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Top 25 Recaps: Mississippi State stuns Texas A&M

The Sports Xchange

November 05, 2016 at 4:59 pm.

Nov 5, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald (7) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown in the third quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State won 35-28. Photo Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Nov 5, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald (7) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown in the third quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State won 35-28. Photo Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald accounted for four touchdowns and had 391 yards of total offense to lead Mississippi State to a stunning 35-28 upset of No. 4 Texas A&M in a Southeastern Conference contest at Starkville, Miss.

Fitzgerald passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns and added 182 yards and two scores on the ground. Senior receiver Fred Ross caught six passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs (4-5, 2-3 SEC), who outgained the Aggies 574-382.

Texas A&M was surprisingly ranked fourth in the initial College Football Playoff of the season and assured it will take a significant drop in Tuesday’s second poll.

Aggies senior quarterback Trevor Knight departed in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and junior Jake Hubenak completed 11 of 17 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns in his place. Sophomore receiver Christian Kirk returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown and caught seven passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.

The Aggies were powerless to stop Mississippi State’s ground assault. The Bulldogs finished with 365 rushing yards with Fitzgerald and sophomore running back Aeris Williams (140 yards, one touchdown) each having big days.

No. 7 Louisville 52, Boston College 7

BOSTON — Lamar Jackson became the first quarterback in Louisville history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season as the sevnth-ranked Cardinals routed Boston College.

The sophomore and Heisman Trophy hopeful accumulated 416 total yards (231 rushing, 185 passing) and seven touchdowns (four passing, three rushing) to add to his national lead of 45 total scores (26 passing, 19 rushing). It marked the third time this season Jackson totaled seven touchdowns in a game, while no other FBS player has accomplished the feat more than once.

James Quick had 78 receiving yards and two touchdowns and Jaylen Smith (123 yards) caught another score for Louisville (8-1, 6-1 ACC), which won its fourth straight game and 10th in 11 tries.

The nation’s top-scoring offense (50.2 points per game) torched an Eagles’ defense, which came in ranked seventh nationally in total defense (298.5 yards per game) for 515 yards (305 passing, 210 rushing).

No. 8 Wisconsin 21, Northwestern 17

EVANSTON, Ill. — Corey Clement rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown while Jazz Peavy added another rushing score as No. 8 Wisconsin claimed a Big Ten victory over Northwestern.

The Badgers (7-2, 4-2 in the Big Ten West) won their third straight game, while the Wildcats (4-5, 3-3 Big Ten West) suffered their second consecutive loss.

Wisconsin outgained Northwestern 190-39 on the ground and piled up 333 yards total offense to 316 for the Wildcats in front of 42,016 fans on a sunny afternoon at Ryan Field.

The Wildcats’ only score was a 13-yard second quarter touchdown pass from quarterback Clayton Thorson to Austin Carr. Thorson was 28 of 51 for 277 yards, while Carr grabbed 12 passes for 132 yards.

No. 9 Auburn 23, Vanderbilt 16

AUBURN, Ala. — Vanderbilt went toe to toe with Auburn on the road, but the Tigers hung on to thwart a last-minute drive and preserve a narrow victory over Vanderbilt at Jordan-Hare Stadium .

Quarterback Sean White came off the bench to throw the go-ahead touchdown early in the second half, kicker Daniel Carlson hit three field goals and running back Kamryn Pettway rushed 25 times for 173 yards as Auburn, No. 9 in the first College Football Playoff rankings, stayed in the hunt for a playoff berth.

With 1:41 left in the game, Carlson looked poised to hit a 36-yard field goal that would have given the Tigers a likely-insurmountable lead. But Commodores linebacker Zach Cunningham timed the snap perfectly, leapt over players on both lines of scrimmages and swatted the kick.

Quarterback Kyle Shurmur (24 of 36, 221 yards, one touchdown, one interception) led Vanderbilt to the Auburn 30, but was picked by Tigers cornerback Josh Holsey with 36 seconds left.

No. 21 North Carolina 48, Georgia Tech 20

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Running back Elijah Hood ran for three touchdowns and 168 yards as No. 21 North Carolina drilled Georgia Tech for its third win in a row.

The Tar Heels (7-2, 5-1 ACC) entered the day tied with Virginia Tech, which played later at Duke, for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division, though the Hokies own the tiebreaker.

Hood, who carried only 12 times, rushed for first-quarter touchdowns of 1 and 36 yards, the latter coming on a fourth-and-1 play. He had 114 yards on the ground by the end of the first quarter.

Hood tacked on a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarterback before teammate T.J. Logan’s 20-yard touchdown run sent the Tar Heels to a 41-20 advantage. Hood’s big outing contributed to North Carolina’s season-high 283 rushing yards.