Oct 3, 2015 6 min read

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ezekiel Elliott did everything he could to keep Ohio State’s winning streak going. It still took a final goal-line stand for the top-ranked Buckeyes to hold off Indiana.

And now, Ohio State’s grip on the No. 1 ranking could be slipping after its 34-27 victory over the Hoosiers Saturday.

Elliott had an electrifying second half with touchdown runs of 55, 65 and 75 yards and finished with a career-best 274 yards to help the Buckeyes narrowly win their 18th in a row – the longest active streak in the FBS.

Nothing came easy for Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten). Especially at the end, when Buckeyes cornerback Eli Apple batted away a desperation pass in the back of the end zone as time expired.

From the start, the game was full of surprises. Indiana (4-1, 0-1) gambled twice on fourth down in the first half, including a fake punt from its 16 that failed. Ohio State fumbled four times and wound up with three turnovers and eight major penalties.

The teams combined for four scoring runs – three from Elliott – that went for more than 50 yards during a 13-minute stretch in the second half.

No. 13 Alabama 38, No. 8 Georgia 10: Jake Coker ran the offense to perfection, the defense turned in a dominating performance, and No. 13 Alabama even got a touchdown from its special teams in a rout of Georgia that re-established the Crimson Tide as a force in the national race.

Coming of a home loss to Mississippi two weeks ago, Alabama (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern) jumped ahead 24-3 at halftime and iced the victory on Georgia’s first offensive play of the second half. Eddie Jackson intercepted Brice Ramsey’s pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.

Coker, with an assist from Lane Kiffin’s play-calling, completed 11 of 16 for 190 yards, passed for one touchdown, and ran for another. Derrick Henry rushed for 148 yards and scored on a 30-yard run that put Alabama ahead to stay midway through the second quarter.

No. 2 Michigan State 24, Purdue 21: LJ Scott ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and Michigan State held on through a lackluster second half.

The Spartans (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) led 21-0 at halftime, but Purdue had the ball near midfield with a chance to tie or take the lead before David Blough threw incomplete on fourth down with about a minute to play in the game. The Boilermakers (1-4, 0-1) turned the ball over three times in the first half.

Michigan State’s Connor Cook went 13 of 19 for 139 yards and a touchdown, and became the school’s career leader with his 28th victory as the starting quarterback. Kirk Cousins won 27 games.

No. 4 TCU 50, Texas 7: Trevone Boykin threw five touchdown passes, including four to freshman KaVontae Turpin, and TCU rode a 30-point first quarter to a second straight rout of Texas.

Josh Doctson broke the TCU record for receiving TDs with a pair of scores and the Horned Frogs (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) won their 13th straight game, second nationally to Ohio State’s 18-game run.

No. 5 Baylor 63, Texas Tech 35: Seth Russell passed for 286 yards and four touchdowns and ran for two more scores, Shock Linwood ran for a career-high 221 yards and two touchdowns and Baylor began its pursuit of a third consecutive Big 12 championship with a victory over Texas Tech.

Baylor (4-0, 1-0) entered with the FBS’ top offense in scoring (64.0 points per game), total offense (767.0 yards per game) and rushing yards (379.7 per game). The Bears gained 680 yards, 368 rushing.

No. 11 Florida State 24, Wake Forest 16: Dalvin Cook had a 94-yard touchdown run before leaving with a left leg injury, and Florida State held on to beat Wake Forest.

Johnathan Vickers added a 9-yard touchdown run and Everett Golson was 20 of 31 for 202 yards with a 5-yard scoring pass to Kermit Whitfield.

No. 16 Northwestern 27, Minnesota 0: Clayton Thorson scored two touchdowns, Justin Jackson ran for 120 yards and the Northwestern defense turned in another dominant performance.

Iowa 10, No. 19 Wisconsin 6: Jordan Canzeri ran for 125 yards and Iowa took advantage of four turnovers by Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave.

George Kittle caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Beathard in the second quarter for the only touchdown and Iowa (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) beat a ranked opponent for the first time in its last 10 attempts.

No. 20 Oklahoma State 36, Kansas State 34: Ben Grogan made a 37-yard field goal with 32 seconds remaining to lift Oklahoma State past Kansas State.

No. 22 Michigan, Maryland 0: Desmond Morgan led a dominating defensive performance by Michigan.

In winning its first Big Ten opener under Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (4-1, 1-0) picked off three passes and limited Maryland to 105 yards. It was the second straight shutout for the Wolverines, who have allowed a total of 14 points in their last four games.

No. 24 California 34, Washington State 28: Jared Goff got off to a shaky start and still threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 24 California to a victory over Washington State in the Golden Bears’ first game as a ranked team in six years.

Goff threw an early interception and was off target on a few throws before finding his groove. He threw two TD passes in a less than 2 minutes late in the third quarter surrounding a successful onside kick to erase an eight-point deficit and lead the Bears (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) to their best start since 2007.

Luke Falk threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for the Cougars (2-2, 0-1). They have lost 28 of their past 28 games against ranked opponents.