TCU holds off WVU to stay perfect

No. 7 TCU is still working on putting together an ideal performance on both sides of the ball.

For now, the Horned Frogs are happy to still have a perfect record.

Max Duggan threw three touchdown passes, Kendre Miller ran for 120 yards and a score and TCU used big plays on offense to beat West Virginia 41-31 Saturday. Though the Horned Frogs had four plays of at least 50 yards, with three going for touchdowns, they had to fight hard in the fourth quarter to hold on.

“We’re not playing for how pretty it looks,” Duggan said. “We’re playing to get that win, whether it’s won by one or by 40. Obviously, there’s things that we need to work on that will make it easier for us.”

The Horned Frogs (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) didn’t need a comeback from a doubledigit deficit like they did in their two previous games. Duggan staked TCU to a 28-21 halftime lead that held up.

TCU has won its first eight games for the first time since 2015 and broke a fourgame losing streak to the Mountaineers.

Duggan previously had gone 0-3 against West Virginia. He changed that by completing 16 of 28 passes for 341 yards.

“We’re grateful to be 8-0,” he said. “You’re never going to take winning for granted. We know it’s hard to win in this league, especially on the road.”

West Virginia (3-5, 1-4), which was coming off a season-low 282 yards of offense in a lopsided loss last week at Texas Tech, gave TCU a fight.

“I thought our guys competed, really played their tails off,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. “I’m proud of how they played. We’re based on outcomes. I get that. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted.”

Nix accounts for five TDs in Oregon’s win over Cal:

Bo Nix threw three TD passes and ran for three more to lead No. 8 Oregon to a 42-24 victory over California on Saturday for its seventh straight win.

The Ducks (7-1, 5-0 Pac-12) broke open the game with three TDs in a span of less than seven minutes of game time spanning halftime and rolled to another win.

Oregon hasn’t lost since a season-opening 46-point loss to Georgia, winning six of the seven games by at least 15 points.

Georgia pulls away late against Florida:

Daijun Edwards and Kenny McIntosh ran for two touchdowns each, and No. 1 Georgia pulled away from Florida following a second-half scare to win 42-20 Saturday night in the rivalry dubbed “the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”

The defending national champion Bulldogs (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) looked to be in trouble when the Gators (4-4, 1-4) scored the first 17 points of the third quarter and turned a 28-3 deficit into a one-score game.

But the Dawgs answered with consecutive touchdown drives to seal their 10th consecutive victory. Georgia beat Florida for the fifth time in six years.

Cook propels Missouri past South Carolina:

Brady Cook ran for a touchdown and directed three long, first-half scoring drives as Missouri built a 17-0 lead on the way to its fourth straight win over No. 25 South Carolina, 23-10, on Saturday night.

Receiver Dominic Lovett had career highs with 10 catches for 148 yards while the Tigers’ defense had 11 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and held the Gamecocks (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) to 203 total yards.

The Tigers (4-4, 2-3) won their second straight after starting league play 0-3. Missouri beat a ranked opponent for the first time since its 45-41 win over No. 17 LSU on Oct. 10, 2020.

Louisville forces eight turnovers in rout of Wake Forest:

Fueled by an opportunistic defense, Louisville used a 35-point third quarter to knock off No. 10 Wake Forest 48-21.

The Cardinals (5-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) forced eight turnovers, all of which came in the second half. Louisville forced six turnovers in the third quarter as coach Scott Satterfield took his first win against a top 10 team.

Louisville needed a rally after losing a 13-0 lead they held a minute into the second quarter. A defense that’s improved in recent weeks provided that spark and then some.

Harvey scores two TDs as UCF knocks off Cincinnati:

RJ Harvey had a 17-yard touchdown run with 48 seconds remaining, sending UCF to a 25-21 win over No. 20 Cincinnati on Saturday.

Harvey’s go-ahead TD capped a sevenplay, 75-yard march directed by Mikey Keene. The backup quarterback was 4 for 4 for 57 yards on the drive. Cincinnati (6-2, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) took a 21-18 lead with 3:04 remaining. Ryan Montgomery scored on a 39-yard touchdown run, and the Bearcats added the 2-point conversion on a Ben Bryant pass to Tyler Scott.

Williams throws for five TDs, USC outlasts Arizona:

Caleb Williams threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns, and No. 10 Southern California scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to outlast Arizona 45-37 on Saturday night.