ECU lets late double-digit lead slip away in near upset
No. 17 Cincinnati 46, East Carolina 43
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Trailing by double figures in the final minutes, Cincinnati proved something to coach Luke Fickell — and maybe to everyone else, too.
The Bearcats rallied to beat East Carolina on Saturday night when Sam Crosa kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
Desmond Ridder threw for 161 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 146 more and led two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, including the winning drive in the final 1:10 for the East Division-leading Bearcats (7-1, 4-0 American Athletic Conference). The 241⁄2-point favorites trailed by 12 points with less than 9 minutes left before escaping with their sixth win in a row.
Holton Ahlers threw for a schoolrecord 535 yards, matched a career high with four touchdown passes and rushed for a score for the Pirates (3-6, 0-5). They were trying to beat a Top 25 team for the first time since 2014.
Jake Verity tied it at 43 with his third field goal, a 27-yarder with 1:14 remaining.
That left plenty of time for Ridder and the Bearcats to rally.
No. 24 Memphis 54, No. 15 SMU 48
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Brady White threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns, Antonio Gibson had a schoolrecord 386 all-purpose yards with three scores and Memphis held off SMU to cap the biggest day yet in Tigers’ football history.
The Tigers (8-1, 4-1) handed SMU its first loss of the season and moved atop the American Athletic Conference’s Western Division to improve their case to represent the Group of Five in the New Year’s Six.
SMU (8-1, 4-1) came in with its best start to a season since winning 1982 when the Mustangs won their first 10 games. They left having lost their sixth straight in Memphis in a series dominated by the Tigers.
Memphis started the day on display thanks to ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Beale Street with wrestler Jerry Lawler as the big guest, then filled the Liberty Bowl with 59,506 for the biggest crowd for an American Conference game. The Tigers followed by outdueling the nation’s sixthbest scoring offense, which had been averaging 43 points a game.
No. 7 Oregon 56, USC 24
LOS ANGELES — Justin Herbert passed for 225 yards and threw three touchdown passes to Juwan Johnson, and Oregon recovered from a slow start for its eighth straight win.
Freshman Mykael Wright returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown shortly after Brady Breeze returned an interception 32 yards for a score late in the second quarter for the Ducks (8-1, 6-0 Pac-12).
No. 11 Auburn 20, Mississippi 14
AUBURN, Ala. — Bo Nix passed for a career-high 340 yards and had a 1-yard touchdown and Auburn held off Mississippi.
The Tigers (7-2, 4-2 SEC) mostly dominated on the stat sheet, but struggled to put the 19-point underdogs away after repeated stalled drives and three missed field goals. Anders Carlson’s third miss, a 47-yarder with 1:14 to play, gave Ole Miss (3-6, 2-4) a shot at a winning drive.
No. 21 Boise State 52, San Jose State 42
SAN JOSE, Calif. — George Holani ran for 126 yards and four touchdowns and Boise State bounced back from its first loss of the season by beating San Jose State.
The Broncos (7-1, 4-0 Mountain West) lost 28-25 at BYU two weeks ago with starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier sidelined,.