Walk-off field goal gives WVU its first Big 12 win of the season
College Football
Mike Hawkins Jr. threw for a career-high 464 yards and Jack Cassidy kicked a 35-yard field goal as time ran out to lift West Virginia to a wild 45-42 win over Cincinnati on Saturday.
The teams combined for 1,220 yards of offense. It marked the fourth consecutive game for West Virginia in which the teams surpassed 1,000 yards.
“It was crazy,” Hawkins said. “For the offense, we’ve just got to keep scoring. That’s the goal every week. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the game. Don’t look at the scoreboard, just take it play by play. But it was an unreal game to be in.”
West Virginia (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) never led until Cassidy’s winner and broke a three-game losing streak. Cincinnati (4-2, 1-2) has lost two straight, sandwiched around a bye week.
Hawkins threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more scores for West Virginia. He completed 25 of 33 passes after failing to complete half of his passes in the three previous games.
“How about Mike Hawkins?” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “He made some great throws and hung in there.”
After Cole Tabb put Cincinnati ahead 42-35 with a 6-yard TD run with 5:35 left, West Virginia responded in five plays with Hawkins hitting running back Cam Cook with a 40-yard scoring toss.
Cincinnati then was forced to punt, pinning West Virginia at its 1 with 2:05 left. On third down, Hawkins found Prince Strachan with a 41-yard pass, then hit Strachan with a 40-yard toss two plays later to put the Mountaineers inside the Cincinnati 20 to set up Cassidy’s winning kick.
JC French IV threw a season-high three touchdown passes and ran for another score for Cincinnati. He completed 22 of 30 passes for a career-high 389 yards. Tabb rushed for 118 yards, ran for two TDs and caught a pass for another score for Cincinnati.
Cassidy’s day went from lousy to great
Up until the winning kick, Cassidy, who grew up playing Gaelic football in Northern Ireland, said he was having his “worst day” since he started playing college football a year ago at Western Kentucky.
He sent a kickoff out of bounds in the fourth quarter and missed a 49-yard field goal try wide left just before halftime.
After his winner split the uprights, Cassidy was mobbed by his teammates and lifted onto their shoulders.
Boston College 27, Pitt 21
Mason McKenzie threw for two touchdowns and Boston College recovered from a miserable opening two minutes of the game, beating Pitt 27-21.
McKenzie went 17 for 28 with 295 yards and two inceptions for the Eagles (3-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Making his first career start after QB Mason Heintschel was lost for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee during a victory at Virginia Tech two weeks ago, true freshman Corey Dailey completed 11 of 25 passes for 193 yards with two interceptions and a TD for Pitt (5-2, 2-2). He threw a 75-yard touchdown to Cataurus Hicks on the first play of the game.
McKenzie hit Landon Wright with a 69-yard scoring pass on BC’s first drive of the second half, moving the Eagles ahead 21-12.
Two field goals by Antonio Chadha – 29 and 42 yards – narrowed it to 21-18 before Evan Dickens had a 1-yard TD run a play after McKenzie hit Wright with a 53-yard pass.
Raion Strader had his second pick of the game, giving the Panthers the ball at the BC 8 with just over 2 minutes left, but Charlie Comella had a pick to seal it.
Michigan 21, Penn State 18
Tommy Carr jogged onto the same field where his grandfathers led a national championship team and set the school record for career interceptions, and the crowd roared.
And, he made the most of the opportunity.
Carr converted a third down on a 12-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left to play, giving Michigan a two-score lead it needed in a 21-18 win over Penn State.
The Wolverines (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) needed the win to avoid losing their first three conference games in a season for the first time since 1967.
It might not have happened if first-year coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t agree to bench Bryce Underwood at halftime and to give Carr a chance to turn around a lackluster offense and perhaps fire up a listless team.
“The idea at halftime was to create a spark and Tommy did just that,” Whittingham said.
California 26, Clarion 20 (2 OT)
Bobbie Boyd Jr. scored on a four-yard run in double overtime to clinch a 26-20 win at Clarion (2-2, 4-3) in a PSAC game.
After each team made a field goal in the first overtime, California (2-2, 4-3) forced a fumble on Clarion’s possession in double overtime before Boyd’s game-winning touchdown.
Boyd had 130 yards rushing on a career-high 31 attempts.
The game was tied 10-10 at halftime after Jay Pearson had a 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter.
Boyd put California in front 17-10 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run.
Avante George tied the game for Clarion on a 1-yard plunge at 12:28 of the fourth quarter.
Washington & Jefferson 56, Allegheny 3
Washington & Jefferson continued its onslaught of Presidents’ Athletic Conference opponents with a 56-3 win over Allegheny (3-1, 5-1).
The Presidents (4-0, 5-1) led 28-3 at halftime. Braylon Wagner threw a pair of touchdown passes to Joey DeSabato in the first half and scored on an 18-yard run in the third quarter.
Andrew Sharp had touchdown runs of three and one yard and Rudy Morris and Nico Mauro had pick-sixes on defense in the third quarter. Morris returned his 50 yards and Mauro’s was 85 yards.
Washington & Jefferson has outscored conference opponents 202-10 and hasn’t given up a touchdown in three consecutive games.
Case Western Reserve 41, Waynesburg 6
Yaw Gyamfi had a pair of interception returns for touchdowns as Case Western Reserve (2-1, 5-1) cruised to a 41-6 win over Waynesburg (1-3, 1-5).
Gyamfi’s first interception was a 70-yard return with three seconds remaining in the first quarter, which made it 14-0.
His second was a 60-yarder, which closed the scoring.
Case Western Reserve led 21-6 at halftime.
Waynesburg’s lone score was a 12-yard touchdown run by quarterback Dominic Hickman with 1:45 remaining until halftime.