Junior quarterback McKenzie Milton passed for four touchdowns and rushed for two more as No. 13 UCF extended its school and American Athletic Conference record winning streak to 17 games — the nation’s longest — with a 45-14 victory over penalty-plagued Pittsburgh on Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Jan 1, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Central Florida Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton (10) throws a pass against the Auburn Tigers in the first quarter in the 2018 Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Milton completed 18 of 34 passes for 328 yards and rushed for 51 yards on 10 carries as the Knights (4-0) also extended their scoring streak of 30-point games to 17.
Running back Adrian Killins Jr. had a big day for the Knights, scoring on a 71-yard reception early in the third quarter after he set up their first score on a 64-yard reception. Killins also rushed for 40 yards on 12 carries.
The Panthers (2-3) managed only 272 yards in total offense and hurt themselves with penalties, finishing with 11 for 125 yards.
No. 4 Ohio State 27, No. 9 Penn State 26
Dwayne Haskins rallied the Buckeyes from a 12-point deficit with eight minutes to play in beating the Nittany Lions at University Park, Penn.
Haskins threw touchdown passes of 47 yards to Binjimen Victor and 24 yards to K.J. Hill to take the lead with 2:03 to play. The Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) sealed the win when Chase Young tackled Nittany Lions running back Miles Sanders for a 2-yard loss at the OSU 45 on fourth down with 1:12 left in the game.
Quarterback Trace McSorley totaled a school-record 461 yards (286 passing, 175 rushing) and two TD passes for Penn State (4-1, 1-1).
No. 1 Alabama 56, Louisiana 14
Sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw two touchdown passes while completing all eight of his attempts as the Crimson Tide dismantled the Ragin’ Cajuns at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Freshman receiver Jaylen Waddle caught two touchdown passes and also returned a punt for a score for Alabama (5-0). Junior running back Josh Jacobs rushed for two scores, and sophomore wideout Henry Ruggs III had two touchdowns while making five catches for 116 yards.
Tagovailoa passed for 128 yards, junior backup Jalen Hurts threw for 118 yards and redshirt freshman third-stringer Mac Jones passed for 94. Alabama outgained Louisiana 608-288 and has topped 500 yards in a program-record five straight games. Louisiana dropped to 1-3 on the year.
No. 2 Georgia 38, Tennessee 12
The Bulldogs survived a second-half push from the Volunteers, then scored late to claim victory at Athens, Ga.
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 SEC) appeared to be on its way to a rout early in the third quarter when it took a 24-0 lead on a 12-yard run by backup quarterback Justin Fields. But then the momentum took a surprising turn as Tennessee (2-3, 0-2) finally scored with 5:14 left in the third quarter on a 37-yard pass from Jarrett Guarantano to Josh Palmer.
The Vols struck again with another long touchdown pass, but Georgia regained control, driving 75 yards and eating 7:39 off the clock before D’Andre Swift ripped through the Tennessee defense for a 14-yard touchdown run for a 31-12 edge.
No. 3 Clemson 27, Syracuse 23
Travis Etienne rushed for a career-high 203 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers (5-0, 2-0 ACC) held off the Orange (4-1, 1-1) at Clemson, S.C.
Etienne, a sophomore running back, scored on a 2-yard run with 41 seconds left, capping the Tigers’ rally from a 23-13 deficit in the final 13 minutes.
Etienne’s performance helped the Tigers overcome the loss of freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was making the first start of his career. Lawrence completed 10 of 15 passes for 93 yards before leaving the game for good after a hit by Syracuse defensive back Evan Foster with 4:56 left in the first half. Lawrence left with concussion-like symptoms, and his status for next week’s game at Wake Forest is uncertain.
No. 5 LSU 45, Ole Miss 16
Joe Burrow threw scoring passes of 65 and 5 yards to Justin Jefferson, ran 35 yards for another score and directed four consecutive touchdown drives in the first half to lead the Tigers over the Rebels at Baton Rouge, La.
Burrow, making just his fifth start after transferring from Ohio State, completed 18 of 25 passes for a season-high 292 yards. He also had a 52-yard completion to freshman Terrace Marshall Jr. to set up another score.
After LSU kicker Cole Tracy’s 53-yard field goal attempt on the opening series bounced off the crossbar, Ole Miss (3-2, 0-2 SEC) drove 52 yards to take an early 3-0 lead on Luke Logan’s 30-yard field goal. But the Tigers (5-0, 2-0) ran off 28 consecutive points to take control.
No. 6 Oklahoma 66, Baylor 33
Not in the starting lineup due to a disciplinary issue, Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray still had a monster day in a lopsided win over the Bears in Norman, Okla.
Murray threw for 432 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for another as Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) remained undefeated. Austin Kendall, who lost out to Murray for the job before the season, played the game’s first series with Murray on the shelf.
But it didn’t take long for Murray to make his mark as the Sooners stalled on their first drive, and Baylor (3-2, 1-1) turned the ball over on the ensuing punt. Two plays later, Murray hit high school teammate Lee Morris for a 9-yard touchdown.
No. 8 Notre Dame 38, No. 7 Stanford 17
Ian Book threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns while Dexter Williams rushed for 161 yards and a score as the Fighting Irish subdued the Cardinal in a marquee nonconference matchup at South Bend, Ind.
Making his second career start, Book completed 24 of 33 passes, including an 8-yard scoring strike to Miles Boykin with 8:16 left in the game to give the Fighting Irish (5-0) a two-touchdown lead. Boykin finished with 11 catches for 144 yards.
Running back Bryce Love started off hot for Stanford (4-1), ripping off a 39-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and finishing the first half with 67 yards. But he managed just six yards on six carries in the second half before suffering a leg injury early in the fourth quarter and not returning.
No. 10 Auburn 24, Southern Mississippi 13
Junior quarterback Jarrett Stidham passed for 245 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers posted a weather-interrupted nonconference victory over the Golden Eagles at Auburn, Ala.
Freshman receiver Seth Williams and senior fullback Chandler Cox had scoring receptions, and freshman wideout Anthony Schwartz rushed for a touchdown for the Tigers (4-1).
Sophomore quarterback Jack Abraham passed for 215 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for the Golden Eagles (2-2).
No. 11 Washington 35, No. 20 BYU 7
Jake Browning broke the school record for most career passing yards in leading the Huskies past the Cougars in a nonconference game at Seattle.
Browning completed 23 of 25 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for a score for the Huskies (4-1). He surpassed Cody Pickett’s mark, from 1999-2003, of 10,220 passing yards.
BYU (3-2), which had victories at both Arizona and then-No. 6 Wisconsin this season, avoided the shutout on Lopini Katoa’s 1-yard touchdown run with 41 seconds remaining.
No. 12 West Virginia 42, No. 25 Texas Tech 34
Senior quarterback Will Grier passed for 370 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Mountaineers (4-0, 2-0 Big 12) over the Red Raiders (3-2, 1-1) in Lubbock, Texas.
After getting pushed around for most of the second half, the Mountaineers’ defense finally broke through, and the big play came at a most opportune time.
West Virginia cornerback Keith Washington snatched a Jett Duffey pass to the left sideline and rambled 51 yards the other direction for a game-sealing touchdown with 2:58 to go. The pick-six blunted a Tech rally that featured 17 unanswered points after West Virginia stormed to a 28-7 lead in the first quarter and 35-10 at halftime.
No. 14 Michigan 20, Northwestern 17
Karan Higdon rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 4:06 remaining, and the Wolverines rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat the pesky Wildcats in Evanston, Ill.
Higdon carried 30 times for Michigan (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten), which won its fourth straight. Quarterback Shea Patterson passed for 196 yards while completing 15 of 24 attempts. He also rushed for 31 yards on seven carries.
Clayton Thorson was 16 of 27 for 174 yards for Northwestern (1-3, 1-1), which has lost three straight. The Wildcats were held to 28 rushing yards on 34 carries, but they scored on their first three possessions and led 17-7 at halftime.
No. 17 Kentucky 24, South Carolina 10
Benny Snell Jr. rushed 28 times for 99 yards and a score to lead the Wildcats past the Gamecocks at Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky (5-0, 3-0 SEC) is off to its best start to open a season since 2007, and its conference record is the program’s best since 1977. The victory also was Kentucky’s fifth straight over the Gamecocks (2-2, 1-2).
The Wildcats blew open the game in the first half, going to halftime up 24-3. All three of their touchdowns came via the run on consecutive drives in the second quarter.
No. 18 Texas 19, Kansas State 14
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger passed for 207 yards and a score and engineered a drive that ran out the final 6:20 of the clock as the Longhorns outlasted the gutsy Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan.
The win was the first on the road for the Longhorns against Kansas State since 2002; Texas is now 2-7 all time in Manhattan. It was a story of two halves — the first was dominated by Texas (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) and the second was controlled by the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2), until the final drive by the Longhorns.
D’Shawn Jamison got the Longhorns off on the right foot when he went untouched down the left sideline for a 90-yard punt return touchdown at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter. Texas added to its lead on an 11-play, 89-yard drive on which it used a pass from running back Tre Watson to Ehlinger to set the table for Ehlinger’s 4-yard TD pass to Collin Johnson and a 14-0 Longhorns lead with 14:03 to play in the second quarter.
No. 19 Oregon 42, No. 24 California 24
Junior quarterback Justin Herbert threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns as the Ducks defeated the Golden Bears at Berkeley, Calif.
Herbert completed 16 of 22 passes, and Dillon Mitchell had seven catches for 105 yards and a score for Oregon (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12). Travis Dye ran 20 times for 115 yards and a touchdown, while CJ Verdell had 106 yards on nine carries.
Quarterback Brandon McIlwain completed 11 of 21 passes for 128 yards and a score while running 15 times for 123 yards and a touchdown to lead Cal (3-1, 0-1). Patrick Laird had 18 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown.
No. 21 Michigan State 31, Central Michigan 20
The Spartans (3-1) struggled to find much of a rhythm on offense for most of the first half but were able to hold off the Chippewas (1-4) in East Lansing, Mich.
It helped to have a defense that created two first-half turnovers that led to 10 points. The first was an interception by junior safety David Dowell that set up Michigan State’s first touchdown drive. The second was an interception from junior cornerback Justin Layne that led to a field goal, giving the Spartans a 17-3 lead at halftime.
Junior quarterback Brian Lewerke was only 16 of 25 for 185 yards and threw an interception in the end zone, but he scored a pair of rushing touchdowns for Michigan State. Freshman La’Darius Jefferson ran for 56 yards and had a 2-yard TD run, while sophomore Connor Heyward also had a 2-yard touchdown run.
Virginia Tech 31, No. 22 Duke 14
Ryan Willis threw three touchdown passes to lead the Hokies to an upset of the Blue Devils at Durham, N.C.
Willis, a redshirt junior transfer from Kansas, was 17 for 27 for 332 yards. It was Willis’ third career game with 300-plus passing yards, but the first since 2016 in a game for Kansas against TCU. Virginia Tech (3-1, 2-0 ACC) recovered from a stunning 49-35 loss a week earlier at Old Dominion.
Quarterback Daniel Jones was back in action for Duke (4-1, 0-1), completing 23 of 35 passes for 226 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Jones played less than three weeks since he underwent surgery for a broken collarbone suffered Sept. 8 at Northwestern
Florida 13, No. 23 Mississippi State 6
Wide receiver Kadarius Toney, a converted quarterback, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Moral Stephens off a lateral from quarterback Feleipe Franks for the game’s only touchdown as the Gators upset the Bulldogs at Starkville, Miss.
Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC) gave its new head coach, Dan Mullen, a victory in his first game against his former team. The Gators’ four wins match their victory total from last season.
The Gators defense harassed Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald most of the night. Fitzgerald finished 11 of 26 for just 98 yards. Mississippi State dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the conference, after losing last week to Kentucky.