No. 3 Baylor sees title hopes crumble
the associated press
| Sunday, November 24, 2013, 10:06 a.m.
STILLWATER, Okla. — Clint Chelf put Oklahoma State well within reach of a Big 12 Conference championship, dooming Baylor’s national title aspirations in the process.
Chelf passed for a career-high 370 yards and accounted for four touchdowns as No. 11 Oklahoma State took down another national-championship hopeful, easily defeating No. 3 Baylor 49-17 on Saturday night.
The loss for the Bears leaves Alabama, Florida State and Ohio State as the lone remaining unbeatens near the top of the BCS standings — and they’ll certainly line up in that order when the new numbers come out today.
Oklahoma State has now won 10 or more games in three of the last four seasons, and can win the Big 12 by beating rival Oklahoma at home in two weeks.
Chelf, who lost the starting job earlier this season for the Cowboys (10-1, 7-1 Big 12 Conference), threw for three touchdown passes and ran for a score — continuing his mastery of the stunned Bears in front of a record crowd of 60,218 in Boone Pickens Stadium.
No. 1 ALABAMA 49,
CHATTANOOGA 0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — AJ McCarron passed for two touchdowns and became No. 1 Alabama’s winningest quarterback.
McCarron completed 13 of 16 passes for 171 yards before leaving one drive into the second half of his final game at Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Crimson Tide (11-0). He improved to 36-2 as a starter, breaking a tie with Jay Barker for the school mark.
McCarron and Alabama got an easy tuneup for the Iron Bowl against No. 6 Auburn to determine the Southeastern Conference Western Division champion.
No. 2 FLORIDA STATE 80,
IDAHO 14
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jameis Winston threw for 225 yards and four touchdowns as No. 2 Florida State broke a school record for points in a game.
Florida State (11-0) broke the school record of 77 points scored in 1995 to remain unbeaten.
The Seminoles continue to focus on football while the ongoing sexual assault investigation of Winston casts a shadow over the program. State attorney Willie Meggs said Saturday it is unlikely that a final decision will be made before Thanksgiving on whether to charge the quarterback.
No. 4 OHIO STATE 42,
INDIANA 14
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Braxton Miller ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns and passed for two more Saturday to lead No. 4 Ohio State to a 42-14 victory over Indiana, extending the Buckeyes’ school-record win streak to 23 in a row.
The snowy victory clinched a division title for the Buckeyes (11-0, 7-0), locking up a spot opposite Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 7.
ARIZONA 42,
No. 5 OREGON 16
TUCSON, Ariz. — Ka’Deem Carey ran for 206 yards and four touchdowns while becoming Arizona’s all-time leading rusher.
Coming off a disappointing home loss to Washington State, Arizona (7-4, 4-4 Pac-12) didn’t back off the throttle of its up-tempo offense against the fast-paced Ducks.
With Carey bursting through the line to punish defenders and B.J. Denker dinking and dashing with a variety of fakes, the Wildcats jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and kept going for their first win over a top-five team since knocking off No. 1 Washington 1992.
Oregon (9-2, 6-2) gave the Wildcats plenty of help with three turnovers and turning it over twice more on downs to end its national title hopes and, possibly, its four-year run of BCS bowls.
No. 7 CLEMSON 52,
THE CITADEL 6
CLEMSON, S.C. — Tajh Boyd threw for five touchdowns and 288 yards in the final home game of his career.
The game was more of a celebration than a contest for the Tigers (10-1), who now have not lost in 28 games against Football Championship Subdivision opponents.
Clemson didn’t score on its first possession, but made it to the end zone the next five times it touched the ball. Boyd had touchdown passes of 8, 9, 19, 24 and 30 yards. He ended the game with 102 passing TDs in his career and tied the Tigers record of five passing TDs in a game for the sixth time. Three times Boyd has thrown for five scores in the first half.
No. 8 MISSOURI 24,
No. 24 MISSISSIPPI 10
OXFORD, Miss. — Henry Josey rushed for two touchdowns, Marcus Murphy added another and Missouri rolled.
The Tigers (10-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) is now one victory away from clinching the SEC East title. The Tigers host Texas A&M next weekend.
Missouri jumped out to a 17-3 lead by halftime and led by a comfortable margin for most of the second half. James Franklin completed 12 of 19 passes for 142 yards and an interception in his first start since a shoulder injury caused him to miss four games. Josey rushed for 95 yards.
No. 18 LSU 34,
No. 9 TEXAS A&M 10
BATON ROUGE, La. — Terrance Magee rushed for a career-high 149 yards and LSU’s defense pulled the plug on Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M’s video-game offense.
Zach Mettenberger completed 11-of-20 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns on a cold, wet and windy afternoon. Jarvis Landry highlighted his four-catch, 87-yard performances with touchdowns of 40 and 10 yards. LSU (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) piled up 324 yards on the ground and outgained Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3) in total yards, 517-299.
What was likely Manziel’s only visit to Tiger Stadium was among the worst outings of his otherwise brilliant career. He passed for 224 yards and a TD, but completed only 16 of 41, was sacked twice and intercepted twice as the Aggies’ road winning streak ended at 10.
No. 10 STANFORD 63,
CALIFORNIA 13
STANFORD, Calif. — Ty Montgomery matched a Stanford school record with five touchdowns, scoring the first four times he touched the ball, and the Cardinal clinched a spot in the Pac-12 championship game with Oregon’s loss.
Kevin Hogan threw four of his five scoring passes to Montgomery, including a 9-yard completion just before halftime that put Stanford ahead 42-13. The Cardinal (9-2, 7-2 Pac-12) bounced back from last week’s loss at USC but needed No. 5 Oregon to lose one of its final two games to earn a spot in the conference championship. The Ducks lost 42-16 in Tucson, and Stanford’s fans led chants of “Arizona! Arizona!”
Hogan set career highs with 329 yards passing and the five TD passes.
Cal (1-11, 0-9) lost its 10th straight to finish new coach Sonny Dykes’ disappointing debut year.
No. 12 SOUTH CAROLINA
70, COASTAL CAROLINA 10
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Connor Shaw passed for a touchdown and ran for a score in less than a quarter of work as South Carolina scored the most points in Steve Spurrier’s nine seasons as coach.
The Gamecocks (9-2) scored on their first six possessions and surpassed their output from a 69-24 win over Troy in 2010.
No. 13 MICHIGAN STATE 30,
NORTHWESTERN 6
EVANSTON, Ill. — Connor Cook threw for a career-high 293 yards, Jeremy Langford ran for 150, and Michigan State clinched a spot in the Big Ten title game.
Cook threw for two touchdowns. Langford ran for two scores, and the Spartans (10-1, 7-0) reached the conference title game for the second time in three years.
Langford ran 20 yards untouched for the game’s first touchdown in the second quarter. He sealed it with a 37-yard scoring run in the fourth after Kurtis Drummond picked off a short pass by Trevor Siemian, sending Michigan State to its seventh straight win.
No. 19 ARIZONA STATE 38,
No. 14 UCLA 33
PASADENA, Calif. — Taylor Kelly passed for 225 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 99 yards and another score, and Arizona State hung on in the fourth quarter to clinch its first Pac-12 South title.
Marion Grice had 95 yards rushing and 72 yards receiving for the surging Sun Devils (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12), who will face Stanford in the league title game in two weeks. If Arizona State beats Arizona in the Territorial Cup game next week, the Sun Devils will host the Cardinal.
Arizona State blew most of a 22-point halftime lead over the Bruins (8-3, 5-3) and scored just three points in the second half, but its defense held UCLA scoreless on its final two drives.
No. 15 FRESNO STATE 69,
NEW MEXICO 28
FRESNO, Calif. — Derek Carr threw for 527 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in his final regular-season home game and Fresno State clinched a spot in the Mountain West title game.
Davante Adams had nine catches for 246 yards and four scores and Josh Harper added 10 for 161 and three TDs as the Bulldogs (10-0, 7-0) gained a school-record 820 yards and clinched first place in the West Division. They will likely host the conference championship game on Dec. 7 as long as they remain ahead of the Mountain Division winner in the BCS standings.
No. 16 WISCONSIN 20,
MINNESOTA 7
MINNEAPOLIS — James White rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown and No. 16 Wisconsin beat Minnesota for the 10th straight time.
Jared Abbrederis had seven catches for 67 yards and a touchdown and Chris Borland recovered two fumbles and forced one to tie the NCAA record for career fumbles caused. After the game, the Badgers (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) hoisted Paul Bunyan’s Axe and used it to chop the Gophers goal post when the time ran out.
No. 21 LOUISVILLE 24,
MEMPHIS 17
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Teddy Bridgewater threw for 220 yards and a touchdown in what could be his final home game for Louisville.
The Cardinals used a 17-point surge over the second and third quarters to provide a cushion.
Louisville (10-1, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) seemed in control leading 24-3 before quarterback Paxton Lynch rallied Memphis (3-7, 1-5) with a 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter and a 6-yard TD pass to Jesse Milleson with 6:07 remaining.
No. 22 OKLAHOMA 41,
KANSAS STATE 31
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Brennan Clay ran for a career-high 200 yards and two touchdowns and Sooners coach Bob Stoops moved past Barry Switzer for the most wins in school history.
It was the 157th victory at Oklahoma for Stoops, and it came against his former mentor. Stoops was a defensive assistant under Kansas State coach Bill Snyder from 1989-95.
Freshman Trevor Knight, filling in for the injured Blake Bell, threw for 171 yards and accounted for two TDs for the Sooners (9-2, 6-2 Big 12).
No. 25 DUKE 28,
WAKE FOREST 21
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
— Anthony Boone threw three touchdown passes and No. 25 Duke held on for its seventh straight win.
Brandon Connette rushed 3 yards for the go-ahead score late in the third quarter and Boone was 24 of 29 for 256 yards. The Blue Devils (9-2, 5-2 ACC) fell behind 14-0 before rallying to match the school record for victories and remain in control of the Coastal Division.
By wire sources