ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and No. 1 Georgia shut down No. 2 Tennessee’s high-powered offense, dominating the Volunteers 27-13 on Saturday in an SEC showdown of the nation’s top-ranked teams.
Georgia (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference. No. 3 CFP) turned the 25th regular-season matchup of the top two teams in the AP poll into rout that made clear the defending national champions are still the team to beat.
In a deafening and soggy Sanford Stadium, Georgia led 27-6 before Tennessee scored its first touchdown with 4:15 remaining.
Bennett threw scoring passes of 37 yards to Ladd McConkey and 5 yards to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint in the first half. Bennett also had a 13-yard scoring run.
Hendon Hooker, who entered as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner after taking down Alabama last month, passed for only 195 yards for Tennessee (8-1, 4-1) and was sacked six times by star defensive tackle Jalen Carter and the Bulldogs’ defense.
Hooker threw an interception, lost a fumble that nearly resulted in a safety for Georgia and didn’t throw a touchdown pass.
Tennessee’s final possession ended with Hooker dropped for no gain on a fourth-down run with less than 3 minutes remaining. The Volunteers came in averaging almost 50 points per game.
NO. 2 OHIO STATE 21, NORTHWESTERN 7
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Miyan Williams ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns as the Buckeyes held on in rainy and windy conditions.
The Buckeyes (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten, No. 2 CFP) came in tied with Tennessee in the AP poll but didn’t score until the closing minutes of the first half, when Emeka Egbuka ran it in from the 15.
Williams gave Ohio State the lead with a 27-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He made it 21-7 when he scored from the 2 with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the game after C.J. Stroud broke a 44-yard run.
Stroud, the Big Ten leader in yards passing, set a career low with 76. He completed just 10 of 26 passes in his only game this year without a touchdown throw.
Evan Hull ran for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats (1-8, 1-5), who dropped their eighth straight, matching their worst skid since 1998.
NO. 7 TCU 34, TEXAS TECH 24
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Derius Davis returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown and Kendre Miller ran for the go-ahead score early in the fourth quarter as TCU reached 9-0 for the first time since 2010.
Davis caught one of Max Duggan’s two fourth-quarter TD passes for the Horned Frogs, 6-0 in the Big 12.
The Red Raiders (4-5, 2-4) went ahead 17-13 in the third quarter on Tyler Shough’s 33-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Sparkman.
Miller surpassed 100 yards rushing for the sixth time in seven games, finishing with a season-high 158 yards on 21 carries. Duggan was 12 of 23 for 195 yards without an interception, giving him 24 TDs and two picks.
NO. 8 OREGON 49, COLORADO 10
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Bo Nix completed 20 of 24 passes for 274 yards and two TDs and caught a touchdown pass to key the rout on a windy day.
Oregon dialed up the gadget plays, including an offensive lineman catching a touchdown pass and a linebacker scoring from short, becoming the first FBS team to have a receiving TD from an offensive lineman, a receiving score from a quarterback, and a rushing TD by a defensive player in the same game since at least 1996, according to research provided by Oregon.
It was the eighth straight win for the Ducks (8-1, 6-0 Pac-12, No. 8 CFP) since a season-opening loss to No. 1 Georgia.
Offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. caught a 4-yard TD pass to open the scoring and linebacker Noah Sewell scored on a 1-yard plunge. Even Nix got into the trick-play act by catching an 18-yard touchdown pass from tailback Bucky Irving.
Freshman receiver Jordyn Tyson had five catches for 137 yards for the Buffaloes (1-8, 1-5), including an 81-yard score before being hurt late.
MICHIGAN STATE 23, NO. 14 Illinois 15
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) —Payton Thorne passed for 182 yards and two touchdowns as Michigan State ended a troubling week on a positive note and kept alive its bowl hopes.
The Spartans (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten), who were without eight suspended players, stopped the Illini five times on fourth down. Illinois turned the ball over on downs three times in the red zone and went a combined 7 of 23 on third- and fourth-down attempts.
Spartans wideout Jayden Reed got loose for a 16-yard touchdown reception for a 23-7 lead with 2:57 to go and the defense did enough to halt a late comeback effort. Quarterback Tommy DeVito and the Illini (7-2, 4-2) stalled at the Spartans’ 25 when time expired.
NO. 16 PENN STATE 45, INDIANA 14
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Kaytron Allen ran for 86 yards and scored a season-high three times to as the Hoosiers lost their sixth straight.
Penn State (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) has won eight of the last nine in the series with Indiana (3-6, 1-5).
Nicholas Singleton started the scoring for Penn State with a 1-yard TD run. After Jack Tuttle tied the score with an 11-yard TD pass to AJ Barner, the Nittany Lions quickly took control.
Allen scored on runs of 11 and 6 yards on back-to-back, second-quarter possessions and Jack Pinegar closed out the half with a career-long 50-yard field goal to make it 24-7.
Allen’s 6-yard TD run in the third quarter sealed the victory.
NO. 17 NORTH CAROLINA 31, VIRGINIA 28
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Drake Maye threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as North Carolina rallied after halftime for the win.
Elijah Green scored twice and Josh Downs caught 15 passes, including a touchdown, for the Tar Heels (8-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 17 CFP), now 5-0 in league play for the first time since 2015.
Maye finished 26 for 37 for 293 yards and ran for 74 yards. Downs’ catches went for 166 yards.
Brennan Armstrong, Xavier Brown and Ronnie Walker ran for scores for the Cavaliers (3-6, 1-5), who were playing without three starting wide receivers and lost for the fifth time in six games.
KANSAS 37, NO. 18 OKLAHOMA STATE 16
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Devin Neal ran for 224 yards and a touchdown and had 110 receiving yards for Kansas to key the upset.
The Jayhawks (6-3, 3-3 Big 12 Conference) are bowl-eligible for the first time since 2008.
Kansas had 351 yards rushing, with Neal setting career highs in both rushing and receiving yards. Jason Bean went 18-for-23 passng for 203 yards with two touchdowns while rushing for a 72-yard touchdown.
The Cowboys (6-3, 3-3) played without quarterback Spencer Sanders. Freshman Garrett Rangel threw interceptions on the Cowboys’ first two drives and went 27 of 40 for 304 yards and two touchdowns. Bryan Green had nine catches for 105 yards.
NO. 19 TULANE 27, TULSA 13
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tyjae Spears ran for 157 yards and a touchdown and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson gained 106 as Tulane dominated on the ground.
Tulane (8-1, 5-0 American Athletic Conference) had lost the past two meetings with Tulsa (3-6, 1-4) in overtime.
The Hurricane gained 357 yards on the ground, with Spears and Johnson each running the ball 14 times.
Michael Pratt completed 11 of 19 passes for 125 yards for Tulane.
PITTSBURGH, 19, NO. 22 SYRACUSE 9
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rodney Hammond ran for a career-high 124 yards and a touchdown while filling in for injured Israel Abanikanda as Pittsburgh handed Syracuse its third straight loss.
The Panthers (5-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) relied heavily on Hammond and a defense that kept Orange redshirt freshman quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson in check in his first career start. Pitt sacked Del Rio-Wilson six times and limited the Orange (6-3, 3-2) to 145 total yards.
C’Bo Flemister added a short touchdown run for Pitt as the defending ACC champions righted themselves after three losses in four games.
Andre Szmyt hit three field goals for the Orange, who likely will fall out of the AP Top 25.
NO. 23 LIBERTY 21, ARKANSAS 19
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Johnathan Bennett threw three touchdown passes in the first half and Liberty used a late goal-line stop on a 2-point conversion to hang on.
Liberty (8-1) stopped KJ Jefferson’s conversion attempt with 1:11 left. The Razorbacks (5-4) scored 19 unanswered points on a field goal, safety, two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. Jefferson took a shotgun snap up the middle on the conversion try and was marked short of the end zone near the goal line. Officials upheld the call after more than two minutes of review.
Liberty raced to a 21-point lead behind Bennett’s three first-half TD passes. Bennett finished 15 of 25 for 224 yards. But the Flames were outgained 250- 79 in the second half.
Jefferson was 23 of 37 passing for 284 yards with two touchdown passes, both to tight end Trey Knox, and two interceptions.
Arkansas entered with the sixth-ranked rushing game in FBS, averaging more than 244 yards. Liberty held Arkansas to 144, including just 60 from Rocket Sanders, the ninth-ranked rusher in the nation.
NO. 25 UCF 35, MEMPHIS 28
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Mikey Keene passed for 219 yards and three touchdowns and RJ Harvey rushed for 151 yards and a score as UCF handed the Tigers their fourth straight loss.
Keene was pressed into his first start of the season for UCF (7-2, 4-1 American Athletic Conference) after quarterback John Rhys Plumlee suffered an injury in last weekend’s upset of nationally ranked Cincinnati.
Keene rallied the Knights, who were held scoreless in the third quarter, by tossing two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The first was a 13-yarder to Kobe Hudson early in the fourth quarter for a 28-21 UCF lead.
Quarterback Seth Henigan passed for 284 yards and a touchdown to lead Memphis (4-5, 2-4) but was intercepted twice. Henigan also led the Tigers with 69 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The Knights held Memphis scoreless on three trips inside the UCF 10-yard line in the first half.
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