Russo, Temple upset turnover-prone No. 23 Memphis
PHILADELPHIA >> Anthony Russo threw two touchdown passes and Temple took advantage of four turnovers by Memphis to upset No. 23 Memphis 3028 on Saturday.
Brady White passed for 355 yards and two scores for Memphis (5-1, 2-1 American), which fell behind 16-0 as the Owls turned the Tigers’ mistakes into points.
The win was secured when an apparent diving catch for Tigers tight end Joey Magnifico to convert a fourth-and-11 was overturned by instant replay with 1:50 to play in the fourth. It would have placed Memphis inside the Temple 30, but instead the Owls (51, 2-0) were able to burn the clock.
Jager Gardner ran for a score and Isaiah Wright and Brandon Mack caught touchdown passes for Temple. Russo’s 12-yard touchdown to Mack made it 30-21 with 12:48 left in the fourth.
Russo threw for 224 yards on 20-for-33 passing.
Kenneth Gainwell had eight catches for 98 yards and rushed 19 times for 107 yards and a touchdown for Memphis.
THE TAKEAWAY >> Memphis: The Tigers were able to move the football effectively against a Temple defense that had averaged 292.4 yards in yield through the first five games of the season. Memphis posted 502 yards of total offense.
Temple: The Owls could have buried Memphis early, but the first three Memphis turnovers were turned into Will Mobley’s three field goals.
POLL IMPLICATIONS >> Memphis: Entering Saturday at the No. 23 spot, the Tigers are likely to fall out of the poll after appearing in it for the first time this week.
Temple: The Owls have wins over two teams that were ranked in the Top 25 at the time of their contest, though Maryland has crashes since then. Temple might not break into the rankings this week but with No. 2 SMU and UCF up next, it has plenty of chances to impress.
UP NEXT >> Memphis: The Tigers return home to face Tulane in a Saturday night.
Temple: The Owls visit SMU.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 34, NO. 11 TEXAS 27 >> Jalen Hurts threw three touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma’s defense sacked Sam Ehlinger nine times and the No. 6 Sooners never trailed in a 34-27 victory over 11th-ranked Texas on Saturday.
A year after a 48-45 loss in the Red River rivalry that led to the firing of their defensive coordinator, the Sooners harassed Ehlinger into minus-9 yards rushing while holding the quarterback with the three highest total yardage outputs for Texas against Oklahoma almost 200 yards below that 387-yard average.
The Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) stayed on track for a third straight trip to the College Football Playoff and avenged last year’s loss in Cotton Bowl Stadium in the middle of the Texas state fair, a victory that came in a rematch of the Big 12 championship game.
The Longhorns (4-2, 2-1) are likely relegated to a spoiler role if there’s a second consecutive Big 12 title game between the rivals.
Both teams played under the threat of an ejection for unsportsmanlike conduct after referee Mike Defee flagged everyone 30 minutes before the game when clusters of players got too close at midfield while wrapping up warmups and started jawing at each other.
The only ejection was Texas defensive lineman Malcolm Roach, and it wasn’t for unsportsmanlike conduct. He was flagged for targeting while hitting Lamb helmet-first and late two plays before Lamb weaved through Texas defenders on a flea-flicker pass, going 51 yards for a touchdown.
Lamb had 10 catches for 171 yards, tip-toeing on the sideline to stay inbounds on the 27-yarder for his final TD. Hurts threw for 235 yards, and the nation’s leading rusher among QBs had 131 more on the ground, including a punctuating 3-yard touchdown for a 34-20 lead late in the fourth quarter.
Hurts had a chance to give the Sooners a big lead early, but he lost a fumble at the Texas 7-yard line at end of his longest run, a 27-yarder in the first quarter. The Alabama transfer with plenty of rivalry experience from facing Auburn threw an interception in the Texas end zone in the second quarter.
Ehlinger didn’t look comfortable until well into the second half, flinching from a clean pocket and underthrowing a receiver that was behind the Oklahoma defense on the first play of the third quarter after the Longhorns were held to 83 yards before halftime.
The nine sacks left Ehlinger with 23 carries for those minus-9 yards, although he scored twice on the ground while going 26 of 38 for 210 yards. Roschon Johnson had 95 yards rushing, 57 of them on a third-quarter run that set up his 4-yard score.
Leading Texas receiver Devin Duvernay had a quiet day — except for several questionable decisions on punt returns that hurt field position for Texas. One of them was ruled a fair catch at the 5, followed by consecutive false-start penalties. A subsequent field goal put Oklahoma up 10.
SOUTH CAROLINA 17, NO. 3 GEORGIA 10 >> Israel Mukuamu returned the first of his three interceptions 53 yards for a touchdown and South Carolina took advantage of Jake Fromm’s four turnovers to beat No. 3 Georgia 17-10 in double overtime on Saturday.
Parker White’s 23-yard field goal in the second overtime proved to be enough when Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship was wide left on his attempt from 42 yards. Blankenship’s second miss of the game sent South Carolina players charging onto the field to celebrate the upset.
Georgia (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) suffered a big hit to its national championship hopes. The Bulldogs, favored by 24½ points, could not overcome three interceptions and a lost fumble by Fromm, the senior quarterback known for avoiding mistakes. Fromm did not throw an interception in the Bulldogs’ first five games.
On the second play of overtime, Fromm’s pass glanced off the hands of receiver Tyler Simmons and was intercepted by Mukuamu. White’s 33-yard fieldgoal attempt missed wide right to keep the game alive.
Fromm led Georgia on a tying 96-yard touchdown drive capped by his 6-yard scoring pass to Demetris Robertson with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
White, who made a 49yard field goal in the first half, missed a 57-yarder with 40 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs one final possession in regulation.
Fromm moved the Bulldogs to the South Carolina 38, in possible position for Blankenship to attempt a game-winning field goal. But an illegal shift penalty pushed Georgia back five yards, ending the field-goal possibility as regulation ended.
South Carolina (3-3, 2-2) took its first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 18 Tennessee in 2016. It was an important signature win for coach Will Muschamp over his alma mater.
The Gamecocks won despite losing quarterback Ryan Hilinski to an apparent knee injury.
Hilinski completed 15 of 20 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game after a late hit in the third quarter. Georgia linebacker Adam Anderson was penalized for roughing the passer.
Fromm threw no interceptions on 111 passes through five games, but his first giveaway in the second quarter was costly.
Pressure from the South Carolina defense forced Fromm to attempt a pass off his back foot. The floater from Fromm, intended for George Pickens, was intercepted by Mukuamu, whose 53-yard return gave the Gamecocks the lead.
With Georgia driving for a potential tying touchdown, Fromm fumbled the first snap of the fourth quarter. T.J. Brunson recovered for the Gamecocks at the South Carolina 29.
Mukuamu’s second interception stopped Georgia, again in South Carolina territory, in the fourth quarter.
The Gamecocks’ 17-10 lead held when senior Rodrigo Blankenship’s 53-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half was deflected by D.J. Wonnum. It was Blankenship’s first miss of the season.
Hilinski, the freshman from Orange, California, who was recruited by Georgia, enjoyed a strong first half, completing 13 of 16 passes. Hilinski’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Edwards in the first quarter gave the Gamecocks a 7-3 lead.
D’Andre Swift had a 1-yard scoring run early in the second quarter.
NO. 16 MICHIGAN 42, ILLINOIS 25>> Hassan Haskins ran for 125 yards and a touchdown, Zach Charbonnet added 116 yards rushing, and No. 16 Michigan needed a late surge to put away Illinois 42-25 on Saturday.
The Wolverines (5-1, 3-1 Big Ten) built a 28-0 lead by halftime, but turnovers and ineffective offense helped the Illini (2-4, 0-3) cut the lead to 28-25 with 12:50 left in the fourth quarter. Dre Brown ran in from a yard out and then converted a 2-point conversion for the Illini.
Michigan responded with a long drive capped by Shea Patterson’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones. Patterson ran for a score after Michigan forced a turnover at the Illini 1 to seal it for Michigan.
Matt Robinson, starting for the injured quarterback Brandon Peters, a graduate transfer from Michigan, was 16 of 25 for 192 yards and one touchdown for Illinois. He also ran for a score.
Michigan racked up 489 yards total offense to Illinois’ 256.