Notre Dame puts the fear into Florida State; top 25 college football roundup
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Jameis Winston threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns and No. 2 Florida State held off No. 5 Notre Dame 31-27 on Saturday night after an offensive pass-interference penalty wiped out the Irish's apparent go-ahead touchdown pass with 13 second left.
Notre Dame moved to the 2, and C.J. Prosise locked up Florida State safety Jalen Ramsey in the end zone, helping Corey Robinson get free for the pass from Everett Golson.
The defending national champion Seminoles (7-0) used a second-half comeback with the season on the line to topple the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame (6-1) is the last ranked team on Florida State's schedule and the win might be the Seminoles' last chance to make a decisive impression on the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Golson threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns.
Winston won the duel in the second half, completing his first 13 passes against a defense that Florida State flustered in the first 30 minutes.
Winston prevailed after another week of controversy, with Florida State saying it was investigating whether he received benefits for autographs being sold online.
Sources close to Winston tell CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora that in part due to the controversies he is expected to enter the NFL draft next year, but won't drop out of FSU.
NO. 3 MISSISSIPPI 34, TENNESSEE 3
OXFORD, Miss. - Bo Wallace threw two touchdown passes and No. 3 Mississippi had another dominating defensive performance in a victory over Tennessee,
Ole Miss (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) fell behind 3-0 early in the second quarter, but scored the next 34 points to continue their best start since 1962.
Wallace completed 13 of 28 passes for 199 yards, throwing touchdown passes to Vince Sanders and Evan Engram. Sanders had 108 yards receiving.
Ole Miss came into the game giving up just 11.8 points per game, which ranked first in the SEC and second in the country. The Rebels lived up to those numbers, stuffing Tennessee's running game and harassing quarterback Justin Worley nearly every time he tried to throw. Worley threw three interceptions and the Volunteers (3-4, 0-3) also lost a fumble.
Tennessee's young offensive line, which includes two starting freshmen, had no answer for a relentless Ole Miss pass rush. The Rebel had seven sacks, including 2 1/2 from star freshman Marquis Haynes. Senquez Golson grabbed two interceptions, pushing his conference-leading total to seven.
WEST VIRGINIA 41, NO. 4 BAYLOR 27
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Clint Trickett threw three touchdown passes and West Virginia surprised sloppy Baylor.
The Mountaineers (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) earned their first win over a top-five opponent since beating No. 3 Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2007 season.
West Virginia sacked Bryce Petty four times and limited the Bears to one touchdown in the second half.
Baylor was penalized 18 times for a Big 12-record 215 yards. The old mark of 183 yards was set by Texas Tech against Rice in 2007.
Trickett went 23 of 35 for 322 yards, his eighth straight 300-yard game going back to last season.
Baylor (6-1, 3-1) couldn't overcome a double-digit deficit as it did in a 61-58 win over TCU last week. Now the Bears will fall into a group of one-loss teams clawing for position the rest of the season for the College Football Playoff.
NO. 7 ALABAMA 59, NO. 21 TEXAS A&M 0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Blake Sims passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns and scored on a 43-yard run while leading Alabama to 35 second-quarter points.
The Crimson Tide (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) shut down the nation's No. 4 offense and dominated a game that had produced two straight thrillers.
Led by Sims, T.J. Yeldon and Amari Cooper, Alabama outgained the Aggies 602-172. Texas A&M (5-3, 2-3) has lost its past three games, all to teams now ranked in the top 10.
Alabama set a school record for most points in a quarter and matched the second-most in a half while racing to a 45-0 halftime lead. Yeldon had 114 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, all in the first half. Cooper had eight catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
NO. 8 MICHIGAN ST. 56, INDIANA 17
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Connor Cook threw three touchdown passes, Jeremy Langford ran for three more scores and Michigan State scored the final 35 points.
Cook finished with 332 yards, Langford and Nick Hill each topped 100 yards on the ground and Tony Lippett had 123 yards receiving as coach Mark Dantonio moved into a tie for second on the school's victory list at 70.
The Spartans (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) have won five straight overall, 13 consecutive games over conference foes and tied the school record with an eighth straight road win in league play.
The Hoosiers (3-4, 0-3) had a scary moment when left tackle Jason Spriggs was carted off the field with 4:54 to play and taken away in an ambulance because of a feared neck injury. Team spokesman Jeff Keag said doctors gave Spriggs a "clean bill of health." Keag did not have any additional information about the injury.
NO. 9 OREGON 45, WASHINGTON 20
EUGENE, Ore. - Freshman Royce Freeman ran for 169 yards and four touchdowns and Oregon extended its winning streak over Washington to 11 games.
Marcus Mariota threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12), who won their second straight game as they distance themselves from a loss at home to Arizona on Oct. 2.
Freeman's four touchdowns were the most rushing touchdowns in a game for a Duck since Kenjon Barner had five against USC in 2012. Cameron Van Winkle hit a pair of field goals for Washington (5-2, 1-2), which hasn't beaten Oregon since the 2003 season.
NO. 10 GEORGIA 45, ARKANSAS 32
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Nick Chubb ran for 202 yards and two touchdowns and Georgia dominated on the road for the second straight week.
The Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference), playing their second straight game without suspended running back Toddy Gurley, led 38-6 at halftime. They were sparked by a defense that followed up its shutout of Missouri by forcing three first-half turnovers.
Chubb had a pair of first-half touchdowns, including a 43-yard sprint, and Hutson Mason added 179 yards on 10-of-17 passing. Georgia has won five straight following a loss at South Carolina on Sept. 13.
Jonathan Williams ran for 108 yards for the Razorbacks, (3-4, 0-4). They have lost 16 straight SEC games.
NO. 14 KANSAS STATE 31, NO. 11 OKLAHOMA 30
NORMAN, Okla. - Michael Hunnicutt missed a 19-yard field goal with 3:53 left after Oklahoma drove to the 1, and Kansas State held off the Sooners.
Kansas State (5-1, 3-0 Big 12) took possession and ran out the clock.
Hunnicutt missed two short field goals and had an extra point blocked.
Jake Waters passed for 225 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats.
Sterling Shepard tied an Oklahoma record with 15 catches for 197 yards, and Trevor Knight passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns for the Sooners (5-2, 2-2).
NO. 12 TCU 42, NO. 15 OKLAHOMA STATE 9
FORT WORTH, Texas - Trevone Boykin threw for a career-high 410 yards with three touchdowns, two on long plays to Josh Doctson in the first quarter, and TCU bounced back afte a loss to Baylor.
Doctson had seven catches for 225 yards, a yard short of the school record even with the scores of 77 and 84 yards. B.J. Catalon ran for 102 yards and two scores for the Horned Frogs (5-1, 2-1 Big 12).
Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1), which had won five in a row, was outgained 676 to 258 and held without a touchdown for the first time since a 27-0 loss to Oklahoma in the 2009 regular-season finale.
TCU quickly erased any notion of a hangover effect from its wild 61-58 loss at Baylor, jumping ahead 21-3 on Doctson's early touchdowns.
NO. 13 OHIO ST. 56, RUTGERS 17
COLUMBUS, Ohio - J.T. Barrett completed his first nine passes, ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns and threw for three more scores for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) have averaged 56 points in a four-game winning streak since losing at home to Virginia Tech. The victory was Ohio State's 18th in a row in the Big Ten, drawing within two of tying the conference mark set by the 2005-07 Buckeyes.
Eli Apple, a New Jersey native, added a fumble return for a score.
It was the worst loss in 12 years for Rutgers (5-2, 1-2), which had a three-game winning streak end. The Scarlet Knights played before their largest crowd ever at 106,795.
NO. 17 ARIZONA STATE 26, NO. 23 STANFORD 10
TEMPE, Ariz. - Mike Bercovici threw for 242 yards and a touchdown, Zane Gonzalez kicked four second-half field goals and Arizona State cleared a big hurdle by running past Stanford.
The Cardinal had become a nemesis of sorts for Arizona State, powering past the Sun Devils in two games last season, including a dominating win in the Pac-12 Championship game. Arizona State (5-1, 3-1 Pac-12) turned the tables against Stanford with an efficient performance on both sides of the ball.
The Sun Devils scored the most points allowed by the nation's top-rated defense behind a nice mix of run and pass, while its defense refused to get pushed around by bigger Cardinal up front.
Stanford (4-3, 2-2) labored offensively again and nearly tripled its nation-leading average of 10 points allowed per game on defense.
NO. 19 NEBRASKA 38, NORTHWESTERN 17
EVANSTON, Ill. - Ameer Abdullah had four 1-yard touchdown runs and quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. scored on a 16-yard reception, leading Nebraska past Northwestern.
Abdullah finished with 146 yards on 23 carries to help the Cornhuskers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) bounce back from a 27-22 loss at Michigan State. Abdullah had only 45 yards in the loss to the Spartans on Oct. 4.
Northwestern (3-4, 2-2) wasted another big game for freshman Justin Jackson in its second consecutive loss. Jackson had 128 yards and two touchdowns in his third straight 100-yard game.
NO. 22 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 56, COLORADO 28
LOS ANGELES - Cody Kessler set a school game record with seven touchdown passes, throwing five in the first half in Southern California's victory over Colorado.
Nelson Agholor caught three TD passes from Kessler, who broke the mark previously held by Matt Barkley. Kessler passed the record on a 24-yard pass to Steven Mitchell, who made a diving catch in the third quarter of a blowout victory for the Trojans (5-2, 4-1 Pac-12).
Kessler became the first Pac-12 quarterback to throw seven TD passes in the first three quarters, and the junior tied the conference record for TD passes in a non-overtime game. He finished 17 of 24 for 318 yards.
Nelson Spruce and Shay Fields each caught TD passes for Colorado (2-5, 0-4).
NO. 24 CLEMSON 17, BOSTON COLLEGE 13
BOSTON - C.J. Davidson ran 32 yards for a touchdown with 9:35 to play and Clemson stopped a Boston College drive in the final minutes to beat the Eagles.
Cole Stoudt completed 29 of 45 passes for 285 yards, and the Tigers (5-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got help from a missed BC extra point. The Eagles (4-3, 1-2) moved to the Clemson 29, converted a fourth-and-1 and then Tyler Murphy found an open receiver streaking for the end zone.
But Tyler Rouse couldn't hold onto the ball, and Clemson took over on downs and ran out the clock.
Murphy ran for 55 yards on 13 carries and also completed 8 of 19 passes for 108 yards.
NO. 25 MARSHALL 45, FIU 13
MIAMI - Rakeem Cato set an NCAA record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass with 39, finishing with four scoring tosses to help Marshall remain unbeaten.
From Miami, Cato broke a tie with Russell Wilson for the Football Bowl Subdivision mark, connecting with Ryan Yurachek for the record-breaking score with 5 seconds left in the first quarter for Marshall (7-0, 3-0 Conference USA).
Devon Johnson caught two touchdown passes, finishing with 117 yards rushing and 79 more receiving for the Thundering Herd. Corey Tindal ran an interception back for a score and Angelo Jean-Louis had a scoring catch for Marshall, which was playing as a ranked team for the first time since 2002.
Alex McGough had a 1-yard touchdown run for FIU (3-4, 2-3).