NEW YORK: 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.

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: In Starkville, Mississippi, 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.

No. 2 Florida State 59 Syracuse 3: In Tallahassee, Florida, 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.



No. 3 Ohio State 60 Illinois 35: In Champaign, Illinois, 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.

No. 4 Baylor 63 Texas Tech 34: In Arlington, Texas, Bryce Petty threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores as No. 4 Baylor stayed undefeated and overcame its first double-digit deficit of the season.

The Bears (9-0, 6-0), even without several key offensive players, stretched their school-record winning streak to 13 games. They are the outright Big 12 leader after No. 23 Texas suffered its first conference loss earlier in the day, and are one of six undefeated FBS teams.

Shock Linwood, effectively the Bears’ third-string running back, ran 29 times for 187 yards and a touchdown while Devin Chafin, another redshirt freshman, had 11 carries for 100 yards and two TDs. Levi Norwood had TD catches of 40 and 58 yards, and also returned a punt 58 yards for a score.


USC 20 No. 5 Stanford 17: In 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.

No. 6 Oregon 44 Utah 21: In Eugene, Oregon, 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.

No. 7 Auburn 43 No. 25 Georgia 38: In Auburn, Alabama, 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.