Boston College quarterback Tyler Murphy rushed for 191 yards, breaking free for a 66-yard touchdown with 3:30 to play on Saturday night as Boston College beat No. 9 Southern California 37-31 — the Eagles’ first victory over a top 10 team in a decade.
Boston College quarterback Tyler Murphy rushed for 191 yards, breaking free for a 66-yard touchdown with 3:30 to play on Saturday night as Boston College beat No. 9 Southern California 37-31 — the Eagles’ first victory over a top 10 team in a decade.
Jon Hilliman ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns, and Myles Willis and receiver Sherman Alston each broke off runs of 50-plus yards to help BC (2-1) amass 464 rushing yards.
USC (2-1) was coming off an emotional victory over Pac-12 rival Stanford that moved the Trojans up five spots in The Associated Press Top 25. Cody Kessler completed 31 of 41 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns, but he was also sacked five times.
Wearing uniforms decorated with red bandannas to honor Welles Crowther, a BC graduate who died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 after helping usher others to safety, the Eagles delivered an emotional follow-up to a lackluster loss to Pittsburgh. Fans wearing their own red bandannas in tribute stormed the field after Murphy’s final kneel-down, celebrating the biggest win in coach Steve Addazio’s tenure and BC’s first-ever over USC.
The Eagles trailed 17-6 in the second quarter before scoring 24 straight points.
Leading 27-17 with 12:22 to play, Murphy started the drive with back-to-back runs for a combined 52 yards and BC moved to the USC 5 yard-line. But the Eagles settled for a 25-yard field goal that — thanks to a missed extra point on their opening score — left them with a 13-point lead.
USC took over at its own 25 with 7:42 left and engineered a 10-play drive that finished with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kessler to Nelson Agholor. Getting the ball at its 28 with 4:25 left, Murphy moved BC to the 34 before breaking through the line and streaking into the end zone.
Kessler led USC to another score, hitting Darreus Rogers from 14-yards out to make it a six-point game with 78 seconds left. Shakim Phillips covered the onside kick for BC, and Hilliman broke off a 22-yard run to help the Eagles milk the clock.
No. 24 SOUTH CAROLINA 38, NO. 6 GEORGIA 35
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dylan Thompson threw for three touchdowns and No. 24 South Carolina’s maligned defense stood strong on a fourth-quarter goal line stand.
The Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) had a first-and-goal on the Gamecocks’ 4 down three points with 5:24 remaining. But Hutson Mason was called for intentional grounding to set Georgia back and the usually reliable Marshall Morgan missed a 28-yard field goal.
Todd Gurley ran for 131 yards and a touchdown, yet the Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) kept the Bulldogs’ star from making a bigger impact.
The victory was South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier’s 201st as a SEC coach, tying him for second alltime with Georgia great Vince Dooley. It put the Gamecocks back in the SEC East race.
No. 2 OREGON 48, WYOMING 14
EUGENE, Ore. — Quarterback Marcus Mariota passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores and Oregon survived a slow start to beat Wyoming.
Oregon (3-0) erased a 7-0 deficit with four second-quarter touchdowns to take command.
Mariota became the fourth Oregon quarterback to pass for more than 7,000 yards. The Ducks junior completed 19 of 23 passes, two for touchdowns. Mariota also rushed five times for 71 yards, including touchdown runs of 15 and 19 yards.
Mariota has thrown a school-record 71 touchdowns, with at least one TD thrown in all 29 games he’s appeared in.
No. 3 ALABAMA 52, SOUTHERN MISS 12
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Blake Sims passed for two touchdowns and rushed for a third in three quarters and might have staked his claim as Alabama’s undisputed starting quarterback in a victory over Southern Miss.
Sims was 12-of-17 passing for 168 yards for the Crimson Tide (3-0) ahead of the team’s Southeastern Conference opener against Florida. Jake Coker didn’t come in until late in the third quarter against the Golden Eagles (1-2), who have lost 25 of their last 27 games.
No. 4 OKLAHOMA 34, TENNESSEE 10
NORMAN, Okla. — Trevor Knight passed for 308 yards to help Oklahoma defeat Tennessee.
Knight threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score for the Sooners (3-0), who won their seventh straight game.
Sterling Shepard caught five passes for 109 yards and Keith Ford caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score for Oklahoma.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops got the best of the Southeastern Conference again. The Sooners beat SEC member Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Justin Worley passed for 201 yards for Tennessee, but he completed just 21 of 44 passes, was sacked five times, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
Jalen Hurd ran for 97 yards on 14 carries and Josh Smith caught five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown for the Volunteers (2-1).
No. 10 LSU 31, LOUISIANA-MONROE 0
BATON ROUGE, La. — Darrel Williams ran for two touchdowns, fellow freshman Leonard Fournette added another, and No. 10 LSU posted its second-straight shutout, beating Louisiana-Monroe.
Williams scored on a tackle-breaking, 22-yard run, then added a 1-yard score.
No. 11 NOTRE DAME 30, PURDUE 14
INDIANAPOLIS — Everett Golson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score as Notre Dame scored the final 20 points and beat Purdue.
The Irish are 3-0 for the second time in three years.
Purdue (1-2) has lost seven straight in this series, which has been played every year since 1946. The two teams will not meet again until 2020.
No. 12 UCLA 20, TEXAS 17
ARLINGTON, Texas— UCLA backup quarterback Jerry Neuheisel threw two touchdown passes, including a 33-yarder to Jordan Payton with 3 minutes left, and the Bruins avoided an upset with a win over Texas.
The go-ahead score for the Bruins (3-0) came on the first play after Ishmael Adams’ 58-yard punt return when he was helped by a crushing open-field block.
Neuheisel completed 23 of 30 passes for 178 yards after Brett Hundley injured his left elbow in the first quarter.
Texas (1-2), which started the game with a big blunder, had gone ahead when Tyrone Swoopes hit John Harris for an 8-yard TD with 5:13 left. The Longhorns then forced a fumble, but went three-and-out before punting the ball to Adams.
Swoopes threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns in his second start for concussion-plagued David Ash
No. 14 MISSISSIPPI 56, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 15
OXFORD, Miss. — Bo Wallace threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Vince Sanders, to lead Mississippi over Louisiana-Lafayette.
Ole Miss (3-0) has never lost to Louisiana-Lafayette (1-2) and this one wasn’t in doubt for very long. I’Tavius Mathers rushed for a 56-yard touchdown on the first drive and the Rebels pushed out to a 28-0 lead by midway through the second quarter.
Wallace completed 23 of 28 passes for an offense that gained 554 total yards. Sanders finished with a career-high eight receptions for 125 yards and touchdown catches of 14 and 24 yards.
No. 15 STANFORD 35, ARMY 0
STANFORD, Calif. — Kevin Hogan threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns, and Stanford rebounded from a loss to Southern California with a win over Army.
Devon Cajuste caught a career-high three touchdowns and finished with 52 yards receiving, and Ty Montgomery had two TDs to help the Cardinal (2-1) overcome a sluggish start on offense.
Stanford led 14-0 at the half before overwhelming the Black Knights (1-1) in the final two quarters.
EAST CAROLINA 28, No. 17 VIRGINIA TECH 21
BLACKSBURG, Va. — East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden threw three touchdown passes and scored a rushing touchdown with 16 seconds left to lead the Pirates to an upset of Virginia Tech.
Carden completed 23 of 47 passes for 427 yards in carrying the Pirates to their first victory over a ranked team since 2009 when they beat then-No. 18 Houston 38-32 in Greenville, North Carolina.
East Carolina (2-1) snapped a five-game losing streak to ranked opponents.
Virginia Tech (2-1), coming off a road win over then-No. 8 Ohio State, tied the game on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Michael Brewer to Cam Phillips with 1:20 left.
But the Pirates needed just three plays to go 65 yards and scored the winner on a 1-yard run by Carden
Brewer completed 30 of 56 passes for 298 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions for the Hokies.
No. 20 MISSOURI 38, CENTRAL FLORIDA 10
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Maty Mauk threw four touchdown passes, two each to Jimmie Hunt and Bud Sasser, and passed for 144 yards to lead Missouri past Central Florida.
The Tigers (3-0) led 14-10 at halftime before pulling away from the Knights (0-2), who had won their past two games against ranked teams.
VIRGINIA 23, No. 21 LOUISVILLE 21
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Greyson Lambert threw for one touchdown and ran for another and Ian Frye kicked a 42-yard field goal with 3:41 remaining, giving Virginia a victory against Louisville.
The winning points came after Louisville’s James Quick fumbled a punt and Kelvin Rainey recovered for Virginia (2-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) at the Cardinals’ 25. Four plays later, Frye’s third field goal of the game allowed the Cavaliers to end an 11-game slide against FBS-level competition.
Louisville (2-1, 1-1) had tied the game midway through the quarter, but the Cardinals’ fourth turnover was too much for them to overcome.
No. 22 OHIO STATE 66, KENT STATE 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio — J.T. Barrett matched a school record with six touchdown passes — five in the first half — to lead No. 22 Ohio State, rebounding from a loss to Virginia Tech, to a victory over Kent State.
The win was the 39th in a row over an in-state opponent for the Buckeyes (2-1), who haven’t lost since a 7-6 setback to Oberlin in 1921.