Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Purdue beats top-5 team again
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Aidan O’Connell threw for a career-best 536 yards, matched his career high with three touchdown passes and led Purdue past No. 3 Michigan State 40-29 on Saturday, leaving the Big Ten without any unbeaten teams.
Purdue’s second major upset in four weeks could keep the conference out of the College Football Playoff for the third time in five years. The Boilermakers ( 6-3, 4-2 Big Ten), who won at then-No. 2 Iowa last month, are bowl eligible for the first time in three years. They tied for the West Division lead and extended their FBS record for wins over top-five teams when unranked to 17.
“We’ve got a group of guys that are really hungry. We’ve had some adversity along the way, but that’s football and that’s what trains you to be great,” Coach Jeff Brohm said. “It’s just a truly a great win for our program.”
The Spartans (8-1, 5-1) lost to Purdue for the first time since 2006 and trail Ohio State in the East by one game.
O’Connell went 40 of 54, including a 39-yard TD to Jackson Anthrop on a beautifully executed trick play that put Purdue ahead 21-7 in the second quarter. Anthrop began the play in motion, took a handoff and gave the ball to a wide receiver on a reverse who then pitched the ball back to O’Connell. The QB tossed an easy screen pass back to Anthrop, who followed a convoy of blockers into the end zone.
David Bell hauled in 11 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown. He posted his 15th career 100-yard receiving game, breaking John Standeford’s Purdue record.
Even another strong showing by Kenneth Walker III — 23 carries for 146 yards and a score — couldn’t keep the Spartans on track. Michigan State (8-1, 5-1) spent most of the day playing catch-up.
“We weren’t able to move the chains and convert when we needed to,” Spartans coach Mel Tucker said.
The Spartans got within 21-14 at halftime and tied the score on their third play of the second half when quarterback Payton Thorne ran 39 yards for a touchdown.
King Doerue broke the tie with a 1-yard TD run on the ensuing series and the Boilermakers extended the margin to 37-21 with three field goals. The Spartans closed to 37-29 on Thorne’s second TD pass to Tre Mosley and a 2-point conversion pass from Thorne to Maliq Carr.
Purdue sealed it with a 22yard field goal with 41 seconds left.
NO. 4 OREGON 26, WASHINGTON 16
SEATTLE — Travis Dye rushed for a career-high 211 yards and a touchdown, Anthony Brown ran for a score and passed for another and No. 4 Oregon overcame a sluggish start to beat Washington.
A year after the border rivals didn’t play due to a covid-19 outbreak within the Huskies program, the Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) fell behind early before running off 21 consecutive points and beat Washington for the seventh time in the past eight games played in Seattle.
Brown threw a 31-yard TD pass to Devon Williams late in the first half to take a 10-9 lead at the break and scored on a 2-yard run early in the third quarter. Dye appeared to provide the capper when he rumbled 19 yards for a score on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Ducks a 24-9 lead.
Washington’s languishing offense that had done nothing all night suddenly went the length of the field and pulled to 24-16 with 11:13 remaining on Sean McGrew’s second TD run.
Oregon was able to grind nearly nine minutes off the clock even though they didn’t score. The drive was helped by a long run from Dye and Brown hitting Johnny Johnson III for 13 yards on a third-and-10. It was Johnson’s only catch after he was suspended for the first half following a targeting ejection last week.
Washington (4-5, 3-3) got the ball back with 2:14 left and 90 yards to go but had two dropped passes, an incompletion and when Coach Jimmy Lake opted to punt the snap went over Race Porter’s head for a safety.
NO. 5 OHIO STATE 26, NEBRASKA 17
LINCOLN, Neb. — C.J. Stroud threw for 405 yards and two touchdowns and Ohio State’s defense came up with a pair of stops after Nebraska pulled within six points.
The Buckeyes’ nation-leading offense managed only two field goals in the second half, allowing the Cornhuskers to make it a one-score game until Noah Ruggles kicked a 46-yard field goal with 1:29 left.
Ohio State (8-1, 6-0 Big Ten) won its 24th consecutive game against a conference opponent.
The Huskers (3-7, 1-6) dropped their fourth consecutive game and are assured of a fourth consecutive losing season under Scott Frost and a fifth in a row overall.
NO. 6 CINCINNATI 28, TULSA 20
CINCINNATI — Desmond Ridder threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns and Cincinnati held off Tulsa.
Alec Peirce had five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown to help the Bearcats (9-0, 5-0 American Athletic) extend the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 25 games.
Shamari Brooks rushed for 132 yards for Tulsa (3-6, 2-3), and Anthony Watkins ran for 105.
When Tulsa was stopped short on fourth down at the 4, it appeared the Bearcats would just run out the clock. But Ridder fumbled on a sneak, giving the Golden Hurricane life. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Steven Anderson fumbled as he was reaching for the goal line, and Jabari Taylor made the recovery for a touchback.
NO. 7 MICHIGAN 29, INDIANA 7
ANN ARBOR, Mich. —Hassan Haskins ran for a career-high 168 yards and a touchdown, helping No. 7 Michigan bounce back from its first defeat with a win over Indiana.
The Wolverines (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) were coming off a deflating defeat, blowing a 16-point, third-quarter lead in a 37-33 loss to rival Michigan State last week.
The Hoosiers (2-7, 0-6) have lost five consecutive games, collapsing in a season that started with them hoping to contend for at least a division title.
Haskins had 27 carries with a heavier burden in the backfield because Blake Corum left the field with an undisclosed injury early in the game. Corum, who has been among the nation’s leading rushers all season, ran once for 4 yards and dropped a perfect pass in the flat for the second straight week before leaving the game.
Haskins’ 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter gave Michigan a 10-0 lead. Chris Childers 1-yard touchdown run pulled the Hoosiers within three, but they couldn’t get closer.
Cade McNamara was 10 of 18 for 168 yards with two touchdown passes to tight end Luke Schoonmaker that helped the Wolverines pull away. Michigan’s Cornelius Johnson had five receptions for 108 yards.
Donoven McCulley was 10 of 24 for 88 yards and ran 14 times for 37 yards for the Hoosiers.
NORTH CAROLINA 58, NO. 9 WAKE FOREST 55
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ty Chandler ran for career highs of 213 yards and four touchdowns and North Carolina overcame an 18-point deficit to beat No. 9 Wake Forest, handing the Demon Deacons their first loss in a nonconference matchup of instate Atlantic Coast Conference teams.
Chandler’s big day included a 50-yard breakaway run with 1:12 left. That was the final blow for the Tar Heels (5-4, 4-3 ACC) as they rallied from a huge third-quarter deficit to beat the Demon Deacons (8-1, 5-1) for the second straight year, following a 21-point comeback last year by erasing a 45-27 deficit with 7:38 left in the third.
The loss doesn’t impact the Demon Deacons’ pursuit of their first ACC title since 2006 since it was part of a home-and-home nonconference series announced in 2015 with the schools not playing each other as often amid the expanded ACC’s scheduling model. But it likely ends their hopes of climbing deeper into the College Football Playoff race, even if they win out in league play and win the ACC championship game.
Sam Hartman threw for 398 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 78 yards and two more scores for Wake Forest. A.T. Perry and Jaquarii Roberson each hauled in a pair of touchdown grabs to lead a 615-yard effort from the offense.
North Carolina’s Sam Howell threw for 216 yards and a touchdown and ran for 104 and 2 more scores in a matchup of high-profile quarterbacks. He helped the Tar Heels post 546 yards and set up a tie-breaking 25-yard field goal by Grayson Atkins with 2:12 left.
NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 34, NAVY 6
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jack Coan threw for 269 yards and a touchdown, Kyren Williams ran for two scores and Notre Dame shut down Navy’s triple-option attack.
Coan, a grad transfer from Wisconsin, completed 23 of 29 passes, with a 70-yard scoring pass to Kevin Austin late in the first half for the Irish.
Williams, who had a career-high 199 yards last week in a 44-34 shootout victory over North Carolina, scored on runs of 1 and 20 yards, but managed just 95 yards on 17 carries. The Irish offense totaled 430 yards.
Grad nose tackle Kurt Hinish had a career-high 10 tackles after making just 14 in six games coming in. Notre Dame dominated the Midshipmen (2-7) with its size and physical play. Navy controlled the clock, with 34:33 of possession — but completed just one pass for 18 yards and rushed for 166 yards — 73 on 22 carries by fullback Isaac Ruoss.
NO. 11 OKLAHOMA STATE 24, WEST VIRGINIA 3
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Spencer Sanders threw two touchdown passes and Oklahoma State had eight sacks against West Virginia.
Oklahoma State (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) has won seven straight over the Mountaineers (4-5, 2-4).
The Cowboys pushed around West Virginia’s offensive line all game. Devin Harper and Brock Martin had two sacks apiece for the Cowboys.
West Virginia, which compiled 492 total yards in a win over Iowa State last week, was limited to 133 total yards Saturday, including 17 yards on the ground against the Big 12’s top rushing defense.
Both of Sanders’ TD passes went to Tay Martin in the right corner of the end zone in single coverage. Sanders finished 21 of 31 for 182 yards. He threw one interception.
TCU 30, NO. 12 BAYLOR 28
FORT WORTH — Chandler Morris, the son of former University of Arkansas Coach Chad Morris, threw for 461 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for TCU and the Horned Frogs beat Baylor in their first game without Gary Patterson on the sideline since 1997.
The Horned Frogs (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) snapped a three-game losing streak six days after the school and Patterson mutually agreed to immediately part ways before completing his 21st season as head coach. They had lost five of their previous six games and were 21-22 since the start of 2018. Jerry Kill, the former Minnesota coach who was the best man in Patterson’s wedding and in an off-field role on his staff, took over as interim head coach.
Baylor (7-2, 4-2) was driving and past midfield after the Frogs missed a field goal attempt when linebacker Shadrach Banks intercepted a pass thrown by Gerry Bohanon (Earle) with 1:03 left.
Bohanon finished 14 of 20 for 214 yards with 3 TDs and 2 interceptions, and Abram Smith ran for 125 yards for Baylor, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Tyquan Thornton had five catches for 121 yards and two TDs.
Morris completed 29 of 41 passes. He also led the Frogs with 70 yards rushing and a TD on 11 carries.
NO. 15 BYU 59, IDAHO STATE 14
PROVO, Utah — Jaren Hall threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half, and BYU demolished Idaho State.
Baylor Romney took over in the second half for Hall, who finished 2 yards shy of his fourth 300-yard performance in the last five games.
Puka Nacua had six catches for 120 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars. BYU (8-2) finished with 560 yards of offense, averaging 7.4 yards per play, in its third straight victory. Idaho State is 1-8.
NO. 22 IOWA 17, NORTHWESTERN 12
EVANSTON, Ill. — Alex Padilla took over for the struggling Spencer Petras and led three scoring drives, Tyler Goodson ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and Iowa beat Northwestern to stop a two-game losing streak.
The Hawkeyes (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) got the bounce-back win they were seeking coming off lopsided losses to Purdue and Wisconsin, though it wasn’t exactly a breeze.
Northwestern (3-6, 1-5) pulled to 17-12 with 2:21 remaining on Andrew Marty’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Evan Hull and quickly got the ball back after Iowa went three and out. But Dane Belton immediately sealed it with his second interception, sending the Wildcats to their third straight loss.
BOISE STATE 40, NO. 23 FRESNO STATE 14
FRESNO, Calif. — Hank Bachmeier passed for 283 yards and a touchdown and Boise State had five sacks and forced three turnovers to mute high-scoring Fresno State.
George Holani rushed for 117 yards on 21 carries for Boise State (5-4, 3-2).
Jake Haener passed for 279 yards and two touchdowns for Fresno State (7-3, 4-2), but threw three interceptions — one in the end zone.
NO. 25 PITTSBURGH 54, DUKE 29
DURHAM, N.C. — Kenny Pickett threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score as Pittsburgh pulled away to beat Duke.
Pickett threw for 405 yards as the Panthers (7-2, 4-1 ACC) bounced back from a home loss to Miami a week earlier. They have their best nine-game record since an 8-1 mark in 2009.
Sam Scarton kicked four field goals for Pittsburgh, which leads the ACC’s Coastal Division and improved to 4-0 in road games. Jordan Addison, who scored on a reception and a rush, racked up 171 receiving yards on seven catches.
Duke (3-6, 0-5) lost its fifth game in a row. Quarterback Gunnar Holmberg exited with an upper-body injury on the team’s final possession of the first half after throwing for 174 yards and a touchdown. Running back Mataeo Durant gained 81 yards on 25 carries.