RED-HOT GEORGIA STAYS ON ROLL; SEC TITLE GAME NEXT
ATLANTA — The celebration didn’t last long. Georgia had not even finished off another victory over its in-state rival when Bulldogs fans in red and black began to chant, “LSU! . . . LSU! . . . LSU!”
Time for an even bigger game.
Aaron Murray threw four touchdown passes and No. 13 Georgia extended its domination over No. 25 Georgia Tech, pulling away for a 31-17 victory Saturday that sent the Bulldogs into the Southeastern Conference championship game on quite a roll.
Next weekend, the Bulldogs will be back in Atlanta to play the top-ranked Tigers while riding a 10-game winning streak.
“This game is over with,” Georgia’s Branden Smith said. “I’m thinking about LSU right now. This is a good win, but we’ve got another mission.”
The Bulldogs (10-2) have bounced back from losing their first two games and will take plenty of confidence into the title game, even though they’ll be heavy underdogs against the unbeaten Tigers.
LSU will be trying to lock up a slot in the national championship game. But the Bulldogs might prove to be pesky, putting together their longest winning streak within a season since 1982.
“We just have to play the way we’ve been playing,” linebacker Jarvis Jones said. “If we don’t give away points, there’s no way they can beat us.”
Murray extended his school record for touchdown passes in a season to 32, hooking up with Michael Bennett and Chris Conley in the first half and with Tavarres King and Aron White in the third quarter, as Georgia cruised to its 10th win over the Yellow Jackets in 11 years.
Georgia Tech (8-4) rushed for 243 yards out of the triple option against the nation’s second- ranked run defense, but just 79 came after halftime. Tevin Washington threw a pair of interceptions, but the result was all too familiar to the Yellow Jackets: another loss to the Bulldogs.
“I don’t like losing to nobody, but when it’s in- state, when it’s your rival,” linebacker Julian Burnett said, his voice trailing off. “We’re tired of being the little brothers in the state.”
The Bulldogs didn’t need much of a ground game, not the way Murray carved up the Georgia Tech secondary. The third-year sophomore overcame an early interception — when he was hit on the elbow as he threw — to complete 19-of-29 passes for 252 yards.
Murray has 14 touchdown passes in his last four games, breezing past the old school record of 25 TDs in a season set by Matthew Stafford, who became the top pick in the NFL draft.
No. 11 Michigan State 31, Northwestern 17
EVANSTON, Ill. — Keshawn Martin returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown just before halftime and senior quarterback Kirk Cousins threw two TD passes to B.J. Cunningham as Michigan State warmed up for next weekend’s Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin.
Cousins threw a 33-yarder to Cunningham in the third quarter and hit him again on a juggling 29-yard TD pass for the Spartans (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) with 5:17 left to cap a 93-yard drive. It was the 62nd career touchdown pass for Cousins, breaking a school record set by Jeff Smoker (61).
Northwestern (6-6, 3-5) had its four-game winning streak snapped in the regular-season finale and now hopes for a bowl berth.
The Wildcats closed to 24-17 early in the final quarter on Dan Persa’s 12-yard TD pass to Demetrius Fields, which was set up by a clutch fourth-down pass from Persa to Jeremy Ebert.
No. 15 Wisconsin 45, No. 20 Penn State 7
MADISON, Wis. — Montee Ball scored four more touchdowns in his pursuit of an NCAA record, powering Wisconsin to a blowout.
Ball has scored 34 touchdowns this season for the Badgers (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten), the second-most total in a season in NCAA history. Barry Sanders holds the record, scoring 39 touchdowns for Oklahoma State in 11 games in the 1988 season.
The Nittany Lions (9-3, 6-2) came into the game hoping to salvage something from a season stained by the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. They took an early 7-0 lead but quickly unraveled, falling behind 28-7 by halftime.
No. 17 Michigan 40, Ohio State 34
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Wolverines (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten) were forced to settle for a six-point lead with 1:59 left on Brendan Gibbons’ career-long 43-yard field goal after two apparent TDs were negated by video review and then penalties.
The archrival Buckeyes (6-6, 3-5) had a chance to win the game on their final drive, but freshman Braxton Miller sailed a pass over Deviser Posey on what could have been a 76-yard TD and threw a loss-sealing interception to Courtney Avery. The Associated Press
