College football roundup: Oregon State stuns No. 15 Oregon; Stanford edges Cal
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Taking his first college snap after starting quarterback Tristan Gebbia limped off, Chance Nolan scored on a one-yard, fourth-down run with 33 seconds left to give Oregon State a 41-38 upset victory over No. 15 Oregon on Friday night.
Jermar Jefferson ran for 226 yards and two touchdowns to help the Beavers (2-2, 2-2 Pac-12) win their second straight game. Jefferson has run for at least 100 yards in each of Oregon State’s four games and is on pace to hit 1,000 despite the short season.
Jefferson said the win meant “everything“ because of losses to the Ducks in his first two seasons. He said he studied hard for the game.
“I really don’t feel like I get the recognition I deserve,” he said. “I’ve just got to put my head down and keep working hard. I’ve been underrated my whole life, so I’m used to it.”
Oregon (3-1, 3-1) had won seven in a row and three consecutive over the rival Beavers. The loss dashed any slim hopes the Ducks had of a spot in the College Football Playoffs. The Ducks were ranked No. 15 in the first CFP rankings released Tuesday.
Gebbia threw for 263 years and a score and had a touchdown run during the foggy game at Reser Stadium. While no fans were allowed at the game, cars passing near the stadium honked for the home team in the aftermath.
Not only is USC’s game against Colorado canceled, but next week’s matchup with Washington State might not be played either.
Tyler Shough threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for Oregon.
“Got to finish games,“ Ducks coach Mario Cristobal said. “We didn’t finish it.”
It was the 124th edition of the rivalry that dates to 1894. This summer amid racial injustice protests nationwide, both schools decided to drop the “Civil War” nickname.
Gebbia scored on a one-yard keeper early in the fourth quarter to pull Oregon State to within 31-26.
Oregon State had an interception on the ensuing drive and got the ball on the Oregon 33-yard line. Gebbia found Kolby Taylor with a 31-yard pass before Jefferson scored on a two-yard run. Gebbia’s keeper on the two-point conversion gave Oregon State a 34-31 lead.
A Beavers penalty helped the Ducks on their next drive, capped by Cyrus Habibi-Likio’s one-yard dash into the end zone to give Oregon back the lead with 8:27 left.
After the teams traded possessions that ended on downs, the Beavers got one more chance. Gebbia hit Taylor with two passes on the drive, putting Oregon State on the Oregon six.
No. 4 Ohio State’s football game at Illinois on Saturday has been canceled because the Buckeyes have had a spike of COVID-19 cases this week.
Gebbia appeared to score, but the officials put the ball on the one on third down. Gebbia ran again and limped to the sideline while the play was under review. Oregon was offside, but no penalty was called. That set up Nolan’s touchdown run on fourth down on the only play of his college career.
“It means a lot to a lot of people, not just the guys sitting in the locker room,” Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith said. “It’s too bad Reser Stadium could not be filled right now and have a win like that because it means so much to so many people, especially our in-state kids.”
Smith said it appeared Gebbia injured his hamstring.
Jaylon Redd scored on a 37-yard run on Oregon’s first drive of the game, but Jefferson answered for Oregon State with an 82-yard touchdown run, a career long.
The Ducks held off UCLA and former coach Chip Kelly 38-35 last Saturday. The Beavers were coming off their first win, a 31-27 victory over California last weekend.
Stanford 24, California 23
BERKELEY — Austin Jones ran for a pair of short touchdowns, Davis Mills threw for 205 yards and a touchdown, and Stanford blocked a would-be tying extra point in the final minute to take back The Axe trophy by beating Bay Area rival California in the Big Game.
Christopher Brown Jr. ran for a three-yard touchdown with 58 seconds remaining, then Thomas Booker got a hand on Dario Longhetto’s PAT attempt, sending the Cardinal cheering and celebrating along their sideline. Once the clock ran out, Stanford players danced and hooted and hollered some more on Cal’s home turf in Memorial Stadium.
“It was awesome,” Mills said. “There’s been emotions this whole week.”
The Cardinal spoiled Cal’s long-awaited home opener — it had been scheduled for Nov. 7 against Washington, but that game got canceled because of a positive coronavirus test on the Bears.
This marked the first time both Cal and Stanford were winless coming into the game, and they also had never previously faced off on a Friday.
A torn ACL derailed JT Daniels’ promising career at USC, but he didn’t let adversity block his rise to the top of a crowded quarterback room at Georgia.
Michael Wilson had 88 yards on seven catches with a touchdown for Stanford (1-2, 1-2 Pac-12), playing for the first time in nearly two weeks after last week’s scheduled home game against Washington State got canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test among the Cougars.
This marked just the second game for Mills, who was held out of the season-opening loss at Oregon on Nov. 7 for what wound up to be a testing protocol mistake later acknowledged by the Pac-12.
The Cardinal’s nine-game Big Game winning streak ended last season with a 24-20 home loss. They are now 9-1 in the rivalry under 10th-year coach David Shaw.
Jones ran for a two-yard touchdown that put Stanford ahead early in the third, but the Golden Bears (0-3, 0-3) answered right back to tie it on Nikko Remigio’s three-yard touchdown reception from Chase Garbers set up by Damien Moore’s 54-yard burst.
No. 2 Notre Dame 31, No. 19 North Carolina 17
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ian Book kept No. 2 Notre Dame’s offense moving while the Fighting Irish defense locked down Sam Howell and No. 19 North Carolina’s potent offense for the final three quarters in a 31-17 victory Friday.
Book threw for 279 yards and a score and rushed for 48 yards for the Fighting Irish (9-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 2 College Football Playoff), using his mobility and elusiveness to keep plays alive on a night when both offenses frequently faced long fields.
Wide receiver Ben Skowronek got Notre Dame its first lead with his 13-yard run around the right side midway through the third quarter. Kyren Williams ran for 124 yards — including a 47-yarder with about 5½ minutes left as the Irish burned clock and sealed the game.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly called it “one of those road wins that really shows the mettle of your football team.”
Williams closed that drive with his second rushing touchdown, a clinching one-yarder with 1:20 left that kept the Fighting Irish alone atop the ACC standings ahead of No. 3 Clemson and No. 10 Miami.
More impressively, though, was a defensive effort that forced Howell and the high-scoring Tar Heels to work for every gain after the opening quarter.
“I thought that the plan was outstanding,” Kelly said, “and the players executed it extremely well.”
North Carolina (6-3, 6-3) sprinted to touchdowns on its first two drives, but Notre Dame surrendered only one field goal from there. The Tar Heels came in averaging 43 points and 563 yards, yet they were unable to buy time for Howell to push downfield for big gains or open running lanes for a pair of backs averaging better than 100 yards rushing each in Javonte Williams and Michael Carter.
UCLA will need to beat a winless Arizona team on Saturday if the Bruins are going to start to impress anyone under Chip Kelly.
By the end, North Carolina had finished with a season-low 298 yards while Howell — one of the national leaders in passing yardage and touchdowns — threw for just 211 yards and a score. He also ran for a touchdown.
“You can’t rush for 87 yards and have six sacks and beat anybody, much less a really, really good football team,” Tar Heels coach Mack Brown said. “So give Notre Dame credit. They’re really, really good. When they stepped up in the second half on defense, they really stepped up.”
No. 13 Iowa State 23, No. 17 Texas 20
AUSTIN, Texas — Breece Hall scored on a three-yard run with 1:25 remaining, and Iowa State held off last-minute drive by Sam Ehlinger and Texas to remain in first place in the Big 12.
After the Cyclones sacked Ehlinger on third down, the Longhorns’ Cameron Dicker barely missed left with a 58-yard field-goal attempt as time expired.
Iowa State (7-2, 7-1) has almost locked up a spot in the Big 12 championship game for the first time.
Hall gained 91 yards in 20 carries, his first game under 100 this season, but had 30 on the final 69-yard touchdown drive. Quarterback Brock Purdy connected with tight ends Charlie Kolar and Dylan Soehner for the other 39 yards.
Iowa State trailed 20-16 early in the fourth quarter after a bad two-play sequence for Texas (5-3, 4-3) helped the Cyclones get a field goal by Connor Assalley.
The UCLA men’s basketball team picked up its first win of the season, leaning on a barrage of three-pointers in triple overtime to beat Pepperdine 107-98.
First, the Longhorns came up three yards short throwing the ball on a fake punt on fourth and eight. Then Purdy found Kolar for 44 yards. A holding penalty by the Cyclones forced them to settle for the Assalley’s field goal to make it 20-16.
Texas also was stopped inches short on a fourth and two at the Iowa State 13 with 8:05 left in the fourth quarter when a field goal would have made it a seven-point game.
Purdy completed 25 of 36 for 312 yards and one touchdown. Kolar made six receptions for 131.
Ehlinger was 17 for 29 for 298 yards and one touchdown in what could be his final home game for the Longhorns. Ehlinger and Brennan Eagles set up touchdowns in the first and third quarters, connecting for 59 and 45 yards.
No. 24 Iowa 26, Nebraska 20
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Tyler Goodson ran for 87 of his 111 yards in the second half and Zach VanValkenburg recovered Adrian Martinez’s late fumble to secure Iowa’s win over Nebraska.
The Hawkeyes (4-2, 4-2 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to four games and have beaten the Cornhuskers (1-4, 1-4) six years in a row.
Iowa was looking to add to its six-point lead when Keith Duncan’s 51-yard field-goal attempt bounced off the cross bar with 2:02 left. The Cornhuskers then drove from their 32-yard line to the Hawkeyes’ 39 before Martinez fumbled under pressure. Iowa ran out the last 1:18.
Sarah Fuller is poised to become the first woman to play in a Power 5-conference game Saturday when she suits up for Vanderbilt against Missouri.
Spencer Petras completed 18 of 30 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown with one interception.
Martinez, back as the starter after two games, was 18 for 20 for 174 yards. He also ran for 28 yards and a score.
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