Ty Simpson threw for 277 yards and a touchdown Saturday night as No. 4 Alabama stayed unbeaten in the Southeastern Conference by stopping visiting LSU 20-9 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Simpson completed 21 of 35 passes, again carrying the offensive load for the Crimson Tide (8-1, 6-0 SEC). His 13-yard strike to Ryan Williams with 22 seconds left in the first half gave them an insurmountable 17-3 lead.

Alabama’s defense kept the Tigers (5-4, 2-4) out of the end zone in their first game under interim coach Frank Wilson, who took over after Brian Kelly was fired on Oct. 26 after a 49-25 home loss to unbeaten Texas A&M.

But Wilson couldn’t fix the offensive issues that have marked LSU this season. Not even a change at quarterback late in the third quarter could supply a spark for the Tigers. Wilson benched starter Garrett Nussmeier after he took a sack that forced them to settle for Damien Ramos’ 44-yard field goal at the 8:54 mark.

Backup Michael Van Buren, a transfer who started last year at Mississippi State, took over but couldn’t get LSU into the end zone. He was 5 of 11 for 52 yards, leading a drive that resulted in Ramos’ 37-yard field goal with 10:28 left in the game that made it 17-9.

However, the Tide took advantage of a short field to salt the game away. Conor Talty converted a 44-yard field goal with 4:25 remaining to make it a two-possession game.

Talty opened the scoring by booming a 45-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the first quarter, followed by Ramos’ 37-yarder 2:33 into the second quarter. Alabama answered back with the first touchdown of the game, marching 75 yards in seven plays and taking a 10-3 lead when Daniel Hill scored on a 4-yard run with 9:25 on the clock.

The Tide outgained the Tigers 344-233 but again got little from their struggling running game. They managed just 56 yards on 26 attempts. LSU didn’t do much better, collecting 59 yards on 26 attempts.

–Field Level Media

Cade Klubnik threw for 221 yards with both a passing and rushing touchdown, leading Clemson to a bounce-back 24-10 win over visiting Florida State on Saturday evening.

A week after Clemson’s defense was tagged for 46 points, the Tigers (4-5, 3-4 ACC) largely stifled a Florida State offense that led the nation in yards per game (510.5) and ranked seventh in scoring offense (40.0 points per game) as they snapped their two-game losing streak.

Antonio Williams led Clemson with 62 yards receiving and a leaping touchdown catch that extended the team’s lead to 15-0 in the second quarter. Cornerback Avieon Terrell had a pair of sacks as the Tigers racked up six in the win.

Tommy Castellanos completed 23 of 43 passes for 250 yards, a touchdown and an interception, also leading the Seminoles with 31 rushing yards. Duce Robinson had a game-high 124 yards on nine catches for Florida State, which has lost four of its last five games.

The Seminoles (4-5, 1-5) had more yards than the Tigers (360-319) and had twice as many red-zone trips (4-2), but the Seminoles struggled to finish off scoring opportunities throughout Saturday’s loss.

After Clemson opened the scoring with Klubnik’s 4-yard touchdown run, the Seminoles marched into the red zone before Castellanos fumbled a handoff, which Jeremiah Alexander recovered at the Clemson 11.

Florida State squandered another potential scoring chance when a wide-open Randy Pittman dropped a fourth-and-2 pass that would have gone for a huge gain.

Two plays later, Clemson extended the lead on Klubnik’s flea-flicker touchdown pass to Williams to make it 15-0 with 12:01 left in the first half.

Clemson extended its lead to 18-0 with 2:31 left on Nolan Hauser’s 40-yard field goal. But the Seminoles prevented being shut out in a half for the first time this season with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 7-yard touchdown catch by Lawayne McCoy with 33 seconds left.

Florida State had a chance to cut into that deficit when it got the ball out of halftime, but a 10-play, 53-yard drive came up empty on a missed 40-yard field goal by Jake Weinberg.

The Tigers padded their lead with a pair of field goals from Hauser, extending their lead to 24-7 with 14:18 left.

The Seminoles cut into the deficit with a 46-yard Weinberg field goal. Their promising fourth-quarter drive that could have cut the deficit to one score stalled out due to a pair of penalties, ending in a turnover on downs.

–Field Level Media

Cutter Boley passed for two scores, Seth McGowan ran for a pair and Kentucky notched its second straight win by walloping Florida 38-7 on Saturday night in Lexington, Ky.

The freshman quarterback was an efficient 18-of-23 passing for 168 yards, two TDs and one interception for the Wildcats (4-5, 2-5 Southeastern Conference), who took a 24-7 lead at the half.

Dante Dowdell rushed for 104 yards on seven carries, including a 65-yard touchdown run. McGowan had 92 yards on 22 attempts with scores on runs of 2 and 5 yards.

DJ Lagway had a poor performance for the Gators (3-6, 2-4). The sophomore from Texas struggled by going 11 of 19 for 83 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions, prompting his benching at halftime.

Freshman backup Tramell Jones Jr. was 9 of 17 for 60 yards in relief.

Running back Jadan Baugh rushed for 64 yards on 17 carries and caught a 10-yard TD pass in the first quarter for the Gators’ lone score.

Each team committed four turnovers in the lopsided contest.

On Florida’s first possession, Kentucky was set up when defensive back Ty Bryant intercepted Lagway and returned it 17 yards. Jacob Kauwe soon booted a 39-yard field goal at 6:42 for a 3-0 edge.

In their second game under interim coach Billy Gonzales, Florida recovered a muffed punt at Kentucky’s 13. Lagway found Baugh on third down, completing a 10-yard pass with 1:12 left in the quarter.

Boley hit J.J. Hester for a 29-yard score to cap a 75-yard drive at 12:39 of the second quarter.

The theme of points off turnovers continued when Cam Dooley recovered a Florida fumble. Boley hit a receiver for paydirt again when he connected with Jason Patterson from 15 yards for a 17-7 advantage.

McGowan rushed for a short score with 1:26 left, but the teams combined for four turnovers in the final seven plays before halftime as Kentucky led by 17.

In the third, the Wildcats went 75 yards in 13 plays. McGowan capped the strong series by taking a direct snap and scampering in from 5 yards out.

The 31-7 margin represented the Wildcats’ largest lead against Florida since 1979 (31-3) when the Gators were caught in what ultimately became an 0-10-1 season.

Dowdell streaked away on a 65-yard scoring run at 12:16 in the fourth quarter for the final points.

–Field Level Media

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele passed for 323 yards and two TDs, including the game-winner on fourth down on the game’s final play, and visiting Cal upset No. 15 Louisville 29-26 in overtime Saturday night.

The Bears (6-4, 3-3 ACC), trailed by three points and faced fourth-and-goal from the 3 when Sagapolutele threw the winning touchdown to Jacob De Jesus who caught 16 passes for 158 yards.

Miller Moss passed for 203 yards and Keyjuan Brown rushed for 136 yards to lead the Cardinals (7-2, 4-2), who took a 26-23 lead on a 49-yard field goal by Cooper Ranvier on the first possession of overtime.

On the second play of the second half, Moss was intercepted by Hezekiah Masses at the Louisville 37, leading to Chase Meyer’s 45-yard field goal that increased Cal’s lead to 20-13.

The Cardinals needed just eight plays to get even as Moss rushed 1 yard for a tying touchdown.

The Bears drove to the Louisville 3 before stalling and Meyer kicked a 26-yard field goal for a 23-20 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Ranvier’s 39-yard field goal tied the score with 11:08 remaining and neither team threatened to score the rest of the period, leading to overtime.

On Louisville’s first possession of the game, Moss threw a 40-yard completion to Caullin Lacy and two plays later, Duke Watson ran 1 yard for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Sagapolutele then threw a 39-yard completion to Quaron Adams and two plays later, he connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Landon Morris to tie the score at the end of the first quarter.

Ranvier kicked a 30-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead before Meyer kicked a 27-yard field to tie the score.

Ranvier kicked a 49-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 13-10 lead, but Sagapolutele passed for 58 of the 75 yards on a touchdown drive that ended with Kendrick Raphael running 2 yards with seven seconds left, giving Cal a 17-13 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Three field goals from Connor Calvert, along with Carlos Hernandez’s huge punt return for a score, were difference makers in Wake Forest’s 16-9 win over No. 14 Virginia on Saturday night in Charlottesville, Va.

The Demon Deacons (6-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) handed the Cavaliers (8-2, 5-1) their first league loss and beat Virginia for the first time since 2021 when they won 37-17 on the road.

Hernandez had the biggest play of the night, fielding the ball off a bounce and returning it 88 yards for the game’s only touchdown and giving the Demon Deacons the lead for good at 7-6 with 1:33 left in the first half.

Calvert’s first field goal from 40 yards out with 40 seconds left extended the lead to 10-6 at halftime.

The Cavaliers came in as the lone unbeaten in the ACC but saw their seven-game winning streak end as they failed to score a touchdown for the first time all year.

Two field goals by Will Bettridge accounted for Virginia’s only points of the first half. He added a 40-yarder in the third to cut the deficit to 10-9 but Calvert connected on a 50-yarder with 3:49 left in the quarter to make the score 13-9.

Virginia lost starting quarterback Chandler Morris to an injury in the second quarter after he was hit by two defenders while sliding on a second-down run. He was down on the field for a few minutes before getting up and going to the locker room. He was 3-for-6 for 19 yards before exiting and did not return.

Daniel Kaelin filled in and completed 18 of his 28 passes for 145 yards. He also rushed for 49 yards.

Virginia outgained Wake Forest 327-203.

Wake Forest’s 16-play fourth-quarter drive consumed 9:16 and led to a 49-yard field goal by Calvert and a 16-9 edge with 3:53 to play.

Dylan Hazen forced a fumble on a rush by J’Mari Taylor and recovered it at the 26-yard line of Wake Forest with 3:12 remaining to kill off Virginia’s ensuing drive.

The Cavaliers had one last chance to answer with a little over two minutes to play, getting inside to the 5-yard line of the Demon Deacons with 36 seconds to play. But a fourth-and-3 pass from Kaelin to Jahmal Edrine was broken up at the goal line.

–Field Level Media