LOS ANGELE — Southern California’s surge under interim coach Ed Orgeron has swallowed up No. 5 Stanford.
Andre Heidari kicked a 47-yard field goal with 19 seconds to play, and USC’s stalwart defense repeatedly came up big in a 20-17 upset of the Cardinal on Saturday night.
Cody Kessler passed for 288 yards as the revitalized Trojans (8-3, 5-2 Pac-12) earned their fifth win in six games under the irrepressible Orgeron, who replaced the fired Lane Kiffin in late September.
“In our tight-knit family, there was a belief that we were going to find a way to win the game,” Orgeron said. “I’m proud of our young men. This is something that they’ve wanted for a long time now.”
USC’s remarkable defensive performance included two fourth-quarter interceptions and a season-low 17 points from 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.
Heidari nearly lost his job twice this season, and he missed an extra point in the first quarter. But the junior coolly nailed the tiebreaking field goal — and then got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for running the length of the field to celebrate it.
No. 1 ALABAMA 20,
MISSISSIPPI STATE 7
STARKVILLE, Miss. — 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. Tyler Russell started for the injured Dak Prescott and completed 15 of 24 passes for 144 yards and an interception before leaving with an apparent shoulder injury when the Bulldogs were trying to rally in the fourth quarter.
No. 2 FLORIDA STATE 59,
SYRACUSE 3
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jameis Winston showed no effects from a tumultuous week during Florida State’s win. 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.
On the field, it was business as usual for the Seminoles (10-0, 8-0). Syracuse (5-5, 3-3) was held scoreless until late in the fourth quarter.
No. 3 OHIO STATE 60,
ILLINOIS 35
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — 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.
No. 4 BAYLOR 63,
TEXAS TECH 34
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.
No. 6 OREGON 44, UTAH 21
EUGENE, Ore. — 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).
No. 7 AUBURN 43,
No. 25 GEORGIA 38
AUBURN, Ala. — 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.
He led Georgia (6-4, 4-3) all the way to Auburn’s 20 but his final two passes fell incomplete as time ran out.
No. 11 SOUTH CAROLINA 19,
FLORIDA 14
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Elliott Fry kicked four field goals and No. 11 South Carolina won its school-record 16th straight at home, sending banged-up Florida to its fifth consecutive loss.
The Gamecocks (8-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) struggled to score points against the Gators’ SEC-leading defense until Fry gave them a 16-14 lead with a 22-yard field goal with 6:43 remaining.
Trailing 19-14, Gators freshman quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg led the Gators into South Carolina territory but was intercepted by Jimmy Legree to end the threat. This is the longest losing streak for Florida (4-6, 3-5) since dropping nine straight during its 0-10-1 season in 1979.
No. 12 OKLAHOMA STATE
38, No. 23 TEXAS 13
AUSTIN, Texas — Clint Chelf ran for two touchdowns and Oklahoma State stayed in the Big 12 championship chase.
Chelf also threw two scoring passes as Oklahoma State (8-1, 6-1 Big 12) won in Austin for the third straight meeting. This one may re-ignite pressure on Texas coach Mack Brown, who was dealt his worst home loss in 16 seasons — and at a time when speculation about his job security had just begun quieting down.
A resurgent Texas (7-3, 6-1) had won six in a row and this week returned to the Top 25 after a two-month absence.
No. 14 MICHIGAN STATE 41,
NEBRASKA 28
LINCOLN, Neb. — Michigan State converted five Nebraska turnovers into 24 points and took a big step toward winning the Big Ten Legends Division.
Jeremy Langford ran 32 times for 151 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Keith Mumphrey caught a 27-yard touchdown from Connor Cook in the fourth quarter after the Cornhuskers pulled within six points.
The Spartans (9-1, 6-0) beat the Huskers (7-3, 4-2) for the first time in eight all-time meetings.
No. 15 UCF 39, TEMPLE 36
PHILADELPHIA — Shawn Moffitt kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired after Rannell Hall got behind the Temple defense for a 64-yard reception, and No. 15 UCF survived a scare.
UCF’s last possession started at its own 19, with no timeouts. Overtime seemed likely until Blake Bortles found Hall deep to get to the Temple 6.
Bortles managed to get the ball spiked with 2 seconds left and Moffitt booted through the game winner to keep UCF (8-1, 5-0) in control of the American Athletic Conference race.
No. 17 WISCONSIN 51,
INDIANA 3
MADISON, Wis. — James White rushed for a career-high 205 yards and Melvin Gordon added 146 for Wisconsin.
The Badgers (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) came in expecting a big game on the ground against the conference’s 10th-ranked rushing defense with the Hoosiers (4-6, 2-4) giving up an average of more than 217 yards a game.
Wisconsin topped that just minutes into the second quarter, had 323 yards rushing at the half and finished with 554.
No. 19 LOUISVILLE 20,
HOUSTON 13
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dominique Brown ran for a career-high 137 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the third quarter, and Louisville held on.
Listless on both sides of the ball and trailing 13-10 at halftime, Louisville turned to Brown, who carried 11 times in the third quarter for 50 yards and a touchdown run. Brown finished with 27 carries.
The defense awakened to hold the Cougars (7-3, 4-2 American Athletic Conference) to just 41 second-half yards and help the Cardinals (9-1, 5-1 American Athletic Conference) win their third straight game and stay within reach of first-place Central Florida.
No. 21 ARIZONA STATE 30,
OREGON STATE 17
TEMPE, Ariz. — Marion Grice ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns, Robert Nelson returned his second interception 23 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Arizona State overcome a second half lull.
Arizona State (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) dominated the first half to take a 20-0 lead before stumbling through the third quarter. The Sun Devils halted Oregon State’s momentum with a blocked field goal in the fourth quarter and put it out of reach when Nelson raced in on Sean Mannion’s fourth interception of the game.
Arizona State has won five straight and 19 of 20 at home against Oregon State (6-4, 4-3), which has lost three straight overall.
Mannion threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns, but has seven of his 10 interceptions this season in the past two games.
No. 22 OKLAHOMA 48,
IOWA STATE 10
NORMAN, Okla. — Bob Stoops matched Barry Switzer’s record for most coaching victories at Oklahoma as the Sooners cruised.
Trevor Knight led the way as Stoops recorded win No. 157 with Oklahoma (8-2, 5-2 Big 12), which closed the game with 45 unanswered points over the final three quarters. The backup quarterback was 8-of-14 passing for 61 yards and rushed for 123 yards and one touchdown.
DUKE 48, No. 24 MIAMI 30
DURHAM, N.C. — Brandon Connette rushed for a career-high four touchdowns and threw for a fifth score, and Duke took sole possession of first place in the ACC’s messy Coastal Division.
The Blue Devils’ change-of-pace quarterback had touchdown runs of 1, 2, 3 and 4 yards, and threw a 22-yard TD to Shaq Powell while leading Duke (8-2, 4-2) to one of the program’s most significant wins.
Dallas Crawford rushed for 115 yards and Stephen Morris threw for 379 and two touchdowns but the Hurricanes (7-3, 3-3) lost their third straight.
BY WIRE SOURCES
