Spencer Rattler established career bests of 438 yards and six touchdowns as South Carolina delivered a likely fatal blow to Tennessee’s College Football Playoff hopes with a 63-38 thumping of the No. 5 Volunteers on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play at Columbia, S.C.

Rattler also set a Gamecocks single-game record for touchdown passes while completing 30 of 37 throws.

Antwane Wells Jr. caught 11 passes for 177 yards and also rushed for a touchdown for South Carolina (7-4, 4-4 SEC). Dakereon Joyner rushed for two touchdowns, Jaheim Bell and Josh Vann each caught two touchdown passes and Jalen Brooks and Juju McDowell also had scoring catches for the Gamecocks.

Heisman Trophy candidate Hendon Hooker was 25-of-42 passing for 247 yards and three touchdowns before leaving with a left knee injury for Tennessee (9-2, 5-2). The Volunteers were outside the CFP top four teams prior to the beating and figure to spiral down the next rankings on Tuesday.

Cedric Tillman caught two touchdowns for Tennessee, including one from backup Joe Milton III. Bru McCoy and Princeton Fant also caught scoring passes and Jabari Small rushed for a touchdown.

South Carolina’s point total was its highest against an SEC opponent since a 65-39 victory over Mississippi State in 1995. The Gamecocks outgained the Volunteers 606 to 507.

Tennessee trailed by 18 late in the first half but moved within 35-31 on Hooker’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Fant with 9:53 left in the third quarter before the Gamecocks answered with four consecutive touchdowns.

Wells scored on a 3-yard run with 5:03 remaining in the period and Rattler threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Bell to make it 49-31 with 11:41 remaining in the contest.

Hooker lost a fumble on the play in which he was injured, and Jordan Burch recovered at the Tennessee 17-yard line with 11:28 left. Just over two minutes later, Joyner scored from the 3 to make it 56-31 with 9:26 to play.

Rattler punctuated the win with a 20-yard scoring pass to Brooks with 2:06 remaining.

Rattler passed for 264 yards and four touchdowns as South Carolina led 35-24 at the break.

Rattler threw touchdown passes of 19 yards to Bell, 60 yards to Vann and 11 to McDowell in a first quarter that ended with the Gamecocks leading 21-7. Small scored on a 31-yard run for the Volunteers.

Vann’s second scoring reception — from 18 yards out — gave South Carolina a 35-17 lead with 2:04 left in the half. Hooker’s deflected pass was caught by McCoy for a 7-yard score with 12 seconds left as Tennessee moved within 11.

–Field Level Media

Linebacker Jackson Sirmon turned a teammate’s fumble into a 37-yard touchdown, producing the go-ahead score in host California’s 27-20 victory over rival Stanford on Saturday afternoon in the 125th annual Big Game in Berkeley, Calif.

Sirmon’s return came after the second fumble on a crazy play that occurred on the 40th anniversary of one of the most famous kickoff returns in college football history known as “The Play.”

It gave Cal (4-7, 2-6 Pac-12) a second consecutive win in the Northern California rivalry.

The Golden Bears hadn’t scored since the first quarter and trailed 17-6 before Jack Plummer threw a 1-yard TD pass to Monroe Young with 11:18 to play.

A two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving Cal behind 17-12. However, on the third play of Stanford’s ensuing possession, the Golden Bears’ Daniel Scott forced a fumble on Ashton Daniels’ run around left end.

The ball hopped into the arms of Cal’s Jeremiah Earby, who took two steps and in turn dropped the ball, with this bounce landing in Sirmon’s hands to begin his dash to the difference-making score.

A two-point conversion by Jaydn Ott put Cal up 20-17 with 9:54 remaining, after which Ott added a 1-yard TD plunge to ice the victory with 58 seconds left.

Stanford’s Joshua Carty drilled a 61-yard field goal on the final play of the game to account for the final score, ending the Cardinal’s run of six consecutive wins in Berkeley.

Ott was the game’s leading rusher with 97 yards on 18 carries and the one score. Plummer went 23-for-43 for 280 yards and one TD with two interceptions, directing the Golden Bears to a win that ended a six-game losing streak.

Cal’s Jeremiah Hunter was the game’s leading receiver, with five catches for 103 yards.

Stanford (3-8, 1-8) was led offensively by Tanner McKee, who threw for 271 yards on 29-of-45 passing with one TD and one interception. Mitch Leigber ran for 83 yards and a first-half score, while Elijah Higgins hauled in eight passes for 69 yards and a 9-yard score that increased the Cardinal’s lead to 17-6 midway through the third period.

Each team scored on its first two possessions of the game, but not again before halftime, with Stanford taking a 10-6 lead into the break.

Leigber scored the half’s only TD on a 1-yard plunge to cap the Cardinal’s first possession.

Stanford’s Joshua Karty added a 42-yard field goal at the 3:47 mark of the first period, sandwiching 54- and 38-yard successes by Cal’s Dario Longhetto.

–Field Level Media

Georgia Tech put together a pair of second-half touchdown drives and held host No. 13 North Carolina scoreless after halftime to pull off a 21-17 upset Saturday at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Hassan Hall scored the winning touchdown on a 6-yard run with 11:08 remaining.

Georgia Tech (5-6, 4-4 ACC) remained in contention to become bowl eligible, but that would mean stunning top-ranked Georgia on the road in next week’s regular-season finale.

North Carolina (9-2, 6-1) had a six-game winning streak snapped a week after it wrapped up the ACC’s Coastal Division title. Before facing Clemson in the conference championship game, the Tar Heels will have a home date with rival North Carolina State on Friday.

Georgia Tech kept tabs on North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, who had a rough time by completing 16 of 30 passes for 202 yards and one interception. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season.

North Carolina’s Elijah Green ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

Georgia Tech didn’t have a lot of offense, but the Yellow Jackets were balanced with 187 yards through the air and 186 yards rushing. Zach Gibson completed 13 of 18 passes for 174 yards.

North Carolina appeared poised to retake the lead late in the game, but receiver Josh Downs couldn’t handle Maye’s fourth-down pass that would have been a 19-yard scoring play with less than five minutes remaining. The Tar Heels never had another possession.

Maye’s top target was Bryson Nesbit, who caught four passes for 85 yards.

The Tar Heels led 17-7 before Georgia Tech put together a nine-play, 68-yard drive capped by Taisun Phommachanh’s 4-yard touchdown run with 7:31 left in the third.

After a Maye interception, the Yellow Jackets went 81 yards on nine plays, with Hall running for go-ahead points.

Green’s 80-yard run opened the scoring on the first play of North Carolina’s first possession.

Noah Burnette extended the lead with a 31-yard field goal more than 15 minutes later.

Green’s 1-yard run helped put North Carolina up 17-0 with 3:13 to play in the half.

However, the Yellow Jackets marched 84 yards on nine plays to score on Dontae Smith’s 2-yard run 48 seconds before halftime.

Green had two touchdowns on four first-half carries.

North Carolina held a 257-171 in total yards in the first half. Even with that, Maye had his least impressive half of the season, with 108 passing yards and 21 rushing yards.

–Field Level Media

Auburn pulled away from visiting Western Kentucky 41-17 on Saturday behind four total touchdowns by Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter, and a strong defensive effort

Bigsby had a team-high 110 yards rushing and two touchdowns, including a 35-yard scoring burst in the second half.

Hunter had 13 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown in addition to his second-quarter touchdown pass to Koy Moore for the Tigers (5-6).

Moore caught his first touchdown pass of the season. Robby Ashford passed for 102 yards and added 37 yards on the ground.

Western Kentucky quarterback Austin Reed threw for 290 yards, including 222 yards and two touchdown passes to Joshua Simon in the first half. Auburn’s defense limited him to just 68 yards through the air in the second half and forced two interceptions.

Malachi Corley led the Hilltoppers (7-5) with a team-high 12 catches for 99 yards. Jaylen Hall added eight catches for 84 yards. Simon had 49 yards receiving.

Auburn held a 10-0 advantage after a quarter behind a 1-yard scoring run by Bigsby and a 51-yard field goal by Alex McPherson.

The Hilltoppers trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 10-3 less than five minutes into the second quarter when Brayden Narveson nailed a 27-yard field goal. Narveson missed a 50-yarder on the game’s opening drive.

Auburn pushed the lead to 17-3 with an impressive seven-play, 66-yard drive, which was capped by a halfback-toss-and-pass from Hunter to Moore with 7:21 left until halftime.

Western Kentucky cut the lead to seven when Reed connected with Simon for a 22-yard scoring strike with 4:35 to go in the half.

The Hilltoppers tied the game at 17 all when Reed connected with Simon on a well-executed screen pass with six seconds to go until halftime.

McPherson added a 28-yard field goal halfway through the third quarter to put the Tigers up 20-17. Bigsby’s 35-yard run increased Auburn’s lead to 27-17 late in the third quarter.

A Hunter 40-yard scoring run and a 27-yard pick-six by D.J. James in the fourth quarter increased Auburn’s lead to 41-17 and ended any chances of a Western Kentucky comeback.

–Field Level Media

Drew Stevens hit a 21-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining to give Iowa a 13-10 win over Minnesota in Big Ten play on Saturday at Minneapolis.

Spencer Petras went 15-of-24 passing for 221 yards for Iowa (7-4, 5-3), which has won four straight games.

Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 263 yards and a touchdown on 39 carries for Minnesota (7-4, 4-4).

Minnesota had a chance to win late in regulation, but facing a third-and-7 from the Iowa 33-yard line, Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell picked off Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and returned it to the Minnesota 45-yard line with 2:06 remaining.

On the next play, Petras hit Luke Lachey for a 33-yard gain down to the Minnesota 12-yard line.

Iowa eventually worked it down to the 3-yard line, where on fourth-and-1, trotted out Stevens for the game-winning kick.

Minnesota was stopped on downs on its last possession to end the game.

Iowa opened the scoring with 9:01 remaining in the first quarter, taking a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal by Stevens.

The Hawkeyes then took a 10-0 lead with 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Petras, which capped off a 12-play, 66-yard drive that lasted 6:19.

Minnesota answered in the second quarter, cutting Iowa’s lead to 10-7 with 10:24 remaining in the second on a 5-yard touchdown run by Ibrahim, which finished off a nine-play, 72-yard drive that took 5:13 off of the clock.

The Golden Gophers then tied the game at 10-10 with 8:20 remaining in the third quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Matthew Trickett.

Minnesota outgained Iowa, 399-280, and possessed the ball for 35:16. But the Golden Gophers had two turnovers, while the Hawkeyes had none.

Kaliakmanis completed 7 of 15 passes for 87 yards.

–Field Level Media