MVP Sims leads 'Bama to SEC title

ATLANTA, Ga. - Alabama left little doubt not only which was the top team in the Southeastern Conference, but where the league’s champion will be headed once the postseason pairings are announced Sunday.

Derrick Henry ran for 141 and two scores and Blake Sims passed for 262 yards and a pair of touchdowns on his way to MVP honors as Alabama captured its 24th SEC championship, 42-13 over Missouri Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Dome.

Alabama (12-1) is expected to be one of the four teams selected for the first-ever playoff in FBS and perhaps no team will go into the bowl season playing better. The Tuscaloosa school won its eighth consecutive game, six of which have come against ranked teams, and did it by out-scoring Missouri 21-0 in the fourth quarter to break open a close game.

The Eastern Division champion Tigers (10-3), which have lost in the title game in each of their first two seasons in the league, trailed just 21-13 with 4:37 to play in the third after Andrew Baggett’s 33-yard field goal.

But the final period belonged to the team making its ninth appearance in the conference’s annual winner-take-all game. Alabama used a steady dose of Christion Jones on the ensuing drive and it started with the senior taking the kick off from the goal line to the Alabama 36. Jones then had a pair of catches, one a 17-yard grab that took the Tide from around midfield to the 32 and the last an 18-yard catch where Jones started left and cut back towards the middle of the field and to the Missouri 1.

Jones capped the 10-play, 64-yard possession with a six-yard touchdown grab on the first play of the fourth and Alabama built a 28-13 cushion. It was 35-13 midway through the period after Henry galloped 26 yards for the first of his two scores, which sealed a 90-yard drive.

“Those two were statement drives from their standpoint. They came right back. That’s what good teams do,” said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel.

The Tigers had scored 10 straight third-quarter points, getting to within 21-10 on a touchdown toss from Maty Mauk to Bud Sasser on fourth-and-goal from the one. That was followed by Baggett’s field goal and it was a one-possession game. Missouri wouldn’t score again.

“(Missouri) did a great job of battling back in the third quarter,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban. “It was a real credit to our guys to respond to that. They’ve always responded the right way.”

Alabama marched down the field on its first offensive possession and took an immediate lead on a stunned Missouri defense.

The Tide went 68 yards in three and a half minutes with Sims completing all six of his throws, four of which went to Amari Cooper, including a 10-yard toss that set up first-and-goal at the Missouri 4. Two players later, T.J. Yeldon scooted in from a yard out and it was a 7-0 game.

Cooper’s 12 catches set a new SEC title single-game record.

Both defenses tightened up over the next quarter of play, though Alabama had a chance to make it a 10-point game before Adam Griffith was wide left on a 43-yard field goal attempt early in the second quarter.

After a Missouri punt, Sims found a wide-open DeAndrew White on the ensuing play from scrimmage and the senior wide out did the rest, scoring un-touched from 58 yards to put the Tide up 14-0. On the play, Missouri’s Shane Ray, a junior defensive end and the conference’s sack leader, was hit with a personal foul, targeting penalty when he hit Sims after the throw. That led to Ray’s ejection, though Missouri responded with its first scoring drive.

Jimmie Hunt made a great catch along the sideline for 33 yards to the Alabama 15, but the drive stalled after that. With eight and a half minutes to go until halftime Missouri settled for a 33-yard field goal by Baggett to pull to within 14-3.

Those were rare highlights in a frustrating first half for the Tigers, who collected just four first downs and 108 total yards.

“Alabama played well, they’re a great football team,” said Pinkel.

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Tech defense outshines Clemson’s in victory

ATLANTA, Ga. - It wasn’t a good day for Clemson quarterbacks, and Georgia Tech was more than happy to take advantage.

The Associated Press No. 24 Yellow Jackets returned two interceptions for touchdowns and held the No. 18 Tigers without a touchdown in a 28-6 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Clemson started the day as the No. 2 defense in the country in yardage allowed, thanks in large part to Rockdale High School graduate Grady Jarrett and Heritage alumnus Garry Peters, and was surrendering a third-best 18.4 points, but instead it was Tech’s defense (13th in yardage, 11th in scoring average in the Atlantic Coast Conference) that stood out.

After starter Deshaun Watson went out with a knee injury late in the first quarter, senior Cole Stoudt relieved the freshman and had a forgettable afternoon. Stoudt’s first pass came on a screen and was intercepted by Jamal Golden, who returned it 85 yards for a touchdown to put Tech up 6-3.

The Yellow Jackets (9-2, 6-2) led for the remainder of the day, continuing to pad their lead with field goals by Harrison Butker from 25 and 32 yards and a five-yard Justin Thomas-to-DeAndre Smelter touchdown that made it a 16-3 game early in the third. Thomas’ career-long rush of 65 yards to the Clemson 10 set up the touchdown.

“It was a just a simple fade route,” Thomas said of the touchdown toss. “We got a one-on-one match up in man (coverage) and DeAndre went up and made a good catch.”

Stoudt threw the last of his three interceptions to Tech’s Chris Milton, who returned it 65 yards for a score that made it 25-6 late in the third. On the previous possession, Zach Laskey had fumbled and Clemson’s Robert Smith recovered. Thanks to a dynamic day from the hosts’ defense, it didn’t matter.

“(Stoudt) was kind of expecting the receiver to be there and he wasn’t,” Milton said of his interception.

“What a huge play after we fumbled the ball,” said Tech coach Paul Johnson. “Not just to get a turnover, but to score off of it was huge.”

Clemson (7-3, 6-2) was held to just 190 total yards and could only muster field goals of 27 and 32 yards by Ammon Lakip, the last of which made it 19-6 with 5:47 to play in the third. The Tigers were held without a touchdown for the first time in 97 games with Tech also being the last team to keep the South Carolina school out of the end zone in September, 2007.

“Wow, what a game,” said Johnson. “We haven’t had a game like that defensively in a while. Today was the best game we’ve played defensively, bar none.”

A lot of that had to do with the fact that Watson suffered his second injury of the season. The freshman from Gainesville returned Saturday after missing the previous three games with a broken hand and had 40 rushing yards and was 5-for-7 passing before suffering the leg injury.

College football roundup

No. 24 Georgia Tech 56, N.C. State 23

Georgia Tech warmed up for its biggest game of the season with its most prolific rushing attack in over three years. Synjyn Days rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown and the Yellow Jackets racked up 479 yards on the ground in a blowout win at Carter-Finley Stadium.

The rushing total is the most for Tech since a 604-yard day in a win over Kansas in September, 2011. The win sets up a match up of top 25 teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season finale when Clemson, 7-2 and ranked No. 21 by the Associated Press, visits Tech (8-2, 5-2) next Saturday in Atlanta.

N.C. State (5-5, 1-5) led 13-7 after touchdown runs by Jacoby Brissett from 15 yards, and Matt Dayes (17). Tech followed with 28 unanswered points, starting with Days’ 53-yard scoring run late in the first. The Yellow Jackets’ defense got going after that as D.J. White returned an interception 38 yards and Quayshawn Nealy scooped up a fumble and had a 43-yard return for scores and a 28-13 lead midway through the second quarter.

Backup quarterback Tim Byerly accounted for three touchdowns, getting scoring runs of two yards, just before halftime, and a one-yard burst to cap a third quarter drive and highlight an 87-yard day on the ground. Byerly capped the Tech scoring by hitting Antonio Messick from 16 yards out and make it 56-16 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

Starting quarterback Justin Thomas and Matt Connors also had touchdown runs for the Yellow Jackets, who won their fifth consecutive game against the Wolfpack.

No. 20 Georgia 63, Kentucky 31

Hutson Mason had four touchdown passes as the Bulldogs bounced back from a loss to rival Florida.

Georgia (7-2) led 7-0 just 11 seconds into the game as Isaiah McKenzie took the opening kick off back 90 yards for score. It was 21-0 after one quarter, as Mason got the first of his touchdowns and Nick Chubb had an 18-yard scoring run, part of a 170-yard game on the ground for the freshman tailback.

It was the second 60-point effort for the Bulldogs this season after reaching that point plateau just once from 2005-2013.

The teams combined for 38 points in the second quarter with Kentucky pulling to within 35-24 on Patrick Towles’ one-yard touchdown with 16 seconds until halftime.

Georgia reasserted itself in the third as McKenzie made an impact again on special teams with a 59-yard punt return for a score. That made it a 49-24 game with about 11 minutes to go in the quarter.

No. 22 Duke 27, Syracuse 10

The visiting Blue Devils snapped a 10-10 tie with 17 fourth-quarter points to win the first meeting between the schools in 75 years.

Jamison Crowder returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown at the 12:45 mark of the fourth to get Duke started. After a field goal made it a 10-point game, Anthony Boone hit Issac Blakeney for a 54-yard touchdown to give the Blue Devils a 27-10 lead midway through the quarter.

It was just the third all-time meeting between the teams, who are new Atlantic Coast Conference rivals in 2014. Duke won the previous two meetings, in 1938 and 1939, which is also the last two times the Raleigh school won eight games in consecutive seasons. Duke, 10-4 a year ago, moved to 8-1 Saturday.

Syracuse, which lost for the seventh time in eight games and fell to 3-7 overall, tied the game at 10-10 on Mitch Kimble’s eight-yard scoring run with 5:18 left in the opening half.

No. 11 Mississippi 48, Presbyterian 0

The Rebels held the FCS Blue Hose to 156 total yards in snapping a two-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi offense rolled up 640 total yards, led by a potent rushing duo of Jordan Wilkins (171 yards, touchdown) and Mark Dodson (128 yards, two second-quarter touchdowns).

Vince Sanders also had 110 receiving yards and a pair of first quarter touchdowns for Mississippi (8-2), which had dropped consecutive SEC games to LSU and Auburn by a combined seven points.

Jarrett, Peters help Clemson defense stymie Wake

The Clemson defense put together another dominant performance and once again, a pair of former county standouts were a big reason why.

Rockdale graduate Grady Jarrett recorded his first sacks of the season, Garry Peters (Heritage) helped the Tigers’ secondary hold Wake Forest to less than four yards per pass attempt and Clemson won another Atlantic Coast Conference game 34-20 Thursday at BB&T Field.

Clemson (7-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which came into the night second nationally in average yards allowed at 268.6, held Wake Forest (2-7, 0-5) to well below that total. The Demon Deacons, losers of six consecutive games in the series, could only muster 119 total yards, though they did lose 76 yards on negative yardage plays and five Clemson sacks.

One and a half of those sacks belonged to Jarrett, the senior defensive tackle’s first of the season. Meanwhile, Peters had three pass breakups and did a nice job matched up most of the game against Matt James, a 6-5 freshman wide out who came into the night averaging 12 yards per catch but facing the 6-0 Peters was held to just three catches for 28 yards.

Jarrett and Peters were also part of a team-wide effort to shut down Wake after the hosts shocked the No. 21 Tigers with 17 first-half points. It was the most points the last-place Demon Deacons had scored in any first half this season, and it was a 17-17 game heading into the third quarter.

Clemson only allowed three more points the rest of the way on a Mike Weaver 30-yard field goal with 11:08 to go in the game. The Demon Deacons settled for the three-point try thanks to the efforts of Peters, a redshirt-senior, who made a nice play on a pass to James for an incompletion on third down.

A mistake-filled first half led to a number of scoring plays as the teams hit the halftime locker room all even.

Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt was intercepted by Kevin Johnson and the Demon Deacons turned that into a John Wolford-to-Cam Serigne four-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with just over a minute to go in the opening quarter. Wake Forest took advantage of a special teams turnover, but also gave one back on a special teams mistake of its own. Clemson punt returner Adam Humphries made an all-advised attempt to field a punt sailing over his head and it bounced off his hands and was recovered by Johnson. That led to the second touchdown catch for Serigne, this time from 14 yards to put Wake up 14-10.

On what was originally the final play of the second half, Clemson was flagged for a personal foul penalty on Wake Forest’s hail mary attempt as time expired. The Demon Deacons were allowed to run one more play and Weaver booted a 50-yard field goal to even things up at the break.

Midway through the second quarter, Wake punter Alex Kinal fielded a snap with his knee down, giving Clemson the ball at the 23 and the Tigers went up 10-7 two plays later on Stoudt’s 18-yard scoring pass to Wayne Gallman.

After Serigne’s second touchdown, Clemson went 75 yards in just over four minutes and took a 17-14 lead on Artavis Scott’s four-yard touchdown catch.

In nine games, Peters is fifth on the team with 33 tackles, including six tackles for loss and eight pass breakups. Jarrett, who is projected by NFLDraftScout.com to go in the first three or four rounds of next April’s NFL Draft, is right behind his former county rival with 29 tackles, six and a half of which have been for a loss.

Clemson will now play a pair of Atlanta schools in two consecutive weekends, starting with next Saturday’s conference regular season finale at Georgia Tech. The Tigers host Georgia State on November 22.

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Days, defense lead Jackets past Virginia

ATLANTA - Georgia Tech’s offense had a big-play first half to build a lead, while the second half belonged to the Yellow Jackets’ defense.

Synjyn Days rushed for a career-high 147 yards and a score and was one of three receivers with a touchdown, and the Tech defense pitched a second-half shut out in a 35-10 victory over Virginia at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Tech (7-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won for the third consecutive time in the series by an average margin of more than 25 points, built its lead with an impressive first 15 minutes.

The Yellow Jackets had six plays on their opening offensive possession and three went for at least 10 yards, including a pitch-and-catch between Justin Thomas and DeAndre Smelter for 10 yards, which preceded Deon Hill’s 14-yard touchdown run.

On Tech’s next possession, Thomas and Smelter hooked up on an 18-yard touchdown - Smelter caught the ball at the 2 and dove backwards into the end zone - with about four minutes to play in the first and it was 14-0.

Smelter, who picked up his fourth 100-yard game of the year, but his first since September 20 against Virginia Tech, had a 65-yard catch-and-run to the Virginia 6 late in the first. Then on the first play of the second quarter, Thomas found Darren Waller for an 11-yard score and it was 21-7.

In between the big plays for the Yellow Jackets, Virginia quarterback Greyson Lambert went 5-for-6 for 65 yards on a touchdown drive, including a 28-yard toss to Canaan Severin and a scoring pass to Zachary Swanson for 13 yards that made it a 14-7 game. The Cavaliers (4-5, 2-3) struggled after that, scoring for the final time when Ian Frye booted a 22-yard field goal to make it a 21-10 game with 4:18 to play in the first half.

Tech’s defense, which coming into the game had allowed an average of more than 28 points, was excellent for most of the day. The Yellow Jackets forced a fumble that was recovered by Virginia on the final play of the first half (the visitors from Charlottesville recovered each of their four fumbles), then over the final two quarters Adam Gotsis and Jamal Golden had interceptions in Tech territory to help the hosts hold Virginia to just 111 yards in the second half.

“I think we tackled a little better (and) I think our defensive coaches had a good plan,” said Tech coach Paul Johnson. “That’s the way I expect (the defense) to play every week.”

Days, who became the main weapon out of the backfield due in large part to Zach Laskey (shoulder injury) and Charles Perkins (knee) not playing and was the first 100-yard rusher against Virginia since Tech had three such runners in a victory last October, scored from four yards out to put Tech up 28-10 with 8:28 to go in the third. That capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive for the Yellow Jackets and Gotsis followed with his pick.

“He did some good things, he made some plays,” Johnson said of Days, a redshirt-senior.


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Led by Chubb, UGA wins fifth straight

Nick Chubb is proving more than capable of carrying the rushing load for Georgia.

Chubb had another huge game starting for suspended Todd Gurley, rushing for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 45-32 win over Arkansas last Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.

With Gurley still suspended for alleged rules violations, the freshman Chubb was fantastic once again. He ran for 143 yards on 38 carries October 11 at Missouri, then followed that by averaging 6.7 yards per carry as Georgia (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) won its fifth consecutive game in the first meeting between the schools since the Razorbacks’ victory in Athens in September, 2010.

“I think (Chubb) looked more comfortable (against Arkansas) because there was more space to run,” UGA coach Mark Richt told georgiadogs.com. “I thought Missouri did a great job defending the run. But in this last one, (Chubb had) a few bigger runs and a lot of it had to do with the space the line provided.”

Chubb wasn’t the only standout for a Bulldogs team that is averaging 43.4 points and improved to seventh nationally in scoring offense.

Quarterback Hutson Mason threw for two touchdowns, including a seven-yard strike to Michael Bennett, that, combined with two Chubb touchdown runs and Dominick Sanders’ 54-yard fumble return for a touchdown, allowed the visitors to out-score Arkansas (3-4, 0-4) 31-0 in the second quarter and turn a 7-6 lead into a 38-6 halftime advantage.

Chris Conley, who had 128 of Mason’s 179 passing yards, caught a 36-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter that put the Bulldogs up 45-19.

Though the Georgia defense surrendered at least 32 points for the third time, they forced four Arkansas turnovers, adding another fumble recovery and two interceptions of Brandon Allen.

Georgia is idle next week and will return to action November 1 against Florida in Jacksonville in the 93rd meeting between the old rivals. A Bulldogs win will give the Athens school its first four-game winning streak against the Gators since winning six straight from 1976-1983 (sports-reference.com/cfb).

Defense comes through for Knights in OT win

Central Florida had allowed a touchdown and gone down 24-10 to BYU with just over nine minutes to play in the third quarter of Thursday’s game. But that’s just when the Knights defense decided the visiting Cougars were finished scoring.

Justin Holman threw his second touchdown pass of the night on the first possession of overtime and the UCF defense forced an incompletion on fourth down of the ensuing drive as the Knights won 31-24 at Bright House Networks Stadium.

In a second half marred by mistakes and missed opportunities, UCF (3-2) had the last when Shawn Moffitt’s 50-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Mitch Mathews with four seconds to play in regulation. That kept the game tied at 24-24 and in the extra session, Holman rushed for six yards, and on the play BYU was hit with a personal foul penalty. That set up the hosts at the eight and three plays later, the sophomore Holman found William Stanback out of the backfield and Stanback did the rest, scoring from five yards to put UCF up 31-24.

Christian Stewart, making his first career start at quarterback for the injured Taysom Hill (leg fracture), ran for seven yards, then hit Devin Mahina and Mitchell Juergens each for five-yard completions to the UCF 8. Stewart was nearly intercepted by Brandon Alexander on second down and the senior quarterback picked up only two yards on a third down carry before throwing high to Jordan Leslie on the final play of the night.

BYU, which lost its second consecutive game after starting the year 4-0, led 24-17 early in the fourth and was looking for more when Terrance Plummer forced and recovered an Algernon Brown fumble at the UCF 13. It was part of a huge night for Plummer,  a senior linebacker, who added 17 tackles (4 1/2 for loss) and a sack. After both teams punted, Holman hit Josh Reese for a 37-yard touchdown with 10:17 to go that evened things up at 24-24.

Moffitt also missed from 46 yards with a chance to put the Knights ahead at the 6:11 mark of the fourth. Later, Holman was intercepted by Kai Nacua, but BYU couldn’t turn either bit of fortune into points.

The Cougars had erased a 10-0 deficit and gone ahead 24-10 thanks in large part to Stewart and an opportunistic special teams and defense. Stewart orchestrated a 10-play drive that culminated with a four-yard touchdown toss to Colby Pearson, tying the game at 10-10 in the beginning stages of the third. A BYU punt hit off the leg of UCF’s Sean Beckton and Brown recovered. Stewart then hit Mahina for a 15-yard touchdown that gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 17-10. On the ensuing drive, Holman was flushed from the pocket and his pass went off the hands of Breshad Perriman and was intercepted by Skye PoVey. Stewart again connected with Mahina, this time for a 14-yard score, and it was a two-touchdown cushion with 9:05 to go.

Holman had a five-yard touchdown run on a bootleg to cap the opening possession of the game and give UCF a 7-0 lead at the 8:54 mark of the first. It was 10-0 a minute later when Moffitt booted a 42-yard field goal. The final six offensive possessions of the first half for the Knights ended in five punts and the sixth came to a close when Sione Takitaki sacked Holman and recovered the eventual fumble with 35 seconds left until halftime.

Holman finished with a career-high 326 passing yards for the Knights, who improved to 2-7 all-time in overtime games.

Ground game helps Tech down Miami

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia Tech had all the time in the world on Saturday and the Yellow Jackets used it wisely.

##Tech held possession of the ball more than twice the amount of visiting Miami and stayed unbeaten with a 28-17 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

##Led by a punishing rushing attack (318 yards) and more than 40 minutes of possession, Tech (5-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a five-game losing streak to the Hurricanes.

##The game was tied at halftime, but the hosts used a nearly seven-minute drive to go ahead for the first time and for good. A pair of big third down conversions - Justin Thomas’ 10-yard toss to Tony Zenon on third-and-eight and after a timeout near midfield, Charles Perkins’ 25-yard scamper on third-and-four - helped get Tech to the Miami 20.

##On the final third down play of the drive, B.J. Bostic scored his first career touchdown from two yards and the Yellow Jackets led 21-14 with 8:10 to play in the third. Tech finished the game 9-of-14 on third-down conversions.

##Another drive that lasted nearly seven minutes included a 30-yard completion from Thomas to Zenon on third-and-16 and Tech went up 28-17 when on fourth and short Deon Hill scored from eight yards.

##“The way the game was going I thought we were moving the ball pretty well and that’s what we do,” Tech coach Paul Johnson said of the decision to go for it on fourth down. “We do it every day. It’s two yards, let’s go get it.”

##“We didn’t get off the field on third down on defense. We didn’t get a fourth down stop. We were just on the field too long (defensively),” said Miami coach Al Golden, who lost to Tech for the first time in four times as head coach. “We weren’t good enough.”

##Though he didn’t get into the end zone, Zach Laskey led the Yellow Jackets with 133 rushing yards, which not only tied his career high, but made the senior the 25th player in school history to rush for 1,500 yards.

##“Zach played hard. I thought he ran the ball really hard,” said Johnson.

##Miami (3-3, 1-2), which lost to Tech for the first time since November, 2008, had a pair of long touchdown drives in the opening quarter and led 14-7 after one.

##The Hurricanes started at their own eight late in the first, but used a pass interference penalty on Tech to get going. After a 37-yard pass play from Brad Kaaya to Phillip Dorsett and Duke Johnson’s 16-yard gain, Johnson had another carry and went untouched for a 24-yard touchdown.

##On the game’s opening possession, Miami went 75 yards in just six plays, also using a 15-yard Tech penalty on that drive and Kaaya hit Braxton Berrios on a perfect fade route in the corner of the end zone for a 21-yard score.

##In between, Tech got a one-yard touchdown run from Thomas. With 10 minutes to go on the second, Zenon tied things up when his six-yard scoring run made it 14-14.

Winston, 'Noles start title defense with win

Jameis Winston threw for 370 yards - 203 of which went to Rashad Greene - in Associated Press No. 1 Florida State’s 37-31 victory over Oklahoma State Saturday in Arlington.

Winston, the defending Heisman Trophy winner, led the national champion Seminoles (1-0) to their school-record-tying 17th consecutive victory, though it wasn’t easy. Oklahoma State (0-1), playing against an ACC school for the first time in its history, got to within 27-24 and 37-31 on fourth-quarter touchdown runs by J.W. Walsh.

Greene caught a 50-yard touchdown from Winston with just under four minutes left that made it a 37-24 game. That was one of 15 plays of 10 or more yards for Florida State, which included a 51-yard hook up between Winston and Greene that set up Mario Pender’s 11-yard scoring run in the second quarter and made it 17-0.

Walsh also threw for 203 yards and a touchdown for the Cowboys, who won all four games they played in the state of Texas a year ago.

Here’s a look at the rest of the ACC and SEC action from Saturday.

No. 2 Alabama 33, West Virginia 23

The Crimson Tide racked up 538 total yards to win their season opener at the Georgia Dome.

West Virginia (0-1), which lost for the fourth straight time to an SEC team, pulled even when Mario Alford had a 100-yard kickoff return, shaking the tackle attempt of Jabriel Washington at the 14-yard line, then out-running the remainder of the Alabama kickoff team to make it 17-17 with under two minutes to play in the first half.

That was as close as the Mountaineers got as a 41-yard field goal by Adam Griffith in the final seconds of the half made it 20-17, then Derrick Henry capped a six-play, 1:50 drive at the start of the third with a 19-yard scoring run that put the Tide up 27-17.

Henry (113 yards) and T.J. Yeldon (126 yards and two touchdowns) were a big reason why Alabama (1-0) had 288 yards on the ground and averaged six yards per carry.

No. 6 Auburn 45, Arkansas 21

The first half was a draw, but the second half belonged to the host Tigers.

Auburn (1-0), trying to return to the national championship game, snapped a 21-21 tie with 24 unanswered points in the second half, highlighted by a Nick Marshall 19-yard touchdown run and Jermaine Whitehead’s 33-yard interception return for a score in the third quarter.

A year after being limited to five yards on two carries against the Razorbacks, Cameron Artis-Payne had a career-high 177 rushing yards and a touchdown Saturday.

No. 7 UCLA 28, Virginia 20

The Bruins had three defensive touchdowns and hung on in just their second game ever against an ACC school.

UCLA built a 21-3 lead, thanks to Ishmael Adams (20-yard interception return), Randall Goforth (75-yard fumble return for a score) and Eric Kendricks (37-yard interception return), which all came in the second quarter.

Virginia (0-1), which dropped to 0-5 all-time against the Pac 12, climbed back into the game, starting with Matt Johns’ 29-yard touchdown toss to Andre Levrone with less than a minute to go in the opening half.

Johns hooked up with Darius Jennings for a 23-yard score midway through the third and it was 21-17. But Brett Hundley scored on a six-yard run with about a minute to go in the third and the visiting Bruins had some breathing room.

No. 13 LSU 28, No. 14 Wisconsin 24

The Tigers erased a 17-point, second-half deficit with 21 unanswered points to win in Death Valley.

Wisconsin (0-1) led 24-7 after Corey Clement’s two-yard scoring run early in the third. LSU (1-0) got started on its comeback with a pair of third quarter field goals by Colby Delahoussaye from 30 and 47 yards out.

In the fourth, Anthony Jennings hit John Diarse for a 36-yard touchdown, then Jennings found Trey Quinn for the two-point conversion to make it a 24-21 game. With 9:41 left in the contest, Kenny Hilliard scored from 28 yards to put the Tigers ahead to stay.

Melvin Gordon had 140 rushing yards and a touchdown for the Badgers, who lost their fourth straight road opener.

No. 23 North Carolina 56, Liberty 29

The Tar Heels trailed by a point early in the third quarter, but scored 28 unanswered points to pull away from the visitors from the Big South Conference.

Liberty, which was playing a nationally-ranked FBS team for the first time in its history, grabbed a 22-21 lead when Jacob Hagen returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown with 9:25 left in the third.

The rest of the day belonged to North Carolina (1-0) as Mack Hollins took a quick pass from Marquise Williams and sprinted down the sideline for a 33-yard touchdown, then Jeff Schoettmer returned an interception - one of six Liberty (0-1) turnovers - 19 yards for another score and a 35-22 lead.

Williams had two passing touchdowns and added two scores on the ground for the Tar Heels, who won their fourth straight home opener.

No. 24 Missouri 38, South Dakota State 13

Marcus Murphy returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to help the defending SEC East champion Tigers win their 13th consecutive season opener.

Missouri (1-0), which after going 12-2 a year ago is hoping for consecutive double-digit win seasons for just the second time in school history, held a slim, 21-18 lead four and a half minutes into the third after South Dakota State’s Zach Zenner picked up his second touchdown run from three yards.

Those were the last points of the day for the Jackrabbits. Murphy took the ensuing kickoff at the goal line and wasn’t touched on his way to putting the host Tigers up 28-18. Early in the fourth, Maty Mauk tossed the last of his three touchdowns to Bud Sasser from 29 yards and it was a 35-18 game.

Pittsburgh 62, Delaware 0

Pittsburgh came into Saturday’s game having lost its last two season openers. Unfortunately for the visiting Blue Hens, that streak didn’t continue.

James Conner rushed for 145 yards and four touchdowns and the Panthers defense held the visitors from the Colonial Athletic Association to just 71 total yards. Conner had a pair of scoring runs in both the first quarter (7, 8) and second (1, 19), part of a 407-yard game on the ground for Pittsburgh (1-0).

Delaware (0-1), which hasn’t beaten an FBS school since a win over Navy in October, 2007, had one of its 15 offensive possessions go for more than 11 yards, while six drives ended in turnovers.

Kentucky 59, UT-Martin 14

Patrick Towles passed for 377 yards, part of a 656-yard day for the Wildcats.

Towles connected with 10 different receivers, while Braylon Heard rushed for 116 yards and a pair of scores and Mikel Horton scored twice as well for Kentucky (1-0).

For UT-Martin (0-1), Jarod Neal had 173 passing yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Caylon Weathers that made it a 52-14 game late in the fourth quarter.

N.C. State 24, Georgia Southern 23

Matt Dayes’ 35-yard touchdown reception with a minute and a half to play was the difference as the Wolfpack avoided the home upset.

In the first FBS game in program history, Georgia Southern (0-1), led for nearly the entirety, including at 23-17 after a 31-yard field goal by Alex Hanks with three and a half minutes left.

Southern quarterback Kevin Ellison accounted for 300 total yards (184 passing, 116 rushing). For N.C. State (1-0), Jacob Brissett threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, the last of which was a toss to a wide-open Dayes down the right sideline to give the hosts their first lead of the day.

Mississippi State 49, Southern Miss 0

Dak Prescott threw for 284 yards and four scores, two each to De’Runnya Wilson and Fred Ross as the Bulldogs handed the Golden Eagles their 11th consecutive loss to an SEC team.

Southern Miss (0-1) also was shut out for the first time in 128 games, spanning more than a decade. The Golden Eagles were last kept off the scoreboard in a 17-0 loss to Utah in the Liberty Bowl in December, 2003, according to sports-reference.com.

Boston College 30, Massachusetts 7

Tyler Murphy collected 291 total yards of offense as the Eagles won for the eighth consecutive time in the series.

Murphy’s one-yard touchdown run with about three minutes to play in the third quarter gave Boston College (1-0) a 20-0 lead. The 6-2, 213-pound quarterback added a 43-yard touchdown toss to Josh Bordner in the early stages of the fourth quarter.

Massachusetts, which last beat their in-state rival in November, 1978, snapped the shutout when Tajae Sharpe caught a 77-yard touchdown from Blake Frohnapel with a minute and a half to play in the third. The Minutemen could only muster 202 yards of total offense.

Duke 52, Elon 13

Anthony Boone threw four touchdown passes - two each to Jamison Crowder and Issac Blakeney - and the Blue Devils had no trouble at home.

Duke (1-0), coming off the program’s first winning season since 1994, racked up 567 total yards and held Elon (0-1) without a touchdown until B.J. Bennett picked up two of his 87 rushing yards on a scoring run with 10:23 left in the game.

It was the second consecutive season Elon opened up with a blowout loss to an ACC school. The Phoenix lost at Georgia Tech 70-0 last August.

Virginia Tech 34, William & Mary 9

In his first career start at quarterback, junior Michael Brewer passed for 251 yards and a touchdown as the Hokies won at home.

Virginia Tech (1-0) led just 7-6 before Brewer found Bucky Hodges for an eight-yard touchdown and Joey Siye made field goals of 20 and 27 yards, the last of which came midway through the third and put the Blacksburg, Va. school up 20-6.

John Carpenter hit three field goals, accounting for all of the points for William & Mary (0-1), which lost for the 11th consecutive time in the series.

Smelter, Thomas lead Tech to season opening win

ATLANTA, Ga. - With less than a minute to play in the opening half of Saturday’s season opener, Georgia Tech found itself in the unenviable position of trailing by a point to Wofford. After a nice kickoff return and some time to think in the halftime locker room, things got back to normal for the Yellow Jackets.

DeAndre Smelter had a career-high 132 receiving yards and caught two second-half touchdowns as Tech pulled away in a 38-19 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Wofford (0-1) had life after Octavius Harden scored on a four-yard run to make it a 24-19 game with 9:49 remaining. That capped a 16-play drive that shaved over nine minutes off the clock for the Southern Conference school. But Tech, which had 16 plays of 11 yards or more, followed with a quick, three-play jaunt, highlighted by a 65-yard hook up between quarterback Justin Thomas and Broderick Snoddy to get to the Wofford 11. Zach Laskey scored on the next play and the Yellow Jackets had some breathing room at 31-19. Thomas, making his first career start, passed for 282 yards, 198 of which came in the second half, and added 71 on the ground.

“We hit some explosion plays, we had some big plays,” said Tech coach Paul Johnson. “(Thomas) settled down a little bit, he had a shaky first half. I thought in the second half he settled down.”

Wofford hit one big, scoring play to stun the hosts late in the first half. Backed up to its own eight-yard line on third-and-long with about a half-minute to go, Terriers’ halfback Ray Smith exploded for a 92-yard touchdown run, not only the fifth-longest scoring run in program history, but the longest rushing attempt for an opponent in Tech’s history.

That gave Wofford a 9-7 lead, but it turned out to be the only cushion the Terriers would enjoy as the defense couldn’t keep Tech off the scoreboard on the ensuing possession. Jamal Golden took the kickoff 40 yards to midfield, and on the second play of the drive, Thomas hit Tony Zenon for a 33-yard completion to the 13.

“That was a nice return,” Johnson said of Golden’s run. “Any time you can change field position it’s great, you got a short field it’s going to be huge.”

Harrison Butker, who earlier in the half had missed wide right on a 31-yard field goal, moved a yard closer and nailed a 30-yarder that gave the Yellow Jackets a 10-9 halftime lead.

“You had your share (of) big plays at big moments,” Wofford coach Mike Ayers said of his team. “But Georgia Tech seemed to answer each time.”

On the Yellow Jackets’ first possession of the second half, Thomas connected with Zenon for a 22-yard completion on fourth-and-five to the Wofford 19. On the next play, Thomas and Smelter hooked up on a beautiful slant pattern for a 19-yard touchdown and it was 17-9.

“To Justin and Tony’s credit, they executed nicely and caught the ball,” Johnson said of the fourth down play.

Wofford’s David Marvin booted a 51-yard field goal, the second-longest in school history, to make it a five-point game, but Smelter struck again. The senior caught a pass from Thomas on the first play from scrimmage near the right sideline and cornerback Bernard Williams tried to wrap up the 6-3, 222-pound wideout. The 5-9, 185-pound Williams wasn’t successful and Smelter broke free, running towards the opposite sideline and scoring to put Tech up 24-12 with about four minutes left in the third.

“I just expected to come out there and play hard,” said Smelter. “I know that if everybody does their job then we have a good chance at being productive.”

“We got to find a way to get DeAndre the ball, he’s a really good player,” Johnson added.

The Yellow Jackets wasted no time taking the lead with a dominant, nine-play opening drive, averaging more than eight yards per snap to go up 7-0 with 8:16 left in the first.

Thomas had a key, 16-yard scamper on third-and-five, Zenon added a 14-yard run to move Tech to the Wofford 4, and Laskey followed with the first of his rushing scores from four yards.

Wofford answered on the ensuing drive to pull to within four points late in the first. Terriers’ quarterback Evan Jacks took a draw and ran for 20 of his 91 yards to get deep into Tech territory, and though the drive stalled at the 22, Marvin booted a 39-yard field goal and it was a 7-3 game.

While Tech heads to New Orleans to play Tulane September 6, Wofford has the week off before its home opener September 13 against North Greenville.

Winston leads Seminoles to national title

In a fourth quarter full of excitement, the best player in college football engineered the final and most memorable collection of highlights.

Jameis Winston drove No. 1 Florida State 80 yards in a little over one minute and his two-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds to play lifted the Seminoles to a 34-31 victory over No. 2 Auburn in the BCS National Championship at the Rose Bowl.

Winston, who won the Heisman Trophy last month, was 6-of-7 for 77 yards on the game-winning drive. After struggling through much of the first three quarters, the redshirt-freshman was outstanding in the final period, throwing for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

“I said guys ‘we didn’t come here for no reason.’ I said ‘guys, this is ours. We control our own destiny,’ and those men looked me in the eye and said ‘we got this Jameis,’” Winston said of the final drive. “We are champions together, everything we went through…I’m proud to say I’m a Florida State Seminole.”

“Jameis grew up today, tonight was probably the best football game he’s ever played,” said fourth-year Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher. “These kids are special, this group never faltered. They wanted to be elite, they wanted to go to the top.”

Winston became just the sixth player to win the Heisman and play for an undefeated national championship team, leading Florida State (14-0) to its first national crown since 1999 and third overall.

But for a while Monday it looked like a fellow Heisman finalist would be the hero. Auburn’s Tre Mason, one of six finalists for the game’s top honor, had a beautiful touchdown run, breaking one tackle in the open field and scoring from 38 yards to give Auburn a 31-27 lead with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Before that, Devonte Whitfield returned a kick off 100 yards to give Florida State its first lead of the night, 27-24 with four and a half minutes to play in the game.

Auburn once held an 18-point lead, but the advantage was sliced to 21-20 early in the fourth when P.J. Williams intercepted Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall at the Florida State 44. Winston then began his phenomenal fourth quarter, going 3-of-3 for 40 yards on a quick, five-play drive that culminated with an 11-yard touchdown toss to Chad Abram.

Auburn (12-2), which was trying to win its second national title in four years, took a four-point lead with 4:42 remaining in the game when Cody Parkey, who had missed his first field goal opportunity in the second quarter, booted a 23-yarder to make it 24-20.

Florida State got on the board first with an opening quarter field goal by Roberto Aguayo. Winston hooked up with Rashad Greene for a 29-yard completion on third-and-16 - Auburn cornerback Chris Davis fell down on the play, which helped to get Greene free - though Winston was sacked by Nosa Equae on another third down play and the Seminoles had to settle for Aguayo’s 35-yarder.

Auburn took its initial lead late in the first.

The Tigers had a great punt, pinning Florida State to its own 2, then the Seminoles went three-and-out and punted. Blessed with excellent field position after a 22-yard return by Davis, Mason caught a screen pass from Marshall and ran un-touched for a 12-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead.

It was the first time Florida State had trailed in a game since September 28 against Boston College.

The deficit grew to the Seminoles’ largest since that same Boston College team held a 14-point cushion. Mason had a 23-yard scamper to the 38, the Seminoles were hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on the play and Marshall followed with a 50-yard touchdown toss to a wide open Melvin Ray and it was a 14-3 game.

Winston’s first half struggles continued midway through the second quarter as his fumble set up Auburn for another scoring drive.

On a scramble, Winston had the ball stripped by Angelo Blackson and Anthony Swain recovered for the Tigers. Marshall had a nice throw-and-catch with Quan Bray to the Florida State 12, and Marshall eventually scored from four yards to put the SEC champions up 21-3.

Shut down for nearly the entire first half, Florida State used a fake punt to try and swing some momentum back in its favor. It worked when on fourth-and-four the Seminoles used a direct snap and end-around to Karlos Williams, who ran for a seven-yard first down. Winston rebounded as well, scooting 21 yards on third-and-seven to the Auburn 3 and Devonta Freeman scored from three yards to get the ACC champions to within 21-10 just before halftime.

Aguayo’s 41-yard field goal midway through the third made it a 21-13 game.

“We got it down to a one score game, our kids believed,” said Fisher. “These kids are special.”

Mason, who was coming off an SEC title game-record 303 rushing yards, finished with 195 rushing yards Monday. Marshall threw for 217 yards for Auburn, which had its nine-game winning streak snapped.


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UCF knocks off Baylor in highest-scoring Fiesta Bowl

Glendale, AR - The Central Florida football team made plenty of history on New Year’s Day.

Storm Johnson ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns and Blake Bortles accounted for four touchdowns as the Associated Press No. 15 Golden Knights defeated No. 6 Baylor 52-42 in the Fiesta Bowl.

In the first BCS bowl for either school, and in the final year of the BCS, Central Florida snapped a 28-28 tie and took the lead for good with two scores late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Bortles, who threw for 301 yards, found Breshad Perriman for a 10-yard touchdown that gave the American Athletic Conference champions a 35-28 lead with 5:38 to play in the third.

A minute and a half into the fourth, Bortles capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run that made it a 42-28 game.

Central Florida (12-1) set the school-record for wins in a season and won their third straight bowl game. In 10 years at the Orlando, Florida school, coach George O’Leary has gone from an 0-11 record in his first season in 2004 to a school-record for wins, including the biggest one in the school’s history.

Big 12 champion Baylor (11-2), which was playing on New Year’s Day for the first time since the 1981 Cotton Bowl, got within 42-35 on a nine-yard scoring run from Giasco Martin, but Johnson exploded for a 40-yard touchdown run and Shawn Moffitt booted a 36-yard field goal and Central Florida led 52-35 with just over five minutes left in the game.

The teams came into the night with highly-rated offenses - Baylor was the nation’s leader in total offense and scoring, while Central Florida was no slouch averaging over 33 points - and neither unit disappointed. The 94 points set a Fiesta Bowl record, topping the 86 scored in the 1996 game when Nebraska won the national title, 62-24 over Florida.

Central Florida, which improved to 3-3 in bowl games since playing in its first one in 2005, never trailed, but didn’t pull away from Baylor until Bortles’ touchdowns.

The Golden Knights got off to a stunning start, getting two Johnson touchdowns within the first 7:14 of the game. UCF drove 76 yards in six plays, going up 7-0 when Johnson scored from 11 yards at the 11:24 mark of the opening quarter.

Later, Johnson scooted in from two yards out to make it 14-0 midway through the quarter.

Thanks to a 29-yard run by Lache Seastrunk on a third-and-short that got Baylor to the 8, the Bears pulled to within 14-7 on a one-yard run by Bryce Petty with 3:49 to play in the first.

That was the start of a big night for Petty, who rushed for two more touchdowns and added two other passing scores. He and Bortles alternated touchdowns on the next four possessions, which included Petty flipping into the end zone from 13 yards out and Bortles hooking up twice with Rannell Hall - one a 50-yard screen pass that Hall used his elusiveness to turn into a touchdown and the last a 34-yard scoring strike that put Central Florida up 28-20 just before halftime.

Early in the third, Petty’s scooted in from a yard out and also reached the end zone on the two-point conversion to even things at 28-28.

Hewitt, Marshall top Maryland in Military Bowl

Rakeem Cato threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns as Marshall defeated Maryland 31-20 in the Military Bowl Friday.

Maryland (7-6) had taken a 20-17 lead when C.J. Brown found Dave Stinebaugh for a two-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. That was all the scoring Maryland would do, while Essray Taliaferro scampered in for the go-ahead touchdown from seven yards at the 12:05 mark of the fourth, and Cato capped the scoring with his third touchdown toss of the day, an eight-yard strike to Gator Hoskins with under four minutes to play.

The Terps, whose last bowl appearance was a victory in the 2010 Military Bowl, went scoreless over the final 14:56 thanks to a Thundering Herd defense, which includes Rockdale graduate Neville Hewitt, that allowed just 40 total yards in the fourth.

“I would like to say how proud I am of our football team, coaching staff both offensively and defensively,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday told herdzone.com.

Marshall (10-4), which won its third consecutive bowl game and defeated an ACC team for the first time since a victory over Clemson in September, 1999, led 17-13 at halftime, thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Cato to Tommy Shuler (one yard) and Hoskins (eight yards). Maryland got a pair of field goals from Brad Craddock to help make it a four-point game at the break, before the teams played a scoreless third.

Hewitt, a junior linebacker in his first year with the Huntington, West Virginia school after transferring from Georgia Military College, finished the year second on the team with 85 tackles (30 solo) and added two and a half sacks.

Sim's career day, Tech defense lead to easy home win

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia Tech certainly didn’t treat its visitors from the Football Bowl Subdivision well this season. David Sims rushed for a career-high 111 yards and the Yellow Jackets scored on each their first eight offensive possessions in a 66-7 victory over Alabama A&M at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

It was the second time Tech (7-4) had its way with a team from the FBS after a season-opening, 70-0 victory over Elon

While the Yellow Jackets’ triple option had its finest game of the season, rushing for a season-high 428 yards and averaging more than eight yards per carry, the Tech defense was just as dominant.

Alabama A&M (4-8), which came in averaging just 17 points, didn’t get their initial first down until 54 seconds remained in the first half. Quarterback Jaymason Lee followed with a 21-yard completion to Toriono Upshaw as the Bulldogs crossed into Tech territory for the first time.

The visitors from Huntsville, Alabama had just 252 total yards, though they ended the shut out late in the fourth quarter when Lee hooked up with Demario Ross on a 20-yard touchdown, part of a 112-yard receiving day for Ross.

Sims had already reached his career high, passing the 107 he collected October 26 against Virginia, when he scampered for a 39-yard touchdown that made it 45-0 with 6:29 to play in the second quarter.

Sims had the big play of the opening drive of the game, scooting 39 yards before Robert Nelson made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 4. Two plays later, Synjyn Days took over at quarterback and scored from two yards out for a 7-0 Tech lead. Days made the most of his only two carries of the game, adding an eight-yard scoring run - his first two-touchdown game since 2011 - to put the hosts up 31-0.

Tech went into the halftime locker room up 52-0 and set a modern record for the program’s highest-scoring half.

Alabama A&M helped out quite a bit, turning the ball over three times in the opening half, and each miscue led to a Tech touchdown.

Terrance Pride had an ill-advised interception when his pitch was picked off by Tyler Marcordes on A&M’s second play from scrimmage. Tech wasted little time making it a two-score game as Robert Godhigh rushed for 15 yards and Zach Laskey followed with a six-yard touchdown for a 14-0 cushion five minutes into the game.

Jabari Hunt-Days forced a Pride fumble late in the second quarter and Jimmie Kitchen recovered for the Yellow Jackets. Three plays later, Matt Connors scored the first of his two touchdowns from one a yard out to make it a 52-0 game.

Jaymason Lee also had a fumble that Quayshawn Nealy scooped up and returned 18 yards for a score.

“Well, it was a different kind of game. We clearly had control of the game fairly quickly in the first half,” said Tech coach Paul Johnson. “I don’t how much you can tell about a game like that (but) it’s a good win.”

After the lopsided victory, Tech will now get ready for rival Georgia. The Bulldogs played late Saturday against 2-8 Kentucky, and both the Athens school and Tech should each head into next week’s rivalry game with 7-4 records.

“Now we get ready for next week,” Johnson said of the Georgia game, which will be played at Bobby Dodd Stadium Saturday at 3:30 p.m. “I think it’s a big game and it’s a game we haven’t played particularly well the last couple years and we need to play better."

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