LSU wins latest battle vs. Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. — Cole Tracy kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play to give No. 12 LSU a 22-21 victory over No. 7 Auburn on Saturday in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Joe Burrow led LSU (3-0) down the field in the final minutes with clutch plays on a drive aided by two pass interference calls against Auburn (2-1). That set up Tracy’s field goal that was almost right down the middle and sent LSU players swarming onto the field to celebrate.
“There was no question in my mind that he was going to make this field goal,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “It worked out perfect.”
Burrow hit Derrick Dillon over the outstretched arms of Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis for a 71-yard touchdown strike with 8:18 left. Burrow’s pass for two points failed, leaving Auburn up 21-19.
LSU’s defense held to set up another chance with 5:38 remaining. The result was a 14-play, 52-yard drive. A pass interference call against Jeremiah Dinson on third-and-11 kept the drive alive, and Burrow then hit Stephen Sullivan for 9 yards on fourth-and-7 to keep the offense on the field.
Burrow held his own against Auburn’s more heralded Jarrett Stidham, finishing 15-of-24 passing for 249 yards, with Justin Jefferson gaining 97 yards on five catches.
Stidham was 16-of-28 for 198 yards and a touchdown but threw two interceptions. Ja Tarvious Whitlow ran for 104 yards on 22 carries.
Auburn’s Anders Carlson missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt wide left with nearly 13 minutes left.
“It was a dogfight from the getgo,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “We had the turnover early, and they got the score. We got behind but dug ourselves out of the hole with a halftime lead. Third quarter we were doing a good job.
“We were close to getting some distance with a chance to put the game away. We didn’t make the plays to do that.”
› No. 2 Clemson 38, Georgia Southern 7
CLEMSON, S.C. — A week of worry at Clemson over the approach of Hurricane Florence ended with a victory over Georgia Southern in front of a full stadium.
Travis Etienne ran for 162 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers (3-0) and teammate Trevor Lawrence threw for 194 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Justyn Ross in the program’s first meeting with Georgia Southern (2-1) of the Sun Belt Conference.
Clemson, which outgained Georgia Southern 595-140, was the lone major conference school in the Carolinas and Virginia to play, although school officials did move up the game to noon instead of its planned 3:30 p.m. start.
At kickoff, the crowd of 79,844 had sun and mild breezes. Conditions changed by halftime with bands of grey clouds over the stadium and the wind picking up.
› No. 5 Oklahoma 37, Iowa State 27
AMES, Iowa — Kyler Murray passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns as the Sooners held off the Cyclones in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Marquise Brown had 191 yards receiving and a touchdown and ran for a team-high 77 yards to help the Sooners (3-0), a year removed from a stunning home loss to the Cyclones, extend the nation’s longest road winning streak to 17 games.
Iowa State (0-2) rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to make it 34-27 late in the third quarter, but the Sooners killed nearly eight minutes on a drive that ended with a 42-yard field goal from Austin Siebert with 2:51 left.
› BYU 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 21
MADISON, Wis. — Squally Canada ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns as BYU handed mistake-prone Wisconsin its first nonconference home loss since 2003, giving the Badgers fits with its motion offense.
The Cougars (2-1) tossed in a trick play, too, when receiver Aleva Hifo found open tight end Moroni Laulu-Pututau for a 31-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
Wisconsin (2-1) had one last chance to avoid an upset with a drive that started at its 8 with 3:55 left, but normally reliable senior kicker Rafael Gaglianone’s 42-yard field goal attempt to tie with 41 seconds left went wide left.
The Badgers’ 41-game nonconference winning streak — the longest active in the nation — came to an end. Their hopes to make the College Football Playoff probably did, too.
› No. 8 Notre Dame 22, Vanderbilt 17
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jalen Elliott knocked the ball loose from Vanderbilt receiver Kalija Lipscomb with 1:07 remaining to give Notre Dame a fourth-down stop.
Kyle Shurmur threw for 326 yards and a touchdown for Vanderbilt (2-1), rallying his team from a 16-3 halftime deficit. His fourth-and-4 pass from the Notre Dame 31 to Lipscomb, who caught 11 passes, was nicely thrown, and the receiver almost made a reaching catch at the 11. But Elliott, with some help from the ground, knocked the ball loose and incomplete.
Tony Jones Jr. finished with 118 yards on 17 carries for Notre Dame (3-0). He also caught two passes from quarterback Brandon Wimbush for 56 yards.
Wimbush threw for 122 yards and added 84 on the ground, including a 13-yard scramble for a touchdown as the Fighting Irish took an early 10-0 lead late in the first quarter. They struggled over the final three quarters and had to hold on.
› No. 9 Stanford 30, UC Davis 10
STANFORD, Calif. — K.J. Costello overcame a rough start to throw two touchdown passes to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and Stanford beat UC Davis, a Football Championship Subdivision program about two hours northeast.
Costello threw interceptions on two of the first three drives of the game for the Cardinal (3-0) before settling in a bit against the overmatched Aggies (2-1).
The game kicked off at the unusually early time of 11:01 a.m. local time in front of a sparse crowd at Stanford Stadium. The Cardinal even played without star running Bryce Love, who got the week off to heal some minor ailments. Costello finished 17-for-30 for 214 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
› No. 11 Penn State 63, Kent State 10
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Trace McSorley accounted for five touchdowns and broke Penn State’s record for rushing scores by a quarterback.
McSorley was 11-of-22 passing for 229 yards with an interception and ran for three touchdowns for the Nittany Lions (3-0). He has 24 rushing touchdowns in his Penn State career, two more than Daryll Clark.
McSorley also became the second Nittany Lions quarterback to rush for 1,000 career yards, joining Michael Robinson with an 18-yard carry in the first quarter.
DeAndre Thompkins caught four passes for 101 yards and hauled in 40-yard touchdown pass to begin the rout, and Miles Sanders rushed for 86 yards on 14 carries.
The Golden Flashes dropped to 1-2.
› No. 24 Okla. State 44, No. 17 Boise State 21 STILLWATER, Okla. — Taylor Cornelius ran for two touchdowns and passed for another at the Cowboys corralled the Broncos.
Justice Hill ran for 123 yards and a touchdown, and Tylan Wallace had five catches for 105 yards for Oklahoma State (3-0).
Boise State’s Brett Rypien passed for 380 yards and three touchdowns, but he was sacked seven times and pressured throughout the day. Jordan Brailford had three sacks, Jarrell Owens had two and Devin Harper had 1.5 as Oklahoma State held the Broncos (2-1) to 34 rushing yards on 31 carries.
A blocked punt by Oklahoma State’s Amen Ogbongbemiga led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Cornelius that gave the Cowboys a 14-7 lead, and the advantage was 17-7 at halftime. In the third quarter, Oklahoma State’s Jarrick Bernard blocked another punt, and Za’Carrius Green scored on the return to push the Cowboys’ lead to 34-14.
› No. 19 Michigan 45, SMU 20
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Shea Patterson threw three touchdown passes to Donovan Peoples-Jones, helping the Wolverines pull away to beat SMU.
Michigan (2-1) didn’t score until Ben Mason scored a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down midway through the second quarter.
The Mustangs (0-3) responded with Ben Hicks’ 50-yard pass to James Proche to tie it, but Michigan took control over the last 2:34 of the first half. Patterson threw a tiebreaking 35-yard touchdown pass to Peoples-Jones, and Josh Metellus returned an interception 73 yards for a score as time expired.
› No. 20 Oregon 35, San Jose State 22
EUGENE, Ore. — Justin Herbert passed for 309 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Ducks (3-0) to victory.
Freshman Cyrus Habibi-Likio scored on both of his carries, and Johnny Johnson III caught a pair of touchdown passes to help Oregon win its 23rd straight nonconference game at Autzen Stadium.
Josh Love completed 15 of 31 passes for 238 yards and a score for San Jose State (0-3).
› No. 21 Miami 49, Toledo 24
TOLEDO, Ohio — Malik Rosier threw for two touchdowns and ran for three more as the Hurricanes (2-1) held off a couple of surprising challenges.
Miami never trailed and led 21-0 late in the first half, but Toledo (1-1) twice pulled within a touchdown.
Rosier threw for 205 yards and ran for 80, and Jeff Thomas had five catches for 105 yards and a score.