UK honors coach who recently died
The University of Kentucky football team would have been forgiven for a dispirited effort following the death of offensive line coach John Schlarman. But its players took the field with heavy hearts Saturday and overcame Vanderbilt for a 38-35 victory.
TheWildcats lined up without a left guard and took a delay of game penalty on the first play from scrimmage to honor their coach, who died this week after a long battle with cancer. Vanderbilt declined the penalty. Kentucky senior left tackle LandonYoung came in on the next play, wearing Schlarman’s No. 65 jersey. Schlarman was a fouryear starter at Kentucky from 1994 to 1997. Kentucky then marched 75 yards in a hurry to take a 7-0 lead.
The Wildcats snapped a two-game losing streak and picked up their first win since they won at Tennessee on Oct. 17. They were off last weekend following losses at Missouri and to Georgia at home. Chris Rodriguez rushed for a career-high 149 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries, an average of 11.5 yards per rush. Kentucky as a team finished averaging 9.7 yards per carry against the Commodores, and amassed 302 overall on the ground.
Tar Heels win shootout: There’s no deficit that Sam Howell and his North Carolina teammates feel they can’t overcome. The sophomore threw for program records of 550 yards and six touchdowns and scored the go-ahead rushing TD with 4:11 left to help North Carolina rally past Wake Forest 59-53 on Saturday, capping a comeback from 21 down in the third quarter. Howell’s 20-yard keeper helped the Tar Heels (6-2, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) match their biggest comeback in program history. It was part of a run of 35 unanswered points after falling behind 45-24.
What you talking about, Willis: MalikWillis threw for 306 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores, leading No. 22 Liberty over Western Carolina 58-14 on Saturday. Liberty (8-0) won its 10th straight game and remained second behind Notre Dame for the nation’s longest active winning streak.
Louisiana-Lafayette locks up division: Levi Lewis passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns, Louisiana-Lafayette gained 254 yards on the ground and theNo. 25 Ragin’ Cajuns clinched a third straight Sun BeltConferenceWest Division title with a 38-10 victory over South Alabama. Lewis tossedTDpasses of 5 yards to JalenWilliams and 3 yards to Errol Rogers. He also hit running backTrey Ragas for a 25-yard score on a fourth-down conversion, with Ragas narrowly staying inside the left sideline to put the game away in the fourth.
Penn State still winless: Luke McCaffrey had a hand in two touchdowns in his first start, Nebraska’s defense made two huge late defensive stops and the Cornhuskers held on to beat Penn State 30-23 for their first win Saturday. McCaffrey looked good in the first half, but the Huskers generated only three points in the second and Penn State came back from a 21-point deficit to make it close. A Top 10 team to start the season, the Lions (0-4, 0-4) are off to their worst start since Joe Paterno’s 2001 team opened with four straight losses.
Heismangoing remote: TheHeisman Trophy will be presented Jan. 5, but without the usual ceremony held in New York City, and the finalists will be revealed on Christmas Eve. The reworked Heisman schedule was revealed Saturday on ESPN. The Tuesday night presentation ceremony on ESPN will originate from the network’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut. The finalists will appear via satellite
USCrallies tobeat Arizona: Southern California had too many penalties, struggled in the red zone and found itself in a late hole for the second straight week. The Trojans rallied to win a week ago and did it again with another pair of late scoring drives. VavaeMalepeai bulled his way through multiple tacklers for an 8-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left, and No. 20USC beat Arizona 34-30.
Wisconsin returns, routs Michigan: Nakia Watson and Mason Stokke each scored two touchdowns in the first half, helping No. 13 Wisconsin build a big lead in a 49-11 rout at Michigan. The Badgers (2-0) returned to competition after canceling two games of their all-BigTen schedule due to aCOVID-19 breakout within the program and didn’t look rusty at all against a hapless team. TheWolverines (1-3) fell behind 28-0 at halftime, their largest deficit at home since the BigHouse opened in 1927, and are off to their worst start since 1967. Early on, it appeared Michigan might put up a fight before getting knocked out in front of friends and family in its mostly empty stadium.