College football Top 25 recap | September 14
NO. 2 OREGON 59, TENNESSEE 14
EUGENE, Ore. — Marcus Mariota threw for a career-high 456 yards and four touchdowns and Oregon handed Tennessee its worst varsity loss since a 48-0 defeat to Mississippi State in 1910.
Freshman Johnny Mundt, who replaced ailing tight end Colt Lyerla, had five catches for 121 yards and two TDs for the Ducks (3-0). Josh Huff added six catches for 125 yards and a score.
Mariota, who completed 23 of 33 passes, was the first Oregon quarterback to throw for more than 400 yards in a game since Kellen Clemens in 2005.
Oregon’s sloppy play at the start — four penalties for 35 yards in the first quarter — helped Tennessee (2-1) take an early lead, but it was fleeting and the Ducks led 38-7 at halftime.
NO. 4 OHIO ST. 52, CALIFORNIA 34
BERKELEY, Calif. — Kenny Guiton threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first six minutes of his first career start and Ohio State rolled to its 15th straight victory with an easy victory over California.
Guiton, a fifth-year senior, got the start in place of injured Braxton Miller, and there was no drop-off in performance for the Buckeyes (3-0).
Guiton connected with Devin Smith on a 90-yard pass on Ohio State’s second offensive play for the longest play from scrimmage in school history. He added a 47-yard touchdown to Smith and a 1-yarder to Chris Fields on fourth-and-goal as Ohio State jumped out to a 21-0 lead over the Golden Bears (1-2) less than halfway through the first quarter.
Guiton completed 21 of 32 passes for 276 yards and added 92 yards rushing to lead the Buckeyes.
NO. 5 STANFORD 34, ARMY 20
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Kevin Hogan threw for three touchdowns and Tyler Gaffney had two touchdowns and 132 yards rushing to lead Stanford over Army.
The Cardinal (2-0) entered the game as 30-point favorites but had their hands full from the opening kickoff, falling behind 6-0 as the smaller Black Knights (1-2) challenged at every turn.
Hogan’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Gaffney after an Army turnover gave Stanford a 27-13 lead late in the third quarter and the Cardinal averted an embarrassing loss. Army has not defeated a ranked team since a 17-14 win over No. 15 Air Force on Nov. 4, 1972.
Ty Montgomery had six catches for 130 yards and one score, while Hogan was 11 of 18 for 188 yards passing for Stanford.
Terry Baggett led Army with 96 yards rushing on nine carries.
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 27, KENTUCKY 13
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Senorise Perry ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns, Teddy Bridgewater overcame a shaky start to pass for 250 yards and Louisville scored on four consecutive drives to pull away from rival Kentucky for the win.
The Cardinals’ defense forced three turnovers, including two in their territory to preserve a win that required more work after easy wins over Ohio and Eastern Kentucky.
Bridgewater connected with DeVante Parker for a 13-yard touchdown just before halftime that opened things up for Louisville (3-0). Perry followed with second-half TD runs of 1 and 36 yards sandwiched around John Wallace’s 21-yard field goal that provided a cushion.
NO. 8 LSU 45, KENT ST. 13
BATON ROUGE, La. — Zach Mettenberger passed for three touchdowns, Jeremy Hill ran for two and LSU easily defeated Kent State.
Hill rushed 11 times for 117 yards, all in the first two quarters, as LSU (3-0) looked sound in its final tuneup before opening Southeastern Conference play against Auburn next weekend.
Mettenberger connected with Jarvis Landry on touchdown passes of 21 and 31 yards. His other scoring pass went for 5 yards to Odell Beckham Jr.
Terrance Magee added a 12-yard scoring run.
NO. 10 FLORIDA ST. 62, NEVADA 7
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jameis Winston accounted for three touchdowns, Florida State’s four tailbacks all scored and the Seminoles routed Nevada.
FSU (2-0) looked just as good in its home opener as it did to start the season 12 days ago. The Seminoles thumped Pitt 41-13 on the road, a game in which Winston grabbed headlines with a nearly flawless performance. This time he shared the spotlight with his running backs.
Devonta Freeman ran for 109 yards and a touchdown. James Wilder Jr. added 45 yards and a score.
NO. 11 MICHIGAN 28, AKRON 24
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Fitzgerald Toussaint scored a go-ahead, two-yard touchdown with 2:49 left and Michigan made a desperately needed stop on the final play to hold against Akron.
College football’s winningest program avoided getting upset at home — as it did against Appalachian State and Toledo — by a Mid-American Conference team that hasn’t won a road game in nearly five years and was expected to lose by more than five touchdowns.
The Wolverines (3-0) trailed twice in the second half — including with 4:10 left when Kyle Pohl threw a one-yard TD — and allowed the Zips (1-2) to get to the Michigan 4 on the game’s final drive.
NO. 12 OKLAHOMA ST. 59, LAMAR 3
STILLWATER, Okla. — Jeremy Smith rushed for three first-half touchdowns and Josh Stewart returned a punt 67 yards for a score as Oklahoma State rolled over Lamar.
The game capped a long week for the Cowboys, who were the subject of a Sports Illustrated series that detailed alleged misconduct in the football program dating to 2001. Oklahoma State officials have contacted the NCAA and launched their own investigation.
Caleb Berry led the offense for Lamar (1-2), throwing for 114 yards on 18 of 38 passing.
NO. 13 SOUTH CAROLINA 35, VANDERBILT 25
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Connor Shaw passed for three scores, Jadeveon Clowney forced a fumble and South Carolina withstood Vanderbilt’s rally from a four-touchdown deficit.
The win was the 13th straight at home for the Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), who are tied with Georgia for the second-longest active streak in the nation. South Carolina appeared to have this one finished early, scoring on its first four possessions to lead 28-0. It still led 35-10 when it opened the second half with Shaw’s final TD pass, a 33-yarder to Brandon Wilds.
NO. 14 OKLAHOMA 51, TULSA 20
NORMAN, Okla. — Blake Bell passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns in his first start as quarterback for Oklahoma to lead the Sooners past Tulsa.
Sterling Shepard caught eight passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns — all career highs — and Jaz Reynolds had 109 yards receiving and one score for Oklahoma (3-0). The Sooners scored on their first five possessions against Tulsa (1-2) to continue their dominance in the series, having won 12 of the last 13 games between the in-state rivals.
The Sooners are 13-0 against Tulsa as a ranked team and 7-0 against the Golden Hurricane since Bob Stoops became Oklahoma’s coach in 1999.
NO. 16 UCLA 41, NO. 23 NEBRASKA 21
LINCOLN, Neb. — Brett Hundley threw three touchdown passes and UCLA wiped out an 18-point deficit to beat Nebraska, stunning a record Memorial Stadium crowd of 91,471.
The win came six days after UCLA receiver Nick Pasquale was killed when he was struck by a vehicle while walking in his hometown and a day before coaches and teammates travel to San Clemente, Calif., for his memorial service.
The Bruins (2-0) wore No. 36 patches on their jerseys in memory of Pasquale. The Huskers (2-1) wore No. 36 decals on their helmets, and there was a moment of silence held before the game.
NO. 17 NORTHWESTERN 38, W. MICHIGAN 17
EVANSTON, Ill. — Treyvon Green rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Kain Colter ran for 106 yards and a score and passed for another, and Northwestern beat Western Michigan.
Northwestern had 474 yards of total offense — including 335 on the ground — to extend its winning streak in non-conference home games to 15. The Wildcats (3-0) averaged 46 points and better than 500 yards in their first two games against California and Syracuse.
NO. 19 WASHINGTON 34, ILLINOIS 24
CHICAGO — Keith Price threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns, Bishop Sankey ran for a career-high 208 yards as Washington beat Illinois at Soldier Field.
Josh Shirley added four sacks and the Huskies came out on top after dropping seven of nine away from home. They hadn’t won on the road outside the Pac-12 since beating Syracuse in 2007.
Washington (2-0) had a tougher time in this one after keeping high-powered Boise State without a touchdown in a 38-6 win two weeks ago. The Huskies built a 21-point lead in the third quarter and hung on, sending Illinois (2-1) to its sixth straight loss against ranked opponents.
ARIZONA ST. 32, NO. 20 WISCONSIN 30
TEMPE, Ariz. — Marion Grice scored two of his four touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Arizona State survived a bizarre ending.
Grice scored on a 1-yard run in the closing seconds of the third quarter, then on runs of 2 and 12 yards in the fourth to put Arizona State (2-0) up 32-24.
Wisconsin (2-1) used a fake punt to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Melvin Gordon, but still trailed 32-20 when its 2-point conversion failed.
The Badgers then drove to Arizona State’s 13-yard line and Joel Stave took knee to set up a potential winning field goal. He put the ball down as he tried to kneel and left it there, causing confusion as to whether the play was dead. The clock kept running, though, and the Badgers couldn’t get another play after scrambling to the line of scrimmage.
NO. 21 NOTRE DAME 31, PURDUE 24
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — DaVaris Daniels made touchdown catches on two successive Notre Dame plays in the fourth quarter, and Bennett Jackson followed that flurry with a 34-yard interception return to lead the Fighting Irish past Purdue.
The Irish (2-1) were led by quarterback Tommy Rees, who was 20 of 33 for 309 yards and those two TD passes. Notre Dame has won six straight in a series that has been played every year since 1946.
NO. 25 MISSISSIPPI 44, TEXAS 23
AUSTIN, Texas — Jeff Scott ran for 164 yards and a touchdown and also scored on a 73-yard punt return, helping Mississippi roll over reeling Texas.
Bo Wallace passed for two touchdowns and ran for another for the Rebels (3-0), who led 14-0 midway through the first quarter before Texas scored 23 straight points.
The Rebels rallied when Andrew Ritter kicked a 52-yard field goal on the last play of the first half and Wallace directed consecutive TD drives in the third quarter. Scott eluded six tacklers on a weaving, cross-field touchdown return that put the Rebels ahead 37-23 late in the third.
By Wire sources
