Without Lawrence, No. 1 Clemson rallies to beat BC
CLEMSON, S.C. » Freshman DJ Uiagalelei threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns in place of Trevor Lawrence, home with COVID-19, and No. 1 Clemson rallied from 18-points down in the first half to beat Boston College 34-28 on Saturday.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said after the game that Lawrence also will miss the Tigers’ game next week at No. 4 Notre Dame.
Travis Etienne became the Atlantic Coast Conference’s career rushing leader and his second TD put the Tigers (7-0, 6-0 ) ahead for good. A jarring week for Clemson ended with its 28th straight victory over league competition, 10th straight over the Eagles and 27th in a row at home.
Clemson was missing several key players. Lawrence was out after testing positive for the virus and starting linebackers James Skalski and Mike Jones Jr. were missing because of injuries.
The Eagles (4-3, 3-3) took advantage, putting Clemson in a 2810 hole in the second quarter with the virus-reduced crowd stunned to near silence.
Uiagalelei had a 30-yard TD run on Clemson’s opening third-quarter drive to begin the comeback, then threw an 8-yard scoring strike to Amari Rodgers that drew the Tigers to 28-26.
Etienne, Clemson’s other Heisman contender, put the Tigers in front for good with a 17-yard touchdown run with 11:34 to go.
Etienne ran for 84 yards, pushing him to 4,644 in his four seasons and past North Carolina State’s Ted Brown (4,602) as the ACC’s leader. Etienne also had seven catches for 140 yards. Cornell Powell had a 1 receptions for 105 yards.
NO. 4 NOTRE DAME 31, GEORGIA TECH 13
ATLANTA » Kyren Williams ran for two touchdowns, Ian Book passed for another and Notre Dame moved on to its biggest game of the season with a dominant defensive performance, stifling Georgia Tech.
Book completed 18 of 26 passes for 199 yards in another efficient performance for the Fighting Irish (6- 0, 5- 0 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Williams shook off a fumble that Georgia Tech returned for a touchdown to score on runs of 2 and 4 yards. He finished with 76 yards on 15 carries.
Georgia Tech (2-5, 2-4) has lost three in a row by a combined score of 152-47.
NO. 5 GEORGIA 14, KENTUCKY 3
LEXINGTON, KY. » Zamir White ranfor a carer-high 131 yards and a touchdown, Stetson Bennett also ran for a score and Georgia beat Kentucky for its 11th straight victory in the series.
Their scores opened both halves as the Bulldogs (4-1 Southeastern Conference) improved to 5-1 after off weeks under coach Kirby Smart. Georgia had 215 yards on the ground.
Bennett completed 9 of 13 passes for 131 yards with two interceptions.
Chris Rodriguez rushed 20 times for 108 yards for Kentucky (2-4).
TEXAS 41, NO. 6 OKLAHOMA STATE 34, OT
STILLWATER, OKLA. » Sam Ehlinger threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Moore in overtime and Joseph Ossai sealed the victory by sacking quarterback Spencer Sanders as Texas knocked off the previously unbeaten Cowboys.
Oklahoma State (4-1, 3-1 Big 12) outgained Texas 530 yards to 287, but the Cowboys turned the ball over four times and saw their hopes to reach the College Football Playoff take a major blow.
Same goes for the entire Big 12. After Kansas State’s loss to West Virginia earlier in the day, Oklahoma State entered the game as the only remaining unbeaten team in Big 12 play. Now, the race is jumbled and Texas (4-2, 3-2) is back in the picture to possibly play in the championship game.
Sanders passed for career highs of 400 yards and four touchdowns, but he fumbled twice and threw an interception — turnovers that led to 17 Texas points. Tylan Wallace caught 11 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
Oklahoma State forced overtime on Alex Hale’s 34-yard field goal with 5 seconds left.
NO. 7 CINCINNATI 49, MEMPHIS 10
CINCINNATI » Desmond Ridder threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores, Jerome Ford also scored twice and Cincinnati beat Memphis to remained undefeated.
Playing in a Nippert Stadium nearly empty due to COVID-19 protocols, the Bearcats (5-0, 3-0 American Athletic) decisively snapped a five-game losing streak against Memphis (3-2, 2-2).
Ridder finished 21 of 26 for 271 yards with an interception.
WEST VIRGINIA 37, NO. 16 KANSAS STATE 10
MORGANTOWN, W.VA. » Jarret Doege threw two touchdown passes, Dylan Tonkery returned an interception for a score and West Virginia beat Kansas State .
Leddie Brown ran for 102 yards and a score to help the Mountaineers (4-2, 3-2 Big 12) knock the Wildcats from their solo perch atop the league standings.
Kansas State freshman Will Howard threw three interceptions and the Wildcats (4-2, 4-1) went scoreless after halftime to see their four-game winning streak snapped.
The Big 12 s top defense held Kansas State to 225 total yards, including 73 in the second half.
NO. 17 INDIANA 37, RUTGERS 21
PISCATAWAY, N.J. » Michael Penix Jr. threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score to help Indiana beat mistake-prone Rutgers in a game that almost included a crazy TD.
Penix had touchdown tosses of 15, 2 and 1 yard. He also scored on a quarterback sneak as the Hoosiers (2-0, 2-0 Big Ten) followed up their stunning win over then-No. 8 Penn State.