Dillon Gabriel threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in another efficient performance from the Heisman Trophy front-runner, leading No. 1 Oregon to a 38-17 win over host Michigan on Saturday.
The Ducks (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) seemed to get a break on their first touchdown when Gabriel’s 2-yard pass to Evan Stewart appeared to be dropped, but they didn’t need much good fortune to stay unbeaten.
The Wolverines (5-4, 3-3) pulled into a 7-all tie on Davis Warren’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Morris, taking advantage of backup returner Ryan Pellum fumbling on a punt return. They trailed the rest of the game.
Gabriel finished 22 of 34 for 294 yards with a touchdown and sprinted up the middle for a 23-yard touchdown run to give Oregon an 18-point halftime lead.
NO. 2 GEORGIA 34, FLORIDA 20 >> Carson Beck threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns to offset three interceptions and the visiting Bulldogs escaped with a victory over the Gators.
Georgia (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) won its fourth straight in the series, its longest streak since winning six in a row between 1978 and 1983. The Bulldogs took advantage of Florida’s quarterback woes and a special teams error in this one.
Standout freshman DJ Lagway left the game on a cart in the second quarter with a left hamstring injury and with the Gators (4-4, 2-3) leading 10-3. Without him, it was mostly ugly.
NO. 4 OHIO STATE 20, NO. 3 PENN STATE 13 >> Will Howard threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns and the visiting Buckeyes’ defense made a late stand to lift Ohio State over the Nittany Lions.
Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) kept its hopes alive for a spot in the Big Ten championship game by beating the Nittany Lions (7-1, 4-1) for the eighth straight time. Howard, who believes Penn State thought he “wasn’t good enough” when it declined to offer the Philadelphia-area native a scholarship, exacted a measure of revenge in front of the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history (111,030).
NO. 5 MIAMI 53, DUKE 31 >> Heisman Trophy hopeful Cam Ward threw for 400 yards and five more touchdown passes, three to Xavier Restrepo on a record-setting day for both of them and the host Hurricanes (9-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) erased a double-digit deficit to roll past the Blue Devils (6-3, 2-3 ACC).
Ward now has 29 touchdown passes, tying Steve Walsh’s Miami season record set in 1988. A 66-yard scoring grab with 7:36 left was the big history-maker: Restrepo tied Mike Harley’s Miami career reception record with his 182nd, broke Santana Moss’ career receiving yards record with 2,573, and Ward tied Walsh’s TD pass mark for the Hurricanes.
TEXAS TECH 23, NO. 11 IOWA STATE 22 >> Behren Morton drove the visiting Red Raiders 71 yards for the winning touchdown with 19 seconds left, and Texas Tech (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) denied the Cyclones their best start in program history with an upset.
Tahj Brooks’s 5-yard touchdown run came after Iowa State (7-1, 4-1) had taken its first lead on Rocco Becht’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Carson Brown with 2:11 to play.
NO. 13 INDIANA 47, MICHIGAN STATE 10 >> Kurtis Rourke threw for 263 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Elijah Sarratt, and Amare Ferrell had two interceptions to lead the visiting Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) to a rout of the Spartans (4-5, 2-4) and their first 9-0 start in school history.
HOUSTON 24, NO. 17 KANSAS STATE 19 >> Zeon Chriss threw for 103 yards and a TD on 11 of 11 passing as the host Cougars (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) rallied in the fourth quarter to upset the Wildcats (7-2, 4-2). Chriss also rushed for 75 yards.