Jameis Winston had a quiet day while Florida State was putting up another blowout. Johnny Manziel was spectacular and mistake-prone for Texas A&M.
The Heisman Trophy contenders both started the stretch drive with victories Saturday in the race that appears up for grabs.
Winston threw for 159 yards and two touchdown passes as No. 3 Florida State pounded Wake Forest 59-3. He also threw an interception as the Seminoles’ defense did much of the work with six interceptions in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The 11th-ranked Aggies needed every bit of Manziel’s 446 yards passing and five TDs in a 51-41 victory at home against Mississippi State.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota seemed to be the front-runner for the Heisman, but he had an off night as Stanford beat the Ducks on Thursday. Manziel is trying for his second consecutive Heisman and Winston is trying to become the second straight redshirt freshman to win the award.
Alabama’s AJ McCarron helped his Heisman case by throwing three touchdown passes in a victory against LSU.
No. 1 ALABAMA 38,
No. 10 LSU 17
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — T.J. Yeldon ran for 133 yards and two scores and Alabama overwhelmed No. 10 LSU 38-17 Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) turned to power football to take control of a game that was tied early in the third quarter. Yeldon carried 18 times in the second half, 25 overall, after catching the game-winning touchdown pass in last season’s meeting with the Tigers (7-3, 3-3).
Alabama scored the final 21 points to brush aside its first challenge since Game 2 against Texas A&M.
No. 3 FLORIDA STATE 59,
WAKE FOREST 3
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Jameis Winston threw two touchdown passes, and Florida State tied a school record with six interceptions as it clinched ACC a championship game berth.
Nate Andrews took an interception 56 yards for a touchdown and Jalen Ramsey returned a fumble 23 yards for a score on consecutive plays.
Florida State outgained Wake Forest (4-6, 2-5) 296-166 and turned those turnovers into five TDs and a field goal.
Winston was 17 of 28 for 159 yards in two-plus quarters with an 18-yard TD to Kelvin Benjamin and a 2-yarder to Chad Abram that made it 42-0 at halftime.
No. 11 TEXAS A&M 51,
MISSISSIPPI STATE 41
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Johnny Manziel threw for 446 yards and tied a career-high with five touchdown passes to lead Texas A&M to a win in what could be the Heisman Trophy winner’s last home game.
The crowd chanted “One more year! One more year!” late in the game for Manziel, who is eligible for the draft after this season. Whether he comes back remains to be seen, but he went into the stands to celebrate with the student section when the game was over.
No. 7 AUBURN 55,
TENNESSEE 23
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —Nick Marshall gained 214 of Auburn’s 444 yards rushing and the Tigers scored on a punt return and kickoff return against Tennessee.
Marshall ran for two touchdowns on just 14 carries and threw for a third score. Tre Mason rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns as Auburn (9-1, 5-1 SEC) earned its sixth straight victory.
No. 9 MISSOURI 48,
KENTUCKY 17
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Maty Mauk threw five touchdown passes, four to Dorial Green-Beckham, and No. 9 Missouri cruised past Kentucky.
Making his fourth consecutive start in place of the injured James Franklin, the Tigers’ redshirt freshman completed 17 of 28 attempts for 203 yards and took full advantage of 6-foot-6 sophomore Green-Beckham, whose TD receptions set a school record.
VIRGINIA TECH 42,
No. 14 MIAMI 24
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Trey Edmunds ran for four touchdowns, the first three of them set up by Miami special-teams miscues, and Virginia Tech knocked off the 14th-ranked Hurricanes 42-24 on Saturday night.
Edmunds had scoring runs of 10, 2, 4 and 1 yards for the Hokies (7-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Logan Thomas completed 25 of 31 passes for 366 yards, giving him consecutive games of 300 yards or more for the first time in his Virginia Tech career.
No. 15 OKLAHOMA STATE
42, KANSAS 6
STILLWATER, Okla. — Clint Chelf completed 19 of 37 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 15 Oklahoma State to a 42-6 victory over Kansas Saturday.
Desmond Roland added 44 yards and a touchdown on 16 rushes for the Cowboys (8-1, 5-1 Big 12), who won their fifth straight game. Roland also had a 19-yard reception for a score early in the second quarter that gave OSU a 21-0 lead.
No. 16 UCLA 31,
ARIZONA 26
TUCSON, Ariz. — Freshman linebacker Myles Jack played offense, too, rushing for 120 yards on his first six carries of the season, including a 66-yard touchdown run to help No. 16 UCLA beat Arizona 31-26 Saturday night.
On defense, Jack had eight tackles and recovered Ka’Deem Carey’s fumble in the UCLA end zone as the Bruins won in Tucson for the first time since 2003.
No. 17 FRESNO STATE 48,
WYOMING 10
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Derek Carr threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns, and Josh Quezada rushed for 105 yards and a score as No. 17 Fresno State defeated Wyoming 48-10 Saturday night.
Fresno State (9-0, 6-0 Mountain West) is one of five Top 25eams that remain undefeated.
No. 19 UCF 19,
HOUSTON 14
ORLANDO, Fla. — William Stanback scored two touchdowns and No. 19 UCF held off a late Houston threat to keep first place in the American Athletic Conference all to itself.
Storm Johnson added 127 yards rushing for UCF (7-1, 4-0), which has the inside track to the league’s automatic BCS bid, with victories against the Cougars and Louisville.
The Cougars drove to the UCF 10 in the final minute, but came up empty on back-to-back passes from John O’Korn into the end zone.
No. 21 WISCONSIN 27,
BYU 17
MADISON, Wis. — James White ran for two touchdowns and caught a pass for another score, and Wisconsin stalled BYU’s fast-paced offense .
White finished with 147 yards rushing, while Chris Borland looked just fine coming back from a hamstring injury in flying around the field for 13 tackles and two sacks for the Badgers (7-2).
No. 23 ARIZONA STATE 20,
UTAH 19
SALT LAKE CITY — Taylor Kelly ran for a touchdown and threw for another in the fourth quarter and Arizona State came from behind to beat Utah.
Sun Devils All-America defensive tackle Will Sutton sealed the victory with an interception at the line of scrimmage with 1:01 left at the Utah 25.
Stifled by Utah’s aggressive defense for most of three quarters, Kelly helped keep the Sun Devils (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) in the driver’s seat for the Pac-12 South title.
PITTSBURGH 28,
No. 24 NOTRE DAME 21
PITTSBURGH — James Conner ran for two short touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 9:36 remaining as Pittsburgh upset Notre Dame.
Tom Savage passed for 243 yards and two scores to Devin Street as the Panthers (5-4) took advantage of some sloppy play by the Fighting Irish (7-3) to end Notre Dame’s four-game winning streak.
The Irish turned it over three times, including a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions by Tommy Rees. Rees completed 18 of 39 for 318 yards and two touchdowns but was picked off by Pitt’s Ray Vinopal on consecutive passes in the final quarter.
KANSAS STATE 49,
No. 25 TEXAS TECH 26
LUBBOCK, Texas — Jake Waters and Daniel Sams each ran for two touchdowns to lead Kansas State past Texas Tech.
Sams’ TDs came on a 1-yard rush and a 5-yarder, and Waters scored from 1 yard and 13 yards.
Waters threw a 20-yard touchdown to Tramaine Thompson. John Hubert, who scored on a 63-yard run early in the game, finished with 157 yards on 23 carries to lead the Wildcats.