College football winners and losers for Week 9: Clemson hangs on without Trevor Lawrence

Etienne caught the first of Uiagalelei’s two touchdown strikes, a 35-yard score in the first quarter. He piled up 224 total yards and two scores, leading Clemson (7-0, 6-0 ACC) in both rushing (84) and receiving (140) yards. His 17-yard burst with 11:34 to go gave the Tigers the lead for good.

Along the way, he also broke former N.C. State star Ted Brown’s ACC rushing record, a mark which had stood since 1978 — more than 60 percent of the conference’s existence. It was also Etienne’s 42nd career game with a touchdown, an FBS record.

It’s easy to forget how it is Etienne, and not Lawrence, who is the two-time ACC player of the year. He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2018, ninth last year. He’s crafted that most old-fashioned of things in college football, a four-year record of excellence and consistency long on substance rather than a handful of highlights.

Etienne, of course, isn’t the only reason Clemson avoided its first loss to an ACC team since 2017 and remained undefeated. Uiagalelei threw for 342 yards and two scores. Plucky Boston College (4-3, 3-3) managed just 66 total yards in the second half against Clemson’s ever-imposing defense.

But Etienne remains as valuable a player as Clemson has, particularly with his improved receiving ability. With or without Lawrence, he’ll play a major part in the Tigers’ continued push for another playoff berth.

Ohio State. If No. 18 Penn State was supposed to be the Buckeyes’ biggest Big Ten threat, it could very well be smooth sailing to a playoff berth from here.

No. 3 Ohio State (2-0, 2-0 Big Ten) was in firm control the whole time during a 38-25 victory in Happy Valley. It needed three plays to score on the opening drive. When Penn State (0-2, 0-2) closed within 21-13 just after halftime, the Buckeyes turned in a matching eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive of their own.

And their response to the Nittany Lions pulling within 31-19 early in the fourth quarter? A soul-crushing, clock-milking, 12-play touchdown drive. Justin Fields (318 yards, four touchdowns passing) was fabulous and the Buckeyes’ defense smothered any semblance of a Penn State rushing game (27 carries, 44 yards). The truth of the matter: Ohio State’s quite a bit better than the Nittany Lions, and probably the rest of the Big Ten, too.

Jack Sears. With starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier not making the trip to Air Force, No. 25 Boise State turned to Sears for his first start since 2018. The redshirt junior, who arrived in the Land of Blue Turf after spending three years at USC, was 17 of 20 for 280 yards and three touchdowns as the Broncos (2-0) earned a 49-30 victory. Next up? A visit from No. 11 BYU on Friday.

DeVonta Smith. With a full week to prepare without the services of injured wideout Jaylen Waddle, No. 2 Alabama decided the prudent thing to do was to target the guy who was a second team All-America selection last season. Good choice.

Smith torched Mississippi State for 11 receptions, 203 yards and four touchdowns as the Crimson Tide (6-0, 6-0 SEC) had little trouble cruising to a 41-0 victory. An open date is up next for Alabama, which closes the regular season with LSU, Kentucky, Auburn and Arkansas.

Matt Corral and Elijah Moore. Tucked in the box score of Mississippi-Vanderbilt — hardly the most anticipated game of the day — were some eye-popping numbers. Moore, the Rebels’ stellar wideout, caught 14 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns.

Corral’s day was just as impressive. He was 31 of 34 for 412 yards and six touchdowns. The completion percentage (91.2) tied former Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs’ SEC single-game record (minimum 30 attempts). The touchdowns tied Eli Manning’s school record set in 2001. And his 19 consecutive completions edged Manning’s school record of 18, which had also stood since 2001.

Kellen Mond. The Texas A&M senior broke the school record for career total offense previously held by Johnny Manziel, helping the No. 8 Aggies turn back Arkansas 42-31. Mond was 21 of 26 for 260 yards and three touchdowns as Texas A&M (4-1, 4-1 SEC) won its third in a row since falling to Alabama.

Auburn. Gus Malzahn’s team didn’t let doubt linger for long against the SEC West’s other Tigers, clobbering LSU, 48-11. It was Auburn’s most points ever against LSU, and it surpassed the 34-point margin of victories secured in 1999 and 2014 against the Bayou Bengals.

It was, unquestionably, the most complete game of the year for Auburn (4-2, 4-2 SEC), which received help courtesy of referee miscues in victories over Arkansas and Mississippi this month. No assistance was required while rolling up 506 total yards. Bo Nix threw for 300 yards and three scores and rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown, and the Tiger defense chipped in with Christian Tutt’s fumble return for a score in the second quarter.

It’s not a bad time for a bye week, and Auburn gets it after playing on six consecutive Saturdays. With Mississippi State and Tennessee up next, there’s a good chance the Tigers will get to 6-2 before the Iron Bowl against Alabama on Thanksgiving weekend.

Indiana. Coming off their first victory over a top-10 team since 1987, the No. 17 Hoosiers ably reloaded the musket against Rutgers. After spotting the Scarlet Knights an early touchdown, Indiana (2-0, 2-0 Big Ten) controlled the final three quarters and earned a 37-21 win as quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw for three touchdowns and ran for another.

Regardless of how the opener against Penn State went, this was roughly what Indiana probably should have done against a spunky but rebuilding Rutgers bunch. That’s a good sign moving forward.

(No, this play didn’t count.)

Northwestern. Spotted Iowa a 17-point lead after losing two fumbles to the Hawkeyes, then rallied to collect a 21-20 victory. It was an admirable follow up to an opening week rout of Maryland for the Wildcats (2-0, 2-0 Big Ten), whose 21 points were the most scored by either team in this annual series since 2016.

Cincinnati. The No. 7 Bearcats (5-0, 3-0 American) are halfway to an undefeated regular season after thrashing Memphis, 49-10, the latest drubbing Luke Fickell’s team has administered. Quarterback Desmond Ridder was a crisp 21 of 26 for 271 yards and three touchdowns, and he also tacked on two scores on the ground as Cincinnati dominated the second half against the Tigers (3-2, 2-2).

The strong play had as much to do with the Bearcats’ defense as anything. They have allowed 40 points in four games against FBS competition, and Memphis managed just 5 rushing yards on 29 attempts. A smooth path doesn’t await Cincinnati — its final three games will be on the road — but they’ve set themselves apart as the AAC favorite.

Michigan State. The Spartans made a fine week-over-week improvement, but more than anything, they discovered the value of not committing seven turnovers against a team with anything resembling a pulse.

Unlike last week’s debacle against Rutgers, Michigan State took care of the ball. And with the running game reasonably contained, Rocky Lombardi threw for 323 yards and two scores as the Spartans toppled No. 13 Michigan 27-24 and earned first-year coach Mel Tucker his first victory at his new school.

The name to remember from this one: Ricky White, a freshman who hauled in eight catches for 196 yards and a touchdown. It was the second-most receiving yards ever by a Spartan against Michigan, behind only Plaxico Burress’ 255-yard day in 1999, and could be a preview of what’s to come for the Ricky-and-Rocky-led Spartan offense.

West Virginia. It will go a bit unnoticed outside of Big 12 precincts, but the Mountaineers (4-2, 3-2) had themselves quite a day in blasting No. 16 Kansas State 37-10 and dealing the Wildcats (4-2, 4-1) their first loss since an opening stumble against Arkansas State.

West Virginia’s defense allowed only 225 total yards, and Dylan Tonkery’s 18-yard interception return for a touchdown in the middle of the third quarter to make it 34-10 effectively finished off K-State. The Wildcats ran only three second-half plays in West Virginia territory. One was a sack, the other two were the final snaps of the game.

The Mountaineers’ strength lies in their defense; they’ve allowed 345 yards a game in losses to Texas Tech (348) and Oklahoma State (342). If the offense can do its part, West Virginia could be a serious problem for the likes of Texas, Oklahoma and Iowa State down the stretch.

North Carolina. The Tar Heels’ hopes of reaching the ACC title game took a serious hit with a 44-41 loss at Virginia. No. 15 North Carolina (4-2, 4-2 ACC) couldn’t get stops — Virginia scored touchdowns on six of its first eight possessions — but also gift-wrapped a short field to the Cavaliers twice in the middle of the game. Both led to scores.

There’s no questioning how good Tar Heel quarterback Sam Howell is. His 443 yards and four touchdowns were not the reason Carolina lost to a sub-.500 team for the second time this month. But they need to find a way to avoid having him glued to the sideline moving forward.

Oklahoma State. And there go the Cowboys’ (and probably the Big 12’s) playoff hopes. No. 6 Oklahoma State (4-1, 3-1 Big 12) simply couldn’t get out of its own way in a 41-34 overtime loss to Texas, committing four turnovers that led to 18 Longhorn points. Special teams didn’t help, either. The Longhorns’ D’Shawn Jamison promptly returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown after the Cowboys went up 31-20 in the third quarter.

It had to be a maddening experience for the Oklahoma State defense, which continued its sturdy play and prodded Texas into punting in nine of its 14 regulation possessions (10 of 14 if an eventual touchdown drive that was extended by a roughing the punter penalty is included) and limited the Longhorns to 287 total yards. But the boom-and-bust Longhorn defense had its moments, too.

Texas collected three fumbles, picked Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders once and compiled 12 tackles for loss. Appropriately, the Longhorns sealed the game on Joseph Ossai’s sack on a fourth down in overtime, in the process ensuring the Big 12 won’t produce an undefeated team this season.

LSU. Let’s be clear about something: If the price of the Tigers’ 15-0 national title season is balancing the scales with, well, whatever their 2020 edition is, Ed Orgeron’s program is still coming out far, far ahead in the bargain. As they say in baseball, flags fly forever.

That said, Mississippi State’s opening victory in Death Valley is easily its best game of the season to date. Missouri had its most complete offensive performance against LSU. And now Auburn has earned its most lopsided victory ever against the boys from Baton Rouge, a 48-11 cudgeling. At some point, the problem isn’t the other teams. The problem is you.

With all the understandable caveats — there was a major talent drain from a championship season, this year is inherently weird, etc. — LSU (2-3, 2-3 SEC) simply isn’t good right now. With Alabama, Texas A&M and Florida still to come, the Tigers could be on their way to their first losing season since 1999.

Minnesota. The Golden Gophers’ defense, it seems, has opted out of the 2020 season. Coughing up 49 points to Michigan to open the year was one thing. Blowing a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and giving up 675 total yards to Maryland in an overtime loss is quite another.

To be sure, the biggest takeaway from Minnesota’s 45-44 loss was how inept, slow and soft the Gophers’ defense looked — a contrast from a year ago when P.J. Fleck’s team paired a tough and effective defense with a multidimensional offense.

But it’s also worth remembering those Gophers were unusually fortunate, going 6-1 in one-possession games en route to an 11-2 season. The scales perhaps started evening out a bit Friday, but it took more than the bad luck of a missed extra point in overtime to drop Minnesota to 0-2. An imploding defense could be a long-term problem in Minneapolis.

Michigan. Not a good 24 hours for the Wolverines. First, their throttling of Minnesota looked a lot less impressive after Maryland torched the Golden Gophers. But that would be easy enough to ignore if Michigan took care of business against Michigan State.

It didn’t, and the Wolverines (1-1) lost a 27-24 decision, in-state bragging rights to the Spartans and quite a bit of the hope they might be Big Ten East team best-suited to making a run at Ohio State over the final six weeks of the regular season.

Now to update the gory details on coach Jim Harbaugh’s six seasons in Ann Arbor. His Wolverine teams are 0-5 against its biggest rival (Ohio State), 3-3 against its in-state rival (Michigan State), 1-4 in bowl games and 44-7 in all other games, splits that continue to leave Michigan fans wanting more from the games they care about the most.

American Athletic Conference officials. The weekend did not get off to great start in the AAC, especially for East Carolina. Replay officials overturned a fumble recovery by the Pirates with 1:52 to go that should have stood, permitting Tulsa to continue its march to a touchdown with 29 seconds left and a 34-30 victory.