NATION
UCF rips Pitt, extends nation’s longest streak
Milton passes for four TDs for Central Florida; No. 1 Alabama breezes, 56-14
McKenzie Milton threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns and No. 13 UCF extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 17 games with a 45-14 rout of Pittsburgh on Saturday in Orlando, Fla..
A week after accounting for six TDs in a lopsided victory over Florida Atlantic, Milton also ran for two scores to give the junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, seven TDs passing and five rushing in his past two games.
UCF (4-0) now moves into the heart of its American Athletic Conference schedule, hoping to go undefeated for the second straight year to play its way into consideration for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Pitt (2-3) has had a knack for stunning teams with national title aspirations in recent seasons, however the Panthers were no match for a Milton-led offense that’s scored at least 30 points in every game during its school- and AAC-record winning streak.
Running back Adrian Killins, Jr., scored on a 71-yard reception, and Milton tossed TD passes of 24 yards to Gabriel Davis, 2 yards to Michael Colubiale and 13 yards to Otis Anderson.
Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts staked the Crimson Tide (5-0) to a 49-0 halftime lead over the Ragin’ Cajuns (1-3) en route to the defending national champions’ latest blowout.
Then third-teamer Mac Jones got into the act with his 94-yarder to the freshman Waddle late in the third quarter. It tied for the second-longest TD catch in Alabama history. Alabama has scored at least 45 points five games in a row for the first time in program history.
Freshman quarterback Justin Fields scored on runs of 12 and 15 yards, and Isaac Nauta had a 31-yard fumble return for a scpore. The Bulldogs led by 12 points early in the final quarter before pulling away.
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) scored touchdowns on its last drive of the first half and opening possession after halftime but otherwise couldn’t maintain momentum. Jake Fromm completed 16 of 22 passes for 185 yards while sharing time with Fields.
Tennessee (2-3, 0-2) was held to 209 yards.
Austin Kendall opened the game, but Murray entered on the second possession and played nearly flawless football. His passing touchdown total tied for second-best in school history behind Baker Mayfield's seven against Texas Tech in 2016. The school would not say why Murray didn't start.
Murray also ran for 45 yards and a score for the Sooners (5-0, 2-0 Big 12).
Marquise Brown caught five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, CeeDee Lamb had 101 yards receiving and Lee Morris caught two touchdown passes for the Sooners.
Starting his second straight game, Book completed 24 of 33 passes for 278 yards, including an 8-yard TD pass to Miles Boykin. Boykin had career highs of 11 receptions and 144 yards.
Boykin's touchdown gave the Irish (5-0) a 31-17 lead over the Cardinal (4-1) with 8:16 remaining.
Marcus Simms had nine catches for a career-high 138 yards — all in the first half — for his third straight 100-yard game. The Mountaineers (4-0, 2-0 Big 12) scored 28 first-quarter points.
Coach Dan Mullen won in his return to Starkville, guiding Florida to success in his first appearance at Davis Wade Stadium since leaving Mississippi State in November after nine mostly successful seasons.
Florida wasn't great offensively, but it didn't matter. The Gators (4-1, 2-1) broke through in the third quarter when Franks threw a lateral to Kadarius Toney, who then threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Moral Stephens for a 10-6 lead.
From that point forward, Florida slowly grinded toward the win. A 10-play, 36-yard drive in the fourth quarter led to a 21-yard field goal by Evan McPherson — giving the Gators a 13-6 lead — and the Mississippi State offense was never able to respond. Mississippi State (3-2, 0-2) had its chances to win and led 6-3 at halftime.
Higdon gave the Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) the lead with a 5-yard run with 4:06 remaining. Higdon averaged 3.8 yards on 30 carries, and Patterson completed 15 of 24 passes to help Michigan win its fourth straight. Michigan held Northwestern to 97 yards of total offense in the final three quarters and had six sacks for the game.
Clayton Thorson completed 16 of 27 passes for 174 yards for Northwestern (1-3, 1-1) in the Wildcats' third straight loss.
Keaontay Ingram churned for a first down with less than three minutes to go, allowing the red-hot Longhorns (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) to run out the clock after blowing much of a 19-0 halftime lead.
Skylar Thompson threw for 96 yards in relief of ineffective quarterback Alex Delton, and he led the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2) to a pair of touchdowns in the second half. But after they got the ball back with 7:12 to go, Thompson threw a pair of incompletions as Kansas State went three-and-out, and coach Bill Snyder’s offense never got another opportunity with the ball.
The Spartans (3-1) entered with the nation’s top-ranked run defense and held CMU (1-4) to 5 yards on the ground in the first half. Michigan State led 31-3 before letting the Chippewas rally.