Auburn pulls out miracle win over Georgia
Associated Press
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A miraculous play has Auburn in the hunt for an SEC championship — maybe even a national title, too.
The seventh-ranked Tigers beat No. 25 Georgia 43-38 on a juggling 73-yard touchdown reception off a tipped pass by Ricardo Louis.
Auburn finishes the season against No. 1 Alabama and a victory in the Iron Bowl would put the Tigers (10-1, 6-1) in the SEC championship game. They have one-loss, but an SEC championship might be able to get them to the BCS championship game.
Though the other contenders were dominant as usual on Saturday.
No. 2 Florida State stomped Syracuse 59-3. No. 3 Ohio State got a little sloppy, but routed Illinois 60-35.
No. 1 ALABAMA 20
MISSISSIPPI STATE 7
STARKVILLE, Miss. — T.J. Yeldon rushed for 160 yards, A.J. McCarron threw two touchdown passes and Alabama overcame four turnovers to beat Mississippi State.
It was a lethargic performance for Alabama (10-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference), which led 10-7 midway through the third quarter before pulling away. Alabama has won six straight against the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State (4-6, 1-5) kept the game far closer than most anticipated, but couldn’t take advantage of Alabama’s mistakes. Tyler Russell started for the injured Dak Prescott and completed 15 of 24 passes for 144 yards and an interception before leaving with an apparent shoulder injury when the Bulldogs were trying to rally in the fourth quarter.
McCarron tossed two rare interceptions and Yeldon had a costly fumble that led to Mississippi State’s only touchdown, but Alabama survived to set up a much-anticipated Iron Bowl with Auburn.
No. 2 FLORIDA STATE 59
SYRACUSE 3
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jameis Winston showed no effects from a tumultuous week during No. 2 Florida State’s 59-3 win against Syracuse on Saturday. The redshirt quarterback completed 19-of-21 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns as the Seminoles rolled during the Atlantic Coast Conference game.
News broke Wednesday that Winston was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that took place Dec. 7, 2012. The attention of college football enthusiasts moved away from his Heisman Trophy campaign to the many unanswered questions surrounding an investigation that is nearly a year old.
On the field, it was business as usual for the Seminoles (10-0, 8-0) on Saturday. Syracuse (5-5, 3-3) was held scoreless until late in the fourth quarter.
Florida State outgained the Orange 523-427.
No. 3 OHIO STATE 60, ILLINOIS 35
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Carlos Hyde ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns and Braxton Miller had another 184 yards rushing and two scores for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes (10-0, 6-0 Big Ten) needed a third-quarter defensive stop and safety to pull away.
After trailing 28-0 in the second quarter, Illinois (3-7, 0-6) closed to 35-21 in the third on two Nathan Scheelhaase touchdown passes.
Buckeyes linebacker Ryan Shazier sacked Reilly O’Toole, who entered the game for a play after Scheelaase’s helmet came off, in the end zone. The safety gave the Buckeyes a 37-21 edge and the ball. Minutes later, a Hyde touchdown put them up 44-21.
Hyde tacked on late touchdowns runs of 55 and 51 yards. Miller threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Scheelhaase led the Illini with 288 yards passing and two touchdowns.
USC 20
No. 5 STANFORD 17
LOS ANGELES — Andre Heidari kicked a 47-yard field goal with 19 seconds to play, and Southern California’s stalwart defense repeatedly came up big in the upset.
Cody Kessler passed for 288 yards for the revitalized Trojans (8-3, 5-2 Pac-12), who earned their fifth win in six games under interim coach Ed Orgeron.
Tyler Gaffney rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns for Stanford.
USC’s remarkable defensive performance included two fourth-quarter interceptions against the powerful Cardinal (8-2, 6-2), who followed up last week’s win over Oregon by getting knocked out of the national title chase and maybe the Rose Bowl race as well.
After the inconsistent Heidari’s field goal and Stanford’s final play, USC fans stormed the Coliseum field, where Stanford had won in its last three trips.
No. 6 OREGON 44, UTAH 21
EUGENE, Ore. — Marcus Mariota threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns and the Ducks rebounded from last week’s loss to Stanford.
Mariota went into the game with questions about the health of his left knee, which impacted his mobility in the 26-20 loss to the Cardinal. It didn’t seem to be an issue against the Utes.
De’Anthony Thomas caught a touchdown pass and scored on an 86-yard kickoff return for the Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12). Byron Marshall ran for two additional scores but the Ducks were slowed on the ground by Utah’s defense, rushing for 145 yards after averaging nearly 302 yards a game this season.
Utah (4-6, 1-6) was dealt a blow before the game when starting quarterback Travis Wilson didn’t make the trip to Eugene because of a concussion. Backup Adam Schulz threw for 157 yards and a touchdown and ran for another.
No. 7 AUBURN 43
No. 25 GEORGIA 38
AUBURN, Ala. — Ricardo Louis scored on a deflected 73-yard pass on fourth and 18 with 25 seconds left to lift Auburn to a stunning victory.
The Tigers (10-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) had blown a 27-7 lead but pulled out one more huge play to continue the biggest turnaround in major college football. They were 3-9 last year.
Auburn’s Nick Marshall heaved the ball downfield with two defenders around Louis. It bounced off safety Josh Harvey-Clemons and right into Louis’s hands.
Aaron Murray, who had engineered the comeback with three fourth-quarter touchdowns, could only stare helplessly from the bench. A win could have kept the Bulldogs alive in the SEC East.
He led Georgia (6-4, 4-3) all the way to Auburn’s 20 but his final two passes fell incomplete as time ran out. Dee Ford hit him on the final pass as Murray ran toward the line before trying to throw.
No. 12 OKLA. STATE 38
No. 23 TEXAS 13
AUSTIN, Texas — Clint Chelf ran for two touchdowns and Oklahoma State stayed in the Big 12 championship chase.
Chelf also threw two scoring passes as Oklahoma State (8-1, 6-1 Big 12) won in Austin for the third straight meeting. This one may re-ignite pressure on Texas coach Mack Brown, who was dealt his worst home loss in 16 seasons — and at a time when speculation about his job security had just begun quieting down.
A resurgent Texas had won six in a row and this week returned to the Top 25 after a two-month absence. Now the Longhorns (7-3, 6-1) are almost certain to fall unranked again, but more costly in this blowout was relinquishing control of their destiny in the Big 12.
Texas and Oklahoma State still have yet to face undefeated No. 4 Baylor, which was playing Texas Tech later Saturday. The Cowboys host the Bears next week.
No. 14 MICHIGAN STATE 41
NEBRASKA 28
LINCOLN, Neb. — Michigan State converted five Nebraska turnovers into 24 points and took a big step toward winning the Big Ten Legends Division.
Jeremy Langford ran 32 times for 151 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Keith Mumphrey caught a 27-yard touchdown from Connor Cook in the fourth quarter after the Cornhuskers pulled within six points.
The Spartans (9-1, 6-0) beat the Huskers (7-3, 4-2) for the first time in eight all-time meetings.
They would clinch the division with a win at Northwestern next week or a loss by Minnesota in either of its last two games. Michigan State plays Minnesota to end the regular season.
Big Ten leading rusher Ameer Abdullah ran 22 times for 123 yards for Nebraska. He went over 100 yards for the seventh straight game and eighth time this season and is the first player to do it against the Spartans.
No. 15 UCF 39, TEMPLE 36
PHILADELPHIA — Shawn Moffitt kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired after Rannell Hall got behind the Temple defense for a 64-yard reception, and No. 15 UCF survived a scare.
UCF’s last possession started at its own 19, with no timeouts. Overtime seemed likely until Blake Bortles found Hall deep to get to the Temple 6.
Bortles managed to get the ball spiked with 2 seconds left and Moffitt booted through the game winner to keep UCF (8-1, 5-0) in control of the American Athletic Conference race.
Freshman P.J. Walker was spectacular for Temple (1-0, 0-6), with a season-high 382 yards passing, four TD passes and a touchdown run.
Temple drops to 2-78 all-time against the Top 25 opponents.
No. 17 WISCONSIN 51
INDIANA 3
MADISON, Wis. — James White rushed for a career-high 205 yards and Melvin Gordon added 146 for Wisconsin.
The Badgers (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) came in expecting a big game on the ground against the conference’s 10th-ranked rushing defense with the Hoosiers (4-6, 2-4) giving up an average of more than 217 yards a game.
Wisconsin topped that just minutes into the second quarter, had 323 yards rushing at the half and finished with 554.
Indiana’s offense, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found. Second in the conference at 527 yards a game, the Hoosiers were held to just 224 yards. Indiana had been held scoreless in just three quarters the entire season, but matched that Saturday. Indiana also snapped a school record of 10 straight games with at least 28 points.
No. 22 OKLAHOMA 48
IOWA STATE 10
NORMAN, Okla. — Bob Stoops matched Barry Switzer’s record for most coaching victories at Oklahoma as the Sooners cruised.
Trevor Knight led the way as Stoops recorded win No. 157 with Oklahoma (8-2, 5-2 Big 12), which closed the game with 45 unanswered points over the final three quarters. The backup quarterback was 8-of-14 passing for 61 yards and rushed for 123 yards and one touchdown.
Iowa State (1-9, 0-7) held Oklahoma scoreless in the first quarter and led 10-3 before Jalen Saunders returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown right before halftime.
Damien Williams added 10 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns for the Sooners.
Knight provided an instant spark after replacing injured starter Blake Bell in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Bell was 2 of 5 for 10 yards.
DUKE 48, No. 24 MIAMI 30
DURHAM, N.C. — Brandon Connette rushed for a career-high four touchdowns and threw for a fifth score, and Duke took sole possession of first place in the ACC’s messy Coastal Division.
The Blue Devils’ change-of-pace quarterback had touchdown runs of 1, 2, 3 and 4 yards, and threw a 22-yard TD to Shaq Powell while leading Duke (8-2, 4-2) to one of the program’s most significant wins.
Josh Snead rushed for a career-high 138 yards and Powell added a backbreaking 33-yard touchdown run that put the Blue Devils in complete control.
Dallas Crawford rushed for 115 yards and Stephen Morris threw for 379 and two touchdowns but the Hurricanes (7-3, 3-3) lost their third straight.
In a wild game that featured 1,108 total yards and three lead changes, Duke claimed the inside track to a berth opposite No. 2 Florida State in the ACC championship game.
