College football: Utah remains unbeaten with narrow win over BYU

Devon Dampier accounted for four touchdowns, Utah intercepted four Bear Bachmeier passes and the third-ranked Utes remained undefeated with a 28-20 victory over No. 9 Brigham Young on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Dampier hurt the Cougars with with his arm and legs, finishing with 264 yards of offense to help the Utes (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) end a three-game losing streak in the “Holy War” rivalry series. He threw two touchdown passes to Braden Pegan and ran for two scores.

Trailing by six at halftime, Utah forced three turnovers and shut out the Cougars (7-2, 4-2) in the second half to keep alive its College Football Playoff hopes. BYU has lost two of three to dampen its CFP chances.

Bachmeier threw for 272 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards, but he had two of his four passes intercepted during the fourth quarter — both in the end zone. He had four interceptions in BYU’s first eight games.

No. 7 Texas 34, at No. 18 Missouri 20: Arch Manning threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead touchdown pass to Raleek Brown with about five minutes to go, and the Longhorns rallied to keep alive their College Football Playoff hopes.

Brown added 85 yards and a clinching touchdown on the ground, while the Longhorns (7-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) made a series of big defensive plays in the fourth quarter to help preserve their fourth win over a top-20 opponent this season.

The Tigers (6-3, 3-3) were trying to match Brown’s go-ahead score when a deflected pass was intercepted, setting up Brown’s clinching score.

at No. 21 South Carolina 17, Texas A&M 9: LaNorris Sellers threw for 251 yards and a touchdown and ran for a clinching score as the Gamecocks (6-3, 4-3 SEC) won their fourth in a row.

The Aggies (4-5, 1-5), who started the season at No. 8, fell for the third time in its past four games and guaranteed themselves a losing league season a year after reaching the College Football Playoff.

No. 5 Alabama 31, at No. 14 Louisiana State 13: Keelon Russell passed for three touchdowns, Alabama’s defense made four pivotal fourth-down stops, and the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide pulled away for the win.

Alabama (7-2, 5-2 SEC) remained firmly in the College Football Playoff picture, while leaving LSU (6-3, 3-3) with long-shot hopes at best under first-year coach Lane Kiffin, who also dropped to 0-6 in his coaching career against Alabama (including prior stints at Mississippi and Tennessee).

LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt completed 35 of 47 passes for 380 yards, but had a pass intercepted for the first time in three games.

No. 23 Oregon 41, at No. 12 Ohio State 28: Dierre Hill Jr. rushed for two touchdowns, Dylan Raiola passed for 257 yards and the Ducks rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to hammer the Buckeyes.

The Ducks (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) were down 14-0 late in the first quarter before scoring on four of their next five drives to take control of the game and deliver a stunning loss to the Buckeyes (6-3, 4-2), who have dropped two consecutive games for the first time since 2011.

Ohio State has also likely seen its chances of making the College Football Playoff dashed after opening the season as the top-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25.

at No. 16 Wake Forest 77, Merrimack 0: Steele Pizzella stepped into the starter’s role and kept the Demon Deacons rolling by throwing for 432 yards and three touchdowns in the first half in a record-setting rout of the Football Championship Subdivision opponent.

With Pizzella filling in for injured starter Gio Lopez, Wake Forest (8-1) scored 11 touchdowns to break the school scoring record set in a 70-58 win over Army on Oct. 23, 2021. Pizzella accounted for 495 yards while playing just the first 30 minutes. His performance was the first 400-yard passing day for Wake Forest since Hank Bachmaier threw for 403 yards against Virginia in 2024. The Demon Deacons finished with 546 yards passing, breaking the record set in that Virginia game. Jack Foley was their leading receiver with six catches for 162 yards.

at No. 17 Houston 31, Cincinnati 24: Re’Shaun Sanford II ran for 126 yards and the tiebreaking score in the fourth quarter, and Conner Weigman threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns as the Cougars held on for the win.

Sanford’s 51-yard touchdown run with 5:10 remaining gave the Cougars (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) the lead.

Cincinnati (5-4, 2-4) drove to the Houston 42, but a throw by JC French IV was ruled a backward pass after a replay review, and Houston recovered with 2:11 remaining. The Cougars ran out the clock from there.

at No. 24 Arizona 29, Texas Christian 28: Michael Salgado-Medina kicked a 37-yard field goal with 39 seconds left after the Wildcats recovered an onside pooch kick and Arizona pulled out an improbable victory Friday night.

The Wildcats (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) pulled to within 28-26 on Noah Fifita’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Craig with 1:45 left, but their two-point conversion attempt failed. Fifta threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns with an interception that Hudson Hooper returned 93 yards for a touchdown.

Etc.

Five days after he called Dana Holgorsen “one of the best offensive minds of our generation,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule fired his offensive coordinator Saturday in the wake of the Cornhuskers’ loss at Illinois a day earlier. Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas will take over play-calling duties for the Huskers (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten), who have scored just 54 points combined in four straight losses. ... Nate Sheppard went up the middle for a 69-yard touchdown on his first carry while Andrew Pellicciotta returned a missed field goal from the back of one end zone to the other for a half-ending touchdown as Duke (7-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat North Carolina State 41-3. ... Jahiem Lawson returned Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli’s backward pass and fumble 22 yards for a score, Ashton Hampton later intercepted a pass by Angeli in the end zone and Clemson (6-3, 4-2 ACC) held on to defeat the Orange 18-13. ...Jackson Gutierrez rushed for a career-high five touchdowns including the game-winner with 1:14 remaining after Navy blew a 28-point lead to pull out a 42-35 victory over Temple. ... Eli Gillman ran for 196 yards and four touchdowns — setting the Big Sky Conference career record for touchdowns with 78 — and Montana rolled to a 57-24 win over Portland State.