Notre Dame defeats Stanford 20-13 in OT
West Virginia came into Saturday's game at Texas Tech in the drivers' seat for the Big 12 title, undefeated and eyeing a shot at the BCS champsionship and with quarterback Geno Smith acclaimed as a Heisman Trophy front-runner.
The No. 5 Mountaineers left with none of it following a 49-14 loss to the Red Raiders that was the most lopsided Texas Tech victory over a team ranked in the top five.
Texas Tech's defense consistently stymied West Virginia's offense. Heisman Trophy hopeful Smith completed 29 of 55 passes for 275 yards, well off his season averages of nearly 400 yards and and 81 percent completion rate.
The Red Raiders offense had no trouble moving the ball as quarterback Seth Doege threw TD passes of 39, 19, 16, 2, 29 and 7 yards. He completed 32 of 42 passes and the six touchdowns matched his career-high. Darrin Moore caught three touchdown passes.
Earlier, Oklahoma clobbered Texas 63-21 to get a leg up in the Big 12 race, and only benefited from West Virginia being brought back to the pack. Kansas State (6-0, 3-0) is the only undefeated team left in the conference, but next Saturday faces what should be a motivated West Virginia team, followed the next week b by Texas Tech, which is also 2-1 in the league
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No. 1 ALABAMA 42, MISSOURI 10
ST. LOUIS - Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon gave top-ranked Alabama a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time this season and the duo combined for five scores in a soggy, weather-delayed game.
The defending national champion Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0 SEC) led 21-0 late in the first quarter en route to their 10th straight victory, all by 19 or more points.
They did just enough right after that to disappoint the few thousand fans who didn't leave for good during a 38-minute delay due to lightning with the Crimson Tide awaiting the extra-point kick for a 28-0 cushion after Yeldon's second scoring run with 8:40 to go in the half.
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TEXAS TECH 49, No. 5 WEST VIRGINIA 14
LUBBOCK, Texas - Seth Doege passed for six touchdowns and a season-high 499 yards as Texas Tech shocked No. 5 West Virginia 49-14, ending the Mountaineers' hopes for an unbeaten season.
The Red Raiders fans stormed the field after the win, the most lopsided Texas Tech victory ever over a team ranked in the top five.
Texas Tech's defense consistently stymied West Virginia's offense. Heisman Trophy hopeful Geno Smith completed 29 of 55 passes for 275 yards.
The Red Raiders offense had no trouble moving the ball as Doege threw TD passes of 39, 19, 16, 2, 29 and 7 yards. He completed 32 of 42 passes and the six touchdowns matched his career-high. Darrin Moore caught three touchdown passes.
Texas Tech (5-1, 2-1) had 18 plays of 15 yards or more, including a 61-yard pass to Jace Amaro and a 53-yard touchdown run by SaDale Foster.
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No. 6 KANSAS STATE 27, IOWA STATE 21
AMES, Iowa - Quarterback Collin Klein ran for 105 yards and three touchdowns to help K-State hold off the Cyclones and beat them for the fifth straight time.
Klein also threw for 187 yards for the Wildcats (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), who remain unbeaten heading into next week's showdown with West Virginia.
Kansas State held the Cyclones (4-2, 1-2) to just 231 yards of offense. Iowa State still had a chance for the game-winning drive from its own 3-yard line with 2:17 left, but the Wildcats stopped the Cyclones on downs.
The Wildcats held the ball for nearly 41 minutes and converted eight of 17 third downs.
Jared Barnett threw for 166 yards and two TDs for Iowa State.
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No. 7 NOTRE DAME 20, No. 17 STANFORD 13, OT
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - TJ Jones made a reaching 7-yard touchdown catch in overtime and No. 7 Notre Dame stopped Stanford inches from the goal line.
After Jones and Tommy Rees gave the Fighting Irish (6-0) a seven-point lead in OT, Stanford (4-2) drove to a first-and-goal at the 4.
Stepfan Taylor ran for 1 on first, 2 on second and inches on third down. That left one play from inside the 1 and the Notre Dame defense, led by Carlos Calabrese, stood up Taylor and pushed him back.
Taylor kept reaching and turning, and ended up reaching the ball across the goal line, but the officials ruled it was too late. The play had been stopped.
The celebration had to wait for a replay review. It was close, but the call stood. The fans completed storming the field, and the national title hopes in South Bend remained alive.
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No. 10 OREGON STATE 42, BYU 24
PROVO, Utah - Cody Vaz passed for 332 yards and three touchdowns in his first start since high school.
Vaz was filling in for Sean Mannion, who is out indefinitely with a left knee injury.
Oregon State is 5-0 for the first time since 1939.
Markus Wheaton caught two first-quarter TD passes, and scored on a 12-yard reverse in the fourth, while cornerback Jordan Poyer returned an interception 49 yards to seal the victory against BYU (4-3).
Vaz started 5 of 5 for 75 yards and finished 20 of 32 against BYU's fifth-rated defense.
BYU quarterback Riley Nelson completed 28 of 51 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted three times.
Oregon State rolled up 450 yards offense.
Brandin Cooks caught eight passes for 173 yards for the Beavers.
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No. 13 OKLAHOMA 63, No. 15 TEXAS 21
DALLAS - Damien Williams broke off a 95-yard touchdown run for the longest rush in Red River Rivalry history, Blake Bell powered his way in for four TDs and Oklahoma got its second straight blowout of Texas.
Landry Jones threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns, and fullback Trey Millard had a career-best 119 yards receiving as the Sooners (4-1, 2-1 Big 12) added another rout to Bob Stoops' impressive rivalry resume.
Stoops is now 9-5 against Mack Brown and responsible for three of Oklahoma's five most lopsided wins over Texas -- and that doesn't include last year's 55-17 clobbering.
The Longhorns (3-2, 1-2) couldn't get a stop and never got their offense going, then lost quarterback David Ash to an apparent left wrist injury in the fourth quarter.
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No. 20 RUTGERS 23, SYRACUSE 15
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Duron Harmon scooped up a blocked field goal attempt and ran 75 yard for a tie-breaking touchdown early in the third quarter and Rutgers rode its defense and special teams to 6-0.
Big East Conference defensive player of the year Khaseem Greene forced three fumbles and intercepted a pass as Rutgers (3-0) became bowl eligible for the seventh time in eight seasons.
Jawan Jamison scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, Gary Nova threw a 12-yard touchdown to Tyler Kroft and walk-on placekicker Nick Borgese had a 25-yard field goal filling in for the injured Kyle Federico as the Scarlet Knights went 6-0 for only the third time since 1976.
Adonis Ameen-Moore scored on a 3-yard run and Ryan Nassib threw a late 40-yard touchdown pass to Christopher Clark and a 2-point conversion pass to Marcus Sales pass for Syracuse (2-4, 1-1).
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No. 18 LOUISVILLE 45, PITTSBURGH 35
PITTSBURGH - Senorise Perry rushed for 101 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
Teddy Bridgewater passed for 304 yards for the Cardinals (6-0, 1-0 Big East), including a 75-yard score to Devante Parker on the first play of the second half as Louisville continued its best start since 2006.
Parker's score came in the middle of a 24-point burst by Louisville spanning the second and third quarters that turned a seven-point deficit into a 38-21 lead.
Tino Sunseri passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns but Pitt (2-4, 0-3) couldn't complete a late rally.
Trailing by 10 with 5 minutes to play, Pitt went for it on fourth down deep in Louisville territory rather than attempt a field goal. Sunseri's pass was off the mark and Perry finished off the Panthers with a 59-yard sprint down the left sideline.
Louisville began the season as the overwhelming Big East favorite but some of the shine was stripped away by sluggish road wins at overmatched Florida International and Southern Mississippi coupled with the impressive starts by No. 20 Rutgers and No. 21 Cincinnati.
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No. 24 BOISE ST. 20, FRESNO ST. 10
BOISE, Idaho - D.J. Harper rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown and Joe Southwick threw for another score.
Harper was the leader of a Boise State (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) rushing attack that chewed up 215 yards on the ground and propelled the Broncos to their fifth consecutive win and seventh straight over the Bulldogs.
The Boise State defense also turned in another impressive performance.
The Broncos held Fresno State (4-3, 2-1) scoreless in the first half, the fourth straight game the Broncos defense has held foes scoreless in the first two quarters. The defense also squelched a Bulldog scoring drive in the opening minutes of the third quarter with an interception, forced a fumble on another possession late and held Robbie Rouse to 77 yards rushing on 25 carries.
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No. 25 MICHIGAN 45, ILLINOIS 0
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Denard Robinson threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores, brushing off an undisclosed injury as well as the Illini.
The Wolverines (4-2, 2-0 Big Ten) got a scare when Robinson left the game late in the first quarter. He missed just one-plus possessions, though, and returned to score on a 6-yard run to put Michigan up 17-0 late in the first half.
Robinson, who wouldn't elaborate on the injury after the game, ran for a 49-yard score -- giving him 10,000-plus career yards of offense -- on the Wolverines' first drive of the second half and tossed an 8-yard TD pass to Devin Funchess on their next possession to make it 31-0.
The Fighting Illini (2-5, 0-3) lost their starting quarterback, Nathan Scheelhaase, because of an undisclosed injury in the second quarter.