SATURDAY’S OTHER COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 2 Clemson 42, Pitt 10

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Travis Etienne ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns, Trevor Lawrence threw two short scoring passes to Tee Higgins and No. 2 Clemson beat Pitt to become the first team to win four straight Atlantic Coast Conference championships. Clemson (13-0, CFP No. 2) is expected to face third-ranked Notre Dame, which was idle Saturday, in the College Football Playoffs on Dec. 29. The Tigers ran for 301 yards and four touchdowns and averaged 9 yards per carry on a dreary, rain-soaked night in which Lawrence was limited to 118 yards passing. Clemson forced three turnovers, including two in the first half that gave the offense the ball inside the Pitt 10 and led to 14 points. The Tigers limited Panthers quarterback Kenny Pickett to 8 yards passing and had nine tackles for a loss. The Tigers joined the Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators (1993-96) as the only Power Five teams to win four straight conference titles. Etienne scored on his first two carries. The ACC player of the year took a handoff on the first play from scrimmage, ran to the right, cutback and raced 75 yards for his 20th touchdown of the season — the quickest TD in the conference championship history. He added a second scoring run a few minutes later after Isaiah Simmons stripped Pickett of the ball and Christian Wilkins return it to the Pitt 3. Etienne had 78 yards on his first two carries. Pitt (7-6) would show signs of life though, scoring 10 straight points behind a 1-yard TD run by Qadree Ollison to cut the lead to 14-10.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 5 Oklahoma 39, No. 9 Texas 27

ARLINGTON, TEXAS

Kyler Murray threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns as No. 5 Oklahoma beat No. 9 Texas. Murray threw two of his TDs to Grant Calcaterra. That included an impressive 18-yard score on a third-and-10 play with two minutes left as the Sooners (12-1, No. 5 CFP) won their seventh consecutive game despite being held to fewer than 40 points for the first time in nine games. Sam Ehlinger was 23-of-36 passing for 349 yards with two touchdowns, and he also ran for two scores for Texas (9-4), but his final pass was picked off by Tre Norwood at the 1 in the final minute. The Sooners went ahead on Austin Seibert’s third field goal, a 31-yarder with 12:37 left that was good after ricocheting off the top of the left upright to make it 30-27.

AAC CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 7 UCF 56, Memphis 41

ORLANDO, FLA.

Unbeaten UCF updated its sparkling resume with an impressive come-from-behind victory over Memphis. Now the seventh-ranked Knights (11-0, No. 8 CFP), who proclaimed themselves national champions last January after finishing as the only undefeated team in the FBS, will see if repeating as AAC champs and having the nation’s-longest winning streak are good enough to get them into the College Football Playoff. Darriel Mack Jr. shrugged off two early turnovers to rush for four second-half touchdowns and rally the Knights past the Tigers (8-5) for the fourth time in two seasons. UCF amassed 698 yards total offense and tightened defensively after shaky start to limit Memphis to three points after halftime. Mack completed 19 of 27 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Greg McCrae rushed for 206 yards and one TD for the Knights. Darrell Henderson scored scored three rushing touchdowns and also throw a 4-yard TD pass. He finished with 210 yards on 16 carries.

MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 24 Fresno State 19, No. 19 Boise State 16, OT

BOISE, IDAHO

Ronnie Rivers scored on a 1-yard run in overtime to give No. 24 Fresno State a victory over No. 19 Boise State. Fresno State (11-2, No. 25 CFP) won its first conference title since 2013, beating the Broncos (10-3, No. 22 CFP) on their blue turf for the first time in 10 tries. Rivers scored after Boise State’s Haden Hoggarth made a 23-yard field goal on the opening overtime possession. McMaryion was 20 of 32 for 170 yards and one touchdown, and Rivers led the Bulldogs on the ground with 63 yards. Mattison rushed for 200 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries for the Boise State. Rypien threw for 125 yards, completing 15 of 31 passes with one touchdown.

REGULAR SEASON

No. 24 Iowa State 27, Drake 24

AMES, IOWA

David Montgomery ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns and No. 24 Iowa State barely survived a near-upset by non-scholarship FCS school Drake. Brock Purdy had 153 yards passing and a TD for the Cyclones (8-4). The Bulldogs forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions to open the second half. They turned the second one, a pick of Kyle Kempt, into a 19-yard TD pass from Grant Kraemer to Devin Cates and a stunning 24-20 lead with 3:37 left in the third quarter. That finally woke the Cyclones up. They responded with a 7-yard touchdown reception by Deshaunte Jones to jump back on top, and Spencer Benton and JaQuan Bailey came up with huge sacks to force Drake punts. Montgomery’s 2-yard run on a 3rd-down-and-1 with 1:26 left sealed it for the relieved Cyclones. Kraemer threw for 221 yards and three TDs for the Bulldogs (7-4).

South Carolina 28, Akron 3

COLUMBIA, S.C.

Deebo Samuel caught two touchdown passes and recovered a bad snap on a punt in the end zone for another score as South Carolina beat Akron. South Carolina had four turnovers — two of them red zone interceptions by Jake Bentley — and Akron had six fumbles, losing three of them. In 17 second-half drives, 10 ended in punts, four ended on downs, two ended in lost fumbles and the last one ended at the final gun. Bentley was 14 of 27 for 199 yards and three touchdowns. Mon Denson ran 17 times for 110 yards and Bryan Edwards caught five passes for 109 yards and a TD for South Carolina. Kato Nelson was 19 for 39 for 178 yards. Kwad Smith caught six passes for 69 yards for the Zips. Nick Gasser’s 45-yard field goal gave Akron its only points.

FCS PLAYOFFS

South Dakota State 51, Duquesne 6

BROOKINGS, S.D.

Mikey Daniel ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns, Isaiah Hill also had two rushing touchdowns and fifth-seeded South Dakota State rolled to a win over Duquesne in the second round. Taryn Christion and Cade Johnson hooked up for a 43-yard scoring play on the opening possession of the game. The Jackrabbits then used a turnover for a short field that led to Hill’s 23-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. One play after stopping the Dukes on downs, Pierre Strong broke free for a 52-yard scoring run 1:32 before halftime. Duquesne (9-4) got its points on a Daniel Parr 3-yard run to cap the opening drive of the second half.

Associated Press