College Football: Week 9 Results

Then there were three--undefeated teams, that is. #3 Ole Miss got beat by #24 LSU while M#1 Mississippi State and #23 Marshall won their games and #2 Florida State was idle. That one lose, however, should make for some movement at the top of the polls.

More importantly, there will be a new poll taking over for the AP. The twelve person playoff selection committee will be releasing their first Top 25 list on Tuesday night.

Ranks on the left are those of the AP/Coaches Top 25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked)

1/1/1 Mississippi State (7-0) The Bulldogs outlasted the Wildcats of Kentucky (5-3) 45-31. A 61-yard kickoff return with 2:22 remaining gave the Bulldogs a lead that was—finally—out of reach for the stubborn Wildcats. Dak Prescott rushed for two TDs and threw for a third while teammate Josh Robinson rushed for 198 yards and two TDs for the Bulldogs. Patrick Towles threw for 390 yards and two TDs and scored one TD on the ground for the Wildcats.

2/2/3 Florida State (7-0) The Seminoles were idle this week.

3/3/2 Ole Miss (7-1) The Rebels were upset by the staunch defense of the #24 LSU Tigers (7-2) 10-7. The Tigers turned the ball over four times—a factor in keeping them off the scoreboard for much of the first half—but the game was finally decided with 2 seconds left when Bo Wallace threw his first interception  of the year at the goal line. Ole Miss decided not to try for a 47-yard field goal that would have tied the game and instead put the ball in Wallace’s hands for a chance to win or, at least, get a little closer. Leonard Fournette rushed for 113 yards for the Tigers.

4/4/5 Alabama (7-1) The Tide rolled over the Tennessee Volunteers (3-5) 34-20. Amari Cooper caught TD passes of 80 and 41 yards on Alabama’s first two possessions. T.J. Yeldon and Blake Sims scored on runs of 1 and 28 yards respectively as the Tide jumped out to a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter. Tennessee would score 17 unanswered points to give their fans hope but that wouldn’t be enough. Cooper finished the day with nine catches for 224 yards.

5/6/4 Auburn (6-1) The Tigers outlasted the South Carolina Gamecocks (4-4) in a 42-35 shootout. Like a tennis match, these two traded scores throughout the first three quarters by which time it was tied 35-35. Nick Marshall then scored his third rushing TD in the fourth quarter to provide the winning margin. Marshall also threw for a TD. Dylan Thompson completed 29 of 50 passes for 4-2 yards and five TDs for the Gamecocks who came up short win the fourth quarter.

6/7/6 Oregon (7-1) The Ducks defeated the California Golden Bears (4-4) 59-41. Marcus Mariota threw for five TDs, again. He set a school record for career yards. He ran his string of pass attempts without an interception to 253. And he threw an interception--his first since the game against Oregon State last year. It was a pass that was tipped—twice. This being Oregon, they needed that offense, plus two rushing TDs by Royce Freeman (22 carries for 112 yards) and a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown by Charles Nelson as Cal did not fold. Jared Goff passed for 360 yards and two touchdowns for Cal.

7/8/7 Notre Dame (6-1) The Irish had this weekend off.

8/5/9 Michigan State (7-1) The Spartans drubbed their in-state rival, the Wolverines of Michigan (3-5) 35-11. Jeremy Langford rushed for 177 yards and three TDs on 35 carries, Connor Cook threw for a TD and R.J. Williamson returned an interception 29 yards for a score for the Spartans who had 446 yards net offense as compared to Michigan’s 186 yards.

9/9/8 Georgia (6-1) The Bulldogs had this weekend off.

10/10/11 TCU (6-1) The Horned Frogs routed the Red Raiders of Texas Tech (3-5) 82-27. Yes, the Frogs put 82 points on the board. Davis Webb (Texas Tech) threw for 230 yards and two TDs in the first quarter but then he threw and INT and fumbled twice helping TCU put points on the board. Lots of points. Webb finished the game with 300 yards but was knocked out of the game in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Trevone Boykin was completing 22 of 39 attempts for a personal best 433 yards and seven touchdowns and Jaden Oberkrom was hitting field goals of 45, 43, 47, and 27 yards for the Frogs. Add the ten extra points and Oberkrom scored 22 points—as the place kicker.

11/11/10 Kansas State (6-1) The Wildcats shut out the Texas Longhorns (3-5) 23-0. DeMarcus Robinson (50 yards and one TD), Charles Jones (49 yards and one TD) and Joe Hubner (46 yards); Jake Waters throws for 224 yards; no turnovers; and just 3 penalties for 25 yards. Your typical K-State game.

12/13/13 Baylor (6-1) The Bears did not play this week.

13/12/12 Ohio State (6-1) The Buckeyes defeated the stubborn Penn State Nittany Lions (4-3) in two overtimes, 31-24. Down 17-0 at the half, Penn State came back to tie the game on a mix of defense (Not only did they shut down Ohio State in the second half, but Anthony Zettel returned an interception 40 yards for a TD.), offense (Christian Hackenberg hit Saeed Blacknall for a 24-yard TD.), and special teams (Sam Ficken hit a 31-yard field goal to tie the game with 9 seconds left.). But J.T. Barrett ran for two TDs in over time (the first matched Bill Belton’s TD run for PSU) to put the Buckeyes ahead for good. Still it took a sack of Hackenberg on a 4^th and 5 yards to go play to seal the deal.

14/14/18 Arizona State (6-1) The Sun Devils beat the Washington Huskies (5-3) 24-10. With the score tied at 10 all in the fourth quarter, Taylor Kelly lead the Sun Devils down the field and threw a 7 yard TD pass to Gary Chambers to take the lead. It was Kelly’s second TD pass and Chambers’ only reception. Armand Perry finished the scoring by returning an interception 61 yards for the Sun Devils. Earlier, John Timu had returned an interception 63 yards for a Huskie TD.

15/15/14 Arizona (6-1) The Wildcats defeated the Washington State Cougars (2-6) 59-37 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. Arizona put 24 points on the board in the first quarter starting with Davonte’ Neal’s 81-yard punt return. Anu Solomon threw for 294 yards and five TDs for the Wildcats. Connor Halliday leads the nation in passing and became the leading career passer in school history, but his 56 of 79 for 489 yards and four touchdowns (with two INTs) wasn’t nearly enough for a team that just can’t seem to muster any defense.

16/16/15 Nebraska (7-1) The Cornhuskers beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-3) 42-24. It was Ameer Abdullah Day in Lincoln. Abdullah had touchdown runs of 53 and 48 yards in the first half and opened the second half with a 49-yard run on Nebraska’s first play from scrimmage. He finished the day with 225 yards and three rushing TDs and had 341 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving, returns). Gary Nova hit Leonte Carew on a 71-yard TD pass in the first quarter. Caroo finished the day with five catches for 127 yards but he would finish the game without Nova who left at the end of the first half after injuring his knee in the final seconds.

17/18/16 Oklahoma (5-2) The Sooners were idle this week.

18/17/19 East Carolina (6-1) The Pirates beat the Connecticut Huskies (1-6) on Thursday night 31-21 in a surprisingly tight contest. The game was tied 21 all at the end of the third quarter. Shane Carden Completed 38 pf 64 pass attempts for 445 yards and two TDs for the Pirates. Chandler Whitmer was 18 of 30 for 303 yards and two TDs for the Huskies.

19/19/21 Utah (6-1) The Utes slipped past the #20 Southern California Trojans (5-3) 24-21. Travis Wilson threw a 1-yard touchdown to Kaelin Clay with 8 seconds left to lift the Utes over the Trojans. After engineering last week’s double overtime win against Oregon State, Wilson’s pretty sure of starting next game. Utah’s Davion Orphey returned a fumble 53 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and USC’s Adoree’ Jackson had a 100-yard kick return in the second quarter. Javorius Allen had 27 carries for 101 yards for the Trojans while Devontae Booker carried the ball 26 times for 102 yards and one TD for the Utes.

20/21/22 Southern California (5-3) The Trojans fell to the #19 Utah Utes (6-1) 24-21. See above for more.

21/20/20 Clemson (6-2) The Tigers edged the Syracuse Orange (3-5) 16-6. For the third time this season, Clemson scored just one offensive touchdown yet came away with the win because of a strong defensive performance. That TD came on a 19-yard pass from Cole Stoudt to Stanton Seckinger in the fourth quarter. Ammon Lakip hit field goals of 38, 18 and 41 yards for the other nine points. Two Cole Murphy field goals of 43 and 50 yards were all Syracuse could muster as they were held to just 170 net yards (88 yards rushing, 82 yards passing).

22/24/23 West Virginia (6-2) the Mountaineers unhorsed the Cowboys of Oklahoma State (5-3) 34-10. For the Mountaineers, Clint Trickett threw for 238 yards and two TDs, Wendell Smallwood rushed for 132 yards, and Dravon Henry returned an interception 52 yards for a TD.  

23/22/17 Marshall (8-0) The Thundering Herd took their time—they trailed 16-14 at halftime—but ended up drubbing the Owls of Florida Atlantic (3-5) 35-16. Devon Johnson rushed for a school record 272 yards and scored four touchdowns for the Herd. His TDs came on runs of 58, 62. 66 and 7 yards. BTW, last spring he was a backup linebacker, tight end and fullback. This preseason he was a backup running back whose job it was to protect the quarterback Rakeem Cato. In eight games, Johnson has now rushed for more than 1,000 yards.

24/23/NR LSU (7-2) The Tigers edged the #3 Ole Miss Rebels (7-1) 10-7. See above for more.

25/NR/25 UCLA (6-2) The Bruins edged the Colorado Buffaloes (2-6) 40-37 in two overtimes. UCLA led 31-14 going into the fourth quarter and saw it all disappear as Bryce Bobo scored twice on passes from Sefo Liufau and Will Oliver hit a 35-yard field goal with second left to tie it at 31. The two teams traded field goals in the first OT and Colorado went up by three in the second overtime period before Brett Hundley ran the ball in from 8 yards out to win. Hundley finished the day with 110 yards rushing and 200 yards passing and Paul Perkins added 180 yards rushing and two TDs on 19 carries including a 92 yard dash on the opening “drive.” Michael Adkins II had 107 yards rushing and one TD for the Buffaloes.

NR/24/NR Minnesota (6-2) The Golden Gophers fell to the Fighting Illini of Illinois (4-4) 28-24. The Illini jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead only to see the Gophers climb back to a 24-17 lead after three. Then C’Angelo Bentley returned a fumble 12 yards with 6:33 to play, giving Illinois a 28-24 lead they would not relinquish.

NR/NR/24 Duke (6-1) The Blue Devils had this weekend off.