No. 1 LSU holds off No. 2 Alabama 46-41
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Joe Burrow passed for 393 yards and three touchdowns and No. 1 LSU snapped an eight-game losing streak to No. 2 Alabama with a 46-41 victory Saturday.
The Tigers (9-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference, No. 2 CFP) are no longer second fiddle in the SEC West, or maybe in the playoff rankings. And Burrow stamped himself as the Heisman Trophy front-runner with a gutty performance when he answered every challenge from 'Bama.
The Crimson Tide (8-1, 5-1, No. 3 CFP) rallied from a 33-13 halftime deficit to three times to pull within a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The showdown lived up to its billing as a duel between two high-powered offenses and star quarterbacks with President Donald Trump attending. Tua Tagovailoa launched an 85-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith with 1:21 left after the Tigers' own scoring march.
Justin Jefferson recovered the onside kick and LSU ran out the clock.
Burrow completed 31 of 39 passes and ran for 64 yards. Clyde Edwards Helaire ran for three touchdowns and caught a scoring pass.
Tagovailoa, 20 days removed from ankle surgery, was 21 of 40 for 418 yards and four touchdowns with an interception and a fumble.
NO. 13 MINNESOTA 31, NO. 5 PENN STATE 26
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota's Jordan Howden picked off Sean Clifford's pass in the end zone with 1:01 left, the third interception thrown by Penn State's quarterback, and the Gophers beat the Nittany Lions for their first victory over a top-five team in 20 years.
Tanner Morgan passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns to direct a dismantling of Penn State's staunch defense. Minnesota (9-0, 6-0, No. 17 CFP) not only remained undefeated, but stayed on track for its first trip to the Big Ten championship game.
The first sellout crowd for the Gophers at home in four years swarmed the field after the clock ran out, reveling in the biggest step forward yet under coach P.J. Fleck in his third season. The Gophers scrambled the College Football Playoff picture, too, after Penn State (8-1, 5-1, No. 4 CFP) emerged with a top-four spot in the first edition of the rankings.
Rashod Bateman got the Gophers going with a 66-yard score on their first possession and finished with seven catches for 203 yards, the second-most in program history. Tyler Johnson had seven receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown, too, as Minnesota made enough early gains to hold up during the late rally.
Clifford went 23 for 43 for 340 yards and one score.
Antoine Winfield Jr. had the first two picks in the first half, matching the FBS lead and setting the Minnesota record with seven on the season. Both were inside the 10.
NO. 9 OKLAHOMA 42, IOWA STATE 41
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Parnell Motley intercepted Brock Purdy's two-point conversion pass with 24 seconds left and Oklahoma held off Iowa State.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell went for the victory on the two-point try after Charlie Kolar caught a 13-yard touchdown pass to pull the Cyclones — down 42-21 in the second half — within one.
Jalen Hurts passed for 273 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 68 yards and two more scores for the Sooners (8-1, 5-1 Big 12, No. 9 CFP).
CeeDee Lamb had 167 yards and two touchdowns receiving and Kennedy Brooks ran for a season-high 132 yards to help Oklahoma bounce back from a loss to Kansas State two weeks ago. Oklahoma extended its November winning streak to 18 games and set up a showdown at league-leading Baylor next week.
Purdy passed for 282 yards and five touchdowns and Breece Hall rushed for 110 yards for the Cyclones (5-4, 3-3)
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 73, MARYLAND 14
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Justin Fields threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in the first half and Ohio State hardly missed suspended defensive star Chase Young.
A team that gave the Buckeyes (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten, CFP No. 1) headaches last season was no trouble this time, even without the fierce pass rushing of Young. The preseason All-American was suspended Friday while Ohio State investigates a possible NCAA violation involving a loan.
J.K. Dobbins rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns as the Buckeyes built a 42-0 halftime lead and the backups added to it in the second half. Fields tossed touchdown passes to Binjimen Victor, K.J. Hill and Chris Olave before taking a seat in the second half. His backup, Chris Chugunov threw another one in the third quarter. Ohio State piled up 705 yards of offense and 40 first downs.
Maryland dropped to 1-6 in the Big Ten and 3-7 overall.
NO. 4 CLEMSON 55, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 10
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence threw for two scores and ran for another in a dominating first quarter and Clemson routed North Carolina State to wrap a trip to Atlantic Coast Conference title game.
The reigning national champion Tigers learned this week that they were on the outside looking in for the first rankings for the four-team College Football Playoff. Yet coach Dabo Swinney had said the Tigers (10-0, 7-0, No. 5 CFP) were in a "good spot" and needed to focus instead on finishing strong.
Starting that way was enough against the Wolfpack (4-5, 1-4) as Clemson extended its school-record winning streak to 25 games. By halftime, Clemson led 42-0.
That first half was highlighted by 6-foot-4, 330-pound left guard John Simpson taking a goal-line handoff and plowing in for a 1-yard touchdown. Near the end of the game, Clemson added a 1-yard scoring run with 11 seconds left before letting linebacker James Skalski unsuccessfully kick the extra point.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Jake Fromm threw two touchdown passes to George Pickens and Georgia posted its third shutout, dominating a Missouri offense missing two of its biggest playmakers.
Georgia (8-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 6 College Football Playoff) moved closer to its third straight berth in the SEC championship game. The Bulldogs can clinch the SEC East by beating No. 12 Auburn next week. Missouri (5-4, 2-3) fell to 0-4 in road games with its third straight loss. Quarterback Kelly Bryant and leading receiver Johnathon Johnson did not play.
Fromm capped Georgia's opening drive with a 25-yard scoring pass to Pickens. The freshman also made a leaping grab for an 18-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Denzel Mims made a leaping 4-yard touchdown catch in the third overtime for Baylor, capping another comeback victory that kept the Bears undefeated.
Charlie Brewer also threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Mims on fourth down in the second overtime to extend the game. Brewer had a 3-yard scoring run in the first overtime.
The Bears (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) finally won on Grayland Arnold's interception of Max Duggan's fourth-down pass in the end zone.
Baylor forced overtime when John Mayers kicked a 51-yard field goal with 36 seconds left in regulation. The ball just cleared the crossbar to tie it at 9. TCU (4-5, 2-4) led 9-0 after Jonathan Song made two field goals at the end of the first half.
NO. 15 NOTRE DAME 38, DUKE 7
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Ian Book rushed for a career-best 139 yards and threw four touchdown passes for Notre Dame.
Book finished 18 of 32 for 181 yards passing, Chris Finke caught touchdown passes of 18 and 6 yards, and Chase Claypool and George Takacs also had short scoring catches.
C'Bo Flemister rushed 2 yards for a TD for the Fighting Irish (7-2, No. 15 CFP). In winning their second straight and fifth in six games, they rolled up 469 total yards, led 21-0 before the Blue Devils picked up their second first down and kept them at bay the rest of the way.
Quentin Harris was 16 of 28 for 102 yards for Duke (4-5) with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Young late in the second quarter. The Blue Devils have lost three straight and four of five since starting 3-1.
NO. 16 WISCONSIN 24, NO. 18 IOWA 22
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Jonathan Taylor rushed for a season-high 250 yards and Danny Davis ran for a touchdown and caught a scoring pass for Wisconsin.
Taylor became the first running back this season to rush for more than 100 yards against Iowa as Wisconsin (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten, No. 13 College Football Playoff) held on to the Heartland Trophy, given each year to the winner of this game. Wisconsin has beaten Iowa four straight times.
Quintez Cephus caught five passes for 94 yards and a score to help Wisconsin stay in contention for the Big Ten West crown. Nate Stanley passed for 208 yards and two TDs for Iowa (6-3, 3-3, No. 18 CFP).
NO. 17 CINCINNATI 48, CONNECTICUT 3
CINCINNATI (AP) — Desmond Ridder threw for a pair of touchdowns and Michael Warren II ran for two more scores during a dominant opening half, and Cincinnati remained the only unbeaten team in American Athletic play.
The Bearcats (8-1, 5-0) retained the inside track for the conference title by ending their recent trend of slow starts. They led 38-0 at halftime against the conference's lowliest team.
UConn (2-8, 0-6) had two players ejected while losing its 17th straight conference game. The Huskies have dropped 24 of their last 25 against FBS teams. They fell to 0-9 at Nippert Stadium.
TEXAS 27, NO. 20 KANSAS STATE 24
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Cameron Dicker kicked a 26-yard field goal as time expired to lift Texas past Kansas State as the Longhorns maintained their hopes of returning to the Big 12 championship game.
Dicker has won games on the final play twice this season. His 33-yarder to beat Kansas on Oct. 19 capped a wild 50-48 finish.
Texas (6-3, 4-2) had lost two of its previous three games. The victory over the Wildcats (6-3, 3-3, No. 16 College Football Playoff) made the Longhorns bowl-eligible and kept them in the hunt for a berth in the league championship with three games left.
Keaontay Ingram rushed for 139 yards and two second-half touchdowns for the Longhorns. Kansas State rallied to tie it on Joshua Youngblood's 98-yard kickoff return and Blake Lynch's 45-yard field goal.
NO. 21 BOISE STATE 20, WYOMING 17, OT
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Chase Cord threw for 190 yards and a touchdown, Eric Sachse kicked a 28-yard field goal in overtime and Boise State rallied to beat Wyoming.
Boise State (8-1, 4-0, No. 22 CFP) kept its New Year's Day bowl hopes alive as the Group of 5 representative despite playing without injured starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier.
Wyoming (6-3, 3-2), now 0-7 against the Broncos in Boise, failed to hold onto a halftime lead for the second time this season. The Cowboys also squandered a 14-6 advantage at the intermission against San Diego State in a 26-22 loss.
The Cowboys were also without their starting quarterback, Sean Chambers, who went out for the season with a knee injury in Wyoming's previous game against Nevada. Tyler Vander Waal finished 15-of-23 passing for 160 yards.
In the extra period, Boise State's drive stalled at the 11 before Sachse made his kick.
Wyoming could only muster five yards on its first three plays of overtime and Cooper Rothe attempted a 37-yard field goal that fell short to the right.
VIRGINIA TECH 36, NO. 22 WAKE FOREST 17
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Hendon Hooker accounted for 311 yards of total offense and ran for a touchdown to help Virginia Tech beat Wake Forest.
The Hokies (6-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) overcame a 0-6 halftime deficit, scoring 30 second-half points to beat a ranked team for the first time since last year at then-No. 22 Duke.
Deshawn McClease scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter. His 6-yard touchdown run with 7:02 remaining in the quarter gave the Hokies a 20-17 lead. He had 59 of the Hokies' 228 yards rushing. Hooker completed 15 of 23 for 242 yards and rushed for 69 yards.
Jamie Newman completed 16 of 35 passes for 238 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Wake Forest (7-2, 3-2). Kendall Hinton caught eight passes for 162 yards.
NO. 23 SMU 59, EAST CAROLINA 51
DALLAS (AP) — Shane Buechele threw five touchdown passes, Xavier Jones broke one of Eric Dickerson's school records and SMU bounced back from its first loss.
The Mustangs (9-1, 5-1 American Athletic) played from ahead and kept it that way in a second straight game with more than 1,000 combined yards. SMU had fallen behind and failed to close the gap last week in a 54-48 loss to No. 19 Memphis.
Buechele threw for 414 yards as the Mustangs finished with 636 total yards to 644 for the Pirates (3-7, 0-6). Kylen Granson caught three touchdowns passes, including a 31-yarder on fourth-and-20 with SMU leading 45-44 midway through the fourth quarter. Granson had 138 yards on seven receptions, and James Proche finished with 14 catches for 167 yards.
Jones, who ran for 157 yards, had three rushing touchdowns for the third time this season, giving him 18. His total touchdowns reached 20, one more than Dickerson had in 1981 — all on the ground. East Carolina's Tyler Snead caught 19 passes for 240 yards.
NEVADA 17, NO. 24 SAN DIEGO STATE 13
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Wide receiver Elijah Cooks threw a 50-yard pass on a trick play to set up Devonte Lee's go-ahead, 1-yard run with 10:31 to go that lifted Nevada past San Diego State.
The Wolf Pack surprised the Aztecs with a reverse, with running back Toa Taua flipping the ball to Cooks, who stopped and threw a strike to Brendan O'Leary-Orange at the SDSU 5. Three plays later, Lee burst into the end zone for a 17-10 lead.
The Wolf Pack (6-4, 3-3 Mountain West) became bowl eligible and defeated the Aztecs for the second straight season. SDSU (7-2, 4-2) struggled in its first action since jumping into The Associated Press Top 25 two weeks ago. The Aztecs, whose four-game winning streak was snapped, still lead the West Division.
SDSU's Matt Araiza kicked a 44-yard field goal with 3:46 to go. The Aztecs got the ball back but the drive fizzled near midfield and they turned it over on downs with 1:25 to go.