Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Top 25: No. 6 Auburn beats No. 1 Alabama 26-14 in Iron Bowl

Fans rush the field after Auburn defeated Alabama in the Iron Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017, in Auburn, Ala. (Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Jarrett Stidham and No. 6 Auburn dominated top-ranked Alabama 26-14 Saturday in Auburn, Alabama, earning a berth in next week’s Southeastern Conference title game.

Stidham passed for 237 yards and ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown to set up a rematch with No. 7 Georgia in the SEC championship game Dec. 2 with a playoff spot almost certainly on the line.

Auburn (10-2, 7-1 SEC, No. 6 CFP) mostly shut down the league’s top scoring offense for its second win in three weeks over the top team in the playoff rankings. They won the Western Division a week after dispatching Georgia with similar precision.

The Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1) made a rare assortment of mistakes for a team that had appeared to be headed toward a shot at a fourth consecutive SEC title and playoff berth.

With No. 2 Miami losing Friday night to Pittsburgh, it’s the first time the top two teams in the AP poll have fallen on the same regular-season weekend since Nov. 17, 2012. Then, No. 1 Oregon lost to No. 14 Stanford and No. 2 Kansas State went down to Baylor.

Auburn’s Kerryon Johnson delivered a jump pass for a touchdown and ran 30 times for 104 yards before leaving in the fourth quarter with an injury.

(3) Oklahoma 59, West Virginia 31: Baker Mayfield threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Sooners past the Mountaineers in Norman, Oklahoma.

Rodney Anderson ran for 118 yards and four touchdowns for the Sooners (11-1, 8-1 Big 12, No. 4 CFP). They will play TCU for the Big 12 title next Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

The Sooners gained 646 yards in their seventh straight win. It was the most points Oklahoma has scored against the Mountaineers (7-5, 5-4).

(4) Clemson 34, South Carolina 10: Kelly Bryant threw two touchdowns to Hunter Renfrow and the Tigers stayed on track for a third straight trip to the College Football Playoff with a win over the Gamecocks in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Tigers (11-1, No. 3 College Football Playoff) won their fourth straight game in the Palmetto State’s most cared-about sporting event, tying their second-longest run of dominance in the series.

South Carolina (8-4, No. 24 CFP) finished second in the Southeastern Conference East and had its most victories in a season in four years.

(5) Wisconsin 31, Minnesota 0: Alex Hornibrook threw three touchdown passes without an interception and the Badgers defeated the Golden Gophers at Minneapolis.

It was Wisconsin’s 14th consecutive victory in the series.

Jonathan Taylor rushed for 149 yards on 20 carries, including a 53-yard scoring sprint on the first play of the fourth quarter that gave the Badgers (12-0, 9-0, No. 5 CFP) their largest winning margin in a Big Ten game this season. The only other time Wisconsin completed the conference slate without a loss was in 1912, when there were only five games on the schedule.

Rodney Smith rushed 16 times for 82 yards for the Gophers (5-7, 2-7).

(7) Georgia 38, Georgia Tech 7: Sony Michel ran for 85 yards and a touchdown, Jake Fromm threw two touchdown passes and the Bulldogs defeated the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta to protect their playoff chances.

The Bulldogs had 247 yards rushing. Michel, Nick Chubb and D’Andre Swift ran for touchdowns. Fromm threw scoring passes of 21 yards to Javon Wims and 78 yards to Ahkil Crumpton.

Georgia (11-1, No. 7 CFP) will play in the Southeastern Conference championship game next week against the winner of the game Saturday between No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Auburn.

Georgia Tech (5-6) was denied the win it needed to become bowl-eligible. The Yellow Jackets now must hope for a bowl waiver based on their academics if there is a shortage of bowl-eligible teams.

(8) Ohio State 21, Michigan 20: Dwayne Haskins replaced injured star J.T. Barrett in the third quarter and the Buckeyes rallied to defeat the Wolverines at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

It was Ohio State’s sixth consecutive win in the rivarly.

The Buckeyes (10-2, 8-1 Big Ten) head to the conference championship game next week to face No. 5 Wisconsin, with hopes of making the College Football Playoff. The Wolverines (8-4, 5-4) have lost 13 of 14 to Ohio State, including the last three with coach Jim Harbaugh.

Haskins, a redshirt freshman, was 6 of 7 for 94 yards and had a 22-yard run that set up J.K. Dobbins’ 1-yard touchdown that gave Ohio State a 21-20 lead late in the third quarter.

Barrett appeared to hurt his right knee on a run midway through the third quarter. He limped off the field and toward the locker room before returning to watch the rest of the game from the sideline.

(12) Penn State 66, Maryland 3: Trace McSorley threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to cap an outstanding regular season and carry the Nittany Lions (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten, No. 10 CFP) past the Terrapins (4-8, 2-7) in College Park, Maryland.

The Nittany Lions built a 31-0 halftime lead and cruised to their third straight victory. The streak began after successive losses at Ohio State and Michigan State by a combined four points.

McSorley went 22 for 33 for 237 yards and ran seven times for 36 yards. The junior has thrown for 3,228 yards and 26 touchdowns this season and run for 589 yards and 11 TDs.

(17) Memphis 70, East Carolina 13: Riley Ferguson threw for three touchdowns, Darrell Henderson scored twice and rushed for 122 yards and the Tigers (10-1, 7-1, No. 20 CFP) routed the Pirates (3-9, 2-6) in Memphis, Tenessee.

(18) Oklahoma State 58, Kansas 17: Mason Rudolph passed for 438 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two scores in his final home game to lead the Cowboys (9-3, 6-3 Big 12) to a rout of the Jayhawks (1-11, 0-9) in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Former Washington State quarterback Peyton Bender was 17 of 32 passing for 172 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas. The Jayhawks lost their 45th consecutive road game.

(19) LSU 45, Texas A&M 21: Danny Etling passed 347 yards and three touchdowns and the Tigers defeated the Aggies at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

LSU (9-3, 6-2 SEC) won for the sixth time in seven games to finish with its best SEC record since 2012.

The Aggies (7-5, 4-4) are bowl eligible but will go a fourth straight year without as many as nine victories.

(21) Michigan State 40, Rutgers 7: Brian Lewerke threw for a touchdown and ran for another and the Spartans (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) held the ball for more than 47 minutes in their defeat of the Scarlet Knights (4-8, 3-6) in Piscataway, New Jersey.

(23) Northwestern 42, Illinois 7: Justin Jackson ran for 144 yards and a touchdown and the Wildcats (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) won their seventh consecutive game, defeating the Illini (2-10, 0-10) in Champaign, Illinois.

Fresno State 28, (25) Boise State 17: Marcus McMaryion threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns and the Bulldogs defeated the visiting Broncos in a preview of the Mountain West title game.

West champion Fresno State (9-3, 7-1) and Mountain winner Boise State (9-3, 7-1) had already wrapped up the division titles. They will meet Saturday in the MWC championship game at a site to be determined.