No. 3 Alabama rallies late, survives four overtimes to beat Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. — John Metchie caught a scoring pass from Bryce Young in the fourth overtime to give No. 3 Alabama a 24-22 comeback victory over rival Auburn on Saturday, rescuing the Crimson Tide’s national title hopes.
It was the first overtime in the Iron Bowl.
Freshman Kool-Aid McKinstry tipped away T.J. Finley’s pass in the final OT and Young hit Metchie just as he did in the previous one.
Alabama (11-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) moves on to face No. 1 Georgia in the league championship game with its College Football Playoff hopes on the line. The Tigers (6-6, 3-5) dropped their fourth straight game after smothering Young and the Tide’s prolific offense most of the way.
Young capped a 97-yard drive with a 28-yard touchdown to freshman Ja’Corey Brooks — his third catch and first touchdown this season — with 24 seconds left in regulation.
Young converted a fourthand-7 to Jahleel Billingsley, followed by two incompletions under pressure for an offense that had been held in check for 59 minutes.
The teams traded touchdowns and field goals in the first overtime and both delivered scoring passes after lining up from the 3.
The Tigers had been trying to win their third straight Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and nearly pulled it off.
Alabama was without two of its top offensive players in the overtime periods.
Tailback Brian Robinson was on the sideline with an apparent leg injury sustained earlier in the game. Star receiver Jameson Williams was ejected for targeting on punt coverage in the first half.
Bottled up most of the game, Young finished 25 of 51 for 317 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Metchie caught 13 passes for 150 passes.
Auburn’s T.J. Finley, who started the final two games after Bo Nix’s season-ending ankle injury, was 17 of 26 for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
NO. 6 MICHIGAN 42, NO. 2 OHIO STATE 27
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Hassan Haskins scored five touchdowns and Aidan Hutchinson had three sacks, helping Michigan finally beat Ohio State to give Jim Harbaugh his first win as a coach against the Buckeyes.
The Wolverines clinched the Big Ten East and will play in the conference title game next week with playoff hopes in hand after snapping an eight-game losing streak to Ohio State.
Michigan (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten, No. 5 CFP) advanced to the conference championship for the first time. The Wolverines now have a chance to win a Big Ten title for the first time since 2004 and a national championship for the first time since 1997.
Minutes after the game, longsuffering fans filled the Big House turf to celebrate a rare win in the storied series, and they were in no rush to leave as music blared.
Ohio State had a school-record winning streak in the rivalry, taking 15 of 16 to turn The Game into its game.
The Buckeyes (10-2, 8-1) blew their chances to continue their dominance with 10 penalties, many before the snap, and because they simply could not stop Michigan’s running game.
NO. 1 GEORGIA 45, GEORGIA TECH 0
ATLANTA — Stetson Bennett passed for 255 yards and four touchdowns, including two to tight end Brock Bowers, and Georgia finished its undefeated regular season by overwhelming Georgia Tech.
Georgia (12-0) gained momentum for next week’s much-anticipated Southeastern Conference championship game against No. 3 Alabama in Atlanta. It is the first undefeated regular season for the Bulldogs since 1982, when they capped a streak of three consecutive SEC championships with tailback Herschel Walker.
The renewal of the battle for state bragging rights was a mismatch.
Georgia, which began the day leading the nation with its averages of 7.5 points and 236 yards allowed, posted its third shutout while giving up only 171 yards.
Bowers had a 77-yard touchdown catch, and Kenny McIntosh added a 59-yard scoring run. Bowers, a freshman, also scored on a 9-yard catch. He has 10 touchdown receptions, a school record for tight ends.
Georgia Tech (3-9) finished with three wins for the third consecutive season under coach Geoff Collins, who acknowledged this week he will need to show improvement next year. The Yellow Jackets closed the season with six consecutive losses following a 3-3 start.
NO. 9 BAYLOR 27, TEXAS TECH 24
WACO, Texas — Blake Shapen threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for Baylor, and the Bears held on for a win over Texas Tech that kept alive their hopes of making the Big 12 championship game for the second time in three seasons.
Abram Smith ran for 117 yards and a touchdown for the Bears (10-2, 7-2 Big 12, CFP No. 8), who had to wait for the outcome of Saturday night’s game between No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Oklahoma. The Cowboys were already locked into their first Big 12 title game, and a win over the Sooners in Bedlam would put Baylor in next Saturday’s game with them.
Shapen hit Trestan Ebner in stride down near the 25 for a 61-yard catch-and-run score on the game’s opening drive that put Baylor ahead to stay. Shapen had a decisive 9-yard TD pass to tight end Ben Sims with 7 minutes left to immediately respond to a Tech score.
The Red Raiders (6-6, 3-6) still had one more chance after stopping Baylor on fourth down on its 12 with 1:18 and no timeouts left. They got in position for a 53-yard field goal attempt by Jonathan Garibay, who had plenty of leg but pushed the kick wide left on the final play. Garibay had a game-ending 62-yarder to beat Iowa State two week earlier.
NO. 11 OREGON 38, OREGON STATE 29
EUGENE, Ore. — Anthony Brown Jr. threw for 275 yards and two touchdown and ran for a score, and Oregon beat Oregon State to win the Pac-12 North Division and claim a spot in the conference championship game.
The Ducks (10-2, 7-2) will face No. 16 Utah in Las Vegas on Friday.
Oregon was coming off a 38-7 loss to Utah that dropped it from No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings to No. 11 and out of contention for a national title.
Washington State, which beat Washington 40-13 in the Apple Cup on Friday night, needed the Beavers (7-5, 5-4) to beat the Ducks to win the division.
NO. 12 MICHIGAN ST. 30, PENN STATE 27
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Payton Thorne threw two touchdown passes and ran for another to lead Michigan State to win over Penn State.
Kennett Walker III rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries as the Spartans (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) bounced back from last week’s 56-7 loss to Ohio State. Michigan State finished undefeated at home for the first time since 2015.
Sean Clifford threw three touchdown passes, two to Jahan Dotson, for the Nittany Lions (7-5, 4-5). Penn State closed out the regular season with five losses in its last seven games.
NORTH TEXAS 45, NO. 15 UTSA 23
DENTON, Texas — UTSA’s undefeated season ended in a blowout as North Texas running backs DeAndre Torrey and Ikaika Ragsdale combined for five touchdowns in a rout of the Roadrunners.
Quarterback Frank Harris had two of UTSA’s three lost fumbles among six overall before sitting the second half at UNT’s rainsoaked Apogee Stadium, a 10year-old facility where a Top 25 team had never played.
UTSA (11-1, 7-1 Conference USA), which never started with more than five consecutive wins in the program’s first nine seasons, is still hosting the conference
championship game Friday night against either Western Kentucky or Marshall. No. 1 Georgia and fourth-ranked Cincinnati are the remaining undefeated FBS teams.
The Roadrunners, ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense, had given up six touchdowns on the ground all season. The Mean Green (6-6, 5-3) matched that late in the third quarter of their fifth consecutive victory that followed a six-game losing streak as UNT earned bowl eligibility.
MINNESOTA 23, NO. 18 WISCONSIN 13
MINNEAPOLIS — Tanner Morgan overcame an interception that was returned for a first-half touchdown, leading Minnesota on three scoring drives after halftime to surge past Wisconsin, take back Paul Bunyan’s Axe and give Iowa the Big Ten West Division title Saturday.
Morgan, who went 11 for 16 for 199 yards and a third-quarter touchdown pass to Chris Autman-Bell, led the Gophers on the sprint into the end zone to hoist the 73-year-old trophy on their home field for the first time since 2003.
As the crowd streamed onto the turf, the rap song “Jump Around” played over the speakers in a taunt of Wisconsin’s homegame anthem.
The Gophers (8-4, 6-3) delivered the kind of inspired and stifling performance by their defense that the Badgers (8-4, 6-3, No. 14 CFP) were used to demoralizing their opponents with. They held freshman standout Braelon Allen to 47 yards on 17 rushes and forced Graham Mertz to throw throughout the second half to favorable results.
NO. 21 WAKE FOREST 41, BOSTON COLLEGE 10
BOSTON — Wake Forest earned a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, getting three passing touchdowns and one more on the ground from Sam Hartman to beat Boston College.
The Demon Deacons (10-2, 7-1 ACC) will attempt to claim their first league title since 2006 when they face No. 20 Pittsburgh on Dec. 4.
Hartman ran it in from 7 yards out midway through the first quarter and made it 14-0 on a 33-yard pass to A.T. Perry. It was 17-10 late in the second when Brandon Sebastian intercepted Hartman in the end zone, but BC went three-and out and then Wake Forest scored on Hartman’s 7-yard pass to Perry just before halftime.
BC (6-6, 2-6) ran off three straight three-and-outs — along with an interception — to start the third quarter, while Wake Forest extended its lead with a field goal and a 3-yard run by Christian Turner that made it 34-10.
NO. 23 LA.-LAFAYETTE 21, LA.-MONROE 16
LAFAYETTE, La. — Emani Bailey scored on a 2-yard run to give Louisiana-Lafayette a double-digit lead in the third quarter, and the Ragin’ Cajuns held off Louisiana-Monroe.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (11-1, 8-0) won their school-record 11th straight game after a seasonopening loss at Texas and went unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play for the first time. Lafayette will host Appalachian State in the conference championship game next Saturday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns also extended their win streak against Sun Belt West Division opponents to 17 games under fourth-year coach Billy Napier.
ULL jumped to an early 14-3 lead and was up 21-10 after Bailey’s touchdown ended a fourplay, 85-yard drive with 5:01 left in the third.
The Warhawks (4-8, 2-6) made it a one-score game with 1:35 left when Malik Jackson, who ran for 112 yards, broke up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown. But a twopoint pass fell incomplete and ULL recovered the ensuing onside kick.