Utah knocks off Oregon
Britain Covey returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, giving Utah 14 points in 27 seconds and a 28-0 lead, and the No. 23 Utes ended No. 3 Oregon’s College Football Playoff hopes with a 38-7 victory Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Tavion Thomas ran for 94 yards and three touchdowns to help the Utes (8-3, 7-1 Pac-12) wrap up a share of the Pac-12 South title and a spot in the league championship game. Utah has won four in a row.
Thomas has run for a Utahrecord 17 touchdowns this season. The previous mark was 15, shared by Zack Moss and John White IV.
Cameron Rising threw for 178 yards. His top target, Brant Kuithe, piled up 118 yards on five catches for just the second 100yard game of his career. Covey had 191 all-purpose yards.
Anthony Brown threw for 231 yards and a touchdown for Oregon (9-2, 6-2 Pac-12). Oregon rushed for 63 yards and had 294 yards of offense.
Clemson 42, Wake Forest 27
The Tigers finally looked like the powerhouse they were supposed to be this season.
Kobe Pace ran for a career-high 191 yards and two touchdowns as host Clemson won their 13th in a row over the No. 10 Demon Decacons, delaying their run to the ACC Atlantic title.
Will Shipley, with 112 yards, joined Pace in surpassing the 100yard mark and had two TD runs. Shipley also threw a two-yard jump pass TD to Davis Allen.
“For us, offensively, it’s our best game of the year,” offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said.
It took a while for the Tigers (83, 6-2) to play up to their preseason billing. But everything clicked, like so many other times, against Wake Forest (9-2, 6-1), which has not won at Death Valley since 1998.
UTSA 34, UAB 31
Frank Harris threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Oscar Cardenas
with three seconds left to keep the No. 22 Roadrunners undefeated with a wild victory over the visiting Blazers.
Trailing much of the game, the Roadrunners (11-0, 7-0 Conference-USA) got the ball back with 1:09 left after stuffing the Blazers (7-4, 5-2) a yard short of a first down. After a punt, Harris drove UTSA 77 yards on seven plays. The winning TD came after Harris (25-for-35, 323 yards, three TDs) fumbled the snap and had his pass tipped before Cardenas caught it in the back of the end zone.
Alabama 42, Arkansas 35
Bryce Young passed for more yards than any Alabama quarterback ever had in a game and the No. 2 Crimson Tide (10-1, 7-1 SEC) needed that kind of performance to put away the No. 21 Razorbacks (7-4, 3-4).
Young passed for a schoolrecord 559 yards and five touchdowns and host Alabama clinched a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Oklahoma 28, Iowa State 21
Caleb Williams passed for a touchdown and ran for another, Jalen Redmond returned a fumble for a score, and the No. 13 Sooners (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) topped the visiting Cyclones (6-5, 4-4).
Kennedy Brooks ran for 115 yards for Oklahoma, which bounced back from a loss to Baylor and solidified their chances of reaching the Big 12 title game and winning a seventh consecutive league title.
Cincinnati 48, SMU 14
Desmond Ridder threw three touchdown passes, ran for another score and even caught a TD pass to help the No. 5 Bearcats (110, 7-0 American Athletic) blitz the visiting (8-3, 4-3) Mustangs.
Alec Pierce had two TD catches for Cincinnati, which extended the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 26 games.