CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — James McCourt kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired Saturday and Illinois pulled off the biggest upset of the college football season, knocking off No. 6 Wisconsin, 24-23.
Tony Adams picked off a pass for the Illini (3-5, 1-3 Big Ten), who were 30-point underdogs, at midfield with 2:33 remaining that led to the winning field goal. Dre Brown’s tackle-breaking 13-yard run got Illinois to the Wisconsin 25 to set up McCourt to attempt a game-winner.
Wisconsin had not trailed this season and was looking to roll into a showdown with No. 3 Ohio State next week in Columbus. Instead the Badgers (6-1, 4-1) blew a nine-point lead in the final 9:46.
Jonathan Taylor rushed 28 times for 132 yards and one touchdown for Wisconsin, but also had a fumble in Illinois territory in the fourth quarter to help fuel the Illinois comeback.
(2) LOUISIANA STATE 36, MISSISSIPPI STATE 13: Joe Burrow threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns to break the school season record with 29 as the Tigers (7-0, 3-0 Southeastern)beat Mississippi State (3-4, 1-3) at Starkville, Mississippi.
(3) CLEMSON 45, LOUISVILLE 10: Trevor Lawrence overcame two early interceptions to throw three touchdown passes, Travis Etienne rushed for 192 yards and a score, and visiting Clemson (7-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast) routed Louisville (4-3, 2-2) for its 22nd consecutive victory.
(5) OKLAHOMA 52, WEST VIRGINIA 14: Jalen Hurts passed for 316 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 75 yards and two more scores as Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) cruised over West Virginia (3-4, 1-3) at Norman, Oklahoma.
(9) FLORIDA 38, SOUTH CAROLINA 27: Kyle Trask threw for a career-high four touchdowns, three in the fourth quarter, to help Florida (7-1, 4-1 Southeastern) bounce back from its loss at LSU to outlast South Carolina (3-4, 2-3) at Columbia, South Carolina.
(10) GEORGIA 21, KENTUCKY 0: D’Andre Swift’s 39-yard touchdown run in the third quarter snapped a scoreless tie, and Georgia (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern) overcame a slow start to beat Kentucky (3-4, 1-4) at Athens, Georgia.
(11) AUBURN 51, ARKANSAS 10: Bo Nix passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as Auburn (6-1, 34-1 Southeastern) routed Arkansas (2-5, 0-4) at Fayetteville, Arkansas.
(12) OREGON 35, (25) WASHINGTON 31: Justin Herbert hit Jaylon Redd for a 5-yard touchdown with 5:10 left, the last of his four scoring passes, and Oregon (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Washington (5-3, 2-3) at Seattle.
(13) UTAH 21, (17) ARIZONA STATE 3: Zack Moss broke the school career rushing record and scored two touchdowns as Utah (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) beat Arizona State (5-2, 2-2) at Salt Lake City.
(18) BAYLOR 45, OKLAHOMA STATE 27: Charlie Brewer completed 13 of 17 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another score as Baylor (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) beat Oklahoma State (4-3, 1-3 at Stillwater, Oklahoma, to extend its school-record winning streak to nine games.
(19) SOUTHERN METHODIST 45, TEMPLE 21: Shane Buechele set career highs with six touchdown passes and 457 passing yards as SMU (7-0, 3-0 American Athletic) defeated Temple (5-2, 2-1) at Dallas.
(20) MINNESOTA 42, RUTGERS 7: Rodney Smith ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns and Minnesota improved to 7-0 (4-0, Big Ten) for the first time since winning the national title in 1960 with a victory over Rutgers (1-6, 0-5) at Piscataway, New Jersey.
BOSTON COLLEGE 45, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 24: A.J. Dillon ran for 223 yards and three touchdowns, David Bailey had two long TD runs with 181 yards and Boston College (4-3, 2-2) pounded the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top rushing defense in beating visiting North Carolina State (4-3, 1-2).
DARTMOUTH 49, MARIST 7: Caylin Parker ran for two touchdowns and Connor Rempel caught two scoring passes as Dartmouth (5-0) rolled past Marist (1-5) at Poughkeepsie, New York.
HARVARD 31, HOLY CROSS 21: Jake Smith threw for three touchdowns as Harvard (4-1) beat Holy Cross (3-4) at Worcester, Massachusetts.
DELAWARE 16, NEW HAMPSHIRE 10: Jake Roth kicked two second-half field goals and Delaware (4-3, 2-1 Colonial Athletic)held New Hampshire (4-3, 3-1)scoreless after the break at Newark, Delaware.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.