and failed to cover an onside kick.
Extra points: Lightning in the Knoxville, Tenn., area caused the start of Tennessee’s 28-10 victory over Vanderbilt to be delayed by 30 minutes. Tennessee (7-5, 5-3 SEC) and Vanderbilt (3-9, 1-7) were supposed to begin their game at 4 p.m. local time . ... Joe Burrow passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns as No. 2 LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC) blasted Texas A&M 50-7 . ... JaMycal Hasty rushed for three touchdowns and No. 9 Baylor forced six turnovers in a 61-6 victory over Kansas. The Bears (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) equaled the school record for wins in Matt Rhule’s third season as coach . ... Ian Book passed for four touchdowns and No. 16 Notre Dame (10-2) reached double-digit wins for the third straight season by beating Stanford 45-24.