No. 12 Mississippi State strikes early in win over No. 6 Texas A&M

Dak Prescott threw two touchdown passes, added three Tim Tebow-style TD runs, and No. 12 Mississippi State upset No. 6 Texas A&M, 48-31, to emerge as a new contender in the Southeastern Conference West.

The Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) jumped out to a 28-7 lead in the first half and never let Kenny Hill and the high-scoring Aggies (5-1, 2-1) get close enough to threaten the lead — or quiet the Bulldogs fans and their clanging cowbells at Davis Wade Stadium.

Hill threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns, but was picked off three times by linebacker Richie Brown, who matched a school record. Prescott first plowed into the end zone for two short TDs and pretty much sealed the deal for the Bulldogs with an 11-yard quarterback draw to make it 48-17 in the fourth quarter. The junior finished 19 for 25 for 264 yards and ran for 77 yards.

Northwestern 20, No. 17 Wisconsin 14

Godwin Igwebuike had three interceptions and Justin Jackson rushed for 162 yards, helping the resurgent Wildcats pull off the upset.

Trevor Siemian threw for a touchdown and also had a key block on Miles Shuler’s 16-yard TD run as Northwestern (3-2, 2-0 Big Ten) earned its third consecutive win.

The Wildcats also had a nice day on special teams, with Jack Mitchell kicking two short field goals and punter Chris Gradone handing over poor field position to the Badgers for much of the afternoon.

Melvin Gordon had 27 carries for a career-high 259 yards and a touchdown, but Tanner McEvoy and Joel Stave combined for just 138 yards passing on a cold, damp afternoon at Ryan Field. Wisconsin (3-2, 0-1) had scored at least 20 points in 17 consecutive games for the second-longest such streak in school history.

No. 7 Baylor 28, Texas 7

Shock Linwood ran for 148 yards and the clinching touchdown and Baylor overcame a rare off day by quarterback Bryce Petty and the nation’s No. 1 offense to win.

With Petty misfiring, the Bears (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) won with tough defense, two big plays on special teams and a power running game that wore down Texas (2-3, 1-1) in the second half.

Terrell Burt scored Baylor’s first touchdown with a 62-yard return after a blocked field goal in the first quarter. A fake punt in the third set up Petty’s touchdown pass to Antwan Goodley. Linwood put it away with a short touchdown run in the fourth.

Texas held Baylor to 390 total yards, but only narrowly avoided its first shutout at home since 1976. Longhorns quarterback Tyrone Swoopes had three turnovers, including a fumble at the Baylor 1 just before halftime.

No. 13 Georgia 44, Vanderbilt 17

Hutson Mason threw two touchdown passes to Chris Conley, Todd Gurley ran for 163 yards with two scores for Georgia.

Georgia (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) used Gurley’s scoring runs of 4 and 14 yards and Mason’s first touchdown pass to Conley to take a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

Vanderbilt (1-4, 0-4) remained winless in the SEC.

Gurley’s first touchdown run, a 5-yarder, was out of the wildcat formation. He added a 14-yarder later in the opening quarter for a 14-0 lead.

Another direct snap to Gurley in the second quarter produced a twist. Instead of keeping the ball for a run as Vanderbilt’s defense expected, Gurley stopped and threw a wobbly left-handed pass to tight end Jeb Blazevich, who was wide open for the 50-yard completion.

No. 1 Florida State 43, Wake Forest 3

Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo kicked a career-high five field goals in a dominant win over Wake Forest.

The reigning Lou Groza Award winner also set a school record with 21 consecutive field goals on the season.

The FSU defense dominated the overmatched Demon Deacons (2-4, 0-2) and held them to 126 offensive yards, including 40 rushing. Linebacker Reggie Northrup forced and recovered a fumble and ran it 31 yards for a touchdown that put Florida State up 30-3 in the third quarter.

Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 297 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford was held to 58 yards passing and an interception.

The game took its toll on Florida State (5-0, 3-0) as leading receiver Rashad Greene (concussion) and starting center Austin Barron (arm) both left and did not return.

No. 20 Ohio State 52, Maryland 24

Ohio State marched up and down a field it had never seen before as if it owned the place, scoring on one quick drive after another to spoil Maryland’s Big Ten debut.

J.T. Barrett completed 18 of 23 passes for 267 yards and four touchdowns and also ran 16 times for 71 yards and a score. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 139 yards on 24 carries, and the defense had four interceptions to hush the first sellout crowd at College Park in nearly six years.

The 51,802 fans, at least those rooting for the home team, must’ve wondered what their great conference shift had wrought. Ohio State scored on drives lasting 3:01, 3:27, 1:18, 1:46 and 0:05 to take a 31-10 halftime lead. The Buckeyes (4-1, 1-0) have scored 168 points in three wins since losing to Virginia Tech.

Oklahoma State 37, Iowa State 20

Desmond Roland ran for 95 yards and two touchdowns and Tyreek Hill returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown for Oklahoma State in the win.

Brandon Sheperd caught a career-high eight passes for 91 yards and Jhajuan Seales added four catches for 75 yards and a score for the Cowboys (4-1, 2-0 Big 12). Hill had 148 yards in kickoff returns and 46 yards in punt returns. Daxx Garman passed for 271 yards and a touchdown and Ben Grogan made three field goals for the Cowboys.

The score was 6-6 when Roland scored as time expired in the first half. Hill’s kickoff return pushed the Cowboys’ lead to 20-6 in the opening seconds of the third quarter.

Sam B. Richardson passed for 200 yards and threw two touchdown passes to E.J. Bibbs. The Cyclones (1-4, 0-3) were held to 322 total yards.

No. 22 East Carolina 45, Southern Methodist 24

Shane Carden threw for 410 yards and four touchdowns to help East Carolina win in its American Athletic Conference debut.

Justin Hardy had three first-half touchdown catches for the Pirates (4-1, 1-0 AAC), who were playing with a national ranking for the first time in six years. Carden became the program’s career passing leader midway through the third quarter while ECU finished with 581 yards.

Still, it wasn’t the kind of performance coach Ruffin McNeill wanted from his team coming out of a bye week.

The Pirates ran out to a 21-0 lead before the offense looked as though it took its foot off the gas, while the defense never looked sharp against an SMU offense that had managed one touchdown all year.

The Mustangs (0-5, 0-1) finished with a season-high 390 yards and nearly made it a one-possession game early in the fourth.

Florida 10, Tennessee 9

Austin Hardin made a 49-yard field goal with 6:20 remaining as Florida erased a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

Florida (3-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied behind freshman quarterback Treon Harris, who led both of the Gators’ scoring drives after replacing an ineffective Jeff Driskel. Matt Jones rushed for 114 yards and had a 32-yard run to set up Hardin’s winning kick, which gave Florida its 10th straight victory over Tennessee (2-3, 0-2).

Tennessee drove into Florida territory before Keanu Neal sealed the victory by intercepting a Justin Worley pass at the Florida 23 with 51 seconds left.

Aaron Medley kicked three field goals for Tennessee.

Purdue 38, Illinois 27

Purdue gashed Illinois for 349 yards rushing and first-time starting quarterback Austin Appleby threw for a touchdown and ran for two more to lead Purdue to victory.

Appleby was 15 of 20 for 202 yards. He ran for another 76 yards on seven carries.

Akeem Hunt carried the ball 30 times for 177 yards and a touchdown.

The Boilermakers (3-3, 1-1 Big Ten) took a 24-14 lead on an 80-yard touchdown pass from Appleby to Danny Anthrop in the third quarter.

Big plays sank the Illini (3-3, 0-2). Besides the 80-yard touchdown, Purdue had plays of 62, 54 and 53 yards.

Air Force 30, Navy 21

Kale Pearson threw three touchdown passes, including a short strike to seal the game with 35 seconds remaining, as Air Force held off Navy, a significant step in the Falcons’ bid to claim the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the first time since 2011.

Pearson put Air Force (4-1) ahead for good on a 3-yard TD pass to Garrett Griffin in the third quarter. But Navy (2-4) rallied late and pulled to within a field goal. Air Force recovered the onside kick, and Pearson found Garrett Brown on fourth-and-2 from the 13 to clinch the win.

Navy’s Keenan Reynolds had a late TD pass, along with a 10-yard TD run in the second quarter. His run gave him 49 career scores, tying him with Ricky Dobbs for most in school history.

Army 33, Ball State 24

A.J. Schurr scored twice on short runs, Angel Santiago added a game-saving touchdown run in the waning moments, and Army’s potent ground attack was enough to hold off Ball State.

The win snapped a three-game slide for Army (2-3), which has won both of its games at home. Ball State (1-4) lost its fourth straight.

A steady rain fell for most of the game, and that played to the advantage of the Black Knights and their tough triple option. Averaging 316.5 yards rushing per game, Army racked up 236 yards on the ground in the first half alone, setting up Schurr’s touchdowns and two field goals by Daniel Grochowski. Santiago clinched it with an 11-yard run with 3:41 left after Ball State had rallied to within three points after trailing by 17.