ACC & Big 12 Week 13 Recap: Oklahoma wins shootout, Miami closes season with upset

ACC

Big 12

AP Top 10 

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma
6. Ohio State
7. UCF
8. Michigan
9. Texas
10. Washington

Miami closes regular season with win over Pitt

Miami closed the regular season on a high note, as the Hurricanes upset Pittsburgh 24-3 at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday. Pitt had already locked up the ACC’s Coastal division and a spot in next weekend’s conference title game against Clemson which made Saturday’s game a reversal of last season – when Miami had the Coastal clinched and lost to Pitt in the regular-season finale.

The Canes started fast and scored the first touchdown of the game on a 65-yard punt return by DeeJay Dallas, giving the Canes a 10-0 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

Miami’s run game paced the offense the rest of the way, as the ‘Canes totaled 345 yards of offense, with 293 coming on the ground. Miami’s rushing total was the second-most by the Hurricanes this season (300, vs. Duke, Nov. 3), and running back Travis Homer led the way with a season-best 168 rushing yards on just eight carries. Quarterback N’Kosi Perry also added a career-high 41 rushing yards.

Miami’s defense was equally impressive,  holding Pitt to 200 total yards of offense and just 69 rushing yards. The Canes also held Pitt to one conversion on 15 third-down attempts and had six sacks and 14 tackles for loss.

Syracuse defeats Boston College

Syracuse clinched second place in the ACC Atlantic division on Saturday as the Orange defeated Boston College 42-21 at Alumni Stadium. The win gave the Orange nine regular-season wins, the program’s most since the 2001 season.

Boston College scored first, as Anthony Brown capped an 11-play, 74-yard drive with a touchdown pass to tight end Jake Burt. Syracuse answered with 21 unanswered points, however, as the Orange took the lead with 46 seconds left in the first quarter and never looked back.

‘Cuse quarterback Eric Dungey finished 21-of-34 passing for 362 yards and three touchdowns to become the second quarterback in team history with 9,000 career passing yards. He now has 9,037, trailing only Ryan Nassib’s mark of 9,190. Dungey also ran for three scores, giving him a hand in all six Syracuse touchdowns, while Orange running back Dontae Strickland rushed for a career-high 129 yards on 20 carries.

Syracuse outgained Boston College, 559-356 in the game, and the 559 yards yielded were the most by Boston College in a game this season. The Orange also forced four turnovers (two fumble recoveries, two interceptions) with three of those takeaways coming in the second half, including forced turnovers on Boston College’s last two possessions of the game.

The Orange are bowl eligible for the first time since 2013, snapping a four-year postseason drought.

Oklahoma beats West Virginia in Shootout

With a 59-56 win over West Virginia on Friday night, Oklahoma clinched its second straight Big 12 Championship Game appearance.

The two teams totaled 1,372 yards of offense on the night, as two Heisman hopefuls, Kyler Murray and Will Grier, paced two potent offenses. Murray finished 20 of 27 for 364 yards and threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score. Will Grier threw for four touchdowns and a career-high 539 yards on 32 of 49 passing.

Despite the offenses dominating the headlines, the Sooner defense proved to be a difference-maker as Oklahoma scored two defensive touchdowns. The Sooners forced two fumbles by Grier and returned them 10-yards and 48-yards, respectively, for scores.

The two teams exchanged leads five times before the Sooners finally took control of things early in the fourth quarter after the second fumble recovery and return by Curtis Bolton put the Sooners up 59-49. The Mountaineers scored with three minutes left in the fourth to cut the lead to three, but were unable to score again as Oklahoma held on for the win.

Oklahoma will head to Arlington, Texas next week for a rematch with Texas in the Big 12 Championship.

NC State beats UNC

NC State needed overtime to beat in-state rival North Carolina 34-28 at Kenan Stadium. The Wolfpack have now defeated their fiercest rival three times in a row – their longest winning streak since reeling off five straight victories over the Tar Heels from 2007 to 2011.

NC State running back Reggie Gallaspy, Jr. had an incredible day and had a school record-tying five rushing touchdowns to go with 129 total rushing yards. Gallaspy secured the victory for the Wolfpack in overtime with a 1-yard touchdown run.

With the victory, NC State improved to 8-3 on the year. The Wolfpack will close the regular season on Saturday when it hosts East Carolina in Raleigh.

Iowa State overcomes 17-point deficit, beats Kansas State

Iowa State matched the largest fourth-quarter comeback in school history, as the Cyclones rallied from 17 points down to defeat Kansas State 42-38. The win gives the Cyclones their most conference wins in a season with six.

Trailing 38-21 with just 12:27 remaining in the game, Iowa State quickly moved down the field, and Brock Purdy hit Sam Seonbuchner from three yards out to start the rally. On the next Wildcat series, the Cyclones sacked K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson, forcing a fumble, which Mike Rose and returned 21 yards for another quick score.

The Cyclones defense came up big again and forced a three-and-out on K-State’s next possession. Iowa State then took over at its own 31-yard line and Purdy engineered another drive that was capped with a David Montgomery score to put the Cyclones in front with 4:34 remaining. Montgomery finished with 149 yards and three touchdowns while Purdy was 20-27 for 337 yards and two touchdowns on the day.

Vote for the Play of the Week!

Week 13 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.) Florida State’s Deondre Francois finds Cam Akers who extends to make a one-handed touchdown catch.

Cam Akers. 1⃣ Hand. 6⃣ points#MustSeeACC (@FSUFootball, @thereal_cam3) pic.twitter.com/WojYOBXeZs

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) November 24, 2018

2.) Kansas State’s Kevion McGee makes a heads-up play and hauls in an interception.

https://twitter.com/ftbeard_17/status/1066516983905046528

Click here to check out weekly recaps from earlier this season.