College football: Air Force beats Hawaii 59-7
HONOLULU — Jacobi Owens rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns to help Air Force rout Hawaii 58-7 at Aloha Stadium Saturday night.
The Falcons (5-3, 4-1 Mountain West) amassed 576 yards of total offense, including a season-high 496 rushing, en route to their first road win of the year.
It was the second straight week that Air Force had two ball carriers go over 100 yards in a game. Timothy McVey ran for 113 yards and two late touchdowns. Benton Washington, Karson Roberts and Aubrey Duty-Tyson each recorded a rushing score and Luke Strebel made field goals of 40, 36 and 44 yards.
The Falcons ran 92 total offensive plays, which bested its season-high mark of 90 in last week’s win over Fresno State.
The lone score for the Rainbow Warriors (2-7, 0-5) came on Keelan Ewaliko’s 98-yard kickoff return late in the game.
Air Force led at halftime, 34-0.
NO. 3 CLEMSON 56,
N.C. STATE 41
RALEIGH, N.C. – Deshaun Watson threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score in Clemson’s victory over North Carolina State.
Watson threw for 383 yards and ran for 54 yards for the Tigers (8-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). They are closing in on the ACC championship game and chasing a College Football Playoff berth.
The Tigers host No. 17 Florida State next week with a chance to wrap up the Atlantic Division title.
Wayne Gallman ran for 172 yards and a touchdown for Clemson.
The Tigers led by 20 after halftime and finished with 623 total yards, spending the final quarter answering desperate scoring drives from the Wolfpack (5-3, 1-3) to remain in firm control.
NO. 8 STANFORD 30,
WASHINGTON st. 28
PULLMAN, Wash. – Conrad Ukropina kicked a 19-yard field goal with 1:54 left to lift Stanford past Washington State.
Washington State’s Erik Powell hooked a 43-yard attempt wide right as time expired to give Stanford its seventh consecutive victory. Powell tied a school record with five field goals in the game despite rainy, windy conditions.
Quarterback Kevin Hogan ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns for Stanford (7-1, 6-0 Pac-12), the only undefeated team in Pac-12 play. Washington State (5-3, 3-2) had a three-game winning streak snapped.
NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 24,
NO. 21 TEMPLE 20
PHILADELPHIA – DeShone Kizer hit Will Fuller with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 2:09 left, KeiVarae Russell picked off a pass to end the last threat, and Notre Dame escaped with a victory.
The Owls (7-1) pushed the Fighting Irish (7-1) to the brink and took the lead with 4:45 left on Austin Jones’ 36-yard field goal. But Kizer came right back with a long scoring drive.
Kizer finished with 299 yards passing and a 79-yard touchdown run.
NO. 10 IOWA 31,
MARYLAND 15
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Desmond King had an 88-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Iowa beat Maryland to improve to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten.
Akrum Wadley, LeShun Daniels and Derrick Mitchell had touchdown runs for the Hawkeyes.
Will Likely had a 100-yard kickoff return for the Terrapins (2-6, 0-4).
NO. 11 FLORIDA 27,
GEORGIA 3
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Kelvin Taylor ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, Antonio Callaway delivered another huge play and Florida beat rival Georgia to move a step closer to the Southeastern Conference championship game.
The Gators also were downright dominant defensively, shutting down Sony Michel, pressuring Faton Bauta and holding the Bulldogs to 223 total yards.
It was Florida’s second straight win in the storied series and 20th in the last 26 years.
The Gators (7-1, 5-1) are one victory from clinching the Eastern Division. They can wrap up the East by beating Vanderbilt next week. If that happens, Florida would earn its first trip to Atlanta since Tim Tebow’s senior year in 2009. Georgia (5-3, 3-3) has few, if any, mathematical chances of winning the East.
NO. 12 OKLA. St. 70,
TEXAS TECH 53
LUBBOCK, Texas – Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh each threw two touchdown passes, Raymond Taylor ran for two scores and Oklahoma State rallied to beat Texas Tech.
The combined points are the third-most involving a ranked team without playing overtime.
Walsh found James Washington twice in the fourth quarter, one for 75 yards and then for 73 yards for the Cowboys (8-0, 5-0). Ramon Richards returned an interception 59 yards for a score with 6 seconds left.
Texas Tech’s Jakeem Grant returned a kickoff 100 yards and had a 90-yard catch. Patrick Mahomes completed 38 of 55 passes for 480 yards and four touchdowns for the Red Raiders (5-4, 2-4).
NO. 13 UTAH 27,
OREGON STATE 12
SALT LAKE CITY – Devontae Booker ran for 121 yards and a touchdown for Utah.
The Utes (7-1, 4-1) hold a one-game lead in the Pac-12 South over UCLA with four games remaining, including the Bruins on Nov. 21.
Travis Wilson completed 14 of 17 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown and ran for 56 yards and a score.
Freshman Nick Mitchell started for Oregon State (2-6, 0-5) in place of the injured Seth Collins, and passed for 204 yards and a touchdown.
NO. 14 OKLAHOMA 62,
KANSAS 7
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Baker Mayfield completed 27 of 32 passes for 383 yards and four touchdowns and Oklahoma beat Kansas.
Sterling Shepard had 11 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown, and Samaje Perine added 90 yards rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries for the Sooners (7-1, 4-1 Big 12).
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is 11-0 against the Jayhawks.
Kansas (0-8, 0-5) has lost 11 consecutive games.
NO. 15 MICHIGAN 29,
MINNESOTA 26
MINNEAPOLIS – Wilton Speight came off the bench and threw a 12-yard touchdown to Jehu Chesson with under 5 minutes to play and Michigan stopped Mitch Leidner on a sneak as time expired.
In his first game as interim head coach since Jerry Kill’s retirement for health reasons, Minnesota interim coach Tracy Claeys elected to go for the win over a potential tying field goal with the ball on the 1 and 2 seconds to play. But Leidner’s plunge was stuffed by Ryan Glasgow and Joe Bolden, allowing Michigan (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) to take back the Little Brown Jug after losing it in Ann Arbor last year.
Leidner was 16 for 33 for a career-high 317 yards and a touchdown for the Golden Gophers (4-4, 1-3).
NO. 16 MEMPHIS 41,
TULANE 13
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Paxton Lynch threw for 343 yards and a touchdown and ran for 43 more yards to help Memphis rout Tulane for its 15th straight victory.
The Tigers (8-0, 4-0 American Athletic) trailed 13-0 before answering with 41 straight points. This is the fifth game Memphis has trailed by at least 10 points this season. Doroland Dorceus, Anthony Miller and Jarvis Cooper each ran for a TD, and Jake Elliott kicked three field goals.
Tulane (2-6, 1-4) lost its fourth straight overall and ninth in the series.
NO. 17 FLORIDA St. 45,
SYRACUSE 21
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sean Maguire completed 23 of 35 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns in Florida State’s victory over Syracuse.
Maguire started in place of Everett Golson, sidelined by a concussion. Star running back Dalvin Cook also sat out because of an ankle injury.
Travis Rudolph had five receptions for 191 yards and three scores for the Seminoles (7-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Jacques Patrick, starting in place of Cook, ran for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
Eric Dungey had two touchdowns for Syracuse (3-5, 1-3). The Orange have lost five straight.
NO. 18 HOUSTON 34,
VANDERBILT 0
HOUSTON – Greg Ward Jr. threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score to help Houston reach 8-0 for the fourth time in school history and first time since 2011.
Houston forced four turnovers in its first shutout since a 34-0 victory over SMU on Nov. 29, 2013.
Ward finished 15 of 23 for 221 yards. He had a 5-yard scoring run in the first quarter, and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Ayers in the second.
The Commodores dropped to 3-5.
NO. 19 MISSISSIPPI 27,
AUBURN 19
AUBURN, Ala. – Laquon Treadwell caught a 21-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and Mississippi beat Auburn to kept its Southeastern Conference title hopes alive.
Chad Kelly hit Treadwell in the end zone with just over 10 minutes left for the Rebels (7-2, 4-1). Kelly completed 33 of 51 passes for 381 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Auburn (4-4, 1-4) dropped its second straight after losing to Arkansas in four overtimes.
Miami 30,
No. 22 Duke 27
DURHAM, N.C. – Corn Elder took the eighth lateral on wild final kickoff return and brought it back 75 yards for a touchdown to give Miami a 30-27 victory over No. 22 Duke on Saturday night.
Thomas Sirk seemingly had given the Blue Devils the win by scoring on a sneak with 6 seconds left.
But in a final sequence reminiscent of California’s run through the Stanford band, Elder caught the last of eight laterals, and zigged and zagged through the Duke coverage team for the score.
One problem: A penalty flag thrown on teammate Mark Walton for an illegal block in the back on Breon Borders at the Duke 25. But after a lengthy review, the officials determined the block was to Borders’ side — not his back — and the touchdown stood.
The “did-you-see-that” finale capped a tumultuous week for the Hurricanes (5-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Coach Al Golden was fired after the program suffered its worst loss in school history — a 58-0 embarrassment against Clemson.
Duke dropped to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
NO. 24 UCLA 35,
COLORADO 31
PASADENA, Calif. – Soso Jamabo rushed for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:28 to play, and UCLA blew an 18-point lead before escaping the Rose Bowl with a victory over Colorado.
Josh Rosen passed for 262 yards and a touchdown for the Bruins (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12), who avoided an embarrassing loss despite giving up 18 consecutive points in the second half and yielding 554 total yards to the Buffaloes (4-5, 1-4).
Patrick Carr rushed for 110 yards, and his TD run put Colorado ahead with 12:04 to play. The Bruins answered with Jamabo’s score before stopping the Buffaloes twice in UCLA territory.