College Roundup: Jalen Milroe, No. 1 Alabama escape Texas A&M, 24-20

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama was plagued by turnovers and other mistakes and once again was pushed to the brink by Texas A&M, this time with Bryce Young watching from the sideline.

Things turned out differently this time.

Jalen Milroe threw for three touchdowns in his first start and No. 1 Alabama made a final goal-line stand to escape with a 24-20 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday night in a battle of backup quarterbacks.

Playing without the injured Heisman Trophy winner Young, the Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) needed two late stops from Will Anderson Jr. and the defense. They got them, just barely, to survive four turnovers and two missed field goals against a team that beat the Tide 41-38 last season.

“That was not our best football out there tonight,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “When you don’t have your quarterback out there and the second-teamer has to play, everybody’s got to play better.”

But the Aggies were in a similar boat, albeit with a more experienced quarterback sub.

Haynes King, subbing for injured starter Max Johnson (throwing hand), drove the Aggies (3-2, 1-2) 69 yards in the final 1:50 with big passes to Evan Stewart and Moose Muhammad III. Jordan Battle appeared to end the threat with an interception in the end zone, but Brian Branch was flagged for pass interference.

That set up one final shot from the 2 with three seconds left, but King’s pass to Stewart fell incomplete.

Milroe passed for 111 yards and ran for 183, but also threw an interception and lost two fumbles. Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 159 yards after gaining most of his 206 after Young’s shoulder injury early against Arkansas.

The big question now is if Young will play against No. 8 Tennessee.

“Jalen did some good things but obviously a couple of turnovers,” Saban said. “He’s going to live and learn and we’re going to live and learn with him. We’ll just see what progress Bryce makes.”

King completed 25 of 46 passes for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns with an interception but faced constant pressure. The Tide had three sacks and Anderson was credited with eight quarterback hurries.

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher wasn’t buying any narrative that the Aggies kept it close because Alabama was without its star quarterback and made a number of mistakes.

“We’re playing the backup, quarterback too,” Fisher said. “Two good teams locked up and battled and went at it and we showed what we’re capable of.”

Ultimately, Alabama got a double measure of revenge against the Aggies and Fisher. Another unranked Texas A&M team handed Alabama its only regular-season loss last year, then Fisher went no-holds barred in response to Saban’s comments that the Aggies bought their top recruiting class with NIL money.

Once again, the Aggies hung ever so close with the top team, a 23 1/2-point favorite.

“We also remember that feeling and all (through) preparation we’re just saying we don’t ever want to feel that feeling again,” Anderson said.

Texas A&M cut it to 24-20 on Randy Bond’s 46-yard field goal with 3:32 left. The Aggies settled for the kick after twice getting flagged for false starts trying to go for it on fourth-and-long.

The defense then forced Alabama into a three-and-out, setting up one more shot for King and the Aggies.

“We went toe to toe with them,” Fisher said.

He went toe to toe with Saban in the offseason but they went through the customary pregame and postgame exchanges.

“I told him he had a good team and wished him good luck the rest of the year and he said the same to me,” Fisher said.

NO. 2 GEORGIA 42, AUBURN 10

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Stetson Bennett scrambled 64 yards for a touchdown, Daijun Edwards scored three times on the ground and Georgia ran over listless Auburn.

Bennett’s career-long run on the first play of the fourth quarter was the biggest of the day for an offense that mostly plodded along for the first three.

The Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) got two short touchdown runs by Edwards and one from Kenny McIntosh to build a 21-3 in the third quarter.

Then Bennett found a huge swath of empty green grass and managed to beat a chasing pack of Tigers to the goal line to make it 28-3 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Georgia ran its winning streak to six in the series, has not lost the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry at home since 2005 and leads overall 63-56.

Robby Ashford was 13 for 38 for 168 yards while frequently scrambling to elude pressure for the Tigers (3-3, 1-2).

NO. 3 OHIO STATE 49, MICHIGAN STATE 20

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — C.J. Stroud tied a school record with six touchdown passes and Ohio State coasted past Michigan State.

The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) scored on their opening drive for the fifth straight game when Marvin Harrison Jr. caught his first of three touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson ran for 118 yards and a touchdown before limping off the field with an apparent right leg injury in the third quarter.

The Spartans (2-4, 0-3) have lost four straight.

Stroud was 21 of 26 for 361 yards. He became the first player in program history to throw six touchdown passes in three games, a feat he pulled off in consecutive contests against Michigan State.

NO. 4 MICHIGAN 31, INDIANA 10

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Cornelius Johnson had a 29-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter to give Michigan the lead against Indiana in an emotional game in which a Wolverines coach was taken to a hospital.

Michigan improved to 6-0 for the second straight season, the first time the team has achieved that feat since 1976-77. The Wolverines are 3-0 in the Big Ten.

Johnson’s big play came after assistant coach Mike Hart was carted off the field in the first quarter for an undisclosed medical issue. The emotional toll appeared to hurt the defending Big Ten champs, who went into the locker room tied at 10 with the Hoosiers (3-3, 1-2).

J.J. McCarthy was 28 of 36 with 304 yards, three TDs and one interception.

NO. 5 CLEMSON 31, BOSTON COLLEGE 3

BOSTON (AP) — DJ Uiagalelei threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 69 yards Saturday night to help Clemson break it open in the second half and beat Boston College.

The Tigers (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions sandwiched around halftime to turn a 3-3 game into a runaway. Meanwhile, BC (2-4, 1-3) went three-and-out and punted four times in five series, with only halftime interrupting the streak.

Beaux Collins caught four passes for 58 yards, including a 10-yard score. He also grabbed a 20-yard throw to set up Uiagalelei’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Ngata.

NO. 6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 30, WASHINGTON STATE 14

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Caleb Williams threw two touchdown passes to Mario Williams and Southern California shut out Washington State in the second half.

Travis Dye rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12), who stayed unbeaten in coach Lincoln Riley’s first season. USC hadn’t started a season 6-0 since 2006, near the height of coach Pete Carroll’s powerhouse era.

Caleb Williams went only 15 of 29 for 188 yards, but made big throws when necessary in an up-and-down performance.

Cameron Ward passed for 172 yards while hitting Robert Ferrel and Nakia Watson for touchdowns for the Cougars (4-2, 1-2), who remained winless at the Coliseum since 2013.

NO. 7 OKLAHOMA STATE 41, TEXAS TECH 31

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Spencer Sanders ran for two touchdowns and passed for another and Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech.

Sanders passed for 297 yards and ran for 56, and Bryson Green had five catches for a career-high 115 yards for the Cowboys (5-0, 2-0 Big 12).

Texas Tech redshirt freshman Behren Morton got his first career start in place of Donovan Smith. He completed 39 of 62 passes for 379 yards and two touchdowns for the Red Raiders (3-3, 1-2).

Jerand Bradley caught eight passes for 119 yards and a touchdown and Trey Cleveland caught nine passes for 110 yards for a Texas Tech team that was playing its fifth straight ranked opponent and already had claimed wins over Houston and Texas.

Morton completed 24 of 39 passes for 220 yards and both scores in the first half to help the Red Raiders take a 24-20 lead at the break. Tech gained 347 yards on 57 plays in the first two quarters.

NO. 8 TENNESSEE 40, NO. 24 LSU 13

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Hendon Hooker passed for two touchdowns, Jabari Small ran for 127 yards and two scores and Tennessee beat LSU.

The Volunteers (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) matched their best start to a season since 2016 with balance on offense, sound defense that corralled dual-threat LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, and opportunistic special teams play.

Hooker passed for 239 yards, with scoring passes of 45 and 14 yards to Jalin Hyatt. Bru McCoy caught seven passes for 140 yards. Tennessee sacked Daniels five times; defensive lineman Byron Young accounting for half of that total.

LSU dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.

NO. 9 MISSISSIPPI 52, VANDERBILT 28

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jaxson Dart threw for a career-high 448 yards and three touchdowns and Mississippi routed Vanderbilt for its first 6-0 start since 2014.

The Rebels (6-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight in the series after trailing 20-10 in the second quarter. Quinshon Judkins ran for the first of his two TDs just before halftime, then the Rebels added three more in the third quarter as part of 35 straight points.

Senior Jonathan Mingo caught nine passes for a career-high and national season-high 247 yards and two TDs, the last a short pass he caught at the line of scrimmage and took 71 yards to the end zone.

Vanderbilt (3-3, 0-2) lost its 23rd consecutive SEC game and 10th straight for second-year coach Clark Lea.

NO. 18 UCLA 42, NO. 11 UTAH 32

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Dorian Thompson-Robinson passed for 299 yards and four TDs to become UCLA’s career leader in passing touchdowns, Zach Charbonnet rushed for a career-high 198 yards and the Bruins beat Utah,

Thompson-Robinson also had a rushing score for the Bruins, who are 6-0 overall for the first time since 2005, 3-0 in the Pac-12 and picked up the biggest victory in coach Chip Kelly’s five years in Westwood. They have won nine straight dating to last season, which is their longest streak since running off 20 straight victories in 1997-98.

Thompson-Robinson’s only mistake came late in the fourth quarter when a pass was picked off by Clark Phillips III and returned 80 yards for a touchdown.

Cameron Rising passed for 287 yards and ran for a pair of scores for the Utes (4-2, 2-1).

NO. 12 OREGON 49, ARIZONA 22

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Bo Nix threw for 265 yards and ran for three touchdowns, Noah Whittington added an early 55-yard touchdown run and Oregon rolled over Arizona.

The Ducks (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12) scored touchdowns on seven consecutive drives starting midway through the first quarter, building a 49-13 lead by late in the third. Oregon piled up 580 yards of total offense — including 306 yards on the ground — doing pretty much whatever it wanted against Arizona (3-3, 1-2).

Nix was a great on the ground for a second straight game, scoring on a pair of 2-yard runs before breaking free for a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He ran for a career-high 141 yards and two touchdowns last week against Stanford.

SOUTH CAROLINA 24, NO. 13 KENTUCKY 14

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Spencer Rattler overcame two early turnovers and threw the go-ahead touchdown pass in the third quarter and South Carolina scored 17 straight points to beat Kentucky for its third consecutive victory.

Kentucky (3-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) started freshman Kaiya Sheron at quarterback in place of injured Will Levis, who wore a protective on his left foot.

South Carolina (4-2, 1-2) moved ahead early in the third quarter, when Rattler (14 of 19, 177 yards) hit Antwane Wells Jr. in the flat and the junior darted past a defender for a 42-yard touchdown and 14-7 lead. Mitch Jeter’s 32-yard field goal later in the period provided a 10-point cushion that Brooks extended to 17 points with a 24-yard TD run with 7:02 remaining.

NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 19, FLORIDA STATE 17

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Devan Boykin picked off Jordan Travis’ pass in the end zone with 38 seconds left and North Carolina State rallied past Florida State despite losing quarterback Devin Leary to injury.

Boykin’s clean catch in the end zone was the clinching play on a big — and gritty — performance by the Wolfpack’s veteran defense after halftime. N.C. State (5-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) held Florida State (4-2, 2-2) to 93 yards after the break, helping the Wolfpack rally from a 17-3 halftime deficit.

Christopher Dunn also kicked four field goals, including a 53-yarder early in the fourth and the go-ahead 27-yard score with 6:33 left.

NO. 15 WAKE FOREST 45, ARMY 10

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Christian Turner had two of Wake Forest’s four rushing touchdowns in the victory over Army.

The Demon Deacons (5-1) put on an early clinic in rushing offense against an Army team that favors an all-out running attack. Justice Ellison led Wake Forest running backs with 96 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown.

Sam Hartman threw a touchdown pass on his way to 246 yards on 13-for-19 passing. The Demon Deacons finished with 267 yards rushing.

Army (1-4) lost in its lone road game across a two-month stretch on the schedule. The Black Knights had 225 rushing yards.

NOTRE DAME 28, NO. 16 BYU 20

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Drew Pyne threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns, Michael Mayer caught 11 passes for 118 yards and two scores and Notre Dame beat BYU for its third straight victory.

The game was the 11th edition of Notre Dame’s annual Shamrock Series and marked the first time the Irish faced a fellow FBS Independent since a 44-6 victory over Army in 2016. The Irish opened 0-2 under first-year coach Marcus Freeman with losses against No. 3 Ohio State and at home to Marshall.

Jaren Hall was 9 of 17 for 120 yards with two touchdowns for BYU (4-2).

NO. 17 TCU 38, NO. 19 KANSAS 31

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Max Duggan passed for three touchdowns in the second half, the last a 24-yarder to Quinten Johnston with 1:36 left, to lift TCU past Kansas.

The Horned Frogs (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) are off to their best start since 2017.

Duggan was 23 of 33 for 308 yards and outdueled Kansas backup quarterback Jason Bean in a wild second half. Jalon Daniels, who led the Jayhawks to five straight wins for their best start since 2009, suffered an apparent injury to his right (throwing) shoulder late in the first half.

Bean was 16 of 24 for 262 yards and he became the first Kansas quarterback to throw for four touchdowns in a half since Todd Reesling in 2008. Kansas is 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

NO. 20 KANSAS STATE 10, IOWA STATE 9

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Adrian Martinez passed for 246 yards and rushed for 77 and Chris Tennant kicked a late field goal to lift Kansas State past Iowa State.

Tennant kicked a 30-yard field goal with 7:14 left in the fourth quarter to rally Kansas State (5-1, 3-0 Big 12).

Martinez finished 12-of-19 passing and rushed 19 times.

The Cyclone (3-3, 0-3) have scored just one touchdown in their last 20 possessions.