Top 25 FOOTBALL-SCHEDULE
Easy wins for LSU, OSU, Clemson and Georgia...Auburn beats Alabama
UNDATED (AP) — The top four teams in The Associated Press college football poll did nothing to damage their standing among the CFP committee on Saturday.
Joe Burrow padded his Heisman Trophy resume with 352 yards and three touchdowns passing as No.1 LSU clobbered Texas A&M, 50-7. Burrow’s most impressive throw was a 78-yard touchdown strike to JaMarr Chase, who had 197 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches.
Burrow has 4,366 yards and 44 touchdowns passing this season, smashing LSU single-season records in both categories. His yards passing total also broke the SEC record, while his 44 TDs tie the conference single season mark.
Second-ranked Ohio State beat No. 10 Michigan for a school-record eighth straight time as J.K. Dobbins ran for four touchdowns and Justin Fields threw for four more in a 56-27 rout at Ann Arbor. Dobbins ran 211 yards on 31 carries, while Fields was 14 of 25 for 302 yards.
Fields appeared to suffer a left knee injury in the third quarter, but he returned to throw a 30-yard scoring strike off a scramble to help the Buckeyes improve to 12-0.
Next up for Ohio State is No. 13 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game next Saturday.
No. 3 Clemson stretched the nation’s longest winning streak to 27 games by blowing out South Carolina, 38-3. Trevor Lawrence threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ sixth consecutive win over their state rivals. Lawrence also had 66 yards rushing to lead Clemson, which will take on Virginia in the ACC title game next week before the final CFP rankings are announced.
Travis Etienne (EE'-tee-ehn) broke a pair of career conference records by running for two touchdowns. He now has 53 rushing TDs and 57 total touchdowns for Clemson.
Fourth-ranked Georgia also enjoyed a laugher as Jake Frohm threw for four touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 52-7 thumping of Georgia Tech. Frohm was 14 of 29 for 254 yards, connecting on scoring throws to Charlie Woerner, Tyler Simmons, George Pickens and Dominick Blaylock.
Georgia finished the game without running back D’Andre Swift, who injured his left shoulder during his second fumble of the day.
The Bulldogs will carry an 11-1 record into next Saturday’s SEC championship game against top-ranked LSU.
In other top-25 football action:
— Alabama’s CFP hopes were destroyed by Auburn as Shaun Shivers scored on an 11-yard run with 8:08 left to put the 16th-ranked Tigers ahead in a 48-45 win over the No. 5 Crimson Tide. Auburn survived a final, marathon Crimson Tide drive when Joseph Bulovas’ 30-yard field goal attempt hit the left upright with 2:00 to play. Zakoby McClain brought back an interception 100 yards for a touchdown, and Smoke Monday had a 29-yard interception return for a score as the 9-3 Tigers dropped the Tide to 10-2.
— Brant Kuithe scored three touchdowns and sixth-ranked Utah locked up a spot in the Pac-12 championship game for the second consecutive season by blowing out Colorado, 45-15. Tyler Huntley was 14-for-17 for 165 yards and connected with Kuithe twice for touchdown receptions. Zack Moss tallied 88 yards on 20 carries and scored on a 1-yard run to put the game away in the fourth quarter.
— Kennedy Brooks rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown to help No. 7 Oklahoma beat No. 21 Oklahoma State, 34-16. Jalen Hurts had a hand on the Sooner’s fifth straight win over the Cowboys, passing for 163 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 63 yards and a score. Parnell Motley led the Oklahoma defense with an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
— Eighth-ranked Florida hammered Florida State, 40-17 as Kyle Trask threw two of his three first-half touchdown passes to Freddie Swain. The Gators scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions and beat the Seminoles for the first time in five tries. Van Jefferson also had two TD catches, one from Trask and another from backup Emory Jones.
— No. 13 Wisconsin earned a spot in the Big Ten championship game by pounding ninth-ranked Minnesota, 38-17 at Minneapolis. Jonathan Taylor grabbed a 28-yard touchdown pass and ran for 76 yards and two scores in the Badgers’ 10th win. Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan completed 15 of his 22 passes for 280 yards and two TDs, including a 47-yard scoring throw to Quintez Cephus.
— JaMycal Hasty rushed for three touchdowns and No. 11 Baylor forced six turnovers in a 61-6 thrashing of Kansas. Charlie Brewer threw for 182 yards and a touchdown as the 11-1 Bears equaled the school record for wins.
— No. 12 Penn State picked up a 27-6 win against Rutgers as Journey Brown ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns. Will Levis played quarterback for the 10-2 Nittany Lions in place of injured starter Sean Clifford and added 108 rushing yards on 17 carries. Levis also tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson.
— Justin Herbert threw for 174 yards and a touchdown to help 14th-rated Oregon knock off archrival Oregon State, 24-10. The Ducks reached 10 wins overall for the first time since 2014.
— Ian Book threw for 255 yards and four touchdowns as 15th-ranked Notre Dame rallied for a 45-24 win at Stanford. The Irish trailed 17-7 until Book hit Tommy Tremble and Chase Claypool for TDs in the final 3:01 of the first half.
— Jamale Carothers rushed for career highs of 188 yards and five touchdowns, while teammate Malcolm Perry ran for 146 yards and a score in No. 24 Navy’s 56-41 shootout win against Houston. Carothers scored on runs of 8, 17, 19, 29 and 75 yards.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Harden’s 60 highlights Rockets’ rout
UNDATED (AP) — Houston Rockets guard James Harden played just 31 of 48 minutes on Saturday, but his limited action didn’t stop him from almost setting a career high for points.
Harden nailed eight 3-pointers and 20 free throws while pouring in a season-high 60 points as the Rockets destroyed the Hawks, 158-111. He was within one point of his career high when he sat out the fourth quarter with Houston already leading by 54.
Ben McLemore added 24 points for the Rockets, who were without starters Clint Capela and Danuel House because of illnesses.
The Hawks dropped their 10th in a row despite Trae Young’s five 3-pointers and 37 points.
Checking out Saturday’s other NBA action:
— Joel Embiid had 32 points and 11 rebounds as the 76ers downed Indiana, 119-116. Ben Simmons had three steals in the final 13.9 seconds to help Philadelphia wrap up its third straight win. Simmons finished with 15 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and four steals as the Sixers improved to 9-0 at home.
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (YAH’-nihs an-teh-toh-KOON’-poh) scored 26 points and the Bucks picked up their 11th consecutive win by clobbering the Hornets, 137-96. But Antetokounmpo’s double-double streak ended at 19 games when he grabbed nine rebounds while playing only 20 minutes.
— The Kings erased a 17-point halftime deficit on Saturday to win for the eighth time in 13 games, 100-97 over the Nuggets in overtime. Harrison Barnes scored six of his season-high 30 points in the extra session and Buddy Hield (heeld) added 21 points, including two free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining.
T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Tennessee outlasts VCU
UNDATED (AP) — Tennessee’s men’s basketball team is 6-1 after rebounding from Friday’s loss to Florida State.
Lamonte Turner made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the 17th-ranked Volunteers a 72-69 victory over No. 20 VCU in the Emerald Coast Classic third-place game. Turner’s big shot spoiled a dramatic comeback by the Rams, who trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half.
John Fulkerson led Tennessee with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Bowden added 14 points and Turner scored 12 for the Vols.
In other T25 action:
— Tyler Bey pulled down 17 rebounds and scored 11 points, including a reverse layup in the closing minutes as No. 21 Colorado fended off scrappy Sacramento State, 59-45. Evan Battey added 11 points and McKinley Wright IV scored 10 for the Buffaloes.
— Tyrique Jones record his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds in No. 25 Xavier’s 87-62 romp over Lipscomb. Paul Scruggs had 15 points to help the Musketeers bounce back from their 70-65 loss to Florida in the championship game of the Charleston Classic.
T25-DUKE-STANLEY HURT
Duke’s Stanley out at least 1 month with leg injury
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke freshman Cassius Stanley is expected to miss at least a month after suffering what coach Mike Krzyzewski (shuh-SHEF'-skee) called a muscular injury in his left leg during Friday’s victory over Winthrop.
Stanley is the Blue Devils’ third-leading scorer at 14.1 points a game, reaching double figures in six of his first seven games.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Islanders blank Jackets
UNDATED (AP) — The New York Islanders scored as many goals on Saturday as they did during their 0-2-1 road trip through California.
Semyon Varlamov (SEHM’-yahn vahr-LAH’-mahv) stopped 30 saves in relief of Thomas Greiss (grys) to lead the Islanders to a 2-0 shutout of the Blue Jackets. Greiss made nine saves before leaving in the first period due to an illness.
Anders Lee scored for the first time since Nov. 1 to put the Isles ahead just 78 seconds into the game. Mat Barzal added a breakaway goal late in the second period to help the Islanders improve to 17-5-2.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Alex Ovechkin (oh-VEHCH’-kihn) completed his 24th career hat trick with two empty-net goals in the Capitals’ 5-2 win over the Red Wings. T.J. Oshie (OH'-shee) had a goal and an assist as Washington won its third in a row and handed Detroit its ninth consecutive loss.
— St. Louis downed the Penguins, 5-2 as Justin Faulk and Nathan Walker each scored their first goals as Blues. Jaden Schwartz had a goal and an assist in the Blues’ third straight win.
— Sebastian Aho (AH’-hoh) and Jaccob Slavin (SLAY’-vihn) each had a goal and an assist to back James Reimer’s 26-save performance in the Hurricanes’ 3-2 victory over the Lightning. Jordan Martinook also tallied and Dougie Hamilton had two assists as Carolina dealt Tampa Bay its third straight loss.
— Logan Couture (koo-TOOR’) scored twice and the Sharks got four unanswered goals in their 11th win in 13 games, 4-2 over the Coyotes. Dylan Gambrell and Timo Meier also scored for San Jose, which trailed 2-0 after Arizona scored on its first two shots against Martin Jones.
— Mikko Rantanen (MEE’-koh RAN-tah-nehn) returned from a 16-game injury absence to provide a goal and three assists as the Avalanche dumped the Blackhawks, 7-3. Nazem Kadri (NA’-zehm KA’-dree) and Joonas Donskoi (YOH’-nuhs DAHN’-skoy) each scored twice to help Colorado sweep the home-and-home set and win its third in a row overall.
— The Panthers earned a 3-0 victory over the Predators as Chris Driedger (DREE'-jer) stopped 27 shots to post a shutout in his first career start. Anton Stralman scored his first two goals of the season and Aleksander Barkov added his eighth goal to help Florida win for the first time in four games.
— John Tavares scored at 1:45 of overtime and picked up his 400th NHL assist to send the Maple Leafs past the Sabres, 2-1. William Nylander scored Toronto’s other goal for the Maple Leafs and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves in the Leafs’ fourth win in five games under new coach Sheldon Keefe.
— Alexandar Georgiev (gee-OHR’-gee-ehv) picked up his third career shutout by turning back 33 shots in the Rangers’ 4-0 victory at New Jersey. Mika Zibanejad (MEE’-kah zih-BAN’-eh-jad) and Jesper Fast scored short-handed goals 3:17 apart in the third period to put New York in control.
— Ivan Provorov scored 31 seconds into overtime to give the Flyers their fourth win in a row, 4-3 over the Canadiens. Brian Elliott stopped 39 shots in helping Philadelphia deal Montreal its seventh straight loss.
— Elias Lindholm scored the deciding goal late in the third period and added an empty-netter as the Flames dumped the Senators, 3-1 to improve to 2-0 under coach Geoff Ward. David Rittich (RIH’-tihk) made 26 saves and Dillon Dube (doo-BAY’) also scored in Calgary’s first game since head coach Bill Peters formally resigned on Friday.
— Nikolai Prokhorkin (pro-KOHR’-kihn) and Joakim Ryan furnished first-period goals in the Kings’ 2-1 verdict over the Jets. Jack Campbell stopped 33 shots and blanked the Jets until Jack Roslovic beat him 4:18 into the third period.
— Tanner Pearson was the star in the Canucks’ 5-2 win over the Oilers, collecting two goals and two assists. Bo Horvat set up three goals and Jacob Markstrom handled 27 shots against the top offense in the Western Conference.
NFL-NEWS
Browns starting safety Randall out against Steelers
UNDATED (AP) — Cleveland Browns starting safety Damarious Randall has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The team announced Saturday that Randall will not make the trip to Pittsburgh due to a coaching decision.
Cleveland also downgraded left tackle Greg Robinson to out. Robinson was placed in the concussion protocol on Wednesday and did not practice this week.
Pittsburgh wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will miss a second straight game with a knee injury. Running back James Conner is doubtful while recovering from a shoulder injury.
In other NFL news:
— The Jaguars have activated linebacker Jake Ryan from the reserve/non-football injury list and waived running back Tyler Ervin. Ryan missed the first 11 games of the season after going on the non-football injury list in late August.
— The Chargers have activated safeties Derwin James and Adrian Phillips for Sunday’s game at Denver. The Chargers have also promoted wide receiver Jalen Guyton from the practice squad.
— Police say a woman has been charged with attempted homicide in a Pittsburgh stabbing that critically injured former NFL wide receiver Terrelle Pryor, who is also facing a charge of simple assault. Pryor was taken to the hospital early Saturday morning following a dispute with “mutual combatants” in an apartment, according to police. An agent for the former Ohio State quarterback says family members had been told Pryor is expected to make a full recovery.
