SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3
Rattler leads Sooners
to a Bedlam blowout
Spencer Rattler passed for
301 yards and four touchdowns
and ran for another score to help
No. 18 Oklahoma beat No. 14
Oklahoma State, 41-13, on
Saturday night in Norman and
boost its hopes of winning a sixth
straight Big 12 championship.
Rhamondre Stevenson ran for
a career-high 141 yards for the
Sooners (6-2, 5-2), who won their
sixth straight in the Bedlam
Series and extended their
November winning streak to 23
dating from 2014.
Cowboys running back Chuba
Hubbard was held to 44 yards on
eight carries, and Oklahoma
State (5-2, 4-2) gained just
246 total yards.
No. 1 Alabama (7-0) def.
Kentucky, 63-3. DeVonta Smith
caught nine passes for 144 yards
and two scores for the Crimson
Tide, p assing Amari Cooper and
setting a n SEC r ecord with
33 career touchdown receptions.
No. 2 Notre Dame (8-0) did not
play. The Fighting Irish will be at
North Carolina on Friday.
No. 3 Ohio State (4-0) def. No. 9
Indiana, 42-35. Master Teague
III ran for a career-high
169 yards and two touchdowns,
Justin Fields accounted for three
scores, and the Buckeyes held off
the Hoosiers’ comeback bid.
No. 4 Clemson (7-1) did not
play. The game between the
Tigers and Florida State was
postponed hours before kickoff
when medical personnel from
the schools could not agree that
it was safe to play. Clemson will
host Pittsburgh on Saturday.
No. 5 Texas A&M (5-1) did not
play. The Aggies were idle for a
second straight week after their
home game with Mississippi was
postponed because of lingering
coronavirus issues within their
program. Texas A&M will host
LSU on Saturday night.
No. 6 Florida (6-1) def.
Vanderbilt, 38-17. Kyle Trask
passed for 383 yards and three
touchdowns, and the Gators
rallied from an early deficit.
No. 7 Cincinnati (8-0) def.
Central Florida, 36-33.
Quarterback Desmond Ridder
accounted for four touchdowns
to help the Bearcats rally from a
14-3 deficit and remain in the
College Football Playoff hunt.
No. 8 BYU (9-0) def. North
Alabama, 66-14. Tyler Allgeier
ran for a career-high 141 yards
and two touchdowns and Zach
Wilson passed for four scores as
the Cougars cruised.No. 9 Indiana (4-1) lost at No. 3
Ohio State, 42-35. M ichael
Penix Jr. put up big numbers, but
the Hoosiers’ rally fell just short.No. 10 Wisconsin (2-1) lost at
No. 19 Northwestern, 17-7. The
Badgers couldn’t overcome
Graham Mertz’s lost fumble and
first three interceptions.No. 11 Oregon (3-0) def. UCLA,
38-35. Tyler Shough threw for
334 yards and three touchdowns
and Devon Williams had six
catches for 123 yards and a score
as the Ducks s olidified their spot
atop the Pac-12 North.No. 12 Miami (7-1) did not play.
The Hurricanes’ game against
Georgia Tech was pushed back to
Dec. 19 because of coronavirus
problems in their p rogram. They
next p lay Dec. 5 at Wake Forest.No. 13 Georgia (5-2) def.
Mississippi State, 31-24.
Southern California transfer J T
Daniels, the third quarterback to
start for the Bulldogs this season,
threw for 401 yards and four
scores in his Georgia debut.No. 15 Coastal Carolina (8-0)
def. Appalachian State, 34-23.
Reese White scored the go-ahead
touchdown on a three-yard run
with 2:24 to play, and the
Chanticleers ended a six-game
skid against the Mountaineers
and grabbed control of the Sun
Belt Conference’s East Division.No. 15 Marshall (7-0) did not
play. The Thundering Herd’s
game against Charlotte was
canceled because of coronavirus
issues involving the 49ers.
Marshall’s next game is slated for
Dec. 5 against Rice.No. 17 Iowa State (6-2) def.
Kansas State, 45-0. Brock Purdy
passed for t hree touchdowns and
Breece Hall ran for 135 yards and
two scores on 15 carries in the
Cyclones’ most lopsided victory
over the Wildcats in 77 years.
Iowa State i mproved to 6-1 in the
Big 12 to match the school record
for conference wins.No. 19 Northwestern (5-0) def.
No. 10 Wisconsin, 17-7. Peyton
Ramsey’s two touchdown passes
and the opportunistic defense’s
five takeaways put the Wildcats
in control of the Big Ten West.No. 20 Southern California
( 2-0) at Utah, late. The Trojans
had lost in their previous three
visits to Rice-Eccles Stadium.No. 21 Liberty (8-1) lost at
North Carolina State, 15-14.
The Wolfpack blocked Alex
Barbir’s 39-yard field goal try
with 1:18 left to hand the Flames,
who had beaten two ACC foes on
the road, their first defeat.No. 22 Texas ( 5-2) did not play.
The Longhorns’ game at Kansas
was rescheduled for Dec. 12
because of coronavirus issues in
the Jayhawks program. Texas
will host Iowa State on Friday.No. 23 Auburn (5-2) def.
Tennessee, 30-17. Smoke
Monday returned an
interception 100 yards for a
touchdown, and the Tigers
overcame a slow start a nd
injuries to star running back
Tank Bigsby and their two
starting offensive tackles.No. 24 Louisiana Lafayette ( 7-1)
did not play. The Ragin’ Cajuns
canceled their game against
Central Arkansas because of
positive coronavirus tests. Their
next game is scheduled for
Saturday at Louisiana Monroe.No. 25 Tulsa ( 5-1) def. Tulane,
3 0-24 (2OT, Thursday). Z aven
Collins returned an interception
96 yards for a score in the second
overtime to give the Golden
Hurricane a comeback victory.
— Associated PressTOP 25college football
BY GENE WANGMiscues in all three phases,
including a pair of turnovers and
three failed fourth-down at-
tempts in as many tries, con-
spired to deal the shorthanded
Virginia Tech football team its
most lopsided defeat of the sea-
son Saturday, a 47-14 loss at
Pittsburgh.
The Hokies (4-5, 4-4 ACC) lost
their third in a row to drop below
.500 with two games remaining.
To avoid their first regular sea-
son with a losing record since
1992, Virginia Tech must win its
final two games — Dec. 5 against
No. 4 Clemson and Dec. 12
against Virginia, its archrival
who has won three in a row. The
Hokies’ streak of 27 consecutive
bowl appearances, the longest in
the country, also could be in
jeopardy, but the NCAA waived
eligibility requirements this sea-
son amid the coronavirus pan-
demic.
“I don’t know that anybody
understands how hard all of this
is,” Virginia Tech Coach Justin
Fuente said of playing during the
pandemic. “I’m not talking the
last three weeks. I’m just talking
about all of this since July to
back in the spring. The guys are
incredibly resilient. They’d like
to play better and get better
results.”
The decisive stretch Saturday
at Heinz Field unfolded after the
Panthers (5-4, 4-4) stuffed Vir-
ginia Tech quarterback Hendon
Hooker at the goal line on fourth
down a little more than five
minutes into the third quarter.
The stand allowed Pittsburgh to
preserve its 26-14 lead and take
over at its 1-yard line. Two plays
later, a blown assignment com-
pounded by missed tackles yield-
ed Pittsburgh quarterback Ken-
ny Pickett’s 64-yard touchdown
pass to DJ Turner (DeMatha)
with 8:43 to play.
Virginia Tech kicker Brian
Johnson, one of the most reliable
in the ACC, missed a 38-yard
field goal attempt on the Hokies’
next possession, and the Pan-
thers all but sealed their win
when Pickett capped a 79-yard
drive with a one-yard touchdown
run for a 40-14 lead with 20 sec-onds left in the quarter.
The Hokies surrendered
556 yards of offense. Pickett
passed for 404 yards while com-
pleting 35 of 52 attempts, and
Turner added 184 yards on 15 re-
ceptions.
“You don’t want to be in this
situation,” Hokies defensive
tackle Jarrod Hewitt said of the
team’s recent slide. “But I’m veryconfident we’ll come together
and not further apart.”
Hooker accounted for 313 of
the Hokies’ 434 yards, passing
for 260 yards and two touch-
downs. Khalil Herbert carried
nine times for 72 yards as Vir-
ginia Tech amassed just 156 rush-
ing yards, well below its ACC-
leading average of 262.8 entering
the game.The Hokies trailed 23-14 at
halftime after yielding two
touchdowns in the final six min-
utes. The second of those came
on Pickett’s 11-yard throw to
wide receiver Jaylon Barden.
Pickett showed off his arm
strength on the play, running to
his left while under pressure and
completing a strike toward the
middle of the end zone.After falling behind 9-0, Vir-
ginia Tech scored its first points
on Hooker’s 55-yard pass to wide
receiver Tré Turner, trimming
the Hokies’ deficit to 9-7 with
8:13 left in the first half. Turner
got behind the secondary thanks
to a run fake by Hooker, who
collected the snap and began
moving to his right before pull-
ing up and delivering a pinpoint
throw as Pittsburgh’s defense
flowed toward him.
Turner added his second
touchdown on a seven-yard pass
from Hooker, leaping to secure
the ball and drawing the Hokies
within 16-14 with 3:36 to go in
the quarter. The junior hurt his
hand on the catch and missed
the rest of the game.
“We still want to win games,”
Turner said. “Still a hungry team
in my eyes, still a lot of fight
regardless.”
As has been routine, Virginia
Tech played with a compromised
roster. Cornerbacks Jermaine
Waller and Dorian Strong, defen-
sive end Emmanuel Belmar and
guard Doug Nester were inac-
tive, leaving the Hokies without
their most starters in weeks.
Also significant was the ab-
sence of ailing junior left tackle
Christian Darrisaw (Riverdale
Baptist). The highly regarded
prospect did not practice this
week; sophomore Luke Tenuta
started in his place.
“I know we’re down a lot of
guys and all that kind of stuff,”
Fuente said, “but that doesn’t
mean we can’t get first downs on
fourth and one or score on fourth
and goal from the 1 or play
better.”
The Panthers had 16 players
unavailable because of positive
coronavirus tests or contact trac-
ing, the athletic department an-
nounced. Among the more nota-
ble absences were three starting
offensive linemen.
[email protected]Panthers hand reeling Hokies worst defeat of the season
JUSTIN K. ALLER/GETTY IMAGES
Pittsburgh wide receiver DJ Turner had 15 receptions for 184 yards against Virginia Tech, which dropped below .500 with two games left.PITTSBURGH 47,
VIRGINIA TECH 14BY JAY COHENevanston, ill. — Every clutch
play by quarterback Peyton Ram-
sey. Every big hit by Northwest-
ern’s defense. It was all designed
to send a message.
The Wildcats had something
they wanted to say.
“We woke up the country now,
and we need our damn respect,”
cornerback Greg Newsome II said.
Ramsey threw two touchdown
passes, and No. 19 Northwestern
shut down Graham Mertz and
No. 10 Wisconsin for a 17-7 victory
on Saturday that put the undefeat-
ed Wildcats in control of the Big
Ten West.
Northwestern forced five turn-
overs — four in the first half — and
sacked Mertz three times in its
first win over a top-10 team since a
28-25 victory over No. 9 Nebraska
on Nov. 5, 2011. Ramsey, a gradu-
ate transfer from Indiana, was
23 for 44 for 203 yards, and Ra-
maud Chiaokhiao-Bowman had
four receptions for a career-high
95 yards.
Rising from the ashes of an ugly
3-9 season, the Wildcats are 5-0
for the first time since 2015 and
5-0 in the Big Ten for the first time
since 1996.
“Very resilient by our guys,”
Coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “Just
staying in the fight. It wasn’t pret-
ty. Old-school game, but they
grinded it out all the way through
to the finish.”
Wisconsin (2-1, 2-1) had com-
mitted just one turnover this year,
a fumble during a 45-7 victory overIllinois on Oct. 23. The Badgers
then had back-to-back games can-
celed because of a coronavirus
outbreak within the program be-
fore they rolled to a 49-11 win at
Michigan last weekend.
Mertz, a redshirt freshman, lost
a fumble and threw the first three
interceptions of his career against
Northwestern. Senior running
back Garrett Groshek also lost a
fumble in his return after he
missed the victory against the
Wolverines.
“Obviously when you turn the
ball over the number of times we
did, it makes it hard,” Wisconsin
Coach Paul Chryst said.
Mertz was 23 for 41 for
230 yards. Jalen Berger had 15 car-
ries for a career-best 93 yards for
the Badgers.
Wisconsin managed to stay in
the game thanks to stout defense.
But Charlie Kuhbander kicked a
32-yard field goal with 11:35 left,
and Northwestern finished off an-
other second-half shutout. The
Wildcats have allowed just
10 points in the final two quarters
this season.
Wisconsin had a couple of
chances to move in front in the
first half, but Mertz fumbled on a
sack by Blake Gallagher and threw
two interceptions to Brandon Jo-
seph.
“Northwestern’s a great, vet-
eran defense,” Mertz said. “They
knew what was coming with our
progressions. Obviously it was
something I’d love to get back, but
now it’s just taking it as a learning
experience and growing from it.”
Even with Mertz’s trouble, the
Badgers outgained the Wildcats
366-263. They just couldn’t over-
come the turnovers.
— Associated PressRamsey, Wildcats seize
b attle for Big Ten West
NORTHWESTERN 17,
WISCONSIN 7NAM Y. HUH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwestern tight end Charlie Mangieri c atches a touchdown pass
from Peyton Ramsey during the first half against Wisconsin.Clemson at Virginia Tech
Dec. 5, time and TV TBASUE OGROCKI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler ran for a touchdown and threw for 301 yards and four scores.