Florida State beats Miami to reach 10-0
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Keon Coleman and dozens of his Florida State teammates ran across the field as the final seconds ticked off the clock and started leaping into the stands. Coleman stood on a wall as fans jockeyed to get near him and reveled in the Seminoles’ latest triumph.
A 16th consecutive victory. Undefeated in Atlantic Coast Conference play. A three-game winning streak against rival Miami.
This one was special, and everyone knew it.
Trey Benson ran for two touchdowns, Coleman hauled in a score and No. 4 Florida State held off the rival Hurricanes 27-20 on Saturday to maintain its hold on a potential College Football Playoff berth.
“It’s a feeling that you can’t buy,” said safety Akeem Dent, who grew up in South Florida. “Three straight? Especially for me down south. Three straight? I got stuff to talk about.”
The Seminoles (10-0, 8-0), like they have several times this season, rallied in the second half to win again. This one wrapped up the program’s 10th perfect mark in ACC play.
“When you see the commitment and the belief and the work ethic and the relationships, it’s what makes it special,” coach Mike Norvell said. “We’ve got an incredible group, and they care about each other. That’s one of those components that you can’t fake.”
Miami (6-4, 2-4) controlled both lines of scrimmage and played turnover-free football for most of the game. It still wasn’t enough to overcome Florida State, which has won three in a row in the series and 10 of the last 14.
Adding to Miami’s woes, freshman quarterback Emory Williams suffered a significant injury to his left arm in the waning minutes while running for a first down. Williams, starting in place of struggling junior Tyler Van Dyke, was taken to a hospital with what appeared to be an air cast on his arm.
Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe called the injury “heartbreaking.” It essentially ended any chance the Canes had of shocking the Seminoles, who were 13 1/2-point favorites.
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal pointed to the difference between this game and last year’s 45-3 debacle in Miami.
“There’s a lot of development, a lot of improvement,” Cristobal said. “We came here to win. We didn’t come here for a consolation prize.”
› No. 5 Washington 35, No. 13 Utah 28
SEATTLE — Michael Penix Jr. threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Washington pitched a shut out in the second half to rally for a win over Utah.
The Huskies (10-0, 7-0 Pac-12, No. 5 CFP) extended the secondlongest active winning streak in the nation to 17 games and reached 10-0 for only the second time in school history. The only other time came in 1991, when the Huskies claimed a share of the national title with Miami.
Penix wasn’t at his best on a blustery day on the shore of Lake Washington, but the Huskies quarterback made enough big plays in the passing game and allowed Washington’s defense to make key adjustments at halftime after being unable to slow down the Utes (7-4, 4-3, No. 18 CFP) in the first half.
Penix hit Rome Odunze on both of his touchdown throws, and he ran for a 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Penix was 24-of-42 passing for 332 yards, Odunze had three catches for 111 yards, and Dillon Johnson rushed for 104 yards one week after running for 256 against Southern California.
› No. 3 Ohio State 38, Michigan State 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Marvin Harrison Jr. caught two of Kyle McCord’s three touchdown passes and rushed for another score, helping Ohio State pound Michigan State.
McCord threw for a careerhigh 335 yards for the Buckeyes (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten, No. 1 CFP), who overwhelmed the Spartans (3-7, 1-6) with touchdowns on five of their six first-half possessions.
Ohio State’s defense, missing several key players due to injuries, held Michigan State to 182 total yards and two third-down conversions on 14 attempts. Ohio State hosts Minnesota next weekend ahead of the Nov. 25 showdown with No. 2 Michigan, now embroiled in a sign-stealing scandal that led to a suspension for coach Jim Harbaugh. The Wolverines beat No. 9 Penn State 24-15 on Saturday.
› No. 12 Oregon State 62, Stanford 17
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Damien Martinez ran for 146 yards and a career-high four touchdowns to lead Oregon State to a victory over Stanford.
Martinez, the Pac-12 freshman offensive player of the year in 2022, surpassed 1,000 yards for the season and did most of his damage in the first half with 136 rushing yards and all four touchdowns, including a 59-yard score in the first quarter.
The Beavers (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12, No. 12 CFP) kept their league championship hopes intact and extended their home winning streak to nine games.
Stanford (3-7, 2-6), which was coming off a 10-7 win at Washington State and played No. 5 Washington close at home two weeks ago, couldn’t keep up with the Beavers’ big-play offense.
› UCF 45, No. 15 Oklahoma State 3
ORLANDO, Fla. — R.J. Harvey had a 92-yard touchdown run, and UCF’s defense forced four turnovers to help the Knights rout Oklahoma State.
Harvey rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns to give him more than 1,000 yards this season. He has run for over 100 yards in five straight games — the first Knights back to do that since Kevin Smith in 2007 — and his 92-yard touchdown was the second-longest run in school history. Harvey had 157 of his yards in the second half.
On defense, UCF (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) was stellar with three interceptions and forced Oklahoma State star running back Ollie Gordon to fumble for only the second time this season.
Oklahoma State (7-3, 5-2) never could get its ground game going and it stalled out the offense as the Cowboys’ six-game winning streak was snapped. Gordon entered the game leading the nation in rushing yards but tallied only 25 on 12 carries. That snapped a streak of six straight 100-yard rushing games for him, and it was Gordon’s fewest rushing yards in a game since a Sept. 16 loss to South Alabama.
› Texas Tech 16, No. 19 Kansas 13
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Gino Garcia kicked a 30-yard field goal with three seconds to play, and Texas Tech upset Kansas as the Jayhawks struggled after losing quarterback Jason Bean in the first half.
Tahj Brooks ran for 133 yards and a touchdown as the Red Raiders (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) came back after Kansas (7-3, 4-3) tied the game on a 22-yard field goal by Seth Keller with 26 seconds left in regulation.
Texas Tech opened a 10-0 lead in the first quarter as Brooks scored early with a 5-yard touchdown run. Garcia added a 32-yard field goal late in the quarter.
The Red Raiders extended their lead to 13-0 early in the third quarter on Garcia’s second field goal before Kansas got back in the game on a Devin Neal 60-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
› No. 20 Tulane 24, Tulsa 22
NEW ORLEANS — Makhi Hughes rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown, Shedro Louis returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score, and Tulane defeated Tulsa to win its eighth straight game.
Michael Pratt passed for 194 yards and a touchdown to help the Green Wave (9-1, 6-0 American Athletic Conference, No. 23 CFP) maintain their bid to repeat as AAC champs and possibly receive a bid to a second straight major New Year’s Day bowl game.
Louis’ return came on the kickoff to open the second half and gave the Wave a 21-10 lead. It was his first touchdown since transferring from Liberty and came when Tulane needed some breathing room over a Tulsa team that delivered a feisty performance as it tried to snap a losing streak that has now reached five games.
Kirk Francis passed for a career-high 345 yards and a touchdown for Tulsa (3-7, 1-5),
› No. 21 James Madison 44, Connecticut 6
HARRISONBURG, Va. — Jordan McCloud threw for a career-high 457 yards and four touchdowns as James Madison overcame a slow start and beat Connecticut, the Dukes’ 13th consecutive win dating to last season.
McCloud connected with Reggie Brown on scoring throws of 80 and 55 yards, Zach Horton from 21 yards and Phoenix Sproles from 5 yards as the Dukes (10-0) pulled away after leading just 10-3 at halftime.
The Huskies (1-9) lost their fourth straight and third this season to a ranked team.
› No. 23 Arizona 34, Colorado 31
BOULDER, Colo. — Tyler Loop connected on a 24-yard field goal with no time remaining, and Arizona rallied to beat Colorado at sold-out Folsom Field.
Jonah Coleman rushed for 179 yards as the Wildcats (7-3, 5-2 Pac-12, No. 21 CFP) won for the fourth straight game.
Arizona trailed 24-17 at halftime and didn’t take its first lead until Loop’s field goal. The Wildcats are 13-74 when trailing at halftime in the Pac-12 era.
Shedeur Sanders ran for a score and threw for two more as the Buffaloes (4-6, 1-6) lost for the sixth time in seven games since a 3-0 start. Sanders also finished with 262 yards passing to go over the 10,000-yard mark for his career.
› No. 25 Liberty 38, Old Dominion 10
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Kaidon Salter threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more, all in the first half, as Liberty kept its perfect record intact with a victory over Old Dominion.
The Flames, already the regular-season champions in Conference USA, improved to 10-0. It marks their second double-digit win season since transitioning to FBS competition in 2018 and third overall.
Salter, the three-time C-USA offensive player of the week, completed 13 of 22 passes for 225 yards and also rushed 11 times for 41 yards in a little more than three quarters.
Old Dominion (4-6) was largely ineffective on offense, managing just a field goal by Ethan Sanchez through the first 58-plus minutes. Javon Harvey’s 5-yard touchdown catch was nothing more than window dressing on a tough day.
› Auburn 48, Arkansas 10
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Auburn clinched bowl eligibility behind four touchdowns from Payton Thorne and a defense that held Arkansas to 255 yards.
The Tigers (6-4, 3-4 SEC) led 14-0 after the game’s first two series thanks to a 75-yard opening drive capped by a 12-yard run by Thorne. Arkansas punted on its first drive, and Keionte Scott returned it 74 yards for another touchdown.
Despite coming off a seasonhigh in yards gained against Florida a week ago, the Auburn defense never allowed the Razorbacks (3-7, 1-6) to find a rhythm. Arkansas needed five drives before it avoided a three-and-out series, had just 110 yards of total offense at halftime, and its three points came after Dwight McGlothern’s interception allowed the Razorbacks to start their fourth series at the Auburn 20.
Auburn scored another touchdown on its opening drive of the second half when Thorne found Ja’Varrius Johnson against blown coverage for a 14-yard score. The Tigers tacked on another score on the first play of their next drive on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Thorne to Rivaldo Fairweather.
By that point, the boos that were so prevalent in the opening half-hour had morphed to apathy as about half the stadium had already cleared.
Auburn gained 354 yards on the ground, with Thorne picking up 88 and a touchdown. He finished 12-of-20 passing for 163 yards and three touchdowns.
› South Carolina 47, Vanderbilt 6
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Spencer Rattler threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns as South Carolina won its 15th straight over Vanderbilt.
The Gamecocks (4-6, 2-5 SEC) took control early to open a 27-0 lead and break a four-game losing streak against league competition.
Rattler, who also ran for a score, finished 28-of-36 passing and was looking for the end zone with the game well in hand as he connected with O’Mega Blake on a 26-yard touchdown with less than six minutes left to put South Carolina up 40-6.
It was another disheartening performance for Vanderbilt (2-9, 0-7), which must go to No. 14 Tennessee — the Vols won that matchup 56-0 a year ago — and win in two weeks to avoid a second winless SEC season in Clark Lea’s three years as head coach at his alma mater.
Rattler and the Gamecocks came out firing despite the rainy, cold air and consistently found his favorite target this season in Xavier Legette.
› Clemson 42, Georgia Tech 21
CLEMSON, S.C. — Cade Klubnik was 23-of-34 for 205 yards and four touchdowns, and Clemson’s defense held one of the best offenses in the country to 250 yards and picked off four passes as the Tigers beat Georgia Tech.
Will Shipley returned from a missed game in the concussion protocol to run for 77 yards on 11 carries and catch three passes for 30 yards for Clemson (5-4, 3-4 ACC). His understudy Phil Mafah led the team with 96 yards, just missing his second 100-yard game in a row.
The win made the Tigers bowl eligible much later than they are used to, but Clemson played as complete a game as they have in a season that for their recent playoff-level expectations had a dreadful start.
The offense for Georgia Tech (5-5, 4-3) came into this one second in the ACC averaging 465 yards a game. But Clemson’s aggressive defense was everywhere.