>>Alabama Survives LSU
Despite a late fourth-quarter turnover, Alabama is still alive in the national championship race.
Blake Sims threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to DeAndrew White in overtime to boost the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide to a 20-13 win over No. 14 LSU Saturday night.
T.J. Yeldon fumbled at the Alabama 6 with 1:13 left, and Colby Delahoussaye kicked a 39-yard field goal to give LSU the lead with 50 seconds remaining.
Sims, though, led Alabama down the field with some clutch plays and Adam Griffith's 27-yard field goal with three seconds left forced OT.
The Crimson Tide got the ball first in OT, and White caught Sims' looping pass on the right side of the end zone.
Anthony Jennings then threw four straight incompletions to end the game. The final attempt to the end zone was knocked away to finish the fourth overtime game since 2005 between the foes.
>>Oregon Dominates Utah
Led by an Oregon convoy, Joe Walker raced into the end zone while Utah was celebrating an apparent touchdown at the other end.
It was a 14-point swing in the matter of seconds and the Utes never recovered.
Marcus Mariota threw three touchdown passes and ran in another as the fifth-ranked Ducks defeated No. 20 Utah 51-27 on Saturday night.
Utah was set to take a 14-0 lead after Kaelin Clay beat the Oregon secondary for what looked like a 79-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.
There was just one problem. He celebrated too soon.
On a 3rd-and-5 at the Utah 21, Travis Wilson fired a strike to a streaking Clay over the middle near the Oregon 40. Clay beat Erick Dargan in a foot race en route to the end zone but dropped the ball in celebration at the 1 prior to crossing the goal line.
The ball lay in the end zone for a few seconds as the referee never signaled for a touchdown. After a brief scuffle in the end zone and another fumble, Walker picked up the loose ball and ran 100 yards the other way along the right sideline to tie the game at 7-7.
As the play was under review, Clay was in disbelief on the Utah bench and lowered his headband over his eyes as the referee confirmed the Oregon touchdown.
It was the beginning of a 24 straight points for the Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12), who clinched the Pac-12 North with the victory.
Mariota was 17-of-29 for 239 yards and carried the ball 18 times for 114 yards. Royce Freeman gained 99 yards rushing with a score on 15 totes and Dwayne Stanford caught a pair of TD passes in the triumph.
>>Ohio State Outlasts Michigan State
J.T. Barrett threw three touchdown passes and added two scores on the ground, leading the 13th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes to a 49-37 victory over No. 7 Michigan State in the first-ever November night game at Spartan Stadium.
Ohio State avenged its loss to Michigan State in last year's Big Ten Championship Game and now has the inside track at reaching this year's title game. The Buckeyes also remained in the mix for college football's four-team playoff.
Barrett completed 16-of-26 passes for 300 yards for the Buckeyes (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten), who set a Big Ten record with their 21st straight regular-season conference win. Barrett also carried the ball 14 times for 86 yards.
Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries for Ohio State, which has won seven in a row. Devin Smith caught six passes for 129 yards and a score.
Connor Cook connected on 25-of-45 passes for 358 yards and two touchdowns for the Spartans (7-2, 4-1), who had won 13 straight Big Ten games.
>>TCU Dominates K-State
Trevone Boykin failed to stick the landing on a somersault into the end zone, but it was an otherwise flawless performance for the TCU quarterback on Saturday.
Boykin accounted for 342 yards and four touchdowns and No. 6 TCU made its national title case by routing No. 9 Kansas State, 41-20, in a Big 12 showdown.
What was billed as an elimination game for the inaugural college football playoff turned into a one-sided affair, with the Horned Frogs (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) gashing the Wildcats' vaunted defense for 553 yards.
Boykin did most of the damage with 219 yards and a TD on 23-of-34 passing while adding 123 yards and three scores on the ground, including an acrobatic run early in the third quarter that ended with him being flipped into the end zone.
Aaron Green ran for 171 yards and a touchdown for TCU, which forced a three-way tie atop the conference. The Horned Frogs will be heavy favorites against Kansas, Texas and Iowa State the rest of the way and will likely move up from No. 6 in the playoff rankings.
>>Texas A&M Upsets Auburn
Kyle Allen threw four first-half touchdowns and Auburn lost a pair of fumbles in the final minutes, as Texas A&M produced a 41-38 victory over the No. 3 Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday.
Allen ended up with 277 yards passing on 19-of-29 attempts for the Aggies (7-3, 3-3 SEC), as Josh Reynolds posted two TD receptions and Malcome Kennedy and Ricky Seals-Jones one apiece.
Kennedy led all receivers with 118 yards on just four grabs, while Reynolds totaled six catches for 88 yards.
Nick Marshall completed 15-of-21 passes for 219 yards, two scores, an interception and a costly fumble for the Tigers (7-2, 4-2), who nearly completed a comeback from a 35-17 halftime deficit. He also ran for 67 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Cameron Artis-Payne rumbled to 221 yards and two TDs on 30 carries, but coughed up the ball twice, the final time on a potential go-ahead scoring chance with 2 1/2 minutes left in regulation.
>>Arizona State Crushes Notre Dame
Taylor Kelly accounted for four touchdowns to outduel a mistake-prone Everett Golson, and 11th-ranked Arizona State vaulted itself into the College Football Playoff conversation with a thrilling 55-31 victory over No. 8 Notre Dame.
The Sun Devils roared out to a 34-3 first-half lead by converting three Golson turnovers into touchdowns, then warded off a furious comeback attempt by the Fighting Irish before pulling away late for their fifth straight win.
Golson threw a career-high four interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns by Damarious Randall and Lloyd Carrington, and lost a fumble to offset a 446-yard passing day and likely end Notre Dame's hopes for a selection in the end-of-the-year playoff.
The Irish (7-2) entered the matchup 10th in the latest playoff rankings, one spot behind Arizona State (8-1), which also got seven sacks from its swarming defense in addition to the five takeaways.
NCAA Top-25 Football (College Football Playoff Rankings)
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#1 Mississippi State Bulldogs 45, Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks 16
#2 Florida State Seminoles 34, Virginia Cavaliers 20
#11 Ole Miss Rebels 48, Presbyterian Blue Hose 0
#12 Baylor Bears 48, #15 Oklahoma Sooners 14
#18 UCLA Bruins 44, Washington Huskies 30
#19 Arizona Wildcats 38, Colorado Buffaloes 20
#20 Georgia Bulldogs 63, Kentucky Wildcats 31
#22 Duke Blue Devils 27, Syracuse Orange 10
Texas Longhorns 33, #23 West Virginia Mountaineers 16
#24 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 56, NC State Wolfpack 23
#25 Wisconsin Badgers 34, Purdue Boilermakers 16
