STATE COLLEGE, Pa.: Grant Haley returned a blocked field goal 60 yards for a touchdown with 4:27 left and Penn State upset No. 2 Ohio State 24-21 on Saturday night for the Nittany Lions’ biggest victory in the post-Joe Paterno era.
Penn State (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) took its first lead when Marcus Allen leaped high to block Tyler Durbin’s 45-yard attempt and Haley made the scoop and sprint to the end zone. The white-out crowd of 107,280 at Beaver Stadium went nuts and Penn State’s defense closed out the Nittany Lions’ first victory over Ohio State since 2011 with two sacks of J.T. Barrett.
The Buckeyes (6-1, 4-1) had their 20-game road winning streak snapped and the Big Ten East race that looked like an inevitable march toward an Ohio State-Michigan showdown on Nov. 26 just took a detour.
Trace McSorley cut Ohio State’s lead to 21-14 early in the fourth quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run. On the next Ohio State possession, Cam Brown blocked Cameron Johnson’s punt to set up Penn State at the Buckeyes 28. Penn State settled for Tyler Davis’ 34-yard field goal with 9:33 that made it 21-17.
SMU 38, No. 11 Houston 16: Ben Hicks threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score and SMU stunned Houston for its biggest victory since the pre-death penalty Pony Express era.
The Cougars (6-2, 3-2 American) lost for the second time after a 5-0 start that included a season-opening win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma that vaulted Houston into the Top 10.
The last time the Mustangs (3-4, 1-2) beat a team ranked 11th or higher, they were No. 4 and finishing off a near-perfect 1982 season (11-0-1) with a 7-3 victory over sixth-ranked Pittsburgh in the Cotton Bowl. SMU tied No. 7 Texas A&M in 1994.
Greg Ward Jr. couldn’t shake a persistent SMU pass rush or find receivers for big plays, finishing with 241 yards passing — almost 100 below his average — and just 3 yards rushing on 17 carries thanks to seven sacks. One of the sacks was for an 18-yard loss to the Houston 22 when coach Tom Herman went for it on fourth down trailing 28-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Herman got conservative moments later, choosing a 19-yard field goal attempt on fourth down from the SMU 2. Ty Cummings hit the right upright for his second miss.
No. 16 Oklahoma 66 Texas Tech 59: Baker Mayfield had seven touchdown passes and 545 yards to help Oklahoma beat Texas Tech in a game that broke the NCAA record for combined offensive yards with 1,708 yards.
Mayfield completed 27 of 36 passes and broke the school game touchdown mark of six held by Landy Jones. His TD passes went for 56, 49, 23, 23, 43, 34 and 15 yards.
Joe Mixon caught three touchdowns passes and Dede Westbrook had two for the Sooners (5-2, 4-0 Big 12). Mixon also ran for two touchdowns, a 46-yarder and a 42-yarder. He finished with 263 yards rushing and 114 yards receiving. He’s the first Sooner ever to reach 200 yards rushing and 100 receiving in the same game.
Westbrook caught nine passes for 202 yards.
Pat Mahomes threw for five touchdowns and 734 yards for Texas Tech (3-4, 1-3). His passing yards total tied the NCAA record, matching Connor Halliday when Washington State played California in 2014.
No. 1 Alabama 33, No. 6 Texas A&M 14: Jonathan Allen returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to help Alabama beat Texas A&M.
The Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) moved on as the powerhouse league’s last unbeaten team, getting yet another in a long string of defensive scores.
Allen, a lineman, scooped up the ball after Ryan Anderson knocked it loose from Keith Ford to finally build a cushion over the Aggies (6-1, 4-1), who led 14-13 well into the third.
It was 20-14 when Allen extended Alabama’s streak to 10 games with a score on defense or special teams, half the duration of a winning streak now at 20 going into an open date.
Alabama’s freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts then galloped 37 yards for another score, stepping out of a defender’s grasp and making a nifty move to get past another. The Tide was rolling again, a powerful encore to easy wins over ranked Tennessee and Arkansas teams.
Alabama racked up five sacks of Trevor Knight, the quarterback who engineered Oklahoma’s Sugar Bowl upset over Alabama as a redshirt freshman with a 348-yard, four-touchdown performance. He passed for 164 and ran for 24 in the semi-rematch.
NO. 3 Michigan 41, Illinois 8: Wilton Speight threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters before watching Michigan finish off Illinois.
The Wolverines (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were leading 34-0 in the fourth quarter when Jim Harbaugh put backup quarterback John O’Korn in the game and rested Speight.
The Fighting Illini (2-5, 1-3) were relegated to starting their third-string quarterback with a familiar name. Jeff George Jr., son of the former Illinois and NFL quarterback, was 4 of 15 for 95 yards with a TD, an interception and a fumble in his first start. The redshirt freshman played because Wes Lunt and Chayce Crouch are injured.
No. 5 Washington 41 Oregon State 17: Jake Browning threw three touchdowns passes to give him 26 for the season, added another rushing TD, and Washington used a big first half to roll past Oregon State.
The Huskies (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12) won their 10th straight, a streak that started with a victory at Oregon State last season. It is Washington’s longest win streak since winning 12 straight in 2000-01.
Browning was 14 of 28 for 291 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 19 yards to Aaron Fuller and 23 yards to Dante Pettis in the first quarter, and a 41-yarder to Pettis in the third quarter.
No. 7 Louisville 54, North Carolina State 13: Lamar Jackson broke Louisville’s single-season record with a hand in four first-half touchdowns, and the Cardinals had three interceptions.
Jackson threw three touchdown passes and had a 36-yard scoring run, giving him 34 TDs with five games to play. Dave Ragone and Brian Brohm each had 33.
Jackson had 359 of his 431 yards of offense by halftime. He threw TD passes of 74 yards to Jaylen Smith, 3 yards to Cole Hikutini and 16 yards to Jamari Staples.
No. 8 Nebraska 27, Purdue 14: Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 303 yards of offense and two touchdowns, and Nebraska came back from a four-point halftime deficit to beat Purdue.
The Cornhuskers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) probably didn’t convince the skeptics who say they aren’t worthy of a Top 10 ranking, but they’ll head to No. 10 Wisconsin next week with their best record since 2001.
Armstrong was 17 for 31 for 252 yards and ran 10 times for 51 yards.
Purdue (3-4, 1-3) managed only 94 yards in the second half in interim coach Gerad Parker’s first game since taking over for the fired Darrell Hazell.
NO. 10 Wisconsin 17 Iowa 9: Corey Clement ran for 134 yards and a touchdown and Wisconsin snapped a two-game skid.
Alex Hornibrook passes for 197 yards to help the Badgers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) win for the fourth straight time in Iowa City.
Backup Bart Houston threw a touchdown pass, and Clement’s 1-yard run put the Badgers ahead 14-6 midway through the third quarter.
The Badgers allowed just 236 yards on 60 plays and held the Hawkeyes (5-3, 3-2) without a touchdown for the first time all season.
No. 12 West Virginia 34 TCU 10: Skyler Howard threw four touchdown passes and West Virginia’s improving defense held TCU scoreless in the second half.
West Virginia (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) is off to its best start since winning its first seven games in 2006.
Howard had first-half TD tosses of 10, 22 and 11 yards to stake West Virginia to a 21-10 lead. Howard finished 16 of 23 passing for 231 yards.
West Virginia used scoring drives of 11 and 15 plays in the third quarter to eat up most of the clock.
TCU (4-3, 2-2) had only five second-half possessions. Three ended in punts, Deante’ Gray fumbled away a kickoff and the final possession ended on downs.
NO. 21 Auburn 56 No. 17 Arkansas 3: Eli Stove broke free for a 78-yard touchdown run on Auburn’s first play, giving the Tigers momentum they never lost in a surprisingly dominant victory.
Auburn held out starting running back Kerryon Johnson and still ran for 543 yards, a school record for a Southeastern Conference regular-season game. With former Auburn star Bo Jackson watching, Kamryn Pettway had 192 yards rushing with two touchdowns. Johnson ran well in pregame warmups but did not play after hurting his right ankle against Mississippi State on Oct. 8.
Auburn (5-2, 3-1) has won four straight.
Penn State (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) took its first lead when Marcus Allen leaped high to block Tyler Durbin’s 45-yard attempt and Haley made the scoop and sprint to the end zone. The white-out crowd of 107,280 at Beaver Stadium went nuts and Penn State’s defense closed out the Nittany Lions’ first victory over Ohio State since 2011 with two sacks of J.T. Barrett.
The Buckeyes (6-1, 4-1) had their 20-game road winning streak snapped and the Big Ten East race that looked like an inevitable march toward an Ohio State-Michigan showdown on Nov. 26 just took a detour.
Trace McSorley cut Ohio State’s lead to 21-14 early in the fourth quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run. On the next Ohio State possession, Cam Brown blocked Cameron Johnson’s punt to set up Penn State at the Buckeyes 28. Penn State settled for Tyler Davis’ 34-yard field goal with 9:33 that made it 21-17.
SMU 38, No. 11 Houston 16: Ben Hicks threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score and SMU stunned Houston for its biggest victory since the pre-death penalty Pony Express era.
The Cougars (6-2, 3-2 American) lost for the second time after a 5-0 start that included a season-opening win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma that vaulted Houston into the Top 10.
The last time the Mustangs (3-4, 1-2) beat a team ranked 11th or higher, they were No. 4 and finishing off a near-perfect 1982 season (11-0-1) with a 7-3 victory over sixth-ranked Pittsburgh in the Cotton Bowl. SMU tied No. 7 Texas A&M in 1994.
Greg Ward Jr. couldn’t shake a persistent SMU pass rush or find receivers for big plays, finishing with 241 yards passing — almost 100 below his average — and just 3 yards rushing on 17 carries thanks to seven sacks. One of the sacks was for an 18-yard loss to the Houston 22 when coach Tom Herman went for it on fourth down trailing 28-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Herman got conservative moments later, choosing a 19-yard field goal attempt on fourth down from the SMU 2. Ty Cummings hit the right upright for his second miss.
No. 16 Oklahoma 66 Texas Tech 59: Baker Mayfield had seven touchdown passes and 545 yards to help Oklahoma beat Texas Tech in a game that broke the NCAA record for combined offensive yards with 1,708 yards.
Mayfield completed 27 of 36 passes and broke the school game touchdown mark of six held by Landy Jones. His TD passes went for 56, 49, 23, 23, 43, 34 and 15 yards.
Joe Mixon caught three touchdowns passes and Dede Westbrook had two for the Sooners (5-2, 4-0 Big 12). Mixon also ran for two touchdowns, a 46-yarder and a 42-yarder. He finished with 263 yards rushing and 114 yards receiving. He’s the first Sooner ever to reach 200 yards rushing and 100 receiving in the same game.
Westbrook caught nine passes for 202 yards.
Pat Mahomes threw for five touchdowns and 734 yards for Texas Tech (3-4, 1-3). His passing yards total tied the NCAA record, matching Connor Halliday when Washington State played California in 2014.
No. 1 Alabama 33, No. 6 Texas A&M 14: Jonathan Allen returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to help Alabama beat Texas A&M.
The Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) moved on as the powerhouse league’s last unbeaten team, getting yet another in a long string of defensive scores.
Allen, a lineman, scooped up the ball after Ryan Anderson knocked it loose from Keith Ford to finally build a cushion over the Aggies (6-1, 4-1), who led 14-13 well into the third.
It was 20-14 when Allen extended Alabama’s streak to 10 games with a score on defense or special teams, half the duration of a winning streak now at 20 going into an open date.
Alabama’s freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts then galloped 37 yards for another score, stepping out of a defender’s grasp and making a nifty move to get past another. The Tide was rolling again, a powerful encore to easy wins over ranked Tennessee and Arkansas teams.
Alabama racked up five sacks of Trevor Knight, the quarterback who engineered Oklahoma’s Sugar Bowl upset over Alabama as a redshirt freshman with a 348-yard, four-touchdown performance. He passed for 164 and ran for 24 in the semi-rematch.
NO. 3 Michigan 41, Illinois 8: Wilton Speight threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters before watching Michigan finish off Illinois.
The Wolverines (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were leading 34-0 in the fourth quarter when Jim Harbaugh put backup quarterback John O’Korn in the game and rested Speight.
The Fighting Illini (2-5, 1-3) were relegated to starting their third-string quarterback with a familiar name. Jeff George Jr., son of the former Illinois and NFL quarterback, was 4 of 15 for 95 yards with a TD, an interception and a fumble in his first start. The redshirt freshman played because Wes Lunt and Chayce Crouch are injured.
No. 5 Washington 41 Oregon State 17: Jake Browning threw three touchdowns passes to give him 26 for the season, added another rushing TD, and Washington used a big first half to roll past Oregon State.
The Huskies (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12) won their 10th straight, a streak that started with a victory at Oregon State last season. It is Washington’s longest win streak since winning 12 straight in 2000-01.
Browning was 14 of 28 for 291 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 19 yards to Aaron Fuller and 23 yards to Dante Pettis in the first quarter, and a 41-yarder to Pettis in the third quarter.
No. 7 Louisville 54, North Carolina State 13: Lamar Jackson broke Louisville’s single-season record with a hand in four first-half touchdowns, and the Cardinals had three interceptions.
Jackson threw three touchdown passes and had a 36-yard scoring run, giving him 34 TDs with five games to play. Dave Ragone and Brian Brohm each had 33.
Jackson had 359 of his 431 yards of offense by halftime. He threw TD passes of 74 yards to Jaylen Smith, 3 yards to Cole Hikutini and 16 yards to Jamari Staples.
No. 8 Nebraska 27, Purdue 14: Tommy Armstrong Jr. accounted for 303 yards of offense and two touchdowns, and Nebraska came back from a four-point halftime deficit to beat Purdue.
The Cornhuskers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) probably didn’t convince the skeptics who say they aren’t worthy of a Top 10 ranking, but they’ll head to No. 10 Wisconsin next week with their best record since 2001.
Armstrong was 17 for 31 for 252 yards and ran 10 times for 51 yards.
Purdue (3-4, 1-3) managed only 94 yards in the second half in interim coach Gerad Parker’s first game since taking over for the fired Darrell Hazell.
NO. 10 Wisconsin 17 Iowa 9: Corey Clement ran for 134 yards and a touchdown and Wisconsin snapped a two-game skid.
Alex Hornibrook passes for 197 yards to help the Badgers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) win for the fourth straight time in Iowa City.
Backup Bart Houston threw a touchdown pass, and Clement’s 1-yard run put the Badgers ahead 14-6 midway through the third quarter.
The Badgers allowed just 236 yards on 60 plays and held the Hawkeyes (5-3, 3-2) without a touchdown for the first time all season.
No. 12 West Virginia 34 TCU 10: Skyler Howard threw four touchdown passes and West Virginia’s improving defense held TCU scoreless in the second half.
West Virginia (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) is off to its best start since winning its first seven games in 2006.
Howard had first-half TD tosses of 10, 22 and 11 yards to stake West Virginia to a 21-10 lead. Howard finished 16 of 23 passing for 231 yards.
West Virginia used scoring drives of 11 and 15 plays in the third quarter to eat up most of the clock.
TCU (4-3, 2-2) had only five second-half possessions. Three ended in punts, Deante’ Gray fumbled away a kickoff and the final possession ended on downs.
NO. 21 Auburn 56 No. 17 Arkansas 3: Eli Stove broke free for a 78-yard touchdown run on Auburn’s first play, giving the Tigers momentum they never lost in a surprisingly dominant victory.
Auburn held out starting running back Kerryon Johnson and still ran for 543 yards, a school record for a Southeastern Conference regular-season game. With former Auburn star Bo Jackson watching, Kamryn Pettway had 192 yards rushing with two touchdowns. Johnson ran well in pregame warmups but did not play after hurting his right ankle against Mississippi State on Oct. 8.
Auburn (5-2, 3-1) has won four straight.
