Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence returned to the field with purpose on Saturday as he played for the first time since Oct. 24 and racked up 403 yards passing in the No. 3 Tigers' 52-17 win over Pittsburgh. Lawrence missed two games after testing positive for COVID-19 and had his would-be return game against Florida State canceled last week.
Ultimately, Lawrence helped remind everyone of why Clemson is still in the College Football Playoff picture despite its loss to Notre Dame as the Tigers racked up nearly 600 yards of total offense and improved to 8-1, even after taking their foot off the pedal late in the game.
Want more college football in your life? Listen below and subscribe to the Cover 3 College Football podcast for top-notch insight and analysis beyond the gridiron.
Things did not go as well for another set of Tigers on Saturday night. A year after walloping Texas A&M 50-7 on their way to a 15-0 season, LSU lost 20-7 to this No. 5-ranked Texas A&M team as the Aggies improved to 6-1 and kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive. Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond completed just 11 of 34 passes for 105 yards, but sophomore running back Isaiah Spiller surpassed 100 yards rushing for the fifth time this season to pace a dominant Aggies' rushing attack.
No. 23 Oklahoma State 50, Texas Tech 44 -- Box score
Penn State 27, Michigan 17 -- Box score
No. 6 Florida 34, Kentucky 10 -- Box score
Michigan State 29, No. 8 Northwestern 20 -- Recap
No. 3 Clemson 52, Pitt 17 -- Box score
No. 1 Alabama 42, No. 22 Auburn 13 -- Recap, takeaways
Ole Miss 31, Mississippi State 24 -- Box score
No. 5 Texas A&M 20, LSU 7 -- Box score
No. 9 Georgia 45, South Carolina 16 -- Box score
Check out the complete Week 13 scoreboard
Getting the run game going was clearly the priority for Georgia today after the Bulldogs got nothing on the ground vs. Mississippi State last week. But JT Daniels still had some big moments...
Baylor finally gets its second victory of the season in dramatic fashion over Kansas State.
Georgia and Texas A&M are both cruising vs. unranked foes in the third quarter. This league truly is incredibly top heavy.
This will go down as an INT for JT Daniels. A little unfair. But the Bulldogs still lead 35-10 midway through the third quarter.
Seems like every time LSU has something good happen, it gets called back or waved off. Alas, Texas A&M still leads 13-0 midway through the third quarter.
LSU's squandered some opportunities here in the first half, and A&M converts a FG before half to take a 13-0 lead into the break.
Georgia's offense is doing alright with JT Daniels at quarterback. Granted, South Carolina probably wasn't going to provide much resistance, regardless of who was at QB. 28-10 UGA late in 2Q.
Hello, hello, Isaiah Spiller. The speedy back turns on the jets and Texas A&M goes up 10-0 on LSU.
Ole Miss knocked down a desperation heave from Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers as time expired to give the Rebels a 31-24 win in the first Egg Bowl between Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach. Quarterback Matt Corral had 385 passing yards and two touchdowns for the Rebels in the win.
Trevor Lawrence goes 26 of 37 for 403 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs in his return as Clemson beats Pittsburgh 52-17.
Of note in that Michigan State win: Northwestern has shut out four teams in the second half this year. Sparty scored 12 fourth-quarter points.
He's 2-3 at Michigan State with wins over rival Michigan and No. 8 Northwestern. The Spartans close it out with a defensive touchdown. What a weird start.
Northwestern will get it back trailing by three with about 30 seconds left.
Clemson up 52-17 again after letting Pittsburgh briefly close within 38-17. Also, this happened.
No. 8 Northwestern down 23-20 to Michigan State after the Spartans just kicked a go-ahead FG with less than four minutes left.
The Fighting Schianos are hanging in there with Purdue, thanks in part to this ridiculous kick return TD.
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett had four interceptions coming into today's game against Clemson. He has four today with the fourth quarter just starting. Clemson is cruising 45-17.
Good grief. Louisiana wasn't in the CFP rankings this week, but they're still hanging around in the AP poll and just did this today.
Pittsburgh hanging in against No. 3 Clemson. 38-17 now after Lawrence fumble leads to a Pitt TD. Panthers getting ball back now with 9:03 left in 3Q after missed FG by the Tigers. Was 38-3 at one point.
Ho hum, just another win for No. 20 Coastal Carolina, which took care of business 49-14 against Texas State to move to 9-0. Texas State hasn't been winning much this year, but they've been a scrappy team. Next week's game against Liberty is going to be fun.
Northwestern keeps chipping away at Michigan State's lead. It's now a four-point game after Peyton Ramsey scores on a naked bootleg. Big fourth down score for the Wildcats and it's 17-13 in the third quarter.
Is Devonta Smith the best wide receiver in Alabama history? He's making a case every week.
Will Rogers finds Malik Heath for a big Mississippi State touchdown with six seconds left in the first half to cut the Ole Miss lead to 21-14 entering halftime.
This Matt Corral TD pass covered about 60 yards in the air. Pretty impressive.
After falling behind 17-0, Northwestern has clawed its way back a little into this game with a couple of field goals. Still it's an 11-point game after 30 minutes and the Wildcats will need some touchdowns -- maybe one of the non-offensive variety -- to really chip away at this thing. But keep in mind Northwestern has posted four second-half shutouts this season already.
Action in the Egg Bowl is picking up. Mississippi State got on the board with this one, but Ole Miss has already struck back with an 81-yard TD to make it 21-7 in the second quarter.
