COLUMBUS, Ohio -- C.J. Stroud lit up No. 7 Michigan State early and gave his coach the rare luxury of being able to let his mind wander to next week's showdown with Michigan.
Stroud tied a school record with six touchdown passes -- all in the first half -- as No. 4 Ohio State bolted out to a 49-point halftime lead on the way to a startling 56-7 rout Saturday that eliminated the Spartans from the Big Ten East race.
Next up, the annual rivalry game against No. 6 Michigan that carries even greater meaning this year -- the winner will claim the division, advance to the conference championship game on Dec. 4 and stay alive for the College Football Playoff.
"We've got everything riding on this thing coming up right around the corner," Ohio State Coach Ryan Day said. "And I got to tell you, the game wasn't even over yet and I was thinking about it. There's just so much going on here."
Day should savor this one for at least a minute.
Stroud, who threw his first collegiate football pass less than three months ago, was 32 for 35 for 432 yards against the Spartans' sketchy pass defense, which had allowed more yards through the air than any in major college football.
The redshirt freshman completed 17 consecutive passes, setting an Ohio State record, and positioned himself as maybe the Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the championship stretch of the season.
"My O-line did a great job the whole game," he said. "I was back there chilling, in a sense."
This is Stroud's third 400-yard game in 10 career starts and his fourth game with at least five touchdown passes.
"You can see our capability," Day said. "We're playing really good football, clean football. We have a high ceiling."
The Buckeyes scored on all seven first-half possession before backing off.
"We got blasted," Michigan State Coach Mel Tucker said. "We were not able to eliminate the explosive plays on defense and were not able to execute on offense."
Michigan State Heisman hopeful Kenneth Walker III, the nation's leading rusher, was turned into a nonfactor by the Buckeyes. Walker had just six carries for 25 yards.
NO. 23 UTAH 38,
NO. 3 OREGON 7
SALT LAKE CITY -- Britain Covey returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, giving Utah 14 points in 27 seconds and a 28-0 lead, and the No. 23 Utes ended No. 3 Oregon's playoff hopes.
Tavion Thomas ran for 94 yards and three touchdowns to help the Utes (8-3, 7-1) wrap up a share of the Pac-12 South title and a spot in the conference championship game. Utah has won four in a row.
Thomas has run for a Utah-record 17 touchdowns this season. The previous mark was 15, shared by Zack Moss and John White IV.
Cameron Rising threw for 178 yards. His top target, Brant Kuithe, piled up 118 yards on five catches for just the second 100-yard game of his career. Covey had 191 all-purpose yards.
Anthony Brown threw for 231 yards and a touchdown for Oregon (9-2, 6-2). Oregon rushed for 63 yards and had 294 yards of offense.
NO. 5 CINCINNATI 48, SMU 14
CINCINNATI -- Desmond Ridder threw three touchdown passes, ran for another score and even caught a TD pass to help Cincinnati roll past SMU.
Alec Pierce had a pair of TD catches for the Bearcats (11-0, 7-0 American Athletic). They extended the nation's second-longest home winning streak to 26 games.
SMU (8-3, 4-3) managed 199 yards of offense after averaging 498 through the first 10 games.
NO. 6 MICHIGAN 59,
MARYLAND 18
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Mike Sainristil made a one-handed catch in the end zone for a second-quarter touchdown, Hassan Haskins scored two TDs of his own, and Michigan did its part to raise the stakes of next weekend's showdown with Ohio State.
Michigan (10-1, 7-1) hasn't won the conference since 2004 and hasn't beaten Ohio State since 2011.
If the Wolverines were looking ahead to that matchup, it didn't affect their play much this weekend. Maryland (5-6, 2-6) didn't reach the end zone until Michigan was up 31-3 in the third quarter. Donovan Edwards had 10 catches for 170 yards and a touchdown for the Wolverines.
NO. 8 NOTRE DAME 55,
GEORGIA TECH 0
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Jack Coan threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns in a little more than a half and Notre Dame had two defensive touchdowns in winning its sixth consecutive game.
Coan, a grad transfer from Wisconsin, completed 15 of 20 passes. He had first-half touchdown strikes of 52 yards to Michael Mayer and 20 yards to Logan Diggs as the Irish (10-1) took a 45-0 halftime lead. Coan exited after one series in the third quarter and was replaced by true freshman Tyler Buchner, who ripped off a 68-yard run on his first play.
NO. 9 OKLAHOMA STATE 23,
TEXAS TECH 0
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Ninth-ranked Oklahoma State is going to play for a championship because of its dominating defense.
Oklahoma State wrapped up its first spot in the Big 12 championship game a victory over Texas Tech, completely throttling an offense that hadn't been shut out since 1997. The Cowboys have allowed only one offensive touchdown over their past four games, but this was their first shutout on the road since 1995.
Spencer Sanders threw a touchdown and ran for another score, and Tanner Brown kicked three field goals for the Cowboys (10-1, 7-1). The defense limited Texas Tech (6-5, 3-5), which had scored in 302 consecutive games, to 108 total yards that included a 25-yard pass on the final drive.
CLEMSON 48,
NO. 10 WAKE FOREST 27
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Kobe Pace ran for a career-high 191 yards and two touchdowns and Clemson won its 13th consecutive game over Wake Forest, delaying the Demon Deacons' run to the ACC Atlantic title.
Will Shipley gained 112 yards with two touchdowns and also threw a 2-yard jump pass for a score to Davis Allen for the Tigers (8-3, 6-2), who won their 34th consecutive game at home. Clemson also kept its hopes of a seventh consecutive trip to the ACC title game alive.
Wake Forest (9-2, 6-1) entered the game averaging 44.7 points and 498 yards a game. It left with a season low in points and had only 36 yards rushing.
NO. 11 BAYLOR 20,
KANSAS STATE 10
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Blake Shapen was sharp in place of injured quarterback Gerry Bohanon, and Baylor's defense simply smothered Kansas State's offense.
Shapen was 16 of 21 for 137 yards after Bohanon (Earle) left shortly before halftime with a hamstring injury. The redshirt freshman got some help from Trestan Ebner, who ran for 86 yards and a touchdown, and Tyquan Thornton, who had five catches for 75 yards, as the Bears (9-2, 6-2) won their fourth in a row over Kansas State.
The Wildcats (7-4, 4-4) muffed a punt that led to the game's first points, and Chris Tennant missed a 39-yard field goal that would have made it a one-possession game with 10 minutes to go.
NO. 13 OKLAHOMA 28,
IOWA STATE 21
NORMAN, Okla. -- Caleb Williams passed for a touchdown and ran for another, Jalen Redmond returned a fumble for a score and No. 13 Oklahoma held off Iowa State.
Kennedy Brooks ran for 115 yards to help the Sooners (10-1, 7-1) bounce back from a loss to Baylor and solidify their chances of reaching the Big 12 title game.
Iowa State has been a thorn in Oklahoma's side in recent years, beating the Sooners in 2017 and 2020. Oklahoma beat the Cyclones in the Big 12 championship game last year.
Iowa State tight end Charlie Kolar, playing in his hometown, had career highs of 12 catches and 152 yards. Brock Purdy passed for 281 yards and a touchdown for Iowa State (6-5, 4-4).
NO. 14 BYU 34,
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 17
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Jaren Hall had 211 of his 312 yards passing in the first half, Jakob Robinson picked off two passes in the second half and No. 14 BYU beat Georgia Southern.
Tyler Allgeier, the nation's seventh-leading rusher, finished with 126 yards on 26 carries to help the Cougars (9-2) win their fourth consecutive game.
NO. 15 WISCONSIN 35,
NEBRASKA 28
MADISON, Wis. -- Braelon Allen ran for 228 yards and three touchdowns -- including a tiebreaking 53-yarder with 3:50 remaining -- to help Wisconsin outlast Nebraska for its seventh consecutive victory.
Nebraska drove to Wisconsin's 11 in the final minute but ended up losing the ball on downs at the 21. Faion Hicks broke up Adrian Martinez's fourth-down pass to Zavier Betts with four seconds left.
The Badgers (8-3, 6-2) handed Nebraska (3-8, 1-7) its fifth consecutive loss and moved a step closer to playing for a conference title.
NO. 17 IOWA 33,
ILLINOIS 23
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Charlie Jones had a 100-yard kickoff return for Iowa's first touchdown and the Hawkeyes went on to beat Illinois.
Iowa (9-2, 6-2) was trailing Illinois (4-7, 3-5) 10-0 in the first quarter when Jones took the kick near the right corner of the end zone and ran through a hole on the left side for the score.
Iowa wide receiver Arland Bruce IV had a 2-yard run for a touchdown and Caleb Shudak kicked four field goals, including a 51-yarder in the second quarter.
NO. 18 PITTSBURGH 48,
VIRGINIA 38
PITTSBURGH -- Kenny Pickett threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns -- all of them to Jordan Addison -- in his final game at Heinz Field and the Panthers claimed their second Coastal title in four years.
The Panthers (9-2, 6-1) earned a trip to Charlotte on Dec. 4. Addison's four scores tied a school record and boosted his season total to 15, tops in FBS. Pitt needed every single one of them.
The Cavaliers (6-5, 4-3) kept hanging around until Addison outjumped a defender for a ball and raced the rest of the way for a 63-yard touchdown with 2:10 remaining. Addison finished with 14 receptions for 202 yards.
NO. 20 N.C. STATE 41,
SYRACUSE 17
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Devin Leary threw for two touchdowns, Zonovan Knight returned a kickoff for a touchdown and North Carolina State beat Syracuse to keep its hopes alive for an ACC championship.
After neither team scored in the first 22 minutes, the Wolfpack (8-3, 5-2) scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in a matter of less than 31/2 minutes. It was all part of N.C. State's 28-point burst in the last 6:14 of the first half.
NO. 22 UTSA 34, UAB 31
SAN ANTONIO -- Frank Harris threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Oscar Cardenas with three seconds left to lift UTSA past UAB.
The Roadrunners (11-0, 7-0) beat the reigning three-time Conference USA West champion Blazers (7-4, 5-2) to clinch their first division title.
Trailing much of the game, the Roadrunners got the ball back with 1:09 left after stuffing the Blazers a yard short of a first down on third-and-4 at the UAB 42.
Following a punt, Harris drove UTSA 77 yards on seven plays. The winning touchdown came after Harris fumbled the snap and had his pass tipped by linebacker Noah Wilder before Cardenas caught it in the back of the end zone.
