Sep 11, 2018

ACC & Big 12 Week 2 Recap: Clemson holds off Texas A&M, Murray shines in Sooners rout

Standings and Results

ACC

Big 12

AP Top 10

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. Oklahoma
6. Wisconsin
7. Auburn
8. Notre Dame
9. Stanford
10. Washington

Clemson holds off Texas A&M in thriller

Clemson survived its first FBS challenge of the season on Saturday, holding off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Texas A&M to escape College Station with a 28-26 victory.

For the second consecutive week, the second-ranked Tigers leaned on two quarterbacks, as both Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawrence threw a touchdown pass in the win. Bryant, a senior, completed 12-of-17 passes for 205 yards and also led the team in rushing with 54 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. The true freshman Lawrence added 93 yards on 5-of-9 passing for the game.

After falling behind 14-3 at the half, Texas A&M outscored the Tigers 23-14 thanks to quarterback Kellen Mond, who passed for a career-high 430 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. Kendrick Rogers finished with seven catches for 120 yards and two scores, but Texas A&Mโ€™s comeback came up short as the Aggies failed to convert on a two-point conversion with 46 seconds left.

Clemson returns home to face Georgia Southern on Saturday, while Texas A&M hosts Louisiana-Monroe.

Murray shines as Oklahoma routs UCLA in Norman

Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray threw for a career-high 306 yards and three touchdowns and added two more scores on the ground as the Sooners topped UCLA 49-21 at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The ninth overall pick in June’s MLB draft, Murray joined Baker Mayfield (2015 vs. Tulsa) and Trevor Knight (2014 vs. Iowa State) as the only Sooner quarterbacks in the last 18 years to have three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a game.

Despite the lopsided final score, it was UCLA that got on the board first, taking a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Bolu Olorunfunmi early in the first quarter. However, the Sooners responded with touchdowns on six of their next 10 drives and took a 42-7 lead early in the fourth. Olorunfunmi finished with 56 yards on 15 carries for UCLA and added another score in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late for the 0-2 Bruins.

For Oklahoma, the win was the program’s 31st straight against unranked non-conference opponents. The Sooners’ 112 points this season are the most by an OU team through two games since 2007 and marks the first time since 2008 that Oklahoma has scored at least 49 points in each of its first two contests.

Duke tops Northwestern for second consecutive season

Northwestern jumped out to an early 7-0 lead over Duke on Saturday, but Blue Devils quarterback Daniel Jones responded with three second-quarter touchdown passes, giving Duke all the offense it needed in a 21-7 win over the Wildcats at Ryan Field. Duke is now 10-10 all-time against Northwestern thanks to back-to-back wins over the Wildcats for the first time since 1989 and 1990.

Jones finished 16-of-22 for 192 yards but was knocked out of the game with a collarbone injury when he was sacked by Wildcats defensive end Joe Gaziano in the third quarter. Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe told media that the injury “doesn’t look great” and spoke about the team bracing for Jones to miss significant time. Jones underwent surgery on Sunday, however there is no timetable for his return.

Vote for the Play of the Week!

Week 2 was filled with memorable plays in the ACC and Big 12. Here were two of our favorites. Make sure you vote for the best in the poll below!

1. Tee Higgins took Trevor Lawrence’s first pass of the game 64 yards for a score

2. CeeDee Lamb’s foot touched the line on this incredible catch, but we’re still counting it

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