College football: Freshman kicker saves No. 4 USC from Texas upset
LOS ANGELES — Freshman Chase McGrath kicked a 43-yard field goal in the second overtime after hitting a tying 31-yarder on the final snap of regulation, and No. 4 Southern California rallied for a wild 27-24 victory over Texas on Saturday night.
Sam Darnold passed for 397 yards and three touchdowns to help the Trojans (3-0) surge to their 12th consecutive victory.
Christian Rector forced a goal-line fumble by Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger in the second overtime before McGrath coolly ended it.
After 55 minutes of defense-dominated football, both offenses erupted late to create a pretty decent sequel to these powerhouse programs’ last meeting in the landmark 2006 Rose Bowl.
Ehlinger passed for 298 yards and led a 91-yard, go-ahead TD drive late in regulation for the Longhorns (1-2), who were narrowly denied a huge win early in coach Tom Herman’s debut season.
Ehlinger hit Armanti Foreman with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 45 seconds left, but McGrath tied it on the final snap of regulation after Darnold drove the Trojans 52 yards in about 30 seconds.
Deontay Burnett caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Darnold on the first snap of overtime, but Cade Brewer caught a short TD pass to cap Texas’ first OT possession.
Texas reached the goal line in the second OT before Rector ripped the ball out of Ehlinger’s hands while the freshman quarterback attempted to score.
Both defenses dominated until late in Texas’ first visit to the Coliseum in 50 years. The schools hadn’t met since the Longhorns won the national title with a thrilling 41-38 victory in Pasadena.
NO. 24 FLORIDA 26, NO. 23 TENNESSEE 20
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Feleipe Franks heaved a 63-yard touchdown pass to Tyrie Cleveland as the clock expired, and Florida beat Tennessee in a wild, wacky and sometimes unwatchable rivalry game.
Franks scrambled away from the rush on a first-and-10 play with 9 seconds remaining and found Cleveland behind safety Micah Abernathy for a Hail Mary that no one — especially the Volunteers — saw coming.
The final play capped a crazy fourth quarter in which the teams combined for 37 points and little, if any, defense.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 41, COLORADO STATE 23
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jalen Hurts passed for 248 yards and two long touchdowns and rushed for 103 yards to lead Alabama past Colorado State.
The Crimson Tide (3-0) dominated early and emphatically answered a comeback attempt before outlasting the Rams (2-2).
Hurts completed 12 of 17 passes and mixed in 11 carries before leaving late in the third quarter. It was his second straight 100-plus yard rushing performance.
NO. 2 OKLAHOMA 56, TULANE 14
NORMAN, Okla. — Baker Mayfield passed for 331 yards and four touchdowns, and Oklahoma followed its impressive victory at Ohio State with a win over Tulane.
CeeDee Lamb caught four passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns before he was ejected for targeting on a block in the second quarter. Marquise Brown had career highs of six catches for 155 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter for the Sooners (3-0).
NO. 3 CLEMSON 47, NO. 14 LOUISVILLE 21
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Clemson held Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in check for most of the game, quarterback counterpart Kelly Bryant accounted for three touchdowns, and the third-ranked Tigers routed Louisville in an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown.
Jackson passed for 317 yards and three TDs, but most of that came with things already in hand for Clemson (3-0, 1-0). The Tigers’ Dorian O’Donnell returned an interception 44 yards for a TD and a 26-7 third-quarter lead, and they sacked Jackson four times. Bryant won the QB battle with TD runs of 8 and 1 yards sandwiched around a 79-yard scoring pass to wide-open Ray-Ray McCloud in the second quarter.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 37, NO. 12 LSU 7
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Nick Fitzgerald threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to help Mississippi State rout LSU.
Aeris Williams led the Bulldogs with 146 yards rushing and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. Mississippi State (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) beat LSU for just the second time in 18 tries dating to 2000.
Fitzgerald was 15-of-23 passing for 180 yards. Keith Mixon caught six passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Jace Christmann made the first three field goals of his career, connecting from 30, 45 and 27 yards.
MEMPHIS 48, NO. 25 UCLA 45
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Riley Ferguson threw for 398 yards and six touchdowns, and Jacobi Francis broke up a fourth-down pass in the closing seconds in Memphis’ victory over UCLA.
Francis’ breakup with 56 seconds left prevented another fourth-quarter comeback by Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen. He was 34 of 56 for 463 yards and four TDs.
Ferguson completed 23 of 38 passes for Memphis (2-0), and his connections with wide receiver Anthony Miller meant the difference. Miller caught nine passes for 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
VANDERBILT 14, NO. 18 KANSAS ST. 7
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kyle Shurmur scored on a 2-yard run with 8:23 left, and Vanderbilt upset Kansas State for the Commodores’ first win over a ranked, nonconference opponent since 1946.
Vanderbilt improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2011 with the Commodores’ first win over a ranked, nonconference opponent since beating North Carolina State. The Commodores also have won five straight at home dating to last season.
NO. 5 PENN STATE 56, GEORGIA STATE 0
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Trace McSorley threw a Beaver Stadium-record 85-yard touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley for one of his four scoring strikes and also ran for a touchdown for Penn State.
A week after a shaky start against Pittsburgh, McSorley bounced back in a rare prime-time game against a non-Power Five school. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 258 yards in the first half to help Penn State (3-0) take a 35-0 lead.
McSorley finished 18 of 23 for 309 yards. Barkley had 226 all-purpose yards and wasn’t fazed by an awkward hit that sent him laboring to the sideline in the second quarter.
Conner Manning completed 16 of 29 passes for 133 yards for Georgia State (0-2) with three interceptions. The Panthers also lost two fumbles and Penn State turned all five turnovers into touchdowns.
NO. 6 WASHINGTON 48, FRESNO STATE 16
SEATTLE — Dante Pettis had four touchdowns including an NCAA record-tying eighth punt return touchdowns of his career, and Washington finished off the undercard of its schedule.
Pettis had touchdown receptions of 4 and 7 yards in the first half, and a 73-yard TD pass from from Jake Browning on the second play of the second half to give Washington (3-0) a 48-7 lead. But it was his 77-yard punt return late in the first quarter that left Husky Stadium buzzing.
Fresno State is 1-2.
NO. 7 MICHIGAN 29, AIR FORCE 13
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Donovan Peoples-Jones returned a punt 79 yards for a score and Quinn Nordin tied a school record with five field goals, helping Michigan overcome offensive struggles.
Michigan’s Wilton Speight was 14 of 23 for 169 yards, missing some targets and having some passes dropped. Ty Isaac ran for 89 yards on 16 carries.
NO. 8 OHIO STATE 38, ARMY 7
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Freshman J.K. Dobbins ran for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Ohio State rebounded from a deflating loss to rout Army.
Dobbins broke away for an electrifying 52-yard touchdown run to open the second half after romping for 22 yards on the previous play, extending Ohio State’s 17-7 halftime lead. The Buckeyes (2-1) then got touchdowns on two of their next three drives to pull away.
J.T. Barrett, the target this week of critics who suggested he should be benched after the 31-16 home loss to Oklahoma, was 25 for 33 for 270 yards and two touchdowns.
The outmanned Black Knights dropped to 2-1.
NO. 9 OKLA. STATE 59, PITTSBURGH 21
PITTSBURGH — Mason Rudolph threw five touchdown passes, all in the first half, for Oklahoma State.
Rudolph completed 23 of 32 passes for 497 yards before being pulled in the middle of the third quarter with the Cowboys (3-0) in full command. He did throw his first interception of the season, ending a streak of 216 passes without a pick dating to last season. It was the longest active streak in the FBS.
Jalen McCleskey caught seven passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. James Washington added 124 yards receiving. Marcell Ateman (109) and Dillon Stoner (100) also reached the 100-yard receiving mark, the first time in 12 years a team has had four 100-yard receivers in a game. The Cowboys did it despite missing LSU transfer Tyron Johnson, suspended for the game for a violation of team rules.
Pitt dropped to 1-2.
NO. 10 WISCONSIN 40, BYU 6
PROVO, Utah — Alex Hornibrook threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns for Wisconsin.
The Badgers (3-0) met little resistance as they put the game away in the first half and led 24-6 at halftime.
Hornibrook missed on only one pass all day. He completed 10 of 11 passes in the first half for 149 yards and two touchdowns. The second half was more of the same as he hit on all eight attempts. The sophomore put up career highs in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completions.
Jonathan Taylor gave the BYU defense fits as he repeatedly sidestepped defenders and finished runs with power. The freshman running back gained 128 yards and scored once on 18 rushes.
The Cougars dropped to 1-3.
NO 13 GEORGIA 42, SAMFORD 14
ATHENS, Ga. — Nick Chubb ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns, freshman Jake Fromm threw three scoring passes in his first home start, and Georgia’s defense was dominant.
With fellow senior Sony Michel held out with an ankle injury sustained last week in a victory at Notre Dame, Chubb had his busiest game of the season. Chubb’s season-high 16 carries, all in the first three quarters, helped him become the first Bulldogs back to run for 100 yards this season.
NO. 15 AUBURN 24, MERCER 10
AUBURN, Ala. — Kamryn Pettway ran for 128 yards and three touchdowns and Auburn overcame five turnovers to hold off FCS school Mercer.
After being held without a touchdown in a 14-6 loss at third-ranked Clemson the previous week, Auburn (2-1) could at least point to a stout defensive opponent as the reason for its troubles. Not this time.
Mercer (1-2), which only resumed its football program five years ago and plays a division down in the Southern Conference, gave the Tigers all they could handle, much to a chagrin of a disgruntled crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium — many of whom didn’t bother returning to their seats after a lackluster first half in which the Southeastern Conference powerhouse led only 10-3.
NO. 16 VA. TECH 64, EAST CAROLINA 17
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Redshirt freshman Josh Jackson threw for 372 yards and five touchdowns — three to Cam Phillips — for Virginia Tech.
Phillips had a program-record 14 catches for 189 yards to help the Hokies improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2011. He punctuated his day with a perfectly executed route that left him wide open, and Jackson hit him in stride for a 45-yard score with 7:46 left in the third quarter.
Gardner Minshew threw for two scores for the Pirates (0-3).
NO. 20 TCU 56, SMU 36
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jalen Reagor made a leaping 38-yard catch between four defenders in the end zone on the last play of the first half, finally putting TCU ahead to stay against upset-minded SMU.
The Mustangs (2-1) led 19-7 before Kenny Hill threw three TD passes in the final 7 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. The last was Reagor’s catch in a crowd of Mustangs.
Darius Anderson ran for two touchdowns for TCU (3-0) in the second half, including the first drive after halftime. Speedy running back Kenedy Snell also scored twice, while Hill completed 24 of 30 passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns.
NO. 21 WASH. ST. 52, OREGON STATE 23
PULLMAN, Wash. — Luke Falk threw six touchdown passes — three to Tavares Martin Jr. — and Washington State beat Oregon State for its fourth consecutive victory over the Beavers.
Washington State (3-0, 1-0 Pac-12) was coming off a triple-overtime victory over Boise State.
Falk, the FBS active leader with 98 touchdown passes, completed 37 of 49 passes for 396 yards without an interception. Martin had 10 vatches for 194 yards.
Jake Luton threw for 179 yards for Oregon State (1-3, 0-1), but was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with an injury. The Beavers have lost 14 consecutive road games dating to 2014.
San Diego State 20, No. 17 Stanford 17
SAN DIEGO — Christian Chapman threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Wells with 54 seconds left, capping a wild ending sparked by a darkness delay.
Six plays before Wells’ score, the game was delayed nearly 25 minutes when most of the lights went out at 50-year-old San Diego Stadium. The city has fallen behind on maintenance of the stadium, and the NFL’s Chargers moved to Los Angeles earlier this year after they couldn’t get a deal for a new home.
The game resumed with the Aztecs on the Stanford 42, and SDSU (3-0) quickly moved in for the score. On the winner, Chapman rolled right and found Wells, who slammed into Brandon Simmons and tumbled into the end zone.
Kameron Kelly intercepted Keller Chryst on the first play of the ensuing Stanford (1-2) possession.
