No. 3 Ohio State has no problem with Spartans
Fields, Garrett lead Buckeyes to rout
EAST LANSING, MICH. » Justin Fields threw for two touchdowns and Haskell Garrett scored on an interception to lift No. 3 Ohio State to an easy 52-12 victory over Michigan State on Saturday.
The Buckeyes (5-0, 5-0 Big Ten, No. 4 CFP) were able to take the field after a coronavirus-related cancellation the previous weekend. They were without coach Ryan Day and a few other members of the staff. Ohio State also had a list of 23 unavailable players, but none of that seemed to faze the Buckeyes.
Fields also ran for two touchdowns, and the Buckeyes led 28-0 at halftime. Now the big question is whether Ohio State’s regular-season finale against Michigan next weekend will be played. The Wolverines did not play this weekend for virus-related reasons.
The concern for the Buckeyes is that they could fall short of the six-game threshold to be eligible for the Big Ten title game.
Michigan State (2-4, 2-4) was coming off a win over another undefeated team — Northwestern — but the Spartans were overmatched Saturday. Rocky Lombardi was shaken up and left the game after being sacked in the second quarter, and by that time, the rout was already on.
It was 21-0 when Michigan State was backed up near its own goal line. Lombardi’s pass was tipped and intercepted in the end zone by Garrett. The Ohio State defensive lineman has been able to play this season after being shot in the face while trying to break up an argu
ment on a street near campus in August.
Among the players who missed the game were offensive linemen Thayer Munford, Josh Myers and Nicholas Petit-Frere. Linebacker Tuf Borland was also out.
Fields scored on two short runs in the first half, sandwiched around a 28-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson. Fields also hustled down the field to throw a late block on Trey Sermon’s 64-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Payton Thorne completed his first 11 passes for Michigan State after relieving Lombardi, and he ran for a 20-yard touchdown in the third that made it 35-7.
Fields threw a 41-yard TD pass to Chris Olave in the fourth, and backup quarterback C.J. Stroud broke free for a 48-yard touchdown run.
NO. 5 TEXAS A&M 31, AUBURN 20» Kellen Mond passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third and No. 5 Texas A&M scored 17 points in the fourth quarter of a come
from-behind 31-20 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
The Aggies (7-1) dominated the final quarter to win their sixth straight and remain in College Football Playoff contention. The Tigers (5-4), who have gone 0-3 against teams ranked in the top five at the time, led 20-14 entering the fourth.
Mond rebounded from his worst game of the season against LSU with a strong performance. He completed 18 of 23 for 196 yards, highlighted by two TDs to Jalen Wydermyer, and ran for 60 yards.
Seth Small iced the game with a 32-yard field goal with just over a minute remaining after an earlier miss had helped Auburn remain within a score.
Isaiah Spiller had his fifth 100-yard game of the current winning streak, gaining 120 on 20 carries. Devon Achane also ran for 99 yards on just nine carries. Wydermyer caught eight passes for 89 yards.
The Aggies took a 2120 lead early in the fourth
quarter when Auburn linebacker Zakoby McClain tipped the ball into the arms of tight end Wydermyer for a touchdown — instead of what could have been a game-changing interception.
Then Ainias Smith followed his 37-yard catch with a 4-yard run into the end zone. Auburn couldn’t muster any late offense or defensive stops after winning the past three meetings.
Bo Nix had a highlight reel play on one of his two touchdown runs for Auburn, but also overthrew a wide-open Eli Stove in the end zone.
After a 28-yard completion and a 20-yard scramble, Nix escaped the grasp of 325-pound defensive tackle Bobby Brown and appeared about to go down. Then he scrambled left and barreled into the end zone.
Nix passed for 144 yards and ran for 49.
Both quarterbacks ran for touchdowns late in the second quarter, but Mond
struck last on a quarterback sneak with 24 seconds left for a 14-10 halftime lead.
RICE 20, NO. 15 MARSHALL 0
» Safety Naeem Smith returned one of five Marshall interceptions for a touchdown and Rice shocked the 15th-ranked Thundering Herd 20-0 on Saturday.
The three-touchdown underdog Owls (2-2, 2-2 Conference USA) beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 1997 despite being without their two top offensive weapons and getting outgained 245 yards to 213.
Marshall (7-1, 4-1) saw its bid to keep a perfect season going end.
Rice was missing quarterback Mike Collins and leading wide receiver Austin Trammell, who did not play due to undisclosed injuries unrelated to COVID-19.
Backup quarterback JoVoni Johnson had not attempted a pass in two previous games this season. The Owls didn’t need his arm much, using its ground game behind freshman Khalan Griffin to eat up clock time against the nation’s top rushing defense.
What opportunities Marshall had, it threw away.
Redshirt freshman Grant Wells had by far his worst game of the season. Coming off a five-touchdown performance against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 14, Wells went 18 of 35 for 165 yards. His five interceptions Saturday surpassed his total of four from the previous seven games combined.
Wells threw directly to Smith midway through the third quarter. Smith took the interception 36 yards for a touchdown to put the Owls up 20-0.
After Wells’ fifth interception put Rice at the Marshall 23, Owls receiver Jake Bailey caught a pass from Johnson but fumbled as he was crossing the goal line for a touchback.
That was one of the few things that went right for Marshall.
Jordan Myers scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and Collin Riccitelli kicked field goals of 39 and 40 yards for Rice.
M a r sh a l l’s Brenden Knox, who had surpassed 100 rushing yards in five of his six previous games, was limited to 76 yards.
Both teams had seen plenty of interruptions this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Marshall had not played in three weeks, while Rice was playing only its fourth game of the entire season.
Saturday’s game was originally scheduled for Oct. 3 but was postponed after Rice pushed back the start of its fall practice to late September due to COVID-19 concerns in the Houston area.