The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No. 4 Buckeyes blow out No. 7 Spartans
C.J. Stroud threw for nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns in the first half as No. 4 Ohio State made it look easy in a 56-7 blowout of No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
Stroud finished 32-for-35 passing against the Spartans’ sketchy defense, which had allowed more yards through the air than any in major college football, and positioned himself as maybe the Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the championship stretch of the season. Michigan State’s (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) Heisman hopeful Kenneth Walker III, the nation’s leading rusher, was turned into a nonfactor by the Buckeyes. Walker had six carries for 25 yards.
By the time Stroud took a seat late in the third quarter, the redshirt freshman had piled up 432 yards for the Buckeyes (10-1, 8-0), who served warning to No. 6 Michigan ahead of the rivalry game next weekend. The Buckeyes’ top three receivers all eclipsed the 100-yard mark and caught TD passes. Chris Olave had seven catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Garrett Wilson grabbed seven for 126 and a pair of scores, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 10 receptions for 105 yards and a TD. Ohio State led 49-0 at the half and outgained the Spartans 655-224.
(At) No. 5 Cincinnati 48, SMU 14: Desmond Ridder threw three TD passes, ran for another score and caught a TD pass to help Cincinnati roll past SMU. Alec Pierce had a pair of TD catches for the Bearcats (11-0, 7-0 American Athletic), who extended the
nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 26 games and kept alive hopes of becoming the first non-Power Five team to reach the College Football Playoff. SMU (8-3, 4-3) managed 199 yards of offense after averaging 498 through the first 10 games.
No. 6 Michigan 59, (at) Maryland 18: Mike Sainristil made a one-handed catch in the end zone for a second-quarter touchdown, Hassan Haskins scored two TDs, and Michigan (10-1, 7-1) routed Maryland (5-6, 2-6), which didn’t reach the end zone until Michigan was up 31-3 in the third quarter. Donovan Edwards had 10 catches
for 170 yards and a touchdown for the Wolverines.
(At) No. 13 Oklahoma 28, Iowa State 21: Caleb Williams passed for a touchdown and ran for one, Jalen Redmond returned a fumble for another score, and the Sooners beat the Cyclones. Kennedy Brooks ran for 115 yards for the Sooners (10-1, 7-1 Big 12), who bounced back from a loss to Baylor and solidified their chances of reaching the Big 12 title game.
Iowa State’s Charlie Kolar, playing in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma, had career highs of 12 catches and 152 yards. Brock Purdy passed for 281 yards and a TD for Iowa State (6-5, 4-4).
No. 14 BYU 34, (at) Ga. Southern 17: Jaren Hall had 211 of his 312 yards passing in the first half, and Jakob Robinson picked off two passes in the second half for BYU. Tyler Allgeier finished with 126 yards on 26 carries to help the Cougars (9-2) win. Before a near-capacity crowd at 25,000seat Paulson Stadium, Georgia Southern (3-8) fell short in its attempt to beat the highest-ranked team to visit Statesboro.
(At) No. 15 Wisconsin 35, Nebraska 28: Braelon Allen rushed for 228 yards and three TDs — including a tiebreaking 53-yarder with 3:50 remaining — to help the Badgers (8-3, 6-2 Big Ten) to a seventh consecutive victory. Nebraska drove to Wisconsin’s 11-yard line in the final minute but ended up losing the ball on downs.
The Badgers handed Nebraska (3-8, 1-7) its fifth straight loss and moved a step closer to playing for a conference title. Wisconsin will clinch its fourth Big Ten championship game appearance in the past six years if it wins its regular-season finale at Minnesota.
Allen, who had 22 carries, has rushed for over 100 yards in each of Wisconsin’s past seven games.
(At) No. 17 Iowa 33, Illinois 23: Charlie Jones had a 100-yard kickoff return for Iowa’s first touchdown after the Hawkeyes fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter. Iowa (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) added a touchdown by wide receiver Arland Bruce IV on a 2-yard run, and Caleb Shudak kicked four field goals. Linebacker Jack Campbell’s 32-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:36 to play closed the Hawkeyes’ scoring.
Illinois’ Brandon Peters threw a 13-yard TD pass to tight end Luke Ford to end a 75-yard drive to start the game. But the Illini (4-7, 3-5) had just 9 yards on 10 plays in their next three possessions.
(At) No. 22 UTSA 34, UAB 31: Frank Harris threw a 1-yard TD pass to Oscar Cardenas with three seconds left, rallying UTSA. The Roadrunners (11-0, 7-0) beat the reigning three-time Conference USA West champs (7-4, 5-2) to clinch their first division title. Trailing much of the game, the Roadrunners got the ball back with 1:09 left after stuffing the Blazers a yard short of a first down on third-and-4 at the UAB 42.
Friday’s games
No. 19 San Diego State 28, (at) UNLV 20:
Lucas Johnson completed 18 of 24 pass attempts for 192 yards and threw three TDs, as San Diego State survived a scare by the Rebels (2-9). The Aztecs led 21-20 before Johnson found Jesse Matthews for a 7-yard strike with 3:33 left in the game. San Diego State linebacker Seyddrick Lakalaka intercepted UNLV’s Justin Rogers with less than 2 minutes left to thwart the Rebels’ last-ditch effort. San Diego State improved to 10-1, matching its best 11-game start since starting 10-0 in 1969.
(At) No. 24 Houston 31, Memphis 13: Clayton Tune threw for 264 yards and a TD and ran for another score as Houston (10-1, 8-0 American Athletic Conference) extended its winning streak to 10 games with a victory over Memphis (5-6, 2-5).