Baylor ends Sooners’ long streak
WACO, Texas — Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanon had a hard time finding the words to describe just how he felt after his 18th-ranked Bears ran over Oklahoma on Saturday, ending the fourth-ranked Sooners’ 17-game stretch that had been the nation’s longest active winning streak
The hard-nosed player does know what it means for the resurgent Bears from here on out.
“I know we’ll keep going,” Bohanon said. “I know that was just motivation for what we can do and we can be as a team.”
Bohanon threw a touchdown pass and ran for two scores in the fourth quarter, and Baylor’s defense harassed both Oklahoma quarterbacks in a 27-14 win Saturday that kept the Bears in contention for a spot in the Big 12 championship game just a week after an unexpected loss at struggling TCU.
Linebacker Terrel Bernard had nine tackles and two sacks for Baylor (8-2, 5-2), and the Sooners (9-1, 6-1) were held to 260 total yards, their fewest ever with Lincoln Riley in his five seasons as head coach and two seasons as offensive coordinator before that. It was their fewest points in a regular-season game since a 48-14 home loss to Baylor in 2014, which came weeks before they ended that season with a 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
Abram Smith rushed for 148 yards, including a 75-yard scamper to set up the first of Bohanon’s rushing touchdowns for a 17-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. Bohanon ran for 107 yards against the Sooners and was 12-of-21 passing for 117 yards with an interception.
Oklahoma freshman quarterback Caleb Williams threw two interceptions. Preseason AP All-America quarterback Spencer Rattler, who had been replaced by Williams as the starter, took over late in the third quarter.
Williams had a 2-yard touchdown run early but finished 10-of-19 for 146 yards while getting sacked three times. Rattler was sacked twice as well. Williams returned to complete three passes for 74 yards on a late drive before Kennedy Brooks’ 1-yard touchdown with 2:26 left.
› Georgia State 42, No. 22 Coastal Carolina 40
CONWAY, S.C. — Georgia State quarterback Darren Grainger had the homecoming he’d dreamed about all season.
Grainger threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns only a few miles where he grew up, and the Panthers beat a ranked opponent for the first time ever. Nose tackle Thomas Gore sealed the win when he wrapped up the Chanticleers’ Shermari Jones short of the goal line as he ran the ball on a 2-point conversion attempt with just more than a minute left.
Grainger played in youth leagues in Conway and then at Conway High School, only a short distance from the Coastal Carolina campus.
“It feels good to be home,” Grainger said. “It feels good to get a win over a ranked opponent.”
The Atlanta program began competition in 2010 and spent three seasons in the lower tier of Division I before moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Panthers (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt Conference) had been 0-11 against Top 25 teams, including 0-3 this season, but they rallied in the fourth quarter to end that run of failure.
Georgia State blew a 28-16 lead in the second half, but Grainger threw a go-ahead touchdown and former Murray County (Georgia) High School running back Tucker Gregg added his third scoring run of the game to make it 42-34 with the extra-point kick.
Coastal Carolina (8-2, 4-2) then drew within two points on Bryce Carpenter’s 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely. The Chants tried to find Likely for the tie on a 2-point try as well, but a pass interference penalty led to another attempt — and this time Gore quickly corralled Jones from behind for the critical stop.
› No. 6 Ohio State 59, Purdue 31
COLUMBUS, Ohio — C.J. Stroud threw for 361 yards and five touchdowns, freshman TreVeyon Henderson rumbled for two more scores and Ohio State struck early and rolled over Purdue.
The Buckeyes (9-1, 7-0 Big Ten) scored on all seven of their first-half possessions, piling up 45 points against an opponent that hadn’t allowed more than 30 in any game this year. Garrett Wilson, who was unavailable last weekend for unspecified reasons, had 10 catches for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Jaxson Smith-Njigba followed up a 15-catch, 240-yard performance with nine catches for 139 yards a touchdown
David Bell had 11 catches for 103 yards for Purdue (6-4, 4-3).
› No. 8 Michigan State 40, Maryland 21
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Payton Thorne threw two of his four touchdown passes to Jayden Reed, and Kenneth Walker ran for 143 yards and two scores as the Spartans (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) stayed in the league title race by bouncing back from their first loss of the season. If Mel Tucker’s team can upset No. 6 Ohio State on the road next Saturday and beat No. 23 Penn State at home the following week, it will be in the conference’s championship game with an opportunity to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Terrapins (5-5, 2-5) have lost five of their past six games.
› No. 9 Michigan 21, No. 23 Penn State 17
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Cade McNamara threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to tight end Erick All with 3:29 to play, and Michigan stayed in the Big Ten championship race by rallying past the Nittany Lions. McNamara was 19-of-29 for 217 yards with three touchdowns to boost the Wolverines (9-1, 6-1), while Hassan Haskins ran for 156 yards on 31 carries and Roman Wilson caught a pair of touchdown passes.
Sean Clifford withstood seven sacks for Penn State (6-4, 3-4) as he finished 23-of-43 for 205 yards with a touchdown.
› No. 15 UTSA 27, Southern Miss 17
SAN ANTONIO — Frank Harris passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 54 yards, and the University of Texas at San Antonio overcame a sluggish performance to beat Southern Mississippi and remain undefeated.
The Roadrunners (10-0, 6-0 Conference USA) needed late defensive stands to avoid an upset by the Golden Eagles (1-9, 0-6). It was 17-all with six minutes remaining when UTSA defensive lineman Jaylon Haynes recovered a fumble by Southern Miss quarterback Antavious Willis at the Golden Eagles’ 35. The turnover led to Hunter Duplessis’ go-ahead 24-yard field goal with 4:39 remaining.
› No. 17 Houston 37, Temple 8
PHILADELPHIA — Alton McCaskill ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns as Houston beat Temple to clinch a berth in the American Athletic Conference title game.
The Cougars (9-1, 7-0) have won nine straight games since an opening loss to Texas Tech to secure their first appearance in the league championship matchup since winning the AAC in 2015. They will likely face Cincinnati, which has to win one of its remaining two games — at home against SMU next Saturday or at East Carolina on Nov. 26 — to join them in the Dec. 4 game with the AAC crown up for grabs.
Temple (3-7, 1-5) has lost five straight games.
› No. 19 Iowa 27, Minnesota 22
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Alex Padilla threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in his first career start, and the Hawkeyes (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) withstood three fourth-quarter comeback attempts to beat Minnesota (6-4, 4-3).
Iowa led 24-16 before Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Chris Autman-Bell with 5:28 to play, but Hawkeyes safety Dane Belton tipped Morgan’s pass on the 2-point attempt and it fell incomplete. The Golden Gophers got the ball back at their 10 with 3:08 left, but Morgan was sacked for a 7-yard loss on second down and his fourthdown pass was broken up by Iowa’s Matt Hankins.
Caleb Shudak’s 29-yard field goal provided the final margin, and the Hawkeyes bowed up one more time when Minnesota drove to the Iowa 39. The game ended with Joe Evans sacking Morgan.
› No. 20 Wisconsin 35, Northwestern 7
MADISON, Wis. — Braelon Allen ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns to help Wisconsin beat Northwestern and extend its winning streak to six games. Graham Mertz threw two touchdown passes for the Badgers (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten), and their defense picked off four passes. Northwestern’s Andrew Marty threw three interceptions for the second straight week, and the Wildcats (3-7, 1-6) lost for the fourth game in a row.
› No. 24 La.-Lafayette 35, Troy 21
TROY, Ala. — Levi Lewis threw touchdown passes covering 52, 15 and 13 yards and ran 27 yards for another score, finishing 14-of-21 for 166 yards to help the Ragin’ Cajuns (9-1, 7-0 Sun Belt Conference) extend their winning streak to a program-record nine games after dropping the season opener at Texas. For Troy (5-5, 3-3), Gunnar Watson was 29-of-55 for 350 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
› No. 2 Cincinnati 45, South Florida 28
TAMPA, Fla. — Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes to break the Cincinnati career record and ran for another score Friday night as the Bearcats improved to 6-0 in the AAC and started the season with 10 consecutive wins for just the second time in program history. They also did it in 2009, when they began 12-0.
Ridder was 31-of-39 for 304 yards, and he ran for 65 yards on 13 carries. He broke the career record with his 79th touchdown pass, a 21-yard strike to Josh Whyle early in the third quarter that made it 31-7. Gino Guidugli, now Cincinnati’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, had 78 scoring passes from 2001-04.
South Florida (2-8, 1-5) has lost 19 consecutive games against top-20 opponents since upsetting Notre Dame on the road in October 2011.