Stillwater, Okla. — A mistake by the officials that extended the game when it should have been over allowed Central Michigan to score the winning touchdown on a desperation pass and lateral for an astonishing 30-27 upset of No. 22 Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Oklahoma State tried to kill the final 4 seconds by throwing the ball away on fourth down, but the Cowboys were penalized for intentional grounding, which is a loss of down penalty. Rules state that the game cannot end on an accepted live-ball penalty, referee Tim O’Dey of the Mid-American Conference, CMU’s league, said.
“There’s an exception to the rule that says if enforcement of the foul involves a loss of down, then that brings the game to an end,” O’Dey told a pool reporter after the game.
O’Dey said after conferring with NCAA rules committee secretary Rogers Redding after the game, the crew determined the “extension should not have happened.”
But the final result stood. Article 3b of the NCAA rulebook states: When the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final.
Corey Willis scored the winning touchdown after grabbing a lateral from Jesse Kroll at the 12. Cooper Rush lofted the pass that hit Kroll just inside the 10. As Kroll was being taken down, he pitched it back to Willis, who cut across the field and barely managed to score while being dragged down.
No. 9 Georgia 26Nicholls 24
Athens, Ga.— Georgia scored two quick-strike touchdowns — one on offense, one on defense — in a span of about two minutes after Nicholls took a third-quarter lead.
Georgia (2-0) opened the game with a fast touchdown drive capped by Nick Chubb’s 6-yard run and appeared headed for the easy win over the FCS Colonels in Kirby Smart’s home debut as coach.
Smart called the sloppy win disappointing.
Nicholls (0-1) led 14-13 midway through the third after freshman quarterback Chase Fourcade, a surprise starter, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jarrell Rogers.
No. 1 Alabama 38W. Kentucky 10
Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Freshman Jalen Hurts passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start to lead Alabama past Western Kentucky.
No. 2 Clemson 30, Troy 24
Clemson, s.c. — Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes and Clemson avoided a host of mistakes — including an embarrassing early celebration punt-return gaffe by Ray-Ray McCloud that cost the Tigers a touchdown — to hold off pesky Troy.
The Tigers (2-0) were out of synch on offense and could not break away from the Trojans (1-1) until the fourth quarter. Watson hit beefy defensive lineman Christian Wilkins for a 1-yard score in Clemson’s jumbo goal line package, then connected with Deon Cain on a 23-yard pass for a 27-10 lead.
No. 3 FSU 52, Ch. South. 8
Tallahassee, Fla. — Deondre Francois threw three touchdown passes and Dalvin Cook ran for two more score in Florida State’s victory over Charleston Southern.
No. 4 Ohio State 48, Tulsa 3
Columbus, Ohio — Ohio State overcame a sluggish offensive start, a lightning delay and a driving rainstorm in the second half to beat Tulsa.
After piling up a school-record 776 yards of offense last week against Bowling Green, Ohio State (2-0) didn’t score an offensive touchdown against Tulsa (1-1) until quarterback J.T. Barrett ran in from 16 yards with 9:42 left in the third quarter.
Tailback Mike Weber, Barrett and back Curtis Samuel added scoring runs later in the second half to put the game out of reach.
No. 5 Michigan 51, UCF 14
Ann Arbor, Mich.— Wilton Speight threw two of his four touchdown passes to Jake Butt, and Khalid Hill ran for two scores in Michigan’s victory over Central Florida.
No. 6 Houston 42, Lamar 0
Houston — Houston easily overcame the absence of injured quarterback Greg Ward Jr. and a 3½-hour lightning delay to rout Lamar.
No. 8 Washington 59Idaho 14
Seattle— Jake Browning matched Washington’s school record with five touchdown passes — two each to Dante Pettis and John Ross — and finished with 294 yards in the Huskies’ victory over Idaho.
No. 10 Wisconsin 54Akron 10
Madison, Wis.— Corey Clement ran for two scores before leaving with an injury, Jazz Peavy had two touchdown catches and Wisconsin stuffed Akron’s spread offense.
No. 18 Notre Dame 39 Nevada 10
South Bend, Ind. — DeShone Kizer threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, Josh Adams rushed for 106 yards and Notre Dame’s defense rebounded from a disappointing performance a week ago.
No. 19 Mississippi 38Wofford 13
Oxford, Miss. — Chad Kelly threw for 219 yards and three touchdowns to lead Mississippi.
No. 20 Texas a&m 67Prairie View a&m 0
College Station, Tex. — Trevor Knight threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in Texas A&M’s romp over Prairie View.
No. 23 Baylor 40, SMU 13
Waco, Texas — Seth Russell threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score, and Baylor recovered from a slow start to rout SMU.
