Coastal Carolina scores late to escape Troy
TROY, Ala. — Grayson McCall threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jaivon Heiligh with 45 seconds left and No. 11 Coastal Carolina preserved its first perfect regular season with a 42-38 victory over Troy on Saturday.
McCall needed just 45 seconds to move the Chanticleers (11-0, 8-0 Sun Belt), who didn’t have any timeouts, 75 yards for the score. He completed all four of his passes, three of them to Heiligh.
Coastal Carolina survived a sandwich game between an upset of then-No. 8 BYU and the league title game against No. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette. The Trojans (5-6, 3-4) didn’t make it easy for the highest-ranked team to visit Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Backup quarterback Jacob Free, who replaced an injured Gunnar Watson in the fourth quarter, hit Tray Eafford on a 6-yard touchdown with 1:20 left. The play was set up with an interception by star middle linebacker Carlton Martial, who also had 21 tackles.
McCall completed 24 of 29 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Heligh caught 11 passes for 138 yards and two TDs.
McCall also ran for a 2-yard score with 5:03 left for a seemingly safe 35-23 lead. CJ Marable ran for 120 yards and two scores, including an early 59-yarder, and also caught a touchdown pass.
NO. 19 IOWA 28, NO. 25 WISCONSIN 7
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Spencer Petras threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns to Ihmir Smith-Marsette to lead Iowa past Wisconsin for the Hawkeyes’ sixth win in a row.
Iowa (6-2) beat the Badgers (2-3) 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. Petras found Smith-Marsette for 19-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give the Hawkeyes a 14-0 lead.
NO. 15 NORTHWESTERN 28, ILLINOIS 10
EVANSTON, Ill. — Cam Porter ran for a career-high 142 yards and two touchdowns, Evan Hull added a season-best 149 yards on the ground, and Northwestern tuned up for the Big Ten championship game by beating Illinois.
Porter came in with just 32 yards and one TD. But the freshman broke out in a big way, leading the Wildcats (6-1, No. 14 CFP) to an easy victory over the Illini (2-5).
UTAH 38, NO. 21 COLORADO 21
BOULDER, Colo. — Ty Jordan scored twice, including a sealing 66-yard burst, and Utah’s revamped defense forced three turnovers to help the Utes rally past Colorado in the snow to thwart the Buffaloes’ Pac-12 title hopes.
The soon-to-be-unseated Pac-12 South champion Utes (2-2, 2-2 Pac-12) found their footing on the frozen field in the second half, turning around a 21-10 deficit by scoring 28 straight points.
NO. 24 BUFFALO 56, AKRON 7
AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) — Jaret Patterson ran for 105 yards and matched a major college football record by reaching 1,000 yards for the season in five games, helping Buffalo rout Akron in a tune-up for the Mid-American Conference championship against Ball State.
Patterson scored two touchdowns before halftime, bringing his season totals to 1,025 yards and 18 rushing TDs for the Bulls (5-0). He is the 12th player in FBS history to surpass 1,000 yards in five games. Kevin Marks Jr. led the Bulls with a career-high 175 yards and two touchdowns.
ARMY 15, NAVY 0
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Tyhier Tyler scored on a 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter, the Army defense stoned Navy with a goal-line stand in the third, and the Black Knights shut out their archrival at fog-shrouded Michie Stadium.
It was the first meeting between the teams at West Point since 1943. The game was moved to Michie Stadium from its customary site in Philadelphia because COVID-19 regulations in Pennsylvania would not have allowed the Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen to attend.