Career days, signature win: Cincinnati stuns No. 8 Texas Tech for first top-10 home win since 2006

CINCINNATI (AP) — Cole Tabb had a career-high 173 rushing yards and a touchdown and JC French IV threw for a career-high four TD passes as Cincinnati stunned No. 8 Texas Tech 37-24 on Saturday.

It was the Bearcats’ first win over a top-10 team at home since Nov. 18, 2006, when they defeated No. 7 Rutgers 30-11. Cincinnati won at ninth-ranked Notre Dame in 2021.

The Red Raiders (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) failed go 7-0 for the first time since 2013 and were plagued by mistakes all afternoon.

Red Raiders QB Will Hammond lost a fumble and had an intentional grounding penalty forcing them to settle for field goals and take a 6-3 lead.

Hammond passed for 227 yards with an interception, and J’Koby Williams rushed for 81 yards on 11 carries for the Red Raiders.

The Bearcats (5-2, 2-2) scored 21 points in the second quarter.

Tabb’s four-yard TD catch put the Bearcats ahead 10-6. They extended the lead to 17-6 on a five-yard TD catch by Malachi Henry with 1:37 remaining in the half.

Following an interception by MJ Cannon, the Bearcats drove 75 yards in 27 seconds. Tabb’s 51-yard run set up a two-yard TD catch by tight end Lyviel Waters, making the score 24-6 at halftime.

Tabb’s 58-yard touchdown run with six minutes left sealed the victory for the Bearcats.

NO. 1 MIAMI 52, PITTSBURGH 23

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Malachi Toney had a school-record 16 catches, Dariah Mensah threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns and Miami rolled past Pitt in the Hurricanes’ first game as the nation’s top-ranked team in nearly 24 years.

Toney finished with 194 receiving yards and three touchdown catches, while Javian Mallory rushed for two scores and Mark Fletcher Jr. moved into the No. 2 spot on Miami’s all-time list with the 33rd rushing TD of his career.

The win should keep Miami (7-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) atop the poll when the AP Top 25 is updated Sunday — ending what has been a three-week run of the No. 1 team dropping in the poll after a loss. Texas was No. 1 before losing to Oklahoma, then Georgia was No. 1 before falling to Auburn.

Miami native Blue Hicks had five catches for 149 yards and a touchdown for Pitt (5-3, 2-3), which dropped its third straight game. Holden Geriner got the start at quarterback and completed 18 of 32 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown.

NO. 6 INDIANA 13, MICHIGAN 6, OT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Josh Hoover had a 4-yard touchdown run in overtime and Indiana kept Michigan out of the end zone in a win.

The defending national champion Hoosiers (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) avoided losing two straight for the first time in three years with coach Curt Cignetti — and won at the Big House for the first time since 1967.

The Wolverines (4-3, 1-3) started quarterback Tommy Carr and sat Bryce Underwood, but the freshman didn’t fare as well as he did last week coming off the bench in a win over Penn State.

Carr lost a fumble on an ill-advised pitch in the first quarter and was picked off in the second half. He took sacks in the second and third quarters that led to missed field goals, including a 32-yard kick after advancing to the Indiana 1.

Michigan reached the Hoosiers 3 in the final minute of regulation when Carr was sacked for a fourth time, leading to a 26-yard field goal as time expired.

With a chance to send the game to a second overtime, Michigan advanced to the Indiana 13 and Carr threw an incomplete pass that hit the turf in front of Salesi Moa just outside of the end zone.

NO. 18 LSU 38, AUBURN 17

Auburn, Ala. (AP) — Sam Leavitt accounted for four touchdowns, including two throws to speedster Jackson Harris, and LSU handled Auburn to end an eight-game, road-losing streak in Southeastern Conference play.

Leavitt completed 32 of 45 passes for a career-high 387 yards, ran for 54 more and played turnover-free football for the second consecutive week. He was equally sharp in a 31-0 victory against Mississippi State last Saturday, throwing for 289 yards and four scores.

LSU (6-2, 4-2 SEC) scored on five of six possessions in the first half to take a commanding 31-10 lead into the locker room. It was the kind of performance fans expected when coach Lane Kiffin took over the Tigers and signed one of the most coveted quarterbacks in the transfer portal.

Harris caught nine passes for 178 yards, scoring on a 10-yard strike and turning a 12-yard crossing route into a 70-yard sprint.

Tight end Trey’Dez Green returned after missing the previous four games with a sprained knee and added five receptions for 50 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown that capped a 95-yard drive in the second quarter.

Leavitt ended LSU’s most impressive half of the season with a 4-yard scoring run with 17 seconds to go before the break.

NO. 23 SMU 59, CALIFORNIA 20

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw three touchdowns to break SMU’s career record, Kendrick Raphael ran for 104 yards while accounting for three scores, two on fourth-down plays, and the Mustangs beat California.

The Mustangs (6-1, 4-1 ACC) trailed at halftime before scoring touchdowns on their first six drives after the break. The second of those scores was Jennings’ record-breaking 73rd career TD pass, a 21-yarder to Derek McFall, and the third-year starting quarterback added to that with a 17-yarder to Jalen Hale with 6:29 left.

Jennings, already SMU’s career leader for passing yards (9,766) and completions (781), surpassed the 72 TD passes by Tanner Mordecai from 2021-22. Jennings had tied that mark with his 22-yard fourth-down pass to Raphael in the first quarter and finished 16 of 23 passing for 223 yards.

Freshman running back Christian Rhodes had TD runs of 5 and 3 yards in SMU’s scoring surge in the second half, which Cal (3-5, 2-3) opened with three consecutive three-and-outs.

SMU had 306 of its 492 total yards after halftime.

NO. 24 NORTHWESTERN 42, RUTGERS 14

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Aidan Chiles threw for three touchdowns for the third time this season and rushed for two others to lead Northwestern past Rutgers for a fourth straight victory.

Caleb Komolafe rushed for 150 yards and a TD, including a 56-yard dash. Griffin Wilde, who finished with 133 receiving yards, Alex Honig and Drew Wagner caught passes for scores as Northwestern (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) raced to a 28-3 lead late in the first half.

Rutgers starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan left after sustaining a blow to the head 6 minutes, 25 seconds into the first quarter and didn’t return. He was initially replaced by AJ Surace, then by third-string QB Sean Ashenfelder late in the third quarter.

Antwan Raymond rushed for 150 yards on 18 carries and the lone Rutgers (2-5, 1-3 Big Ten) touchdown, a 46-yard run late in the third. The score was set up by the first interception thrown this season by Chiles, who finished with 219 passing yards and 83 rushing.

Rutgers’ Dane Pizzaro kicked a pair of field goals.

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