No. 9 Miami 25, Virginia Tech 24

After coming precariously close to not being able to play Virginia Tech because of COVID-19 issues, Miami came away with one of its gutsiest victories of the season. 

D’Eriq King threw for 255 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score, rallying the Hurricanes to a victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Miami announced it had 13 players unavailable before the game, including three starters and several offensive linemen. There were 15 games called off this week across major college football because of COVID-19, the most of any week both by number and percentage of the schedule.

Miami-Virginia Tech was nearly No. 16.

"We were on the brink,” Miami coach Manny Diaz said. “The players’ attitude was the most telling. They wanted to play. We were right on the brink at some position groups as to whether we could function as a team.

“We brought the team, and the players came here to win the game. I told them I thought they won the game on Friday with their mentality and their attitude, with all the things we had to go through this week.”

The Hurricanes (7-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied from an 11-point, third-quarter deficit to win their fourth consecutive game and stay very much alive for a spot in the ACC championship game.

“I just think part of the way you do it is to not panic,” Diaz said. “You don't believe you have to play perfectly. You just got to find a way to get the job done.”

Miami scored the game’s final 12 points and held the Hokies (4-4, 4-3 ACC) scoreless on their final five possessions.

“It’s definitely a lot of positive energy and a lot of belief in the locker room right now,” Miami defensive end Jaelan Phillips said. “Obviously, you don’t want to have tight games like that every week, but a win is a win, and I think every week we’re becoming stronger as a team.”

King guided the ’Canes on two long second-half scoring marches. A 13-play, 75-yard drive ended with Cam’Ron Harris’ 6-yard touchdown run, and cut the lead to 24-19 with 1:27 left in the third quarter. Miami failed to convert a 2-point conversion.

Miami put together a 10-play, 82-yard drive that ended with King throwing a dart to Mark Pope for a 36-yard touchdown to take a 25-24 lead with 5:59 left in the fourth quarter.

King, who rushed for a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter, completed 24 of 38.

Hendon Hooker paced Virginia Tech, throwing for 201 yards and rushing for 53 yards and a touchdown.

“I hurt for them,” Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said of his players. “They came up short today, but it wasn’t for a lack of preparation. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. It wasn’t for a lack of guys caring about each other and guys being selfless. I’m hurting for them because they were so close to getting what they desperately wanted.”

No. 10 Indiana 24, Michigan St. 0

Michael Penix Jr. threw for 320 yards, hitting Ty Fryfogle with two scoring passes, and Indiana beat Michigan State to remain unbeaten.

The Hoosiers (4-0) set up a showdown next weekend at Ohio State, the only other unbeaten team in the Big Ten East.

Penix threw two interceptions in the first half, but that didn't matter much. The Spartans (1-3, 1-3) were just as sloppy — to the point where quarterback Rocky Lombardi was pulled in the second quarter.

Fryfogle had 11 catches for 200 yards — both career highs. Hee did most of that in the first two quarters, when all the game's scoring occurred.

Indiana has won its first four Big Ten games for the first time since 1987, and the Hoosiers beat Michigan State for the Old Brass Spittoon for only the second time in the last 12 meetings.

No. 16 Marshall 42, Middle Tennessee 14

Redshirt freshman Grant Wells threw a season-high five touchdown passes and Marshall commemorated the 50th anniversary of the worst disaster in U.S. sports history during a victory over Middle Tennessee.

Marshall (7-0, 4-0 Conference USA) got another standout performance from its defense and turned three turnovers into scores on a day when the university and surrounding community remembered 75 people killed in a Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash.

Marshall wore special black uniforms and the No. 75 on its helmets to honor those who were lost, which included most of the Thundering Herd football team. The crash occurred as the team's plane was returning from a game at East Carolina. There were no survivors.

Middle Tennessee is 2-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play.

No. 20 USC 34, Arizona 30

Vavae Malepeai bulled his way through multiple tacklers for an 8-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left, and Southern California beat Arizona 34-30 on Saturday with another late rally.

USC was outplayed by Arizona State last week in its opener before scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes to win 28-27. The Trojans again had two late scoring drives to win a game they were outplayed in for most of the afternoon.

Kevon Slovis hit Erik Krommenhoek on a 6-yard touchdown, but Arizona marched quickly down the field for a 6-yard touchdown pass from Grant Gunnell from Stanley Berryhill III with 1:20 left. Slovis completed four straight passes for 68 yards and Malepeai capped the 75-yard drive by carrying several Arizona defenders with him into the end zone.

Slovis threw for 325 yards and a touchdown on 30-of-43 passing.

Gunnell threw for 286 yards and three touchdowns for Arizona in its opener.

No. 22 Liberty 58, W. Kentucky 14

Malik Willis threw for 306 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores, leading Liberty over Western Carolina.

Liberty (8-0) won its 10th straight game and remained second behind Notre Dame for the nation's longest active winning streak.

Willis completed 14 of 19 passes with touchdown strikes of 44, 40 and 83 yards. He scored on runs of 11 and 43 yards and rushed for 97 yards on eight carries. Kevin Shaa caught two passes for a career-high 137 yards and a touchdown. CJ Daniels added 96 yards and two TDs on two catches.

Western Carolina was playing its first game of the season.

No. 23 Northwestern 27, Purdue 20

Peyton Ramsey threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns, all to Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, and Northwestern beat Purdue.

The Wildcats defense also made two late stops to preserve a fifth straight Big Ten win and the school's first 4-0 start in league play since coach Pat Fitzgerald was still playing in 1996.

Purdue (2-1) has lost five straight home games in the series.

Ramsey completed 23 of 36 and had one interception but looked as poised and efficient as he did last November when he led Indiana to an overtime victory at Purdue. And he didn't waste any time getting started.

An 8-yard TD pass on the opening possession ended Chiaokhiao-Bowman's three-year scoring drought and gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead. After the teams traded field goals and Aidan O'Connell tossed a tying 40-yard scoring pass to Garrett Miller on fourth-and-1, Ramsey went back to work.

He completed all seven passes on the ensuing drive, hooking up with Chiaokhiao-Bowman on an 18-yarder that gave Northwestern a 17-10 halftime lead.

Ramsey cashed in again with a 5-yard TD pass to Chiakhiao-Bowman after Northwestern recovered a fumble in the third quarter.

And when Purdue cut the deficit to 24-13 with a 23-yard field goal, the first second-half points allowed by the Wildcats all season, Ramsey led Northwestern on a 6-minute, 11-second drive to set up Charlie Kuhbander for a 42-yard field goal.

O'Connell got the Boilermakers within a touchdown with a 14-yard scoring pass to Milton Wright with 7:35 to play but never got near scoring territory again.

Chiakkhia-Brown had eight catches for 86 yards, helping pick up the slack with Northwestern rushing 40 times for 80 yards.

O'Connell was 28 of 51 with 263 yards and two scores. Zander Horvath had nine catches for 100 yards, both career highs.

Northwestern held Purdue to just 2 yards rushing.

No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette 38, South Alabama 10

Levi Lewis passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns, Louisiana-Lafayette gained 254 yards on the ground and the Ragin' Cajuns wrapped up a third straight Sun Belt Conference West Division title.

Lewis tossed TD passes of 5 yards to Jalen Williams and 3 yards to Errol Rogers. He also hit running back Trey Ragas for a 25-yard score on a fourth-down conversion, with Ragas narrowly staying inside the left sideline to put the game away in the fourth quarter.

Chris Smith and Elijah Mitchell each had touchdowns rushing for Louisiana-Lafayette (7-1, 5-1 Sun Belt). The Ragin' Cajuns have has won four straight since falling to No. 15 Coastal Carolina on a last-second field goal.

Desmond Trotter threw for 133 yards and a touchdown for South Alabama (3-5, 2-3).