Clemson 37, Florida St. 34: Tigers avoid first loss.
Deshaun Watson had 430 yards of total offense and third-ranked Clemson held off No. 12 Florida State 37-34 on Saturday night.
The junior completed 27 of 43 passes for 378 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. His 34-yard pass to Jordan Leggett with 2:02 remaining gave visiting Clemson the lead. Watson also had 52 yards rushing on 17 carries, and Leggett had 122 yards on five receptions.
It is the second straight game against Florida State that Watson has had over 400 yards of offense. He had 404 yards last year in a 23-13 victory. He is the first quarterback to beat Florida State in consecutive seasons since Oklahoma’s Landry Jones in 2010-11.
Wayne Gallman had 82 yards rushing and two touchdowns to help the Tigers (8-0, 5-0 ACC) extend their regularseason winning streak to 22 games.
The Seminoles (5-3, 2-3) fell short despite Dalvin Cook’s career-high four touchdowns. The junior had 136 of his 169 yards in the second half and had two touchdown runs of 40-plus yards.
This is only second time in series history that Clemson has beaten Florida State in two straight seasons. It is also only the second time it has won at Florida State since the Seminoles joined the conference in 1992.
#2 Michigan 32, Michigan St. 23:
Amara Darboh caught eight passes for a career-high 165 yards, and De’Veon Smith ran for two touchdowns for the visiting Wolverines (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten). Michigan scored every time it had the ball in the first half, beating the Spartans (2-6, 0-5) for only the second time in the last nine meetings and avenging last year’s loss in which the Spartans scored the winning touchdown on the final play when the Wolverines botched a punt. Michigan won the Paul Bunyan Trophy for the first time since 2012. The Wolverines led 30-10 in the fourth before the Spartans scored a pair of touchdowns, the last of which came with only a second left. Michigan State attempted a two-point conversion and fumbled, and Jabrill Peppers returned it the other way for a defensive conversion. Michigan State’s LJ Scott rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown.
#5 Louisville 32, Virginia 25:
Lamar Jackson floated a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Smith with 13 seconds left and Louisville survived a frenetic finish in Charlottesville. Jackson’s fourth touchdown pass kept the Cardinals (7-1, 5-1 ACC) in the College Football Playoff picture, and couldn’t have hurt the Heisman Trophy frontrunner’s candidacy. Virginia (2-6, 1-3) scored with 1:57 remaining and used a two-point conversion to take a 25-24 lead. Jackson did not have one of his best days, getting sacked five times and turning the ball over twice, but on the final drive, he ran for 18 yards, hit Cole Hikutini in traffic for 5 yards on 4th-and-3 and ran twice more for 16 yards before hitting Smith in the end zone.
#6 Ohio St. 24, Northwestern 20:
Curtis Samuel ran for a 3-yard touchdown with 9:43 left to give the host Buckeyes (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) a lead, and J.T. Barrett converted two key third downs on a game-sealing drive. After being upset by Penn State last week, the Buckeyes’ offense struggled against another multi-touchdown underdog, punting on five straight drives in one stretch, but responded to Northwestern tying it at 17-17 with a touchdown drive, capped by Samuel. The Wildcats (4-4, 3-2) then got to the Ohio State 3, but settled for a 33-yard Jack Mitchell field goal to close to 24-20 with 3:31 left before the Buckeyes mounted a final, clock-eating drive.
Texas 35, No. 8 Baylor 34:
Trent Domingue kicked a 39-yard field goal with 46 seconds remaining and Texas upset No. 8 Baylor 35-34 on Saturday to hand the Bears their first loss. For the second straight season, coach Charlie Strong and the host Longhorns (4-4, 2-4 Big 12) beat Baylor (6-1, 3-1). This time Texas dealt a blow to the Big 12’s hopes of putting a team in the College Football Playoff as the conference’s other remaining unbeaten team, No. 10 West Virginia, also lost Saturday. D’Onta Foreman rushed for a careerbest 250 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns, who scored with 7:03 left on 7-yard pass from Shane Buechele to Andrew Beck to make it 34-32. The Bears stuffed Tyrone Swoopes trying to run for a twopoint conversion. Seth Russell had 364 yards passing and running and accounted for three touchdowns for Baylor.
#9 Texas A&M 52: New Mexico State 10:
Christian Kirk returned two punts for touchdowns and added a third score on a reception to help host A&M (7-1) rout New Mexico State (2-6) in a nonconference game. Kirk returned punts for 70 and 73 yards to become the first player in school history with two punt return scores in a game.
Oklahoma St. 37, #10 W. Virginia 20:
Mason Rudolph threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score as the host Cowboys (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) got head coach Mike Gundy his 100th career win. Rudolph completed 26 of 36 passes for 273 yards. James Washington had six catches for 117 yards, Chris Lacy caught two touchdown passes, and Jalen McCleskey matched a career high with 11 receptions for the Cowboys. West Virginia’s Skyler Howard passed for 212 yards, but he threw two interceptions and lost a fumble for the Mountaineers (6-1, 3-1).
#11 Wisconsin 23, #7 Nebraska 17:
Dare Ogunbowale scored on an 11-yard run in overtime, and the host Badgers handed the Cornhuskers their first loss. Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) stopped Nebraska (7-1, 4-1) on 4th-and-8 from the 23 when defensive back D’Cota Dixon swatted away a pass to the end zone from Tommy Armstrong Jr. intended for Stanley Morgan Jr. Nebraska overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Drew Brown’s 35-yard field goal with 3:43 left tied it 17-17.
Wyoming 30, #13 Boise State 28:
Defensive tackle Chase Appleby sacked Brett Rypien and forced a fumble for a safety with 1:25 left to give the host Cowboys the victory. It was Wyoming’s first win in 11 games between the two teams. Thousands of fans swarmed the field and the Cowboys’ players as the final seconds ticked off. Josh Allen completed 18 of 31 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns, and Brian Hill ran for 146 yards for the Cowboys (6-2, 4-0 Mountain West). Rypien completed 22 of 35 passes for 295 yards, and he also caught a 33-yard TD pass on a trick play for Boise State (7-1, 3-1).
#14 Florida 24, Georgia 10:
Jordan Scarlett scored for the sixth consecutive game, Antonio Callaway had the first rushing touchdown of his career and the Gators (6-1, 4-1 SEC) won their third straight in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Fla. The Bulldogs (4-4, 2-4) couldn’t get anything going offensively, with freshman quarterback Jacob Eason pressured early and often and Nick Chubb (20 yards, nine carries) stuffed on just about every carry. Luke Del Rio, the son of Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, completed 15 of 25 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown for Florida. His 19-yard scoring pass to C’yontai Lewis in the first quarter got Florida on the board. Scarlett made it 14-10 late in the second when he scampered in from 2 yards out. Callaway gave the Gators some cushion when he scored on a jet sweep late in the third.
#15 Auburn 40, Mississippi 29:
Kamryn Pettway ran for a career-high 236 yards and a touchdown, and Sean White passed for 247 yards for the visiting Tigers. The Rebels’ Chad Kelly threw for a school-record 465 yards, beating Archie Manning’s mark of 436 yards set in 1969. Kelly also threw three touchdown passes and one interception. Auburn (6-2, 4-1 SEC) won its fifth straight, and Ole Miss (3-5, 1-4) lost its third in a row.
#16 Oklahoma 56, Kansas 3: Baker Mayfield passed for 236 yards and four touchdowns, and the host Sooners moved into sole possession of first place in the Big 12. Receiver Dede Westbrook extended his hot streak, scoring on a 71-yard punt return and a 41-yard catch as Oklahoma (6-2, 5-0) won its 13th straight Big 12 game. The Sooners limited the Jayhawks (1-7, 0-5) to 170 yards in their 17th straight conference loss and 39th straight road loss.
South Carolina 24, #18 Tennessee 21:
Jake Bentley threw for two touchdowns, Rico Dowdle ran for 127 yards and another score, and the host Gamecocks (4-4, 2-4 SEC) dealt the Volunteers (5-3, 2-3) their third straight loss. South Carolina’s defense bottled up Tennessee most of the game, holding it to 251 yards of offense. Joshua Dobbs threw for only 120 yards, and two of his passes were intercepted by cornerback Jamarcus King, the second one with 3:50 left in the game and Tennessee needing a dramatic rally.
#24 Penn St. 62, Purdue 24:
Saquon Barkley ran for 207 yards and two touchdowns, Trace McSorley threw three scoring passes, and the visiting Nittany Lions (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) blew open a game tied 17-17 at halftime with a 24-point third quarter. Penn State converted an interception, a fumbled punt and a failed onside kick into third-quarter touchdowns on their way to a fourth consecutive victory, snapping a seven-game road losing streak dating to 2014. McSorley threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin and for 21 yards to Miles Sanders for another. Barkley padded the lead with 13:56 left on a career-best 81-yard run along the right sideline. It was the longest touchdown run by a Nittany Lion since Larry Johnson’s 84-yarder in 2002 against Illinois.
JUNIOR COLLEGE San Mateo 24, CCSF 21:
Keenan Smith’s 36-yard run with 4:01 left gave the lead back to College of San Mateo, and the host Bulldogs (5-3, 3-0 Bay 6) stopped the No. 6 Rams (5-3, 2-1) on 4th-and-3 to seal the Bay 6 showdown. CSM led for most of the game, but City College of San Francisco came roaring to life in the fourth quarter to turn the latest edition of the rivalry that stretches back to 1936 into a thriller. Lavell McCullers score on a 3-yard run early in the fourth to pull CCSF to within 17-14, and the Rams took the lead with 9:50 left on Michael Lawson’s strip fumble and return for a TD to give CCSF a 21-17 lead. Namane Modise had 178 yards on 29 carries for CCSF.