San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
BUECHELE LIFTS SMU PAST NAVY
No. 22 SMU 51, Navy 37
In one week, Shane Buechele went from his worst passer efficiency rating in two seasons at SMU to his best.
The Mustangs enjoyed a pretty good bounce-back as well.
Buechele threw three touchdown passes, Ulysses Bentley IV and Tyler Lavine ran for two scores apiece and No. 22 SMU rebounded from its first loss with a 51-37 victory over Navy (3-4, 3-2 American Athletic) on Saturday night at Dallas.
The Mustangs (6-1, 3-1) scored 30 consecutive points from late in the second quarter to early in the fourth, a run that started with 10 points in the final 7 seconds of the first half.
“I didn’t see any one-handed catches or any miraculous tackles or any of that,” SMU coach Sonny Dykes said. “I just saw 11 guys doing their job and playing hard and doing what they’re supposed to do. When we do that, this is a good football team.”
Northwestern 21, Iowa 20: Jesse Brown scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2yard run in the third quarter, and visiting Northwestern (2-0, 2-0 Big Ten) erased an early 17-point deficit to beat Iowa (0-2, 0-2). The Wildcats outscored the Hawkeyes 21-3 after the first quarter, eating up clock and keeping the Hawkeye offense out of rhythm.
Auburn 48, LSU 11: Bo Nix generated 381 yards of total offense and four touchdowns as Auburn routed LSU inside Jordan-hare Stadium. Auburn (4-2, 4-2 SEC) was successful in affecting LSU quarterback TJ Finley, a true freshman who was making his first career road start in place of the injured Myles Brennan. Finley had two interceptions and one strip-sack fumble that directly led to three Auburn touchdowns. LSU (2-3, 2-3) struggled to find any sort of offensive balance.
Rice 30, Southern Mississippi 6: Mike Collins and Austin Trammell combined for three touchdowns and visiting Rice (1-1, 1-1 Conference USA) beat Southern Mississippi (1-5, 1-2).
UCF 44, Houston 21: Dillon Gabriel passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns, UCF (4-2, 3-2 AAC) rushed for another 300-plus and the balanced, high-octane offense swamped host Houston (2-2, 2-1).
Purdue 31, Illinois 24: Aiden O’connell passed for two touchdowns, and visiting Purdue (2-0, 2-0 Big Ten) hung on to beat a Covid-19decimated Illinois team (0-2, 0-2) that was down to its fourth-string quarterback.
Virginia Tech 42, Louisville 35: Hendon Hooker was perfect from the air and ran for three scores to lead Virginia Tech to a victory over host Louisville (2-5, 1-5 ACC). After throwing three interceptions in a loss to Wake Forest last week, the junior quarterback rebounded by going 10 of 10 for 183 yards passing. That supplemented a rushing attack that garnered 283 yards for the Hokies (4-2, 4-2). He contributed 68 of those yards on the ground.
Notable
Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said the total number of positive COVID-19 cases within the Badgers’ football program has increased to 22. Alvarez told ESPN’S “College Gameday” that 12 football players and 10 staffers have tested positive. Alvarez said school officials would decide Tuesday whether to go ahead with the ninth-ranked Badgers’ scheduled Nov. 7 home game with Purdue.
The American Athletic Conference said that replay officials in the East Carolina-tulsa game on Friday night erred when overturning a fumble call that would have ended what turned out to be the Golden Hurricane’s game-winning drive.