top 25 | Saturday’s games

No. 2 Clemson 59, Florida State 10

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

Trevor Lawrence threw four touchdown passes, and No. 2 Clemson handed Florida State its worst home loss in program history. Lawrence completed 20 of 37 passes for 314 yards before leaving late in the third quarter. Tee Higgins and Amari Rodgers each had two touchdown receptions. The Tigers (8-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved to 8-0 for the seventh time in school history, including the third time in the last four seasons. They were dominant in the second quarter, scoring four touchdowns on consecutive drives en route to their fourth straight victory over the Seminoles. Florida State (4-4, 2-4) suffered its most-lopsided defeat at home — surpassing a 58-14 loss to Southern Miss in 1981.

No. 3 Notre Dame 44, Navy 22

SAN DIEGO

Ian Book threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns, Dexter Williams ran for 142 yards and three scores as Notre Dame overwhelmed Navy to remain undefeated and in the playoff picture. JaFar Armstrong added a rushing touchdown for the Fighting Irish. They are 8-0 for the first time since 2012, when they remained undefeated until being routed by Alabama in the BCS national title game. Navy (2-6), which lost its fifth straight, finally broke through when Zach Abey had two 1-yard TD runs in the third quarter.

No. 8 Oklahoma 51, Kansas State 14

NORMAN, OKLA.

Kyler Murray passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to help Oklahoma beat Kansas State. The Sooners (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) rolled up a season-high 702 total yards and only punted once, and that was in the fourth quarter after Murray was done for the day. CeeDee Lamb caught four passes for a career-high 160 yards and two touchdowns, and Kennedy Brooks ran for 94 yards and two scores. The Sooners won their second straight since losing to Texas. Oklahoma held Kansas State (3-4, 1-4) to 245 yards.

No. 12 Kentucky 15, Missouri 14

COLUMBIA, MO.

Warren Harding graduate Lynn Bowden starred as a receiver and on special teams and Terry Wilson threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Conrad on the final play to lift Kentucky past Missouri. Kentucky took over on its own 19 with 1:24 left. With 4 seconds left, Wilson threw toward Ahmad Wagner in the back left corner of the end zone. Wagner caught the ball out of bounds, but Missouri cornerback DeMarkus Acy was called for pass interference, giving Kentucky an untimed down that it turned into the winning score. Bowden returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown with 5:18 left to pull the Wildcats (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) to 14-9. Kentucky held Missouri (4-4, 0-4) without a first down on eight second-half possessions. Wilson, who was replaced by backup Gunnar Hoak for part of the second half, completed 22 of 31 passes for 267 yards. Bowden had 13 catches for 166 yards.

No. 14 Washington State 41, No. 24 Stanford 38

STANFORD, CALIF.

Gardner Minshew completed his first 19 passes of the second half and drove Washington State to a 42-yard field goal by Blake Mazza with 19 seconds remaining to put the Cougars in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 North. Minshew completed 40 of 50 passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cougars (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) to their third straight win over the Cardinal (5-3, 3-2). This victory follows last week’s over then-No. 12 Oregon, giving Washington State back-to-back wins over ranked opponents for the first time since 2002.

California 12, No. 15 Washington 10

BERKELEY, CALIF.

Linebacker Evan Weaver scored on a 36-yard interception return in the third quarter after Washington made a change at quarterback, and California overcome a sluggish day offensively. The Golden Bears (5-3, 2-3 Pac-12) had only 245 yards and were limited to two field goals, but Weaver and the defense repeatedly bailed out the struggling offense while dealing a serious blow to Washington’s hopes of a second Pac-12 title in three seasons. The Huskies (6-3, 4-2) entered the day with a half-game lead over No. 14 Washington State and No. 24 Stanford but fell to second place despite not allowing an offensive touchdown. Washington starting quarterback Jake Browning threw his 90th career touchdown pass in the first quarter but was benched late in the third after the Huskies went three-and-out on their second drive of the second half. Redshirt freshman Jake Haener replaced Browning and threw an incompletion on his first pass before Weaver picked off the pass on a third-and-8 play. Browning returned after two series. He completed 11 of 21 passes for 148 yards.

Mississippi State 28, No. 16 Texas A&M 13

STARKVILLE, MISS.

Nick Fitzgerald threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores to lead Mississippi State over Texas A&M. Mississippi State (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) won thanks to an unexpected boost from its passing game, which was among the least productive in the SEC coming into the night. One week after throwing four interceptions in a miserable loss to LSU, Fitzgerald completed 14 of 22 passes, including several big gains that swung the game in favor of the Bulldogs. The biggest might have been a 84-yard strike to Stephen Guidry on third-and-21 that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Fitzgerald and gave the Bulldogs a 21-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Houston 57, No. 21 USF 36

HOUSTON

D’Eriq King had a hand in a career-high seven touchdowns, throwing for 419 yards and five scores and running for 134 yards and two more touchdowns for Houston. King threw touchdown passes of 15, 38, 30, 52 and 27 yards and had scoring runs of 47 and 36 yards. He finished 28 of 41 passing. The seven total touchdowns set a career high. Marquez Stevenson caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns, Jeremy Singleton had five receptions for 125 yards and a TD. Houston (7-1, 4-0 American) won its fifth straight, totaling a season-high 684 yards of offense. Blake Barnett finished 26 of 39 for 263 yards and a touchdown for South Florida (7-1, 3-1).

Syracuse 51, No. 22 North Carolina State 41

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

Eric Dungey threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, and Syracuse held off North Carolina State to become eligible for the postseason for the first time in five years. Syracuse (6-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which snapped a two-game losing streak last time out with a 40-37, double-overtime victory over North Carolina, improved to 5-0 in the Carrier Dome. N.C. State (5-2, 2-2), which was coming off its first loss of the season, a 41-7 thrashing at No. 2 Clemson, fell behind early, rallied, then ran out of time at the end. Orange linebacker Andrew Armstrong sealed the victory with an interception at the Wolfpack 23-yard line with 2:18 left. Dungey finished 27 of 38 for 411 yards passing with zero turnovers.

Associated Press