Tag: Football

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Gunner Stockton passed for 289 yards and four touchdowns, including three to tight end Lawson Luckie, and No. 9 Georgia overcame Trinidad Chambliss and No. 5 Mississippi’s powerful offense to rally for a 43-35 win over the Rebels on Saturday.

Georgia (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied after trailing 35-26 at the start of the fourth quarter. Stockton’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Luckie with 7:29 remaining gave Georgia a 40-35 lead.

Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1) was denied its first road win over a top 10 team under coach Lane Kiffin even though the Rebels scored touchdowns on their first five possessions.

Stockton completed 26 of 31 passes and added a 22-yard scoring run in the crucial SEC showdown.

“It was a great day,” Stockton said. “We just played for each other and that’s the best part of our team.”

Stockton and the Bulldogs had no turnovers.

In previewing the game, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said winning at Georgia would mean the Rebels have taken “another step” in their move up the SEC. That looked likely when they scored touchdowns on each of their first five possessions, taking a nine-point lead in the third quarter.

Suddenly, the Ole Miss offense lost its magic as Georgia did not give up another first down.

Following the first punt of the game by either team with 12:44 remaining, Stockton led a nine-play, 67-yard drive capped by the 7-yard scoring pass to Luckie that gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the second half.

Following another stop by Georgia’s defense, Stockton led a 10-play drive to set up Peyton Woodring’s third field goal of the game, a 42-yarder, to stretch the lead to eight points with 2:06 remining.

Ole Miss: When Georgia’s defense found a way to deliver stops on back-to-back possession in the fourth quarter, the Rebels defense couldn’t make a similar stand with the game on the line. The Rebels’ first loss likely won’t cause a significant drop in the AP Top 25. … Chambliss completed passes to eight targets in an impressive distribution of offense. Chambliss had a 16-yard run on a fourth-down play in the third quarter.

Georgia: The Bulldogs can be expected to move up in the Top 25 following the important home win. … The secondary had to overcome the loss of free safety Kyron Jones, the team’s fourth-leading tackler who is out indefinitely with a foot injury. Georgia lost receiver Colbie Young to an ankle injury after his 36-yard catch on a flea-flicker on the opening drive.

Ole Miss: The Rebels visit No. 14 Oklahoma, which won 26-7 at South Carolina, next Saturday.

Georgia: The Bulldogs are off before playing Florida on Nov. 1 in Jacksonville.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — If Julian Sayin hadn’t already established himself as a Heisman Trophy contender, the Ohio State quarterback certainly strengthened his case on Saturday.

“He’s the truth,” Carnell Tate said after catching two of Sayin’s four touchdown passes in the top-ranked Buckeyes’ 34-0 victory over Wisconsin. “He’s the Heisman winner, ain’t no questions, ifs ands or doubts. Each and every week, he goes out and proves he’s the Heisman winner.”

Tate may be a bit biased after catching six of Sayin’s passes for 111 yards against Wisconsin. But in his first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, Sayin is putting up numbers that demand Heisman consideration.

Sayin went 36 of 42 for a career-high 393 yards against the struggling Badgers. He has completed 80% of his passes this season for 19 touchdowns with three interceptions.

Of course, it helps to be throwing to two of college football’s top receivers.

Jeremiah Smith is a Heisman contender in his own right in an impressive follow-up to his sensational freshman season. Tate helped put Saturday’s game away early by scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter.

“We’ve got two guys who, when it’s one-on-one and you’re looking both sides, I have full confidence that both these guys are going to go score a touchdown for us,” Sayin said.

Ohio State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) has an average margin of 25.8 points during an 11-game win streak, which started with its four College Football Playoff victories during its run to the national title last season.

The Buckeyes have won their first seven games this season by an average margin of 30.6 points.

“That’s collectively as good a team as I’ve prepared for or played against in all phases, just across the board,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said.

Wisconsin (2-5, 0-4) has suffered back-to-back shutout losses for the first time since 1977, when the Badgers fell 42-0 to Ohio State and 22-0 to Purdue in successive weeks. Wisconsin was coming off a 37-0 home loss to Iowa.

The Badgers have lost their last five games by an average margin of 25.2 points and have dropped their last 10 matchups against Power Four conference teams.

“To not find a way to put points on the board will never give us a chance,” Fickell said. “We know we have to find a way to be able to do that, and we’ve got to get a hell of a lot better at it.”

Ohio State outgained Wisconsin 491-144.

This loss was painful for the Badgers in multiple respects, as injured running back Darrion Dupree missed the game and running back Dilin Jones left in the first half with an upper-body injury. Fickell said after the game that outside linebacker Christian Alliegro broke his arm in the first half and kept playing.

Sayin passed to Tate for a 33-yard touchdown on Ohio State’s first drive and a 10-yard score with four seconds left in the opening period. Both touchdowns came in third-down situations.

On Tate’s first touchdown, he caught a third-and-11 pass across the middle between two defenders and hung on despite losing his helmet as he came down.

Sayin also threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Will Kacmarek late in the third quarter and a 13-yarder to Brandon Inniss in the fourth.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes are allowing just 5.9 points per game, the lowest average for any Bowl Subdivision team. They had no trouble shutting down a Wisconsin team that has scored just 13.3 points per game, the lowest average for any Power Four program.

Wisconsin: The Badgers were outscored 17-0 in the first quarter for a second straight week, never giving themselves a chance of competing. A brutal schedule will make it tough for them to turn things around. The visit from the Buckeyes started a four-game stretch in which Wisconsin plays three teams ranked eighth or better: Ohio State, No. 8 Oregon and No. 3 Indiana.

Ohio State: Off next week before hosting Penn State on Nov. 1.

Wisconsin: At No. 8 Oregon next Saturday.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Diego Pavia threw for 160 yards and a score and ran for 86 yards and two more touchdowns as No. 17 Vanderbilt beat 10th-ranked LSU 31-24 on Saturday to snap a 10-game skid against the Tigers.

Vanderbilt never trailed in what was the fourth meeting since 1947 with both schools ranked in the AP poll. Vanderbilt (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) beat LSU for the first time since 1990.

The Tigers (5-2, 2-2) had some big plays with Garrett Nussmeier throwing for 225 yards and two TDs, including a 62-yarder to Zavion Thomas. Caden Durham also had a 51-yard run down to the Vandy 2 before the Commodores forced LSU to settle for one of four field-goal attempts.

That wasn’t enough against a Vanderbilt offense that came in seventh in the nation averaging 43.2 points a game. The Commodores scored the most points LSU has given up this season with a defense ranked fifth in the country allowing 11.8 points a game.

Vanderbilt punted only twice, both times in the fourth quarter.

LSU’s best chance came after the first Vandy punt trailing 31-24 with 8:55 left. Zaylin Wood sacked Nussmeier on the first play. LSU had to punt the ball back three plays later and never threatened after that.

LSU: The Tigers struggled to run against a Vandy defense that came in ranked 16th nationally. LSU settled for too many field goals by Damian Ramos, who made kicks of 48, 42 and 23 yards. He missed a 52-yarder.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores not only are assured of extending the longest run in program history in the AP Top 25 to a sixth straight week, they will move up at least a spot. This is their second win over a ranked program this season.

No more fun trips to Music City?

LSU had the edge with plenty of purple filling the stands for what traditionally had been a fun trip to Music City. Vanderbilt just countered by cranking up the volume on the speakers, and Tigers’ fans started heading to the exits in the final minutes.

After the final second ticked off, Vanderbilt started the celebrating playing “Callin’ Baton Rouge” while safely protecting both goalposts.

LSU: Hosts No. 4 Texas A&M on Oct. 25.

Vanderbilt: Hosts No. 16 Missouri on Oct. 25.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Carson Beck had not thrown four interceptions in any college game. He hadn’t lost a home game as a starter since his senior year of high school. He was undefeated when playing against unranked opponents.

All that was true until Friday night.

Miami’s hopes for a perfect season are gone, after the second-ranked Hurricanes — they’ll surely drop when the new AP Top 25 is released Sunday — lost 24-21 to Louisville. Beck took the blame afterward, after becoming the first Miami quarterback in 12 years to be intercepted four times.

“I have to protect the ball better. That can’t happen,” Beck said. “It’s unacceptable. Again, credit to them. They made some really good plays and played really hard. But at the same time, a lot of those mistakes … didn’t have to happen.”

His numbers were solid, except for that very important column showing the four interceptions. He was 25 of 35 passing — a 71.4% completion percentage — for 271 yards. He got hit a few times but was never sacked. That formula typically is good enough to win.

And Louisville didn’t score off any of Beck’s giveaways, either. Thing is, the Cardinals (5-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) didn’t need any more points. Wasting four drives in a one-score game was just too much for Miami (5-1, 1-1) to overcome.

“When you play really good teams, and you’re playing conference football, the margins are really small,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “One-possession games reign supreme at this time of year. And if you give away plays, it’s going to get you. You know what? Tonight, it got us. Lesson has to be learned and we have to go do something about it. Talking about it ain’t going to do anything.”

Beck was 17-0 as a collegiate starter in home games (including his time at Georgia as well) and was 24-0 when he played against unranked opponents. He was intercepted four times in his final 30 passes on Friday night — after being intercepted four times in his previous 316 passes over a 12-game span.

“He’s an NFL quarterback,” Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said.

Beck simultaneously pointed the finger at himself and lauded the way Louisville’s defense played. Of his first three interceptions, Beck said one was simply a great play by the Cardinals and two were mistakes on his end. And the last pick, with inside of a minute left and Miami in field-goal range down by three points, came on a play where the Hurricanes didn’t execute.

“I think there was a miscue or miscommunication of the play and the routes that were supposed to be run,” Beck said. “And then the guy was able to undercut it because we weren’t in the right place. It is what it is. … We had a good play called.”

All is not lost for Miami. The Hurricanes have six regular-season games remaining and all six of those teams had at least two losses entering Saturday. None is currently ranked, which means Miami would figure to be favored in all six of those contests.

“It’s a good thing that we play 12 games and not just one,” Beck said. “We have six more opportunities. And this game doesn’t define us. Just because this game went bad doesn’t just throw away the first five games that we had.”

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miller Moss threw two touchdown passes to Chris Bell and ran for a score, Louisville intercepted four of Miami star Carson Beck’s passes and the Cardinals got one of the most significant wins in their history by topping the second-ranked Hurricanes 24-21 on Friday night.

Louisville (5-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got touchdowns on its first two drives for a quick 14-0 lead, and the Hurricanes (5-1, 1-1) trailed the rest of the way.

Louisville also snapped Miami’s 10-game home winning streak. The last team to win at Miami? That was Louisville, in 2023.

The Hurricanes were in field-goal range, but Louisville’s TJ Capers intercepted Beck’s pass at the 30 with 32 seconds left to seal the win.

Moss completed 23 of 37 passes for 248 yards, and Isaac Brown ran for 113 yards on 15 carries for Louisville. Bell had nine catches for 136 yards, his TD grabs going for 35 and 36 yards.

Beck completed 25 of 35 passes for 271 yards for Miami. The Hurricanes had little success rushing the ball, generating only 63 yards on 24 carries against a Louisville team that came into the right with the No. 1 defense in the ACC.

Louisville came into the game 1-8 against teams ranked Nos. 1 or 2 in the AP poll. The win was over then-No. 2 Florida State, a 63-20 romp in 2016.

And on the road, there had never been a night like this for the Cardinals. They were 0-18 against Top 10 teams in true road games before Friday. Most of them weren’t even close: Louisville dropped those games by an average — an average — of 26.3 points.

Miami got to 14-10 at the half and trailed 17-13 going into the fourth, but Moss’ 36-yard scoring grab with 13:27 remaining gave the Cardinals a two-score lead again. Beck — who threw two interceptions in the first half — had another picked off on the ensuing drive with 7:50 remaining, but Miami got the ball right back on a fumble.

Malachi Toney scored on a 12-yard run one play after the fumble, then threw a 2-point conversion pass himself and Miami was right back in it — down 24-21. But the Hurricanes got no closer.

Louisville: The Cardinals should move into the AP Top 25 on Sunday, and had Miami guessing from the outset Friday. The first drive included, among other things, a fake reverse and a fake field goal. The fake on the chip shot — it would have been a 22-yarder — got the Cardinals down to the 1, and Moss barreled in one play later for the game’s opening score.

Miami: The Hurricanes’ loss means the list of unbeaten FBS teams is now down to 10 — all of them 6-0. The list: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 12 Georgia Tech, No. 15 BYU and No. 22 Memphis, along with unranked Navy and UNLV.

Louisville: Hosts Boston College on Oct. 25.

Miami: Hosts Stanford on Oct. 25.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.