UNDATED (AP) — The back door to the College Football playoff is unlikely to be open for Ohio State or anybody else this championship weekend. With No. 4 Washington and No. 8 Alabama dodging the upset bug against unranked in-state rivals, next weekend’s conference title games are all setting up to have at least one playoff contender. In the Big Ten, that’s No. 3 Michigan after the Wolverines beat the second-ranked Buckeyes for a third straight season. Oregon also has a chance to make the playoff in the Pac-12, and Texas could get there out of the Big 12. Alabama would have to beat No. 1 Georgia.
UNDATED (AP) — Michigan State has hired coach Jonathan Smith away from No. 15 Oregon State. The school has announced the move. Interim coach Harlon Barnett was 2-8 in place of Mel Tucker, who was suspended and later fired. The 44-year-old Smith was 34-35 over six seasons at Oregon State, including an 8-4 mark this year to help the program to at least eight wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in more than a decade. Smith had six years remaining on his contract, worth $31.2 million through 2029.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Taulia Tagovailoa threw three touchdowns, ran for another and set the Big Ten Conferernce record for career passing yards in leading Maryland to a 42-24 victory over Rutgers on Saturday. Tagovailoa hit 24 of 31 passes for 361 yards as the bowl-eligible Terrapins (7-5, 4-5) scored TDs on their first four possessions and never looked back in handing Rutgers (6-6, 3-6) its fourth straight loss. Tagovailoa came into the game needing 268 yards passing to overtake Curtis Painter of Purdue for the conference career mark (11,163). He finished with 11,256 yards. Gavin Wimsatt scored on two sneaks and threw a TD for Rutgers.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Braelon Allen rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns to carry Wisconsin past rival Minnesota 28-14 and give the Badgers possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe after a two-year absence. Tanner Mordecai threw for scores to Will Pauling and Riley Nowakowski and had a career-high 69 yards rushing on nine scrambles. Wisconsin finished 7-5 on an upswing in a trying first season under coach Luke Fickell. Minnesota is 5-7. The Gophers were trying to keep the axe in their trophy case for three straight years for the first time since they won four in a row from 1984-87.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Hudson Card tied his career high with three touchdown passes and scored on a 10-yard run with 2:39 left Saturday to give the Purdue Boilermakers a 35-31 victory over Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket game. The Boilermakers have won three straight in this rivalry. It was the 300th all-time win at Ross-Ade Stadium, which closed out its 100th season. The Hoosiers finished the season with three straight losses by a combined total of 10 points, blowing late leads in all three. This time it was a kickoff out of bounds that set up Card’s masterful final drive.
