Article by Senior Writer, Albert Alvarado / Twitter: @Alvarado_Sports
Wilson, Ohio State serve notice to Big Ten
Saturday’s Indiana at Ohio State matchup was billed as a heavyweight fight between the Big Ten East’s top teams. It was sophomore running back Garrett Wilson and the Buckeye offense that came out landing haymakers en route to a win.
Wilson caught two touchdown passes to help No. 6 Ohio state outlast Indiana 42-35.
Ohio State (4-0, 4-0) keeps its spot as the nation’s third-ranked team in the latest Associated Press College Football Poll while Indiana (4-1, 4-1) dropped three spots to No. 12.
Wilson, a former Austin Lake Travis standout, led the team with seven receptions for 169 yards.
Ohio State set the tone immediately with a quick two-play, 75-yard scoring drive which featured Wilson catching both passes. His 10-yard touchdown reception made it 7-0 Buckeyes less than three minutes into the game.
Wilson added a nine-yard touchdown reception to extend Ohio State’s lead to 35-7 early in the third quarter.
The win puts Ohio State a half game ahead of Indiana for first place in the division and the Buckeyes hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Wilson caught 204 yards for 3,359 yards and 55 touchdowns at Lake Travis.
The Buckeyes visit Illinois (2-3, 2-3) at 11 a.m. on Saturday on FS1.
Joseph’s two interceptions help Northwestern shut down Wisconsin
Redshirt freshman defensive back Brandon Joseph showed off his ball hawking skills in Northwestern’s 17-7 home win over Wisconsin on Saturday.
Joseph finished with two interceptions and seven tackles to help the Wildcats beat a Top 10 ranked team for the first time since 2011. Northwestern (5-0, 5-0) is off to its best start since 1996 after beating Wisconsin (2-1, 2-1).
Northwestern jumps up eight spots to No. 11 in the latest Associated Press College Football Poll after the win while Wisconsin slips from No. 10 to 18.
Joseph, a former College Station star, helped give the Wildcats the lead with his second interception of the day.
After the turnover, the Wildcats took possession on their own 27 and went on a seven-play, 73-yard scoring drive that made it 14-7 Northwestern with 1 minute, 19 seconds remaining in the first half.
Joseph posted 95 tackles, 10 pass break ups and five interceptions as a senior at College Station.
The victory gives the Wildcats a 2.5 game lead over the Badgers for first place in the Big Ten West plus the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Northwestern visits Michigan State (1-3, 1-3) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Jones’ clutch play helps NC State upset Liberty
Redshirt junior Vi Jones’ late field goal block helped the North Carolina State Wolfpack upset then No. 25 Liberty 15-14 on Friday.
The Austin Westlake alum was able to jump and deflect a 39-yard field goal attempt with 1 minute, 18 seconds remaining to help NC State (6-3) hold off then No. 21 Liberty (8-1). The Flames dropped out of the Associated Press College Football Poll after the loss.
Jones also had four tackles and a sack against Liberty. His game-saving blocked field goal is his third field goal block of the season.
At Westlake, Jones was an Under Armour All-American and had 238 tackles and 18 sacks in three varsity seasons. He played the first two years of his collegiate career at Southern California.
NC State resumes ACC play at Syracuse (1-8, 1-7) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Seals has strong performance against Florida
Vanderbilt freshman quarterback Ken Seals had the Commodore offense off to a strong start, but it wasn’t enough as Vanderbilt fell to No. 6 Florida 38-17 on Saturday.
Florida (6-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) held on to its No. 6 ranking in the latest Associated Press College Football Poll after beating Vanderbilt (0-7, 0-7).
The former Weatherford standout completed all five pass attempts on Vanderbilt’s opening drive and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Pierce to put the Commodores on top 7-0 just 4 minutes, 10 seconds into the game.
Seals completed 22 of 34 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns. He added a 58-yard passing touchdown to Piece late in the third quarter.
At Weatherford, Seals threw for a school record 5,714 passing yards and 53 touchdowns and had more than 6,400 all-purpose yards in two varsity seasons.
Vanderbilt hosts Tennessee (2-5, 2-5) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
McBride helps Texas State to comeback win
Brady McBride tied a school record with five touchdown passes to help the Texas State Bobcats to a 47-45 comeback win over the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Saturday.
McBride completed 32 of 45 passes for 443 yards and posted a quarterback rating of 190.5. Texas State (2-9, 2-5 Sun Belt) scored 18 points in the fourth quarter of the shootout win.
The former Coppell star got the Bobcats within striking distance of Arkansas State after tossing a five-yard touchdown pass to Marcell Barbee and then a 15-yard scoring pass to Trevis Graham Jr. to cut the deficit to 41-38 midway through the fourth quarter.
Calvin Hill (Baytown Sterling) posted the winning score with a six-yard touchdown run with six seconds remaining.
McBride led Coppell to a 27-10 record in three varsity season and led the team to three consecutive trips to the playoffs. He threw for 7,662 yards and was a 2017 Texas Sports Writers Association Class 6A honorable mention.
Texas State has its biggest home game of the season on Saturday when No. 16 Coastal Carolina 8-0, 6-0) comes to Bobcat Stadium for a 2 p.m. kickoff.
