Sep 28, 2019 5 min read

Clemson stuffed North Carolina’s 2-point conversion attempt with 1:17 left and the No. 1 Tigers held off the Tar Heels 21-20 on Saturday.

The Tigers (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had trouble all day in trying to extend their school-record winning streak to 20 games. They didn’t go ahead for good until Trevor Lawrence hit Tee Higgins on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 9:54 left, then came up with the stop after the Tar Heels went for the lead instead of a tie after Javonte Williams’ short scoring run.

The Tigers strung out Sam Howell’s option run to the right, with Xavier Thomas, James Skalski and Nolan Turner combining to bring down Howell as he turned toward the goal line.

Howell tried to pitch the ball back to Dazz Newsome as he was going down, but Newsome had nowhere to go near the sideline and was pushed out of bounds to put the Tar Heels (2-3, 1-1) short and effectively clinch the win for Clemson – though it was far tougher than expected for the 27-point road favorite.

“We did enough to win, but listen, I thought they outplayed us,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in a postgame TV interview. “I thought they outcoached us, simple as that. We were really fortunate to win the game. At the end of the day you need one more point to win and we came away with the victory, so I’m proud of our guys.”

The Tar Heels gave themselves a shot late, but fell to 0-10 against No. 1-ranked teams in The Associated Press college football poll.

Alabama 59, Mississippi 31: Tua Tagovailoa and DeVonta Smith hooked up for five touchdown passes and a few school records while No. 2 Alabama ran away from Mississippi, 59-31.

The Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) actually trailed for the first time this season before flexing its muscles against the 37½-point underdogs. The Rebels (2-3, 1-1) couldn’t even slow down Smith, who sometimes gets overshadowed in a loaded receiving group.

Not this game. Smith had 11 catches for school records of 274 yards and five TDs, all by early in the third quarter. He had 221 yards by halftime, and added a 27-yard score to punctuate the biggest game of any Tide receiver.

Tagovailoa passed for a school-record six touchdowns and rushed for a seventh. He had matched the record of five TD passes in two straight games but finally eclipsed it in the fourth quarter.

He completed 26 of 36 passes for 418 yards.

Oklahoma 55, Texas Tech 16: Jalen Hurts passed for a career-high 415 yards and threw three touchdown passes in No. 6 Oklahoma’s 55-16 victory over Texas Tech.

Hurts also ran for 70 yards and another score for the Sooners (4-0, 1-0 Big 12). The senior transfer from Alabama had 485 yards of total offense, the eighth-most in school history.

CeeDee Lamb had career highs of 185 yards receiving and three touchdowns, Charleston Rambo had 122 yards receiving on just two catches and Trey Sermon ran for 76 yards and two scores for Oklahoma.

The Sooners, who entered the game leading the nation in total offense, gained 642 yards. They have totaled at least 600 yards in each game this season.

Jett Duffey passed for 120 yards and SaRodorick Thompson ran for 96 yards for Texas Tech (2-2, 0-1).

Wisconsin 24, Northwestern 15: Jonathan Taylor ran for 119 yards and his 11th touchdown of the season and Wisconsin got two scores from its defense.

Taylor carried 26 times to help Wisconsin (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) avenge its 31-17 loss to the Wildcats last season. The junior reached 100 yards rushing for the 26th time in 31 career games and moved into fourth place on the Badgers’ career rushing list (4,730).

After allowing 81 yards rushing through the first three games, the Wisconsin defense surrendered 97 yards on the ground to Northwestern (1-3, 0-2).

Iowa 48, Middle Tennessee 3: Nate Stanley threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns, Toren Young added a career-high 131 yards rushing and Iowa improved to 4-0 for the third time in 10 years.

Brandon Smith caught both of Stanley’s TD throws. Iowa gained 644 yards, its most in coach Kirk Ferentz’s 21 seasons in charge. Iowa had 358 yards in the first half and scored on its first four drives, a stretch headlined by an 18-yarder from Stanley to Smith that made it 24-0 midway through the second quarter.

Asher O’Hara was 15 of 22 for 110 yards for Middle Tennessee (1-3).

Michigan 52, Rutgers 0: Shea Patterson accounted for three touchdowns in the first half and ran for a fourth score in the third quarter for Michigan to rout Rutgers 52-0.

The Wolverines (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten) enjoyed a confidence-boosting win following a humiliating loss at Wisconsin. The Scarlet Knights (1-3, 0-2) have not won a conference game since the 2017 season.

Patterson played two-plus quarters and was 17 of 23 for 276 yards with one TD and one interception.

Texas A&M 31, Arkansas 27: Quartney Davis caught two of Kellen Mond’s three touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score Texas A&M.

After Mond’s pass was picked off in the end zone, the Razorbacks failed to get a first down and punted after Ben Hicks was sacked at the 2. That set up the short drive for Mond’s 3-yard TD pass to Davis with 12:21 left that put Texas A&M (3-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) ahead 28-24.

The Razorbacks (2-3, 0-2) lost their 13th consecutive SEC game, including all 10 under second-year coach Chad Morris. They have lost eight in a row against Texas A&M since the Aggies left the Big 12.