Stanford smiling as Ducks upset

Associated Press

Stanford is back on top of the Pac-12 North after Arizona did to Oregon what Southern California did to the Cardinal last week.

Though this upset was far more surprising and emphatic.

The fifth-ranked Ducks had their national championship hopes smashed by Arizona, 42-16 on Saturday as No. 10 Stanford was routing California.

The results give Stanford the Pac-12 North title for a second straight season. Oregon (9-2) might be able to get an at-large BCS bid if it can close out with a victory against Oregon State, but it’s looking like a bit of a long shot now.

Oregon lost for the second time in three games. In the last three weeks the Ducks have lost to Stanford to give the Cardinal control of the division, then regained control when Stanford fell to USC, and now have given it away again.

Stanford has a chance to reach back-to-back Rose Bowls for the first time since the 1971 and ‘72 games.

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.

The Tide produced its third shutout of the year and blocked a field goal against the FCS Mocs (8-4).

Kenyan Drake ran for 77 yards and a 13-yard touchdown with starting tailback T.J. Yeldon sitting out to rest a sprained ankle.

Christion Jones scored on a 75-yard punt return in the second quarter.

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.

Florida State is now two wins from a likely berth in the BCS championship game.

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.

Carlos Hyde became the first running back to go over 1,000 yards rushing in Urban Meyer’s 12 years as a head coach. He ran for 117 yards and two scores.

Ohio State’s defense throttled the Hoosiers (4-7, 2-5), who came in averaging 39 points a game.

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.

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.

Clemson outgained The Citadel (5-7) 558 yards to 172 yards.

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.

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.

STILLWATER, Okla. — Clint 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.

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.

The senior also had a 48-yard reception and finished with 438 yards of total offense. He was 19-of-25 passing. Tracy Moore added five catches for 126 yards for Oklahoma State.

Bryce Petty was 28-of-48 passing for 359 yards for Baylor (9-1, 6-1), which had its 13-game winning streak snapped and hasn’t won in Stillwater since 1939.

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. And it came with South Carolina resting several starters for rival Clemson next Saturday night, including defensive linemen Jadeveon Clowney and Kelcy Quarles and the Southeastern Conference’s leading rusher in Mike Davis.

The Gamecocks won their record 17th straight game at home and Shaw improved to 25-5 as a starter, moving past Todd Ellis’ wins mark

The news wasn’t all bad for Coastal Carolina (10-2). The Chants learned before halftime they shared a Big South championship and earned the league’s FCS playoff bid.

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 and Northwestern (4-7, 0-7) to its seventh loss in a row.

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.

The Lobos (3-8, 1-6) lost their 15th straight game against a ranked opponent as they struggled on offense without injured quarterback Cole Gautsche and running back Kasey Carrier and had no defensive answer to stop Carr and the Bulldogs’ bevy of playmakers.

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.

Aaron Hill returned an interception for a touchdown and David Cobb rushed for 68 yards for the Golden Gophers (8-3, 4-3). But Philip Nelson completed just 7 of 23 passes for 83 yards and the Gophers turned the ball over three times to snap a four-game winning streak.

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.

The Tigers’ defense was poised to give Lynch another opportunity but Reggis Ball was penalized for roughing punter Ryan Johnson, giving the Cardinals first down at the Memphis 29 with 2:58 left.

Louisville eventually turned it over on downs at the Memphis 6. But with no timeouts left, the Tigers gained just 17 yards before time expired.

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). He made do without running back Damien Williams and wide receiver Lacoltan Bester, who were reportedly suspended earlier in the week.

Tyler Lockett had 12 catches for a school-record 278 yards and three touchdowns for Kansas State (6-5, 4-4), which had its four-game win streak end.

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.

Boone threw touchdown passes covering 58 and 10 yards to Jamison Crowder and 4 yards to Max McCaffrey.

Thomas Brown returned a fumble 59 yards for a touchdown for Wake Forest (4-7, 2-6).

Tanner Price was 12 of 27 for 124 yards in his final home game with a 6-yard touchdown to Spencer Bishop and an 11-yard touchdown run. But he was intercepted by Ross Cockrell with 2:30 left.