No. 3 Georgia prevails against No. 1 Tennessee
ATHENS, Ga. — Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and No. 3 Georgia shut down No. 1 Tennessee’s high-powered offense, dominating the Volunteers 27-13 on Saturday.
Georgia (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) turned the top-five matchup into a rout that made clear the defending national champions are still the team to beat.
In a deafening and soggy Sanford Stadium, Georgia led 27-6 before Tennessee scored its first touchdown with 4:15 remaining.
Bennett threw scoring passes of 37 yards to Ladd McConkey and 5 yards to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint in the first half. Bennett also had a 13-yard scoring run.
Hendon Hooker, who entered as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner after taking down Alabama last month, passed for only 195 yards for Tennessee (8-1, 4-1) and was sacked six times by star defensive tackle Jalen Carter and the Bulldogs’ defense.
Hooker threw an interception, lost a fumble that nearly resulted in a safety for Georgia and didn’t throw a touchdown pass.
Tennessee’s final possession ended with Hooker dropped for no gain on a fourth-down run with less than 3 minutes remaining. The Volunteers came in averaging almost 50 points per game.
NO. 2 OHIO ST. 21 NORTHWESTERN 7
Miyan Williams ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns as the Buckeyes held on in rainy and windy conditions in Evanston, Ill.
The Buckeyes (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) didn’t score until the closing minutes of the first half, when Emeka Egbuka ran it in from the 15.
Williams gave Ohio State the lead with a 27-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He made it 21-7 when he scored from the 2 with about 4½ minutes remaining in the game after C.J. Stroud broke a 44-yard run.
Stroud, the Big Ten leader in yards passing, set a career low with 76. He completed just 10 of 26 passes in his only game this year without a touchdown throw.
NO. 8 OREGON 49, COLORADO 10
Bo Nix completed 20 of 24 passes for 274 yards and two TDs and caught a touchdown pass to key the rout on a windy day in Boulder, Colo.
Oregon dialed up the gadget plays, including an offensive lineman catching a touchdown pass and a linebacker scoring from short, becoming the first FBS team to have a receiving TD from an offensive lineman, a receiving score from a quarterback, and a rushing TD by a defensive player in the same game since at least 1996, according to research provided by Oregon.
MICHIGAN ST. 23 NO. 14 ILLINOIS 15
Payton Thorne passed for 182 yards and two touchdowns as the visiting Spartans (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten) ended a troubling week on a positive note and kept alive its bowl hopes.
The Spartans, who were without eight suspended players, stopped the Illini (7-2, 4-2) five times on fourth down. Illinois turned the ball over on downs three times in the red zone and went a combined 7 of 23 on third- and fourth-down attempts.
NO. 16 PENN ST. 45, INDIANA 14
Kaytron Allen ran for 86 yards and scored a season-high three times as the visiting Nittany Lions (7-2, 4-2) handed the Hoosiers (3-6, 1-5) their sixth straight loss. Penn State (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) has won eight of the last nine in the series with Indiana.
NO. 17 NORTH CAROLINA 31 VIRGINIA 28
Drake Maye threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the visiting Tar Heels (8-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast) rallied after halftime.
Brennan Armstrong, Xavier Brown and Ronnie Walker ran for scores for the Cavaliers (3-6, 1-5), who were playing without three starting wide receivers and lost for the fifth time in six games.
NO. 19 TULANE 27, TULSA 13
Tyjae Spears ran for 157 yards and a touchdown and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson gained 106 as the visiting Green Wave (8-1, 5-0 American) dominated on the ground.
Tulane (8-1, 5-0 American Athletic Conference) had lost the past two meetings with Tulsa (3-6, 1-4) in overtime.
PITTSBURGH, 19
NO. 20 SYRACUSE 9
Rodney Hammond ran for a career-high 124 yards and a touchdown while filling in for injured Israel Abanikanda as the host Panthers (5-4, 2-3
ACC) handed the Orange (6-3, 3-2) their third consecutive loss.
Pitt sacked Carlos Del RioWilson six times in his first career start and limited Syracuse to 145 total yards.
C’Bo Flemister added a short touchdown run for Pitt as the defending ACC champions righted themselves after three losses in four games.
WASHINGTON 24
NO. 23 OREGON ST. 21
Friday in Seattle, Peyton Henry made a 22-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to cap a 92-yard scoring driving, and the Huskies (7-2, 4-2) held off the Beavers (6-3, 3-3) to preserve their hopes in the Pac-12 championship game race.
NO. 25 UCF 35, MEMPHIS 28
Mikey Keene passed for 219 yards and three touchdowns and RJ Harvey rushed for 151 yards and a score as the visiting Knights (7-2, 4-1 American) handed the Tigers (4-5, 2-4) their fourth consecutive loss.