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Florida stops LSU while Ohio State escapes upset bid and Oklahoma wins in a rout

Florida players celebrate after defeating Louisiana State in Baton Rouge on Saturday.
(Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
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Florida’s defense stuffed Louisiana State’s Derrius Guice on a do-or-die run from the one-yard line in the final seconds and the No. 23 Gators held on for a tension-filled 16-10 victory that clinched the Southeastern Conference East Division.

The stop capped a defensive struggle in which No. 16 LSU converted a fourth-and-10 play on its final drive, only to get stopped on back-to-back runs from the one to end the game. Fullback J.D. Moore came up short on third down.

Florida quarterback Austin Apppleby completed only seven of 17 passes, but one of his connections went for a pivotal 98-yard touchdown to Tyrie Cleveland. Eddy Piniero scored the rest of Florida’s points on field goals of 36, 24 and 34 yards.

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LSU (6-4, 4-3 SEC) controlled most of the game and held considerable statistical advantages, outgaining Florida (8-2, 6-2) 423 yards to 270 and holding possession for 34:02. But on three occasions, the Tigers failed to score after driving inside Florida’s 10 — the first time because of Guice’s fumble in the first half and the second time because of a botched field goal in the third quarter.

The loss likely cost the Tigers a Sugar Bowl bid.

No. 2 Ohio State 17, Michigan State 16

Mike Weber ran for 111 yards and a touchdown and the Buckeyes held on for the victory in East Lansing, Mich., against the upset-minded Spartans, who failed on a two-point conversion with 4:41 remaining.

Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) can now move on to next weekend’s showdown with rival Michigan, but only after withstanding a spirited challenge from a Michigan State team that derailed the Buckeyes’ national title bids in two of the previous three seasons. The Spartans (3-8, 1-7) were down 17-10 when LJ Scott scored on a one-yard run with 4:41 to play. Michigan State went for the lead, but Tyler O’Connor’s pass on the two-point conversion attempt was intercepted in the end zone.

The Spartans got the ball back one more time, at their own 20 with 2:04 remaining. Tyquan Lewis sacked O’Connor on the first play, and then Gareon Conley intercepted him on the second.

Scott ran for 160 yards and also scored on a 64-yard catch-and-run in the first minute of the game, but the Ohio State defense didn’t allow much more after that. J.T. Barrett threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel in the first quarter, and the score was tied at 10 at halftime.

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Weber’s four-yard TD run in the third gave the Buckeyes the lead for good.

No. 12 Oklahoma 56, No. 14 West Virginia 28

Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and the Sooners scored four times off turnovers to beat the Mountaineers in Morgantown, W.Va.

Oklahoma (9-2, 8-0 Big 12) turned a marquee matchup into a rout from the start, building a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter before the Mountaineers tried a late comeback. The Sooners kept their long-shot playoff hopes alive and can win the conference title in their regular-season finale in two weeks.

West Virginia (8-2, 5-2) was eliminated from the conference race. The Mountaineers entered the game with the league’s top scoring defense but had too many weapons to cover and made far too many miscues.

Samaje Perine ran for 160 yards and two TDs, Joe Mixon had 147 yards and a score, and Dede Westbrook had 100 yards receiving, including a 75-yard TD. After Oklahoma’s hot start, the Sooners kept the ball mostly on the ground. Mayfield finished 9 of 15 for 169 yards, all season lows.

West Virginia’s Justin Crawford rushed for 331 yards, the third-highest total in school history. Skyler Howard threw for two TDs and ran for two more scores. His 37-yard TD toss to Ka’Raun White pulled the Mountaineers within 41-28 with 10 minutes left in the game. But West Virginia got no closer.

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No. 1 Alabama 31, Chattanooga 3

Jalen Hurts passed for three touchdowns and ran for 68 yards to help the Crimson Tide overcome a slow start against the FCS Mocs and pull away for a win in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

With the offense struggling to get going, Alabama (11-0) spotted the Chattanooga (8-3) the game’s first three points and didn’t really shake them until late in the third quarter. The defense had a more Bama-like performance, and hasn’t given up a touchdown in 13 quarters.

Hurts was 15 of 21 for 136 yards a week after torching Mississippi State for 347 yards. He had a 47-yard TD pass to Calvin Ridley and added two 1-yarders to Gehrig Dieter, including one in the final minutes that made the score look a little closer to what most expected.

Damien Harris rushed for 91 yards, and a touchdown and Ridley gained 94 yards on seven catches.

No. 3 Michigan 20, Indiana 10

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De’Veon Smith ran for two touchdowns in a 3:33 span late in the third quarter, finishing with a career-high 158 yards rushing, to help Wolverines shake off the Hoosier in Ann Arbor, Mich.

John O’Korn made his first start for Michigan (10-1, 7-1), replacing the injured Wilton Speight, and struggled to lead an offense that was averaging 45 points and 232 yards passing.

O’Korn completed seven of 16 passes for just 59 yards. His best play was a 30-yard run, escaping a collapsed pocket on third down to set up Smith’s 34-yard run that put the Wolverines up 13-10 with 4:02 left in the third. Smith’s 39-yard run later in the quarter put them ahead 20-10.

Richard Lagow was 14 of 29 for 191 yards for Indiana (5-6, 3-5).

No. 4 Clemson 35, Wake Forest 13

Deshaun Watson rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another score as the Tigers clinched a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game with the win at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wayne Gallman rushed for a season-high 161 yards and two touchdowns, including a 42-yarder on fourth-and-inches that started the scoring for the Tigers (10-1, 7-1).

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Playing with something to prove after a last-second loss to Pittsburgh was its first in the regular season in nearly two full years, Clemson reeled off touchdowns on its first four possessions to take a 28-0 lead and then essentially went into protection mode while holding the Demon Deacons to 197 yards — their fewest since the opener against Tulane.

Watson was 23 of 33 for 202 yards and sandwiched a pair of short scoring runs around a pretty 15-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams, checking out after Gallman’s second TD with 10:50 to play.

Cade Carney had a 1-yard touchdown run and Mike Weaver kicked field goals of 42 and 23 yards for Wake Forest (6-5, 3-4).

No. 7 Wisconsin 49, Purdue 20

T.J. Watt returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown and the Badgers scored 35 points in the final 8 1/2 minutes of the first half during the victory at West Lafayette, Ind.

Alec Ingold and Bradrick Shaw each scored twice during the flurry, helping the Badgers (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) to their fifth consecutive win overall and their 11th in a row in the series.

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They can clinch the West Division title and earn a spot in the Dec. 3 conference championship game with a victory next weekend.

Purdue (3-8, 1-7) closed out its home schedule with a sixth consecutive loss, five under interim coach Gerad Parker.

No. 8 Penn State 39, Rutgers 0

Tyler Davis kicked a career-high four field goals and the Nittany Lions stayed in the hunt for a berth in the Big Ten Conference title game with the win in Piscataway, N.J.

Saquon Barkley and Andre Robinson scored on short third-quarter runs and the Nittany Lions (9-2, 7-1) limited Rutgers (2-9, 0-8) to 87 yards in total offense in winning their seventh straight game, their longest streak since 2011.

The win kept Penn State tied for first place in the Big Ten East with Ohio State and Michigan , who face each other in Columbus, Ohio. If the Buckeyes win and the Nittany Lions take their home finale against Michigan State, Penn State goes to the title game, having beaten the Buckeyes in the regular season.

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No. 11 Oklahoma State 31, Texas Christian 6

Mason Rudolph ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score as the Cowboys earned a Big 12 title shot with their win in Fort Worth, Texas, their seventh consecutive victory.

The Cowboys (9-2, 7-1) will be conference champions if they beat ninth-ranked Oklahoma in their regular-season finale after an open date.

Oklahoma State scored on its only two drives in the third quarter to go ahead 24-6. Chris Carson had a bruising 19-yard TD run when he got through three tacklers and Rudolph scored on a two-yard keeper immediately after a 63-yard catch-and-run by Chris Lacy, who dragged a defender almost 15 yards before finally being brought down.

TCU (5-5, 3-4) had a chance to take the lead in the final minute of the first half after a 40-yard run by quarterback Kenny Hill. But Kyle Hicks took direct snaps in a wildcat formation on consecutive plays from the 1, getting stopped short on a third-down run and then overthrowing an open receiver.

Justice Hill had 154 yards rushing on 16 carries for Oklahoma State, and Carson had 146 yards on 17 carries. Lacy had four catches for 109 yards, setting up his three-yard TD in the first quarter with a 30-yard catch.

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No. 15 Auburn 55, Alabama A&M 0

Jeremy Johnson accounted for three touchdowns and the Tigers made the most of their final tuneup before the Iron Bowl with a rout in Auburn, Ala.

Starting in place of the injured Sean White, Johnson was 14 of 19 for 147 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two more. It was Johnson’s first start of the season and the first game he received substantial playing time in since the opener against Clemson, and he led the charge for a wire-to-wire win on Senior Day.

Kerryon Johnson ran for 108 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries before being lifted for freshman Kam Martin at halftime. Kamryn Pettway, who entered the week leading the SEC in rushing, missed his second consecutive game with a left leg injury. Among the other Tigers to sit out the final home game of the season were running back Stanton Truitt, H-back Chandler Cox and cornerback Carlton Davis.

Auburn (8-3) outgained Alabama A&M (4-7), 598-130, and had its first shutout since the first game of the 2008 season. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn let Johnson orchestrate the offense while he was in during the first half, and he filled in well for White. The Auburn defense let out its frustration from last week’s loss on the Bulldogs, who didn’t eclipse 100 total yards until late in the third quarter.

No. 17 Florida State 45, Syracuse 14

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Dalvin Cook ran for 225 yards and four touchdowns to become Florida State’s career rushing leader during the win at Syracuse, N.Y.

Cook entered the game needing 19 yards to break Warrick Dunn’s 20-year old school record for rushing (3,959) and did so with a 41-yarder in the first quarter. He finished the first half with 104 yards to become just the sixth player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to reach 4,000 yards and the first to do it in three years.

Florida State (8-3, 5-3) won for the fifth time in six games and handed Syracuse (4-7, 2-5) its third straight loss.

Syracuse starting quarterback Eric Dungey again warmed up before the opening kickoff but did not play for the second straight game. The sophomore has been out since suffering a vicious hit to the shoulder-head area in the first quarter against Clemson two weeks ago.

No. 18 Nebraska 28, Maryland 7

Terrell Newby ran for a career-high three touchdowns, Ryker Fyfe passed for 220 yards and a score filling in for injured starter Tommy Armstrong Jr., and the Cornhuskers stayed alive in the Big Ten’s West Division with the win in Lincoln, Neb.

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Nebraska (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) must win at Iowa on Friday and Wisconsin must lose to Minnesota on Saturday for the Cornhuskiers to go to the conference championship game.

Maryland (5-6, 2-6) lost for the sixth time in seven games and has been outscored, 149-13, over three weeks.

No. 21 Western Michigan 38, Buffalo 0

Zach Terrell passed for a career-high 445 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Broncos remain undefeated with the win at Kalamazoo, Mich.

Corey Davis had 13 catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns, breaking the Mid-American Conference record for career receptions. Davis also holds the MAC records for career yards receiving and touchdown catches.

Michael Henry added six receptions for 121 yards as the Broncos (11-0, 7-0, No. 21 CFP) stayed in contention for a major bowl bid. They need a win against Toledo next week and a victory in the MAC championship to have a chance at the Cotton Bowl.

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Jordan Johnson had 95 yards rushing for the Bulls (2-9, 1-6).

No. 25 Texas A&M 23, Texas San Antonio 10

Jake Hubenak threw for 248 yards and a touchdown and Myles Garrett had 4 1/2 sacks to help the Aggies get back on track with the win at College Station, Texas.

Texas A&M (8-3) was in desperate need of a victory after consecutive losses to Mississippi State and Mississippi ruined their shot at the College Football Playoff.

The Roadrunners cut the lead to 3 points early in the second quarter after a one-handed touchdown grab by Josh Stewart. The Aggies then scored the next 13 points, capped by a 47-yard run by Trayveon Williams to make it 23-7 in the third quarter.

UTSA (5-6) was led by Jared Johnson, who threw for 186 yards and a touchdown.

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