CONFERENCE REPORTS

at No. 14 Northwestern 28, Illinois 10: Cam Porter ran for a career-high 142 yards and two touchdowns, Evan Hull added a season-best 149 yards on the ground, and the Wildcats tuned up for Ohio State by beating the Fighting Illini. Northwestern rushed for 411 yards while outgaining Illinois 493-262. The Wildcats ran for a school-record 478 against Boston College in 1961. Porter came in with just 32 yards and one touchdown but the freshman broke out in a big way, leading the Wildcats to an easy victory.

at No. 16 Iowa 28, Wisconsin 7: Spencer Petras threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns to Ihmir Smith-marsette to lead the Hawkeyes past the Badgers, Iowa’s sixth win in a row. The Hawkeyes beat the Badgers for the first time since 2015 to reclaim the Heartland Trophy. Hawkeyes players celebrated by making snow angels after flurries picked up in the second half and blanketed the field in white. Iowa’s offense came alive in the second half after both teams struggled in the first. Smith-marsette finished with seven catches for 140 yards, and Tyler Goodson had 106 yards rushing.

Minnesota 24, at Nebraska 17: Mohamed Ibrahim ran for two touchdowns following Cornhuskers turnovers, and a Golden Gophers team missing nearly three dozen players to COVID-19 protocols or injuries left Memorial Stadium with a stunning win after being idle three weeks. Ibrahim scored on fourth and goal from the one-yard line to give Minnesota a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter after Adrian Martinez fumbled at the Nebraska 39. Connor Culp’s 30-yard field goal cut it to 24-17 with 4:42 left.

at Penn State 39, Michigan State 24: A come-from-behind win over the Spartans is evidence enough for coach James Franklin to know the Nittany Lions have put their earlyseason struggles behind them. Sean Clifford completed 17 of 27 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns and added 48 yards and another touchdown on the ground. Parker Washington hauled in a pair of touchdown passes for the Nittany Lions, who trailed 21-10 at halftime. Backup quarterback Will Levis added a rushing touchdown and receiver Jahan Dotson returned a punt 81 yards for a score for the Nittany Lions, who won their third straight.

Rutgers 27, at Maryland 24 (OT): The Scarlet Knights followed a difficult week with a miserable first half, then rallied together to pull out a victory that had them shouting and dancing with delight. Valentino Ambrosio kicked the tying field goal at the end of regulation and accounted for the only points in overtime, drilling a 42-yarder to carry Rutgers past the error-prone Terrapins. Bo Melton scored two touchdowns for the Scarlet Knights, who were blanked in the first half and trailed twice in the fourth quarter.

No. 1 Alabama 52, at Arkansas 3: Devonta Smith returned a punt 84 yards for a touchdown as the Crimson Tide scored 28 points in a span of 11 minutes in the first half and rolled past the Razorbacks. After the teams traded field goals, Smith started the Alabama barrage. Najee Harris scored consecutive touchdowns just 14 seconds apart and a final plunge from the one-yard line by Brian Robinson Jr. had Alabama cruising toward the Southeastern Conference championship game next week against No. 6 Florida.

Louisiana State 37, at No. 6 Florida 34: Kyle Trask and the Gators look nowhere near ready for top-ranked Alabama. Max Johnson threw three touchdown passes in his first college start, Cade York kicked a 57-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining and the reigning national champion Tigers stunned Florida on a cool and foggy night in the Swamp. York drilled his kick through the dense fog and the uprights, leaving Florida with a final shot. Trask got the Gators in position to tie it, but Evan Mcpherson was wide left from 51 yards on the final play.

Tennessee 42, at Vanderbilt 17: Sarah Fuller kicked two extra points to become the first woman to score in a Power Five conference game, finally getting the chance to do more than squib a kickoff for the Commodores during a loss to the Volunteers. Fuller cleanly converted both of her kicks, to the cheers of her teammates and family. Vanderbilt lost its 13th consecutive SEC game, its longest skid since dropping 23 straight between 2000 and 2003. Tennessee left with the much-needed victory with Harrison Bailey and J.T. Shrout throwing for two touchdowns apiece.

Auburn 24, at Mississippi State 10: Bo Nix threw for one touchdown and ran for another to lead the Tigers to a victory over Mississippi State the Bulldogs in Auburn’s final regular-season game of the year. Auburn put only field goals on the board in each of the game’s first three quarters, but Nix connected with Seth Williams early in the fourth to give the Tigers a 16-3 lead, then scrabbled three yards to score again on the next possession. Mississippi State managed just 240 yards of total offense.

Oklahoma State 42, at Baylor 3: Dillon Stoner had eight catches for 247 yards with three first-half touchdowns, freshman running back Dominic Richardson ran for 169 yards with three scores and the Cowboys beat the undermanned Bears in their season finale. Baylor played two days after its facility was temporarily closed because of COVID-19 issues and had 47 people — players, coaches and support personnel — unavailable for the makeup of a game postponed Oct. 17 because of the Bears’ virus outbreak. Coach Dave Aranda’s first season ended with only one full-time assistant offensive coach at the game. That was running backs coach Justin Johnson serving as acting offensive coordinator and calling plays for the first time with the help of two graduate assistants. The rest of the offensive staff, including offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, missed the game. “I felt our team wanted to play the game,” Aranda said. “You look at that game and you probably ask yourself if the team wanted to play. I’m asking myself just in hindsight. But at the time, it felt like we wanted to play.”

at Texas Christian 52, Louisiana Tech 10: Max Duggan ran for his 10th touchdown and connected on a scoring pass of 70-plus yards for the second consecutive game, leading the Horned Frogs to a win in the teams’ season finales.

at Louisville 45, Wake Forest 21: Malik Cunningham threw for 195 yards and accounted for three scores to lead the Cardinals, who overcame a sluggish start to rally for a victory in their regular-season finale. After gaining just seven yards in the first quarter, they finished with 453. Louisville gained 254 of those on the ground. Cunningham completed 73% (16 for 22) of his passes. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for another. He went without an interception for the first time in five games.

at Florida State 56, Duke 35: Jashaun Corbin ran for three touchdowns while Jordan Travis threw for two scores and ran for another as the Seminoles snapped a three-game skid. Travis threw for 192 yards and two touchdown passes to Ja’khi Douglas, as Florida State won following a 28-day layoff that was prompted by two game postponements and a rescheduled matchup with Duke. The Seminoles are 21-0 in the all-time series vs. Duke. Mataeo Durant ran for 127 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown, for Duke.

at Virginia Tech 33, Virginia 15: Khalil Herbert ran for 162 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown, and the Hokies ended a four-game slide. The Hokies also got a big play from Tayvion Robinson, who turned a short pass from Braxton Burmeister into a 60-yard touchdown, a scoring run from wide receiver Tre Turner and four field goals from Brian Johnson to regain the Commonwealth Cup. Virginia had its four-game win streak end. The Cavaliers drove 75 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead with their first possession, but managed just 71 yards the rest of the half while the Hokies scored all five times they had the ball to open a 27-7 advantage at halftime.