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ESPN staff
Ohio State kept its Big Ten title hopes alive with a thrilling comeback win over Maryland in overtime, after the Terps missed a two-point conversion. Meanwhile, Alabama was tied with The Citadel — The Citadel! — at the half before taking control in the third quarter. What else have we learned so far today?
Check back throughout the afternoon for more as games go final.
No. 1 Alabama 50, The Citadel 17
Well, that was interesting. And not in the good way if you’re an Alabama fan, seeing as it was a tie ballgame at halftime. But if you’re Nick Saban, you might see the silver lining in such a sloppy performance against The Citadel. Think about it: no one would blame Alabama for sleepwalking toward the playoff, and Saturday might have been a valuable wake-up call. Plus, in a season of near-perfect football, coach Nick Saban will be able to use the game tape to zero in on some proverbial “teachable moments” before a big regular-season finale against Auburn next weekend. — Alex Scarborough
No. 10 Ohio State 52, Maryland 51 (OT)
Ohio State gained 688 yards of offense against Maryland in a back-and-forth, roller coaster of a game. The reason the Buckeyes had to amass that many yards is because the Terps were able to gain 535 total yards themselves. The Ohio State defense struggled in the first half, allowing three plays over 50 yards, ultimately allowing running back Anthony McFarland to rush for 298 yards in the game. The Buckeyes took their first lead with a touchdown in overtime and while the offense looked to have a balanced effort, the defense showed holes in multiple areas. Ohio State came away with the win, but now plays for a shot at a berth in the Big Ten championship game against Michigan next weekend. That was not the performance Ohio State was hoping for before The Game. — Tom VanHaaren
No. 13 Florida 63, Idaho 10
A blowout win over Idaho doesn’t say much about Florida, but if Gators fans were looking for something to get excited about, they found it in backup QB Emory Jones, who got his first significant playing time of the season. Jones, the No. 59 recruit in the nation in the class of 2018, could be Florida’s QB of the future, and he certainly looked the part Saturday, completing 10-of-16 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. — David M. Hale
No. 14 Penn State 20, Rutgers 7
Not much has come easily for Penn State during Big Ten play, and Saturday’s trip to 1-9 Rutgers proved to be no exception. Senior QB Trace McSorley struggled with his accuracy (17-of-37 passing for 183 yards), and the Lions had a long rush of nine yards, as their offensive line improvement remains minimal. But the encouraging thing, especially for 2019 and beyond, is the emergence of a defense that remains young in spots. While the Rutgers offense doesn’t pose much of a challenge, Penn State needed to be extra stingy and the unit delivered. To be fair, the Scarlet Knights helped, dropping a perfectly executed “New Jersey special” in the end zone that would have cut their deficit to one score in the second half. But Penn State applied a ton of pressure, as junior end Shareef Miller, freshman linebacker Micah Parsons and junior tackles Robert Windsor and Kevin Givens combined for eight tackles for loss and three sacks. — Adam Rittenberg
No. 17 Kentucky 34, Middle Tennessee 23
Big Blue isn’t as hyped as it was a few weeks ago before losing to Georgia and, rather inexplicably, Tennessee. But by taking care of business against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, at least the season hasn’t gone totally off the rails. With a spiraling Louisville on deck next weekend, there’s a strong possibility the Wildcats close out the regular season ranked and in good position for a quality bowl game. Maybe, just maybe, coach Mark Stoops has Kentucky reaching 10 wins for the first time since time since 1977. — Alex Scarborough
No. 21 Mississippi State 52, Arkansas 6
All in all, the Bulldogs rebounded quite nicely from their shutout loss to top-ranked Alabama last week. Their defense was as dominant as ever and the offense had its highest-scoring day against a Power 5 opponent this season. And in his last game in Starkville, Nick Fitzgerald joined Dak Prescott and Tim Tebow as the third player in SEC history with 50 passing touchdowns and 40 rushing touchdowns. Fitzgerald threw four touchdown passes, the sort of effort he’ll need to duplicate against high-powered rival Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl next week. — Joel Anderson
No. 22 Northwestern 24, Minnesota 14
After clinching the Big Ten West division last week, the Wildcats didn’t have a ton to gain at Minnesota. But effort is never a problem with Pat Fitzgerald’s teams, and when they moved from slight favorite to slight road underdog, you could practically chalk up a win. All season, the defense has come through and continued to do so Saturday, particularly the front seven. Playing without both starting safeties and top cornerback Montre Hartage against a talented Minnesota receiving corps, Northwestern recorded two early interceptions (both by linebacker Nate Hall) and three total takeaways in the win. The offense also stepped up late in the first half and in the third quarter, as senior quarterback Clayton Thorson (15 of 21 passing, 230 yards, 13-yard rushing touchdown) played his best game in weeks. Northwestern will need more from Thorson and a healthier roster to have a chance against Michigan in the Big Ten championship, but it continues to shine in Big Ten play, winning 14 of its last 15 league contests. — Adam Rittenberg
No. 25 Boise State 45, New Mexico 14
Boise State’s lopsided defeat of New Mexico sets up what amounts to a Mountain West Conference semifinal next week against Utah State. Regardless of what happens in the Aggies’ game against lowly Colorado State, the winner of the game in Logan, Utah, will get a shot against whoever comes out of the West division. Since losing to San Diego State, Boise has run off six straight wins to position itself in a place where it can defend its conference title. — Kyle Bonagura