Johnson runs for 256 yards, 4 TDs in No. 5 Washington’s high-octane 52-42 win over No. 24 USC
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dillon Johnson had never rushed for more than 100 yards in any game in his four seasons of college football. The Washington tailback surpassed triple digits well before halftime Saturday night, and he kept running all the way to a landmark performance for his unbeaten Huskies.
Johnson knew he was just one cog in an offensive machine that had several higher gears than its powerful Southern California counterpart.
Johnson rushed for 256 yards and four touchdowns, Michael Penix Jr. passed for 256 yards and two scores and No. 5 Washington stayed perfect with a 52-42 victory over No. 24 USC.
Devin Culp and Ja’Lynn Polk caught TD passes from Penix, who also rushed for a score while the Huskies (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12) won a high-octane thriller featuring two elite offenses and two deficient defenses. Washington won by scoring the game’s final 10 points and shutting out USC in the fourth quarter.
“They’re one of the top couple of offenses in the country,” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said of USC. “I know we’re up there, too. … We just knew we had to go blow for blow, and keep swinging, keep fighting. That’s what our guys did, and at some point, someone was going to make a big play. We did that a couple of times tonight.”
Washington has now struggled to put away three straight opponents since i ts huge victory over Oregon last month, but the Huskies still haven’t faltered.
Johnson had the fifth-biggest rushing performance in Washington history and its first 200-yard game or four-TD game since 2017. The Huskies racked up 572 total yards around him, making nine pass plays covering at least 15 yards apiece and nine runs of at least 10 yards.
“It was a special game, man,” said Johnson, the Mississippi State transfer. “We just wanted to be the most physical team. The last two weeks, we haven’t played up to our standards.”
Caleb Williams passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns for the Trojans (7-3, 5-2), who have lost three of four to derail their championship hopes.
“I want to go home and cuddle with my dog and watch some shows,” the Heisman Trophy winner said when asked how he felt after yet another big performance wasn’t enough.
“Like, we lost the game,” Williams added. “I work hard throughout months, years to have big games like this, try and go win and play your best, each and every one of us. We came out with a loss today, so emotionally I want to go home and I want to play with my dog.”
Raleek Brown, Darwin Barlow and Williams rushed for TDs, while Tahj Washington, Brenden Rice and Mario Williams caught scoring passes in front of a sold-out Coliseum for USC’s 100th Homecoming weekend.
The offenses combined for 1,087 yards, but Washington repeatedly made bigger plays at key moments, and the Huskies never trailed in the second half.
Mario Williams caught a 20-yard TD pass from Caleb Williams to make it 42-42 late in the third quarter, but Washington’s Grady Gross made a 43-yard field goal with 12:25 to play. Caleb Williams then took a long sack that put the Trojans out of field-goal range on their next drive, and Washington marched 91 yards for Johnson’s fourth TD with 2:20 left.
“We didn’t play very well tonight,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “Biggest thing was the run game. Way too many big plays. Some of our worst ball was on some of the biggest plays of the game. … “I think our guys are frustrated that we’ve been so, so close and we haven’t played good enough to be able to separate.”
USC gave up at least 40 points for the fifth time in its last six games, increasing the pressure on Riley’s longtime defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch.
“I’m not into the big-picture questions right now,” Riley said when asked about his loyalty to Grinch. “My job is to go try to beat Oregon next week and to coach what we have here.”
Big, bold offensive plays happened regularly in this meeting between two longtime Pac-12 rivals heading to the Big Ten together next season.
Penix threw a spectacular 22-yard TD pass to Culp while running out of bounds in the second quarter. USC answered with a 95-yard drive capped by two electrifying runs from Barlow, but Johnson made an untouched 52-yard TD run moments later.
USC went ahead on Washington’s 41-yard TD reception off a sublime flea-flicker — but after Polk’s TD catch tied it, Zion Tupuola-Fetui forced Williams’ fumble on USC’s next snap.
Tupuola-Fetui, whose father died last week, was visibly emotional on the sideline after his big play.
“I was hoping that we could hold them to 14 (points) or something,” Tupuola-Fetui said. “We held them to an L, so that’s fine with me.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Washington: The Huskies have their “0,” but it’s been a grind. They’re still not completely convincing as a College Football Playoff contender, and they’ll almost certainly find it harder to move the ball in their final three games against defenses much better than woeful USC.
USC: The Trojans’ second season under Riley is officially a failure, and the defense deserves nearly all of the blame on a team that has scored at least 32 points in nine of its 10 games. A fan mutiny could occur if Grinch sticks around next season.
UP NEXT
Washington: Host Utah on Nov. 11.
USC: At Oregon on Nov. 11.
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Nix throws 4 TD passes and runs for 2 more scores in No. 6 Oregon’s 63-19 rout of California
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Bo Nix threw four touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and No. 6 Oregon pulled away from California in a wild first half in a 63-19 victory Saturday.
Nix completed 29 of 38 passes for 38 yards. He had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs. Tez Johnson caught 12 passes for 180 yards and two scores and the Ducks (8-1, 4-1 Pac-12, No. 6 CFP) remained undefeated at Autzen Stadium.
Jaydn Ott ran for 93 yards and a touchdown for the Golden Bears (3-6, 1-5). Nohl Williams scored on a fumble return and Mateen Bhaghani made two field goals.
Nix was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for a pair of touchdowns and running for another during Oregon’s 35-6 victory at No. 13 Utah last weekend.
He went into the game against Cal averaging 292.1 yards passing. He has thrown 25 touchdown passes and run for five more.
Nix is getting Heisman Trophy buzz, although he’s facing competition from fellow Pac-12 quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who has helped keep No. 5 Washington undefeated. The Huskies downed the Ducks 36-33 in Seattle this season.
In periodic downpours, the game got off to a wild and slippery start.
Nix’s pass was intercepted on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Gary Bryant Jr. bobbled Nix’s pass and it fell into the hands of Cal safety Patrick McMorris on the Oregon 38.
Bhaghani attempted a 41-yeard field goal, but it was blocked by Khyree Jackson and run back to the Cal 10 by Jahlil Florence. The Ducks were ruled offside and hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty — putting Cal on the Oregon 9.
Fernando Mendoza’s subsequent first-down pass was intercepted by Steve Stephens IV. Penalties again thwarted Oregon, but Nix’s second-and-37 pass was caught by Tez Johnson for a 48-yard touchdown.
Oregon went up 14-0 when Mendoza’s fumble was scooped up by Taki Taimani, who took it to the goal line before Nix scored on a 1-yard keeper.
After Cal closed the gap on Bhaghani’s 43-yard field goal, Nix fumbled following a botched snap and Williams recovered, running seven yards for a touchdown to make it 14-10. Bhaghani added a 27-yard field goal to pull the Bears closer.
Nix had another 1-yard keeper before a pair of touchdown passes — a 14-yard scoring pass to Johnson and a 7-yard TD to Troy Franklin — to push the Ducks’ lead to 35-13 at halftime.
Ott scored on a 20-yard run early in the third quarter for Cal but the Ducks answered with Bucky Irving’s 6-yard scoring run to make it 42-19.
The Bears threatened with 4:05 left in the third on Oregon’s 5m but Jaivian Thomas fumbled and Oregon recovered.
Thomas, a freshman who ran for a touchdown earlier this season against Oregon State, was injured on the play and was motionless on the field for several minutes. Both teams surrounded him as he was carted off the field. His condition was not immediately known.
Nix found Terrance Ferguson with a 4-yard scoring pass early in the fourth quarter. Jordan James added a 16-yard scoring run. Backup Ty Thompson threw a 6-yard TD to Traeshon Holden in the final minutes.
Saturday’s meeting was the last between the two teams as members of the Pac-12 as it is known now. Oregon is off to the Big Ten next season, while the Golden Bears are joining the ACC.
THE TAKEAWAY
California: Ott, the Pac-12’s leading rusher with more than 107 yards per game, did not play in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 50-49 loss to USC last weekend, but he started against the Ducks. Ott ran for 153 yards and three scores against the Trojans.
Oregon: Oregon leads the all-time series against Cal 43-41-2 and has won the last five. The Ducks have so dominated at home in recent years that Cal has won just once — back in 2007 — at Autzen Stadium in the past 35 years.
UP NEXT
California: Host Washington State next Saturday.
Oregon: Host USC next Saturday.
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Stanford shuts down high-scoring Washington State in 10-7 victory
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Stanford kicker Joshua Karty hit the go-ahead field goal with less than 6 minutes left, and the Stanford defense shut out Washington State in the second half in a gritty 10-7 victory on Saturday night..
The Cardinal (3-6, 2-5) snapped a six-game losing streak to the Cougars in the last Pac-12 Conference matchup between these longtime league foes.
Washington State (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) lost its fifth straight game after starting the season 4-0 and reaching No. 13 in The AP Top 25 poll.
After a quiet three quarters, Stanford wide receiver Elic Ayomanor caught a key 30-yard pass on third down and Cardinal backup QB Justin Lamson converted a fourth-and-1 to set up Karty’s 31-yard field goal with 5:56 remaining.
The Cardinal forced a three-and-out on the Cougars’ ensuing possession and salted away the game with a 10-play drive.
Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels was 15 of 31 passing for 115 yards. Sam Roush had seven catches for 61 yards, including a crucial 27-yard grab on a fake-reverse pass from Lamson.
Lamson led the Cardinal with 54 rushing yards and ran for a 1-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to pull Stanford even at 7—7. He effectively ended the game with a 2-yard rush on fourth-and-1 with 2:36 left. The Cardinal were able to run the remaining time off the clock and picked up their third road victory.
Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward passed for 240 yards and one touchdown. Wideout Lincoln Victor had 12 catches for 66 yards, and Josh Kelly caught four passes for 82 yards. Kelly had the only touchdown for Washington State on a 9-yard TD catch in the second quarter.
HOBBLING COUGARS
Washington State was without its top two running backs, Nakia Watson and Dylan Paine, because of injuries. Watson took two early carries before leaving.
Redshirt freshman running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker, in his first career start, had 34 yards on 13 carries.
The Cougars also played with starting cornerback Chau Smith-Wade due to injury.
THE TAKEAWAY
Stanford: The Cardinal showed lots of moxie in wet, ugly conditions on the Palouse. After giving Washington a major battle the week before, this win continues the upward trend in the second half of coach Troy Taylor’s first season.
Washington State: The tailspin continues. Over the last few weeks the Cougars’ biggest problem had been their defense. Against Stanford it was an offense that went totally quiet in the second half.
UP NEXT
Stanford: At No. 16 Oregon State on Saturday.
Washington State: At California on Saturday.
No. 16 Oregon State keeps Shedeur Sanders in check in 26-19 win over Colorado
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Despite shutting down Shedeur Sanders, No. 16 Oregon State was looking ripe for another upset Saturday night at Colorado until Buffaloes new play-caller Pat Shurmur gave them a reprieve just before halftime.
Instead of running the ball from his own 4 and heading into halftime down just 7-3, Shurmur called for a pair of passes, both of which fell incomplete, before a run was stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
Three plays, no yards, 27 seconds.
“That was huge in a lot of ways,” Beavers coach Jonathan Smith said after Oregon State held on for a 26-19 win Saturday night.
Anthony Gould returned the punt from Colorado’s end zone 28 yards and another 5 yards was tacked on for an illegal formation flag on the Buffs, giving the Beavers the ball at the 20 with 22 seconds left.
On first down, DJ Uiagalelei hit running back Deshaun Fenwick for the touchdown that made it 14-3 at the break.
“We shouldn’t have been throwing there. We needed to run the ball,” Sanders told ESPN as he walked to the locker room. “That’s on me,” Coach Prime added.
The Buffs went nowhere on the opening drive of the second half and Uiagalelei’s 1-yard keeper made it 20-3.
Shedeur Sanders came into the game as the nation’s second-leading passer with a 337-yard average. But he was limited to 41 yards before halftime and finished with 245 after two late touchdown drives following an in-game painkiller injection for the second straight week in his sore hip.
“When I get mad, it’s just a different me,” Sanders said of his pair of 75-yard touchdown drives after the Buffs’ first 10 possessions resulted in just 78 yards of offense.
Beavers linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold said the plan was “to punish him every single play no matter what.”
The Beavers (7-2, 4-2) started slowly but picked up steam with a pair of touchdown drives spanning halftime, then tacked on field goals on their next two drives before running out the clock on their final possession.
With their fifth loss in six games, the Buffs (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) fell under .500 for the first time all season.
After a painful loss at UCLA last week in which his quarterback son was under constant durress, Buffs coach Deion Sanders switched up play-calling duties, promoting Shurmur from consultant to co-offensive coordinator. He called plays from the booth down to the field where original coordinator Sean Lewis relayed them.
“It’s not really a big change,” Shedeur Sanders said. “We’re all in this together.”
Deion Sanders said the change was necessary to try to shake the Buffs from their offensive doldrums, but ESPN commentator Brock Osweiler was critical of Colorado for not adding a tight end or running back to the protection scheme and basically leaving the five O-linemen on an island all night. The Buffs don’t use their tight ends for blocking and routinely line up with four wide receivers.
The change to Shurmur didn’t provide the spark the Buffaloes had hoped as they managed just 52 yards of offense in the first half and mismanaged their final possession, leaving the Beavers enough time to score the touchdown that gave them the double-digit halftime lead.
Sanders promised a different Buffs team in the second half, including his QB, who was 11-for-19 for 41 yards at that point.
Yet, it was more of the same after the break until Shedeur Sanders hit Travis Hunter from 15 yards out to pull CU to 23-12 with 10:41 remaining. After an OSU field goal, Sanders directed another 75-yard drive, capping this one with an 11-yard pass to Anthony Hankerson, to pull Colorado to 26-19.
After stuffing Colorado on the opening drive after halftime, the Beavers went 85 yards with Ugiagelelei scoring on a 1-yard keeper. Atticus Sappington’s extra point made it 21-3 but the Buffaloes were offside, and Smith decided to go for 2 instead.
That decision backfired when Uiagalelei fumbled the snap and cornerback Kendrick Breedlove scooped it up and ran it the other way for Colorado’s first defensive return for a 2-point conversion since 1991 against Nebraska.
SILVER LINING
Shedeur Sanders isn’t moping about the Buffs’ tough stretch. On the contrary, he’s looking at it was something that will pay dividends next year.
“Whenever you win all the time you don’t ever really go through that grit, that pain, that suffering. So, sometimes it’s good to go through this process to make sure you don’t ever feel like that again,” he said. “So, I’m fine with it.”
Among the more than a dozen prospective recruits at the game was somebody who could help keep Sanders safe: five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton from Washignton, D.C.
THE TAKEAWAY
Oregon State: After scoring just once in their first eight drives, the Beavers settled in nicely with two TDs and two FGs on their next four possessions.
Colorado: The Buffaloes find themselves in need of two wins over their final three games to become bowl eligible.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Beavers fell five spots last week after their 27-24 loss at Arizona, but winning in Boulder steadies them this week.
UP NEXT
Oregon State: Hosts Stanford next Saturday.
Colorado: Hosts Arizona next Saturday.