Houston runs over Temple, secures AAC title game berth
PHILADELPHIA » Alton McCaskill rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns as No. 17 Houston methodically dispatched Temple 37-8 on Saturday to clinch a berth in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
The Cougars (9-1, 7-0 American Athletic) have won nine straight games since an opening loss to Texas Tech to secure their first appearance in the conference championship game since winning the American Athletic in 2015. They will likely face No. 2 Cincinnati, which has to win one of its remaining two games — at home against SMU next Saturday and at East Carolina on Nov. 26, to join them in the Dec. 4 championship game.
Temple (3-7, 1-5) has lost five straight games, outscored 217-35 in that stretch.
The Houston defense, which had been blistered for 79 points in back-to-back wins over SMU and USF, got interceptions from cornerback Marcus Jones, safety Gervarrius Owens, and Gleson Sprewell while holding the Temple offense to just 10 first downs and 48 total plays in the game.
The Cougars offense was able to wear down the Owls in the second half after struggling to maintain momentum in building a 10-0 first-half lead. Running back Ta’Zhawn Henry capped the first drive of the second half with an 8-yard touchdown run. Five minutes and two drives later, McCaskill broke free for a 34-yard score, his second of the afternoon.
The Cougars rushed for 222 yards, the sixth team and fifth in a row that Temple has allowed more than 200 yards rushing.
Houston quarterback Clayton Tune was 20 of 33 for 210 yards and threw touchdown passes to Seth Green and Jaylen Erwin. Tune has not thrown an interception in his last five games.
Temple’s lone touchdown came on a 1-yard run by tailback Edward Saydee. Owls quarterback Justin Lynch was 11-for-24 passing for 119 yards and two interceptions.
THE TAKEAWAY
Houston: The Cougars are likely to be judged solely by how they look in the American title game against Cincinnati. They will face a tough home test against Memphis next week but likely will have their postseason destination determined by how they fare against the Bearcats in the title game.
Temple: The Owls continue to struggle on both sides of the ball and never could take advantage of Houston’s sluggishness in the first half. Saturday did nothing to quell speculation about third-year head coach Rod Carey’s status with the program moving forward.
POLL IMPLICATIONS:
At the very least, Houston will likely hold in the middle of the Top 25 discussion in this week’s poll with a possibility of moving up a spot or two, but the Cougars have yet to break into the College Football Playoff rankings. NO. 3 ALABAMA 59, NEW
MEXICO ST. 3 » Bryce Young passed for 270 yards and five touchdowns, including three to Jameson Williams, and No. 3 Alabama beat New Mexico State 59-3 on Saturday.
Young completed 21 of 23 passes in just over a half and the Crimson Tide (9-1, No. 2 CFP) produced the expected romp after a slow start. Alabama even trailed briefly before rattling off seven touchdowns in 20 minutes for a 49-3 halftime lead over the Aggies (1-9).
Young became the first Alabama quarterback to complete his first 13 passes in a game, playing only one drive into the second half when he lost a fumble in New Mexico State territory.
The Aggies just couldn’t keep up with the speedy Williams, who caught six passes for 158 yards. He had touchdowns of 50, 32 and 7 yards and had a fourth called back because he stepped out of bounds.
Brian Robinson Jr. ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half.
Jonah Johnson completed 19 of 30 passes for 129 yards for New Mexico State, which was outgained 587-138. Will Anderson Jr. had two of the Tide’s seven sacks.
NO. 18 BAYLOR 27, NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 14 » Gerry Bohanon threw a touchdown and ran for two more scores, Baylor’s defense constantly pressured both Oklahoma quarterbacks and the 18th-ranked Bears won 27-14 Saturday to end the Sooners’ nation’sbest 17-game winning streak.
Abram Smith had 148 yards rushing, including a 75-yard scamper to set up the first of Bohanon’s rushing TDs in the fourth quarter, and the Bears (8-2, 5-2 Big 12, CFP No. 18) rebounded from an unexpected loss last week at struggling TCU.
The Sooners (9-1, 6-1, CFP No. 8) were held to 260 total yards, their fewest ever with Riley in his five seasons as head coach and two seasons as offensive coordinator before that. It was their fewest points in a regularseason game since a 48-14 home loss to Baylor in 2014, which came weeks before they ended that season with a 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
Oklahoma lost in November under Riley for the first time.
Baylor fans stormed the field when they thought the game was over, but there had been a timeout, and 3 seconds remained. Pretty much all of Oklahoma’s team had left the field and it took several minutes to clear the field.
After an extended discussion among the referees, and an irate Sooners coach Lincoln Riley, the defense returned to the field for the final snap. That was a 32-yard field goal by Isaiah Hankins for scoring that could come into play in a Big 12 tiebreaker, and the fans then swarmed the field again.
Oklahoma freshman quarterback Caleb Williams, who had been so dynamic since leading a big comeback against Texas last month, threw two interceptions. Preseason AP All-America quarterback Spencer Rattler, who he had replaced as the starter, took over late in the third quarter.
Williams had a 2-yard TD run early, but finished 10of-19 passing for 146 yards while getting sacked three times. Rattler was sacked twice as well, and Williams returned to complete three passes for 74 yards on a late drive before Kennedy Brooks’ 1-yard TD with 2:26 left.
NO. 20 WISCONSIN 35, NORTHWESTERN 7 » Braelon Allen rushed for 173 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 20 Wisconsin beat Northwestern 35-7 for its sixth consecutive victory on Saturday.
Graham Mertz threw two touchdown passes, and Wisconsin’s defense recorded four interceptions. Northwestern’s Andrew Marty was picked off three times for a second straight week.
Wisconsin (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten) entered the day in a four-way tie for the Big Ten West lead with Minnesota, No. 19 Iowa (No. 20 CFP) and Purdue (No. 19 CFP). The Badgers already have beaten Iowa and Purdue. They visit Minnesota on Nov. 27 to close the regular season.
Northwestern (3-7, 1-6) lost its fourth straight.
The Badgers were playing their first game since losing running back Chez Mellusi to a season-ending knee injury. Mellusi, who got hurt during a 52-3 victory at Rutgers last week, entered Saturday’s action ranked fifth in the Big Ten in rushing (815) and second in carries (173). Allen picked up the slack. The 17-year-old freshman had the most productive performance of his young career while rushing for more than 100 yards for a sixth straight game. Allen totaled just 12 carries in Wisconsin’s first four games while the Badgers staggered to a 1-3 start.
Allen had seven carries for 86 yards during a 95-yard drive that put Wisconsin ahead for good. He started that series with a 37-yard scamper and ended it with a 2-yard touchdown.
The most spectacular of his 25 carries came late in the third quarter when he bounced off three defenders in the first 10 yards of a 33-yard touchdown that extended Wisconsin’s lead to 35-0.
Mertz completed his first nine pass attempts and went 18 of 23 for 216 yards, including touchdown passes of 13 yards to Danny Davis and 11 yards to Jake Ferguson. He completed passes to nine different teammates and was intercepted once.
Northwestern’s lone score came when A.J. Hampton returned a Julius Davis fumble 49 yards with 11:38 remaining. The fumble was forced by Xander Mueller.
After Northwestern wasted an opportunity to take an early lead, Wisconsin scored touchdowns on three straight possessions.
Northwestern marched 82 yards on 19 plays in its first series, but the drive ended when Caesar Williams picked off a Marty pass in the end zone. Marty was trying to throw to Stephon Robinson Jr. on second-and-goal from the 10.
Wisconsin still hasn’t allowed an opponent to score on its opening possession this year.