WEEK 6 CFB TOP 25 RUNDOWN
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) – Jalen Milroe threw for three touchdowns in his first start and No. 1 Alabama made a final goal-line stand to escape with a 24-20 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday night in a battle of backup quarterbacks.
Playing without injured Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young, the Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) needed two late stops from Will Anderson Jr. and the defense. They got them, just barely, to survive four turnovers and two missed field goals.
Haynes King, subbing for injured starter Max Johnson, drove the Aggies (3-2, 1-2) 69 yards in the final 1:50 with big passes to Evan Stewart and Moose Muhammad III. Jordan Battle appeared to end the threat with an interception in the end zone, but Brian Branch was flagged for pass interference.
That set up one final shot from the 2 with three seconds left, but King’s pass to Stewart fell incomplete.
NO. 2 GEORGIA 42, AUBURN 10
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) – Stetson Bennett scrambled 64 yards for a touchdown, Daijun Edwards scored three times on the ground and Georgia ran over listless Auburn.
Bennett’s career-long run on the first play of the fourth quarter was the biggest of the day for an offense that mostly plodded along for the first three.
The Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) got two short touchdown runs by Edwards and one from Kenny McIntosh to build a 21-3 in the third quarter.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 49, MICHIGAN STATE 20
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – C.J. Stroud tied a school record with six touchdown passes and Ohio State coasted past Michigan State.
The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) scored on their opening drive for the fifth straight game when Marvin Harrison Jr. caught his first of three touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson ran for 118 yards and a touchdown before limping off the field with an apparent right leg injury in the third quarter.
The Spartans (2-4, 0-3) have lost four straight.
NO. 4 MICHIGAN 31, INDIANA 10
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – Cornelius Johnson had a 29-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter to give Michigan the lead against Indiana in an emotional game in which a Wolverines coach was taken to a hospital.
Michigan improved to 6-0 for the second straight season, the first time the team has achieved that feat since 1976-77. The Wolverines are 3-0 in the Big Ten.
NO. 5 CLEMSON 31, BOSTON COLLEGE 3
BOSTON (AP) – DJ Uiagalelei threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 69 yards Saturday night to help Clemson break it open in the second half and beat Boston College.
The Tigers (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions sandwiched around halftime to turn a 3-3 game into a runaway. Meanwhile, BC (2-4, 1-3) went three-and-out and punted four times in five series, with only halftime interrupting the streak.
NO. 6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 30, WASHINGTON STATE 14
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Caleb Williams threw two touchdown passes to Mario Williams and Southern California shut out Washington State in the second half.
Travis Dye rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12), who stayed unbeaten in coach Lincoln Riley’s first season. USC hadn’t started a season 6-0 since 2006, near the height of coach Pete Carroll’s powerhouse era.
NO. 7 OKLAHOMA STATE 41, TEXAS TECH 31
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) – Spencer Sanders ran for two touchdowns and passed for another and Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech.
Sanders passed for 297 yards and ran for 56, and Bryson Green had five catches for a career-high 115 yards for the Cowboys (5-0, 2-0 Big 12).
NO. 8 TENNESSEE 40, NO. 24 LSU 13
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Hendon Hooker passed for two touchdowns, Jabari Small ran for 127 yards and two scores and Tennessee beat LSU.
The Volunteers (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) matched their best start to a season since 2016 with balance on offense, sound defense that corralled dual-threat LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, and opportunistic special teams play.
LSU dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.
NO. 9 MISSISSIPPI 52, VANDERBILT 28
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Jaxson Dart threw for a career-high 448 yards and three touchdowns and Mississippi routed Vanderbilt for its first 6-0 start since 2014.
The Rebels (6-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight in the series after trailing 20-10 in the second quarter. Quinshon Judkins ran for the first of his two TDs just before halftime, then the Rebels added three more in the third quarter as part of 35 straight points.
NO. 18 UCLA 42, NO. 11 UTAH 32
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Dorian Thompson-Robinson passed for 299 yards and four TDs to become UCLA’s career leader in passing touchdowns, Zach Charbonnet rushed for a career-high 198 yards and the Bruins beat Utah,
Thompson-Robinson also had a rushing score for the Bruins, who are 6-0 overall for the first time since 2005, 3-0 in the Pac-12 and picked up the biggest victory in coach Chip Kelly’s five years in Westwood. They have won nine straight dating to last season, which is their longest streak since running off 20 straight victories in 1997-98.
NO. 12 OREGON 49, ARIZONA 22
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Bo Nix threw for 265 yards and ran for three touchdowns, Noah Whittington added an early 55-yard touchdown run and Oregon rolled over Arizona.
The Ducks (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12) scored touchdowns on seven consecutive drives starting midway through the first quarter, building a 49-13 lead by late in the third. Oregon piled up 580 yards of total offense – including 306 yards on the ground – doing pretty much whatever it wanted against Arizona (3-3, 1-2).
SOUTH CARLONA 24, NO. 13 KENTUCKY 14
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Spencer Rattler overcame two early turnovers and threw the go-ahead touchdown pass in the third quarter and South Carolina scored 17 straight points to beat Kentucky for its third consecutive victory.
Kentucky (3-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) started freshman Kaiya Sheron at quarterback in place of injured Will Levis, who wore a protective on his left foot.
NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 19, FLORIDA STATE 17
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Devan Boykin picked off Jordan Travis’ pass in the end zone with 38 seconds left and North Carolina State rallied past Florida State despite losing quarterback Devin Leary to injury.
Boykin’s clean catch in the end zone was the clinching play on a big – and gritty – performance by the Wolfpack’s veteran defense after halftime. N.C. State (5-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) held Florida State (4-2, 2-2) to 93 yards after the break, helping the Wolfpack rally from a 17-3 halftime deficit.
NO. 15 WAKE FOREST 45, ARMY 10
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) – Christian Turner had two of Wake Forest’s four rushing touchdowns in the victory over Army.
The Demon Deacons (5-1) put on an early clinic in rushing offense against an Army team that favors an all-out running attack. Justice Ellison led Wake Forest running backs with 96 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown.
NOTRE DAME 28, NO. 16 BYU 20
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Drew Pyne threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns, Michael Mayer caught 11 passes for 118 yards and two scores and Notre Dame beat BYU for its third straight victory.
The game was the 11th edition of Notre Dame’s annual Shamrock Series and marked the first time the Irish faced a fellow FBS Independent since a 44-6 victory over Army in 2016. The Irish opened 0-2 under first-year coach Marcus Freeman with losses against No. 3 Ohio State and at home to Marshall.
Jaren Hall was 9 of 17 for 120 yards with two touchdowns for BYU (4-2).
NO. 17 TCU 38, NO. 19 KANSAS 31
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Max Duggan passed for three touchdowns in the second half, the last a 24-yarder to Quinten Johnston with 1:36 left, to lift TCU past Kansas.
The Horned Frogs (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) are off to their best start since 2017.
Bean was 16 of 24 for 262 yards and he became the first Kansas quarterback to throw for four touchdowns in a half since Todd Reesling in 2008. Kansas is 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
NO. 20 KANSAS STATE 10, IOWA STATE 9
AMES, Iowa (AP) – Adrian Martinez passed for 246 yards and rushed for 77 and Chris Tennant kicked a late field goal to lift Kansas State past Iowa State.
The Cyclone (3-3, 0-3) have scored just one touchdown in their last 20 possessions.
ARIZONA STATE 45, NO. 21 WASHINGTON 38
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Trenton Bourguet threw for three touchdowns after Emory Jones was injured, Xazavian Halladay accounted for two more scores and Arizona State beat Washington for interim coach Shaun Aguano’s first victory.
The Sun Devils (2-4, 1-2 Pac-12) lost their first two games after Herm Edwards was fired Sept. 18, though played No. 6 Southern California close last week before fading late.
NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI STATE 40, ARKANSAS 17
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) – Will Rogers threw for three touchdowns and broke the Southeastern Conference record for career completions, Dillon Johnson rushed for 100 yards and two scores and Mississippi State beat Arkansas.
Rogers was 31 of 48 for 395 yards and broke the record in the first quarter with the 922nd completion of his career, eclipsing the mark set by Georgia’s Aaron Murray in 52 games, Rogers has played in 28 games.
NO. 24 CINCINNATI 28, SOUTH FLORIDA 24
CINCINNATI (AP) – Charles McClelland rushed for a career-high 179 yards and two touchdowns to help Cincinnati beat South Florida.
McClelland’s 35-yard touchdown run with 9:24 remaining put the Bearcats ahead to stay, helping them extend the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 30 games. Only Clemson’s 37-game streak is longer.
The Bearcats (5-1, 2-0), who will move to the Big 12 Conference next season, have won 18 consecutive games against American Athletic Conference opponents. They haven’t lost at home since Temple beat them 35-24 on Nov. 10, 2017.
South Florida is 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the AAC.
(Associated Press)
