Saturday’s Top 25: Oklahoma wins shootout with Oklahoma State

Stillwater, Okla. — Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have faced off 112 times. Never had they played a game quite like this.

The teams combined for 114 points and more than 1,400 yards as Heisman Trophy hopefuls Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph seemingly traded touchdowns at will.

Bedlam sure lived up to its name.

Mayfield passed for a school-record 598 yards and No. 8 Oklahoma outlasted No. 11 Oklahoma State 62-52 on Saturday in the highest-scoring game in the history of the rivalry. Mayfield threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score.

“He was awesome, played at an elite level,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “He’s been through enough of these. He doesn’t blink, he doesn’t flinch. He’s made for atmospheres like this. It’s his favorite thing in the world.”

Rudolph passed for 448 yards and five touchdowns, but he had two critical turnovers in the second half.

“It was a heck of a college football game,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “I just wish we had made a couple more plays later than they did.”

Marquise Brown caught nine passes for a school-record 265 yards, and he had touchdown receptions of 84 and 77 yards for the Sooners (8-1, 5-1 Big 12, No. 5 CFP). Oklahoma gained 785 total yards, tied for the fourth-most in school history and the Sooners’ second-best outing since 1988.

Oklahoma, which entered the day tied for the Big 12 lead, positioned itself well to possibly reach the Big 12 Championship Game and strengthened its case for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

“We win ballgames,” Mayfield said. “No matter how you put it, we win ballgames. It’s championship November. We keep winning, we’ll take care of our own destiny.”

Oklahoma State (7-2, 4-2, No. 11 CFP) appeared to have lost its last chance against the Sooners when Oklahoma’s Tre Brown intercepted the ball off a deflection with 1:56 remaining and the Cowboys trailing 55-52. A targeting penalty against Oklahoma’s Will Johnson negated the play, but the Cowboys couldn’t take advantage of the extra opportunity.

Justice Hill ran for a career-high 228 yards for Oklahoma State and James Washington caught seven passes for 128 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game in the second half with an ankle injury.

The game was tied at 38-all at halftime. In the second quarter, the teams combined for 52 points and 540 yards. Mayfield passed for a school-record 387 yards in the first half. Rudolph hung in there with him and passed for 258 yards and three touchdowns. Brown tied Juaquin Iglesias’ school record for yards receiving in a half with 178 before the break.

After the offenses slowed down in the third quarter, they went back to work in the fourth to set up the tight finish.

“It was like a 15-rounder,” Riley said. “It was a heavyweight battle. Both teams laid it all on the line.”

(At) No. 1 Alabama 24, No. 19 LSU 10: Jalen Hurts passed for a touchdown and ran for a score and Alabama sweated out a bruising victory over LSU.

The Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) had to withstand a rare challenge this season from a league opponent, managing it with big plays from the defense and a handful of timely ones from Hurts.

Alabama was ranked No. 2 in the first College Football Playoff rankings behind Georgia, which clinched the SEC East with a 24-10 victory over South Carolina.

The Tigers (6-3, 3-2) kept getting defensive stops in the fourth quarter but couldn’t muster a threat. They had to punt twice and then managed to squeeze out only a couple of first downs after taking over at their own 8 with 4:39 left.

Quarterback Danny Etling completed a couple of short passes and gave way to backup Myles Brennan, who couldn’t push them much further. He was sacked on fourth-and-long by freshman linebacker Dylan Moses.

Alabama ran out the clock on its seventh straight win in the SEC West rivalry.

(At) No. 2 Georgia 24, South Carolina 10: Jake Fromm proved he can throw — and block a little, too — in leading Georgia past South Carolina.

Fromm, the freshman best known for handing off to a deep group of tailbacks, was underestimated this week by South Carolina defensive back Chris Lammons, who said the Bulldogs “can’t pass.”

Fromm was accurate and efficient, completing 16 of 22 passes for 196 yards with scoring passes of 10 yards to Javon Wims and 20 yards to Mecole Hardman. He did not throw an interception.

Fromm also had the final block to clear the way for Sony Michel to score on a direct-snap, 8-yard run in the first quarter.

Georgia (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference, No. 1 College Football Playoff) has won its first nine games for the first time since 1982. The Bulldogs needed a Mississippi win over Kentucky on Saturday to clinch a spot in the SEC championship game.

South Carolina (6-3, 4-3) had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Gamecocks also lost hopes for winning the SEC East.

Nick Chubb ran for 102 yards on 20 carries for Georgia. Michel added 81 yards rushing.

(At) No. 5 Notre Dame 48, Wake Forest 37: Brandon Wimbush passed for a career-high 280 yards, ran for two touchdowns and shook off an injury to help Notre Dame win its seventh straight.

Wimbush was 15-of-30 passing and threw a 34-yard touchdown to sophomore Chase Claypool, who had a career-high 180 yards on nine receptions. Wimbush also had 110 yards on 12 carries and the second TD was a 50-yarder in the second quarter.

Wake Forest (5-3) did not go down without a fight, piling up 587 yards against a defense directed by former Demon Deacons coordinator Mike Elko.

Notre Dame star running back Josh Adams left the field late in the first quarter and Wimbush joined him late in the first half. Wimbush was hit on his planted left leg after a 28-yard gain, but left the field on his own power. He had a bandage on his left hand after the game.

Wimbush returned for the second half while Adams rode a stationary bike on the sideline as the Irish (8-1, No. 3 CFP) totaled season highs in passing (340) and total yards (720) to set up a showdown with No. 9 Miami (No. 10 CFP) next Saturday night.

No. 6 Clemson 38, (at) No. 20 N.C. State 31: Tavien Feaster had an 89-yard touchdown run to end the third quarter and K’Von Wallace picked off Ryan Finley’s pass on the game’s final play to help Clemson hold off North Carolina State.

Feaster’s break-loose run up the middle and gave Clemson (8-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 4 CFP) a 31-21 lead entering the fourth, then the Tigers had to hang on in the final seconds as the Wolfpack (6-3, 4-1, No. 20 CFP) got one more shot to tie the game in the final minute.

That drive pushed to the Clemson 28. Wallace broke up a pass to Jaylen Samuels a few yards short of the goal line, and then an illegal formation penalty by North Carolina wiped out completion that would have given the Wolfpack a first-and-goal.

Wallace picked off Finley’s final overthrown fourth-down ball and returned it 55 yards to burn the clock and keep the Tigers on course for a third straight trip to the College Football Playoff.

Finley threw three touchdown passes for N.C. State.

(At) No. 9 Miami 28, No. 13 Virginia Tech 10: Malik Rosier threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, Travis Homer had a 64-yard touchdown run and Miami moved to the brink of clinching what would be its first spot in an Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

Braxton Berrios and Christopher Herndon IV had touchdown catches for Miami (8-0, 6-0 ACC, No. 10 CFP), which extended the nation’s longest current winning streak to 13 games.

Rosier survived a three-interception night, helped out by Miami’s turnover chain — the gaudy bauble that gets awarded amid much fanfare on the sideline when the Hurricanes get a takeaway — making four appearances to the delight of Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez and about 63,000 other people in the crowd.

Virginia Tech (7-2, 3-2) got a touchdown run from quarterback Josh Jackson. He was 20 of 32 passing for 197 yards and two interceptions.

(At) No. 10 TCU 24, Texas 7: Kyle Hicks ran for two touchdowns and TCU rebounded from its only loss, staying tied for the Big 12 lead and in contention for a playoff spot.

In a game dominated by two of the Big 12’s best defenses, Hicks had 41 yards rushing on 11 carries. That included his 1-yard TD to end TCU’s opening drive and his 14-yarder that put the Horned Frogs (8-1, 5-1 Big 12, No. 8 CFP) up 17-0 early in the second quarter. Texas (4-5, 3-3) managed only 263 total yards in its biggest losing margin in coach Tom Herman’s first season.

With freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger missing his second straight game for the Longhorns, Shane Buechele completed 21 of 44 passes for 254 yards with a 33-yard scoring pass to Collin Johnson.

(At) West Virginia 20, No. 14 Iowa State 16: Will Grier threw two touchdown passes and Justin Crawford broke out of a three-game slump with 102 yards rushing for West Virginia.

West Virginia (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) became bowl eligible and knocked the Cyclones (6-3, 4-2, No. 15 CFP) out of a four-way tie for first place.

Iowa State trailed 20-0 late in the second quarter and never recovered in losing on the road for the first time. Grier rebounded from his worst performance of the season last week when he threw four interceptions in a loss to Oklahoma State.

Grier had scoring passes of 10 yards to David Sills and 55 yards to Ka’Raun White. Grier finished 20 of 25 for 316 yards, his eighth 300-yard performance of the season.

No. 15 UCF 31, (at) SMU 24: McKenzie Milton threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score, Adrian Killins Jr. rushed for two more touchdowns and UCF stayed undefeated.

The Knights (8-0, 5-0 AAC, No. 18 CFP) remained the only undefeated team in the Group of Five, keeping them on track to play in a major New Year’s Day bowl game if they can win out.

SMU’s best opportunity at an upset fizzled with 5:10 remaining when wideout Trey Quinn dropped a pass on fourth-and-3 that would have given the Mustangs (6-3, 3-2) a first down deep in UCF territory.

Killins scored on runs of 64 yards and 34 yards for UCF, splitting defenders and shedding would-be tacklers along the way. And early in the second quarter, Milton found wide receiver Gabriel Davis down the right sideline for an 80-yard touchdown strike.

No. 16 Auburn 42, (at) Texas A&M 27: Jarrett Stidham threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns and Auburn pulled away in the second half against Texas.

Kerryon Johnson added 145 yards rushing and a touchdown and provided a highlight-reel play with a nifty one-handed catch for an 11-yard gain on third down in the fourth quarter. Eli Stove capped that possession with a 4-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to 42-20.

Auburn (7-2, 5-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 14 CFP) led by eight at halftime and made it 28-13 when Stidham connected with Ryan Davis on a 4-yard touchdown reception early in the third quarter.

The Aggies (5-4, 3-3) were forced to punt on their next drive and Shane Tripucka, who had a punt blocked for a touchdown in the first half, didn’t get this one off cleanly and it went just 16 yards to give Auburn good field position.

(At) No. 17 USC 49, No. 23 Arizona 35: When Khalil Tate and Arizona's offense erased their entire 22-point deficit with four touchdowns in roughly 11 minutes, Ronald Jones II and Sam Darnold knew they had to answer the Wildcats' big-play quarterback with a few memorable moments of their own.

Southern California's offensive stars got it done in a victory that put the Trojans in charge of the Pac-12 South.

Jones rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns, and USC overcame Tate's big second-half rally.

Darnold passed for 311 yards and two TDs for the Trojans (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12), who led 28-6 midway through the third quarter before Tate finally got the Wildcats (6-3, 4-2) rolling. Arizona evened it at 35 on Zach Green's TD run and a 2-point conversion with 8:23 remaining.

But Jones ran wild in the fourth quarter, racking up 96 yards while scoring the tiebreaking touchdown with 5:37 to play and adding another score with 3:09 left as the Trojans pulled away.

(At) No. 21 Mississippi St 34, UMass 23: Nick Fitzgerald ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns to lead Mississippi State past UMass.

Mississippi State (7-2, No. 16 CFP) trailed 20-13 at halftime, but scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 27-20 advantage. UMass pulled to 27-23 on a short field goal in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t move the ball in the final minutes.

Aeris Williams added 114 yards rushing on 24 carries for Mississippi State.

UMass (2-7) had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to drive for the go-ahead score, but went three-and-out. Mississippi State’s Deddrick Thomas returned the ensuing punt 83 yards for a touchdown.

(At) No. 25 Washington State 24, No. 18 Stanford 21: Luke Falk threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns and Washington State beat No, keeping alive its hopes for a Pac-12 North title.

Snow started to fall heavily at the end of the first quarter. Stanford hadn’t played in snow since a 1936 game against Columbia in New York.

Jamal Morrow rushed for 66 yards for Washington State (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12, No. 25 CFP), chewing up time at the end of the game. ryce Love, slowed by an ankle injury, was held to 69 yards, his worst outing of the season for Stanford (6-3, 5-2, No. 21 CFP). He came in as the nation’s leading rusher, averaging 198 yards a game. The Cougars finished 7-0 in Pullman this season.