Breaking News
Home / News / COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRAP

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRAP

By Arnie Leshin 
Surprising Liberty fell from the unbeaten ranks, so did Wisconsin, but the likes of top-ranked Alabama, 3rd-ranked Ohio State, 7th-ranked Cincinnati, 8th-ranked Brigham Young, 11th-ranked Oregon, 15th-ranked Coastal Carolina, 19th-ranked Northwestern, and 20th-ranked Southern California all got through Saturday college football maintaining their unblemished records.
No doubt no contest in the Crimson Tide’ s 63-3 romp over visiting Kentucky. But Ohio State, after piling up a 28-7 lead over the previously undefeated visitors from No. 9 Indiana and then holding off a late challenge as the Hoosiers had the ball at their own 35 with 1:37 remaining but couldn’t get past midfield on four tries. They used their final time out and failed on three long passes. The Buckeyes advanced to 4-0 and Indy dropped to 4-1.
Florida, now 6-1, was behind early in its 35-17 win over Vanderbilt, but wiped out a 7-0 deficit with three touchdowns in the second quarter, Then there was Cincinnati winning its seventh straight by coming from behind on the road to get past Central Florida, 34-23. BYU, up there as the 8th ranked, had no problem winning its eighth in a row by rolling to a 41-7 halftime lead over North Alabama and it was 66-14 at the final whistle.
But No. 10 Wisconsin dropped its first of three outings when it took the road to unbeaten, No. 19, Northwestern (5-0) and lost a tight one, 17-14, on a fourth quarter field goal. In Oregon, the Ducks had to turn back a last-effort bid from UCLA when the Bruins, trialing 38-35, went for the win over a chance to tie things with a field goal when  on fourth down on the Oregon 11, a pass was dropped and the Ducks became 4-0.
At Mississippi State, the unranked Bulldogs provided 13th-ranked Georgia with a tight first half, trailing only 14-10, before losing 31-24 on a late other Bulldog drive that put it at 6-2.
In the Bedlam Brawl at 18th-ranked Oklahoma, in came state rival, 14th-ranked Oklahoma State, and it was quickly down 21-0 as the red-hot Sooners (6-2) combined defense with three straight touchdowns on their first three possessions, with true freshman quarterback, 6-1, 205 Spencer Rattler, passing for two and running 11 yards untouched for the other, in an impressive 41-13 triumph that moves them closer to yet another Big 12 championship game and a sixth consecutive title.
In what was the fourth win in a row for Oklahoma, Rattler found 10 different receivers as he finished with a quartet of TDs threw the air. On the ground, it was swift, shifty, hard running 6-foot, 246-pound Rhamondre          Stevenson scoring twice and grinding out 182 yards on 25 carries. In all, the Sooners picked up 295 rushing yards and Rattler added 278 by making good on 19 of 26 throws.
It was 26-13 Oklahoma at halftime followed by a scoreless third quarter and the Cowboys couldn’t reach the end zone in the entire second half as the Oklahoma D smothered them, holding them it to but a touchdown and three field goals and winning over its state rival for the seventh straight time.
And when the visitors cut the gap to 28-13 early in the fourth quarter, the Sooners put their offense in gear again to add two touchdowns and a field goal and State left with a 5-2 overall mark and 4-2 in conference, and now holds the tiebreakers over both Oklahoma State (4-2) and Texas (4-2). At the top of the standings is Iowa State (6-1) after it blew out fading Kansas State, 48-0.
But 22nd-ranked Liberty, the lone undefeated team to arrive as the underdog, played at 5-and-a-half favorite North Carolina State, gave up the first points, a touchdown to trail 7-0, tied it 7-all at halftime, was down 15-7 in the fourth quarter before getting to within the final score of 15-14, as time ran down. Liberty had been on a school-record 8-0 run and the unranked Wolfpack advanced to 5-3.
Auburn, ranked 23rd, trailed 10-0 at unranked Tennessee before taking a 17-10 lead at intermission and leaving with a 30-17 final.
It was a Saturday of the missing. Coronavirus pandemic postponements came among No. 4 Clemson at Florida State, No. 12 Miami at Georgia Tech, and No. 22 Texas at Kansas. Teams with a bye off-day were 2nd-ranked Notre Dame, 5th-ranked Texas A & M, 16th-ranked Marshall, and 24th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette. The Irish are 8-0, Clemson 7-1, Miami 7-1, and Texas 5-2. Marshall has won its first seven and Louisiana-Lafayette is 7-1.
And on Thursday night, 25th-ranked Tulsa (6-2) quickly fell behind, 14-0, at unranked Tulane, trailed 14-6 at the half, then put together a 21-0 run midway through the final quarter and prevailed 30-24.

Check Also

God’s Encouraging Word of the day

“Happy are the people whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” …