It wasn’t decisive, it wasn’t smooth, and it certainly wasn’t pretty. But after taking a 14-point lead into halftime, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were able to hold on for a victory, defeating Pittsburgh 23-17.

“They believe they’re going to win,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “That’s starting to change how they go to work every day, how they play the game now, they have the belief that they’re going to win football games. We’re not there yet, believe me. But we’re taking the right steps towards where we want to go as a football team.”

The Irish allowed the Panthers to strike first, but scored three times in less than 15 minutes to take a 17-3 lead into halftime. Junior quarterback Dayne Crist was responsible for both touchdowns, throwing one to junior receiver Michael Floyd for a one-yard score, and then running one in himself from ten yards out.

“We got off to a pretty good start, but as we’ve shown, we are really good at stubbing our toe, whether it be with a penalty or a drop here, but that’s us, so you’re going to have to get used to it, because I’m trying to get used to it,” Kelly said. “We’re a work in progress, we’re going to work hard every week.”

Senior kicker David Ruffer connected on both of his field goal tries, including a 50-yarder in the 3rd quarter, Notre Dame’s longest since 2003. Ruffer extended his streak of consecutive made field goals to start a career to 16.

“Ruffer is doing things right now that not a lot of people, including myself, though he could do,” Kelly said.

It was the Irish defense that came to the rescue in the second half, as the Notre Dame offense was unable to put the ball across the goal line in the last 30 minutes. After Pittsburgh scored a 56-yard touchdown to bring the game within six, Notre Dame held Pittsburgh to seven plays over their last two drives to seal the victory.

“We’re going to keep you out of the end zone,” Kelly said. “I think that’s something that’s developed through this year, through developing an identity on defense. We may bend a little bit here or there, but we’re going to keep you out of the end zone. My job is to help our team win games, find ways to win. I think this is one of those games that you click off and put a W. We found ways to manage the game and win. We need to win games. It’s not a beauty contest yet for us. It’s certainly not that but my job is to get Notre Dame to win football games, and we’re starting to do that.”

Maybe Joker Phillips couldn’t help but repeat himself. After No. 8 Auburn hung on to beat Kentucky 37-34 on Saturday, giving the Cats their third straight loss, UK’s head coach kept retreating to the same words in his postgame news conference.

“My heart aches for those guys. They played their hearts out,” UK’s head coach said. “We played inspired, played with emotions, made plays when we needed to have them made, just came up a little short.

“My heart aches for those guys. I asked those guys to play with everything on the field, play with heart, play with emotion and they did.”

After falling behind 31-14 in the first half, the Cats’ defense bounced back in the second half to slow Tiger quarterback Cam Newton as the offense pulled within striking range. UK (3-3, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) tied the game at 31 in the third quarter and at 34 in the fourth quarter, but fell short. With the memory of a failed late-game rally at Ole Miss fresh in their minds from last week, the Cats’ fourth quarter comeback attempt wasn’t enough.

Newton drove Auburn (6-0, 3-0 SEC) down the field, burning the clock in a drive that lasted nearly seven-and-a-half minutes before a chip shot field goal downed UK in the closing seconds. The Tigers’ 6-foot-6 signalcaller went on a rampage, rushing for four first-half touchdowns while racking up 198 rushing yards and 210 passing yards.

Junior wide receiver Randall Cobb led a UK offense that produced when it mattered most, but couldn’t catch a break. Cobb finished with a passing touchdown, a receiving touchdown, and two rushing touchdowns, but the Cats’ defense failed to recover any of four fumbles coughed up by Auburn ballcarriers. Junior safety Winston Guy felt the defense had recovered some of the loose balls, but the calls didn’t go their way.

“I think those calls, it’s the refs’ calls but I think those two fumbles, we had (them),” Guy said. “I guess it’s because they’re No. 8 in the nation I guess, but they just didn’t go our way. We just have to come back next week and play.”

For the third straight week, players said they’d take the game as a learning experience and move forward. Phillips was encouraged by the performance of the defense in the second half, when the Cats made adjustments in an effort to contain Newton’s running.

Players said the UK defense also upped its intensity in the second half. Phillips echoed them – before echoing himself again.

“I always knew what this team was about,” Phillips said. “This team will fight until there are zeroes on the clock. This team has heart, there’s no question about that. This is a team that has a lot of heart, that will fight you until there are zeroes on the clock.”

For Phillips, who has seen many close losses on the UK sideline as a player and coach, everything seemed a little too familiar.

“They all hurt. They all rip your guts out,” Phillips said. “I don’t feel any different than the players in there or the assistant coaches.

“They rip your guts out, no question about that.”

GAME NOTES
Cobb had two touchdowns rushing, one receiving, and a passing touchdown. His three scores now have him tied for first on UK’s all-time career touchdowns list with former wide receiver Craig Yeast. He also moved into fifth place all-time on the career scoring list with 194 points. He needs 32 points to move into fourth on the career scoring list … Sophomore linebacker Danny Trevathan led the defense with a career-high 17 tackles, included 10 unassisted tackles. His previous career high in tackles was set last week at Ole Miss, when he had 15 tackles … Senior quarterback Mike Hartline finished 23 of 28 for 220 yards. Two passes were dropped by wide receivers. As a team, the Cats have thrown for at least 200 yards in every game this season … Senior tailback Derrick Locke left the game in the second half with a shoulder stinger and did not return.

Boise State head coach Chris Petersen may not want to talk about it now, but Alabama’s loss to South Carolina will affect his team come season’s end.

The entire college football landscape was changed Saturday by an earthquake that came due to the devastating tremor delivered by South Carolina in its 35-21 defeat of Alabama.

The Gamecocks pulled out the last foundational block of Jenga, that was the Crimson Tide, and allowed the remaining blocks – the rest of college football’s undefeated teams – to plummet with no decisive frontrunner.

What does it mean for the Broncos?

“That doesn’t mean anything. That probably means were going to move down five spots,” Petersen said after BSU defeated Toledo 57-14 on Saturday. “We’ve just got to keep playing and talk about it in December.”

But it does mean something for the Broncos, and it could be something really good. Wait, we almost forgot. Petersen is right. This is BSU, the team that moves down in the polls after it wins 59-0.

Ohio State is the new No. 1. There’s no way anybody can argue that after its 38-10 drubbing of Indiana.

Oregon will stay at No. 2 just on principal alone. The voters and coaches don’t want to admit they made mistake when they put Oregon in front of BSU last week after watching the Ducks’ lackluster 43-23 win over a miserable Washington State team this week.

Remember, Oregon comes from the Pac-10, a BCS conference. It’s allowed to have a poor showing and not be punished for it because it plays a harder strength of schedule down the road.

Now, this is all really starting to make sense.

Don’t forget about Nebraska, the team that hasn’t beat any ranked teams this year. It deserves to jump BSU too, right?

Either way, Petersen feels the Alabama loss is good for college football in general, but really doesn’t care how it influences others’ view the Broncos in the rankings.

“It’s all stuff that we don’t want to pay attention to, but I think everybody else loves it. In terms of Boise State, I don’t really have an opinion. We’ll have an opinion way down the road when it’s all said and done,” Petersen said. “I just really believe that and mean that. We just have so much more football to play and we got a long way to go. We’re going to have some really tough games. I can feel them coming.”

Petersen, who gets to fill out a ballot in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll every week, still isn’t sure where to put his team when he wakes up on Sunday morning. In fact, he makes it sound like it’s something he dislikes doing, even though his vote could help BSU rise in the polls.

When asked after BSU’s blowout win against the Rockets if he had any idea who he’ll chose as  the No. 1 team in his ballot Petersen said, “Nope, I figure that out tomorrow.”

Any chance it could be Boise State, Pete? “No. I don’t think so,” he said.

That pretty much sums up where BSU’s mindset is concerning the rankings at this point.

The No. 4 Boise State Broncos (5-0, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) made easy work of Toledo (3-3, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) Saturday night at Bronco Stadium, downing the Rockets 57-14. The victory put BSU atop the nation’s longest winning streak, 19, after No. 1 Alabama lost to No. 19 South Carolina earlier in the day.

By using offensive efficiency, turnovers and a little trickery, the Broncos made short work of Rockets, leading Toledo 36-7 before halftime.

“The key to this game was the turnovers because if we didn’t have those turnovers in the first half it would’ve been a much different game,” BSU head coach Chris Petersen said. “It was interesting at halftime, there was a little bit of a frustration feeling. We’d had a nice drive to give us some more breathing room right before we went in, but they were moving the ball fairly effectively. They were getting good field position because of our special teams. The turnovers were the key in terms of letting us get some points. That helped, but it was very awkward in terms of how it felt I thought.”

The Broncos forced five turnovers, two interceptions and three fumbles, to create scoring opportunities that led to way to a BSU victory. Junior defensive end Shea McClellin recorded his second career interception, running back 36 yards for a touchdown.

“The coaches are always harping on the same thing, getting turnovers and being physical,” McClellin said. “We want to be that dominating defense and anytime a defense can get five turnovers, it’s a great day.”

Senior running back Jeremy Avery made his triumphant return after starting the season as the Broncos’ number three running back. Avery was utilized effectively in the red zone in the wildcat formation, rushing for three touchdowns on six carries in the first half. He finished the game with seven carries, averaging six yards per carry and reigning in a 26-yard reception.

“When you’re in the red zone, you want to score…,” Avery said. “All of us want to get in the red zone and take it in.”

“He knows what he’s doing,” junior quarterback Kellen Moore said. “He has done this for a while. Maybe early on he wasn’t getting the touches, but there’s long seasons and there will be different guys that will need to step up and Jeremy doing that right now.”

The Broncos have struggled on special teams all season, a place where they previously have thrived. BSU allowed two long kickoff returns in the first half; a 41-yard return by sophomore wide receiver Eric Page and a 31-yard return by junior linebacker Isaiah Ballard. The long return by Page set the Rockets up for a 58-yard march to their lone first half score.

BSU entrusted most of the second half to their second and third teamers to close out the game. The Broncos scored 21 third-quarter points; McClellin’s touchdown, a 33 yard pass from Moore to junior wide receiver Tyler Shoemaker and a seven-play rushing attack handled by sophomore running back Matt Kaiserman capped by a 1-yard touchdown rush.

BSU goes on the road this week to face WAC opponent San Jose State. The Broncos return the following week to play a Tuesday night game (Oct. 26).

EVANSTON — Northwestern had everything going its way leading up to Saturday, setting itself up for a win that could shape the face of the program.

The Wildcats were poised to go 6-0 for the first time since 1962 in their only home night game of the season before the largest crowd at Ryan Field so far this year. All they had to do was beat a Purdue team that was essentially running its second team on offense due to a plethora of injuries.

Instead, the Cats (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) were outplayed for 60 minutes and fell 20-17 to the Boilermakers (3-2, 1-0). NU had a shot to tie the game with 58 seconds remaining, but senior kicker Stefan Demos couldn’t be a hero again this week, pushing a 45-yard field goal wide right to seal the game for Purdue.

“It’s a bad feeling, a bad taste that we have in our mouth,” senior linebacker Quentin Davie said. “As they were taking a knee, we told ourselves, ‘Remember this feeling, we don’t want to have it again.'”

The Cats committed six costly mistakes on special teams. Hunter Bates dropped two punts, one of which gave the ball back to Purdue at the NU 24. Senior running back Stephen Simmons muffed a kick return that left the Cats to begin their drive at their own five-yard-line. Sophomore safety redshirt freshman Brandon Williams shanked a punt for 15 yards, allowing Purdue to start its drive at the NU 32.

And biggest of all, senior kicker Stefan Demos failed to convert on two fourth quarter field goals, including his miss on the potential game-tying attempt.

Demos is now eight-of-13 on field goal attempts this season.

NU led 17-13 until 3:54 remaining in the fourth quarter when Purdue running back Dan Dierking scored from seven yards out on a key fourth-and-one. The score capped a 14-play, 68-yard drive.

“I couldn’t have written a better script,” Dierking said. “(Quarterback) Rob Henry had the option of keeping it or giving it and I saw the hole open up, so I jerked it from him and luckily it worked out.”

Incredibly, the muffed returns and shanked punts only cost NU three points. Williams’ 15-yard punt proved harmless to the Cats as junior safety David Arnold intercepted the first play of Purdue’s ensuing drive in the end zone.

Purdue only managed a field goal after Bates’ fumble turned the ball back over to the Boilermakers as the NU defense gave up only five yards on that drive.

In earlier games this season, three points off giveaways might have been surmountable for the Cats. But on a night when the offense just wasn’t quite as crisp as usual, those three points were enough to sink them.

“We can’t keep beating ourselves,” junior quarterback Dan Persa said. “We can’t beat two teams every week.”

Persa once again anchored the Cats offensively, completing 30-of-41 passes for 305 yards. Still, Persa had some uncharacteristic misthrows to open receivers and was kept without a passing touchdown for the first time all season. He was also sacked five times.

“We could have executed a little bit better,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “The quarterback gets all the credit with a win, but obviously gets analyzed when things don’t go their way.”

NU converted only eight times on 18 third downs, well below its 8-of-11 performance against Minnesota and 11-of-17 against Central Michigan.

“It looked like a couple times that they covered us, a crazy concept,” Fitzgerald said. “It didn’t look like we had any major issues on third down.”

Persa still ended up with one touchdown on the ground, though he only had 24 yards on 20 carries.

Junior wide receiver Jeremy Ebert led all receivers with 11 catches for 124 yards, both career highs for him.

“It’s not a surprise to us,” Fitzgerald said of Ebert’s success this season. “Jeremy’s just a playmaker.”

On the ground, NU gained just 84 yards on 42 carries and did not have a single run in double digits. Junior Jacob Schmidt had 12 carries for 32 yards, including a two-yard touchdown run.

NU seemed to have the game in hand when Schmidt broke free for a 22-yard rush to the Purdue four-yard-line with just over a minute left, but the play was called back due to a holding call on junior center Ben Burkett. That penalty forced NU to go for the field goal try that Demos missed.

“If we continue not to kill ourselves, I think we’ll be fine,” Fitzgerald said. “We popped the ball there at the end, but we got the penalty.”

Conversely, Purdue had little trouble moving the ball on the ground and almost exclusively relied on its ground game. The Boilermakers ran the ball 42 times for 232 yards, a 5.5 yards per carry average.

Both of Purdue’s touchdowns came on the ground, a one-yard run by Henry and the seven-yard run by Dierking.

Henry led all rushers with 140 yards on 16 carries, while Dierking gained 22 yards on seven attempts. Senior running back Keith Carlos added seven carries for 64 yards, the bulk of them coming on a 51-yard pitch play.

Given its success rushing the ball, Purdue needed little from its passing attack. Henry, a redshirt freshman, completed just six-of-18 passes for 47 yards with one interception.

NU has a bye week next week before taking on undefeated Michigan State at home on October 23.

“Out bye week comes at a good time,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ll refocus, reenergize.”

The Gators sported orange jerseys for the first time since 1989 on Saturday to switch it up after the loss to Alabama, but some things never change.

A Florida offense that came into the game as the 84th best group in the country, played up to its ranking.

A special teams unit that had already missed two field goals this season missed another one.

And John Brantley, who entered the contest with the lowest passing efficiency in the Southeastern Conference, struggled at times.

All of it was too much for No. 14 UF (4-2, 2-2 SEC) to overcome in a heartbreaking 33-29 loss inside The Swamp at the hands of No. 12 LSU (6-0, 3-0 SEC) on Saturday. This marks the first time since 2007 that the Gators have endured back-to-back losses.

“I don’t know anybody that likes this feeling,” offensive lineman Carl Johnson said. “If you like this feeling then you’re a born loser. I don’t like it. So I already know I can’t do this week in and week out.”

After beginning the game with 65 first-half yards, Florida used an 88-yard kickoff return from redshirt freshman Andre Debose to spark a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter. The spurt was capped off by an 80-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown run by running back Mike Gillislee.

The 14 unanswered points left Florida with a 29-26 advantage with just over three minutes left in the game, its first lead since it was 7-3.

But it wasn’t enough.

The Gators’ defense allowed the Tigers to eat up most of the clock as it looked like it was going to head into overtime. LSU kicker Josh Jasper lined up for a 53-yard field goal that would have tied the game, but coach Les Miles had other plans.

He called a fake as the holder tossed the ball over his shoulder to Jasper for a five-yard gain and a first down. The play kept the drive alive as Terrence Tolliver caught a fade pass in the end zone over cornerback Jeremy Brown. Tolliver’s game-winning catch came with six seconds left in regulation.

“We fight so hard to come back just to lose,” Johnson said. “I’d rather just get blown out and not even have a chance than to be so close, and then for someone to hold you back from the finish line. Hey, you know what, this is SEC ball. I signed up for this.”

Brantley finished the game with 154 passing yards and an interception – the fourth time this season he has failed to surpass 200 yards through the air. However, according to a report Brantley was playing through a serious injury.

ESPN’s Joe Schad reported that the UF quarterback sustained four broken ribs and a broken throwing thumb in the loss to Alabama. A UF spokesman denied the injury and so did coach Urban Meyer.

“They’re not cracked,” he said. “There’s something in the side of the ribs, but I don’t want to say cracked ribs. There’s some damage to his ribs.”

But there was no denying running back Jeff Demps’ sprained foot. The junior didn’t play against LSU despite dressing out.

Still, Florida will have to overcome this rough patch full of injuries, criticism and losses if it wants to achieve its goal of winning the SEC East.

“We still can control our own destiny,” Johnson said. If we win out, we still make it to Atlanta. The question is we have to win out now. We have no room for error. We just blew our last chance.”

Sitting in the front of the media room slouched in his chair with his legs crossed, Joe Paterno didn’t have much to be happy about. The grim look on his face said it all.

Eight key defensive injuries, just seven first downs and 65 yards rushing told Paterno’s story.

Moments after his players hung their heads and walked out of a half-empty Beaver Stadium, after choruses of boos were directed toward them at various points during Penn State’s 33-13 loss to Illinois, the head coach was his own worst critic.

But even with Penn State (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten) suffering its worst homecoming loss since Paterno took over as head coach, the 83-year-old didn’t want the blame to be pointed anywhere else.

“We stunk,” Paterno said. “I did a lousy job. I thought we were ready, we just didn’t play very well. I can make a million excuses, but we had other opportunities. We didn’t stay on our blocks, didn’t have a good day throwing the ball, we didn’t do a great job play calling. We did a lousy job.”

Though he thought the team was well prepared, for the second week in a row the Lions failed to set the tempo. Twenty second-quarter points gave Illinois a halftime lead, and the Lions failed to enter the red zone in the second half.

The team’s inability to take control of the game with either the offensive or defensive line left Paterno with the same gut reaction several fans had as they bolted from their seats early in the fourth quarter.

“We got the crap kicked out of us,” Paterno said.

Adding that at the line of scrimmage the Illini “kicked our rears in” and that he felt his linebackers played like “they never saw a pass before,” Paterno had a lot to shake his head at.

But he said he will not go around pointing fingers at his players and said he and the coaching staff need to watch more film and use the upcoming bye week to evaluate several players and position groups.

The coach was quick to take the blame, but as senior Stefen Wisniewski put it, the Lions certainly didn’t give the crowd anything worth watching.

After a players-only meeting Monday and watching a Penn State highlight reel Friday, team co-captain Ollie Ogbu said there’s only so much the coaches can do to ensure the players are ready.

“It’s not the coaches. It’s not the play calling,” Ogbu said. “Like they always say, you can have the right guys doing the wrong play, or the wrong play but the right guys. You’ve got to go out there and execute, you know everybody. And it’s on everybody. It’s not any individual, it’s not on any one position, it’s on the whole team.”

As for one person who has been around the head coach long enough to know if a specific loss wears on Paterno more than usual, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno wasn’t sure.

Though Paterno’s body language, as he swayed from side to side in his chair, may have suggested two straight Big Ten losses left him agitated, Jay Paterno said he felt his father was simply disappointed.

“He doesn’t like to lose ever,” Jay Paterno said. “We probably took some steps backward today and you want to see your team get better every week. That didn’t happen today.”

It finally caught up.

A team can put together only so many come-from-behind victories. And then one game, it won’t be enough.

For the Alabama Crimson Tide, this was that game. For the third straight SEC road game, Alabama fell behind early. The first time was last season against Auburn, when the Tigers jumped to an early 14-0 lead. But the offense put together one final drive of poise to win it 26-21.

The second time was two weeks ago against No. 10 Arkansas in Fayetteville. After going into halftime down 17-7, the defense made big plays, while the offense stepped up its game to score. Alabama stayed perfect by a final of 24-20.

But this time, it just wasn’t enough. This time, it was too much to ask from a young defense and an offense that couldn’t produce. There were moments when Alabama showed flashes of coming back, like when Darius Hanks caught a 51-yard touchdown reception, and then right after on defense Wilson Lowery picked off Stephen Garcia’s pass.

The offense couldn’t turn the turnover into points, and then a fake field goal really swung the momentum back to South Carolina. They scored in the subsequent drive to put the victory out of reach.

“We probably didn’t make a very good call on the fake,” said head coach Nick Saban. “That’s right on the edge of [Jeremy] Shelley’s range, but it did give them the momentum of the game back, and we could’ve taken points right there. Not that it would’ve affected the outcome of the game because we never got them stopped.”

So what happened to this team so that it hasn’t been able to show domination on the road lately? Saban’s answer:

“We had played pretty well on the road up until the Auburn game last year, I thought, and I don’t know,” he said. “I think this year’s team is different than last year’s team. I think [when] we played Auburn last year, this team was tired, we had had a short week. We didn’t get off to a very good start.

“I think this team needs to mature and play with more confidence because early in two games we were very sporadic defensively in terms of our ability to execute.”

When the shock of it wears off, then it’s time to face the facts: Alabama hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2007. The players aren’t used to this feeling.

“It hurts,” linebacker Dont’a Hightower said. “As I said before, it hurts.”

Now it’s time to go back to practice and fix the tendency to fall behind early on the road. Saban gave his players credit for their abilities to come back in the situations the team has fallen behind in. But to win, that just isn’t always enough.

“You gotta be able to punch them in first round,” Saban said. “You can’t counter punch them and think you’re always going to be able to make it right, and it caught up to us today.”

Quarterback Greg McElroy looked to the future, towards what this team needs to do next.

“What can we learn from it?” he said. “You have to look at the glass half-full in this situation. It’s early in the season. We can still accomplish everything we want to accomplish. It’s an opportunity for everyone individually to look in the mirror and say, ‘How are we going to get back? How are we going to do better? How can we recommit ourselves to this team?’

“That’s the question that every individual needs to ask themselves. If I were to guess, this team should bounce back from this. We’re going to have a lot of wins down the road. This is going to be a great learning experience.”

They say all good things must come to an end.

Before Alabama’s longstanding winning streak ended in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, however, there was a feeling that it never would.

“We can’t just show up and win just because you’re Alabama,” said junior running back Mark Ingram. “I don’t think guys were ready to come out here. Guys thought they could just show up and win.”

With a 35-21 defeat at the hands of No. 19 South Carolina Saturday, the No. 1 Crimson Tide snapped a 19-game winning streak and lost its first regular-season game since 2007.

Alabama kicked a 32-yard field goal on its first possession of the game, and then South Carolina began to dominate the top-ranked team in the country.

The Gamecocks first three possessions were touchdowns. The first was a 9-yard pass from quarterback Stephen Garcia to running back Marcus Lattimore, and the next two were passes from Garcia to the Southeastern Conference’s leading receiver, Alshon Jeffery.

“Jeffery’s a great player,” head coach Nick Saban said. “He made a couple great catches with pretty good coverage on him in critical situations.”

Jeffery harassed the Alabama secondary all night, catching seven passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

A fumble by Greg McElroy, who was sacked seven times in the game, set up South Carolina’s third touchdown.

The Gamecocks’ first punt of the game came with two minutes left in the second quarter, and a 28-yard return by Marquis Maze led to the Tide’s first touchdown just before halftime, an 8-yard pass from McElroy to wide receiver Julio Jones. Kicker Jeremy Shelley, who missed a 31-yard field goal the drive before, missed the extra point to keep the score at 21-9 at the break.

The beginning of the second half gave the feeling that Alabama was going to steal control of the game. On the first play from scrimmage, South Carolina snapped the ball over Garcia’s head, and once the quarterback recovered it, he threw it out of the back of the end zone for a safety to protect a possible Tide touchdown.

After the bizarre play, Shelley redeemed himself a bit by nailing a 39-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-14. But the Gamecocks would not let any more momentum swing Alabama’s way.

South Carolina extended its lead to 28-14 with a 15-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Lattimore. The Gamecocks converted three third-downs on the drive and were 6-of-11 on third-down conversions in the game.

“That, to me, was the turning point,” Saban said. “We had gotten ourselves back in the game. We created three long-yardage third-down situations. We needed to get a stop.”

Alabama threatened again when McElroy found wide receiver Darius Hanks for a 51-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit back to seven. The Tide then unsuccessfully attempted a fake field goal from the 25-yard line, and the Gamecocks capitalized on it with a game-clinching touchdown to make the final score 35-21.

“I was proud of the way our players fought back in the game, but what about the beginning?” Saban said. “We have a lot of guys on our team who haven’t lost a game. This is a lesson for everybody in terms of what you have to do to prepare, what you have to do to play with consistency in this league.”

McElroy said, “I think this team has been very fortunate up to this point by creating positive outcomes after negative outcomes. We shot ourselves in the foot just too many times. I think everybody just needs to look in the mirror and regroup.

“This team is capable of amazing, amazing things. We can still do everything that we want to do. I promise I will do everything in my power to get these guys ready to go and put this loss in the rear-view mirror.”

No. 11 Arkansas didn’t have its sharpest effort of the season, but the Razorbacks held on for a 24-17 victory over Texas A&M in the second Southwest Classic at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Razorbacks (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) outgained the Aggies had 442 yards of offense, but struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities in a contest with five turnovers and 23 penalties.

“I always talk to our team about playing hard and playing for four quarters and that certainly was a game where it came to the last second,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. “I was really proud of our defense. I thought we played very fast, we played physical, we did a nice job of mixing things up and giving the quarterback different looks.

“Offensively we’re not used to not executing like that, but you’ve got to give them credit. They’ve been playing good defense all year long, they put a lot of pressure on you with their different looks. It’s a hard-fought, good victory and we’ll certainly take it.”

The Aggies drove to the Hogs’ 39-yard line with six seconds left in the game, but Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas intercepted Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson’s hail mary at the goal line as time expired.

“Last play, I knew they were trying to get it to (Jeff Fuller), so I just came in there and intercepted it” Thomas said. “I tried to knock it down against Georgia and they almost caught it, so I had it in my mindset that I was going up to get the ball.”

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett completed 27-of-38 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns. Arkansas also ran for 132 yards, but the Hogs failed to score on six drives that reached Texas A&M territory.

“We did run the ball better, but we need to convert our third downs and we need to be able to protect the quarterback and hit plays when they’re open,” Petrino said. “We had some plays that could have made a difference in the game and we just missed them.”

The Aggies finished with 324 yards of offense, but were hindered by three lost fumbles. Johnson completed just 15-of-40 passes for 212 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception.

“We were just trying to keep Johnson in the pocket and make him make hard decisions and hard throws,” Thomas said. “Their offense played pretty good, they moved the ball on us, but we came through at the end.”

Arkansas started quickly when Mallett found Joe Adams in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard score on third-and-7. The score was set up by Davis’ 45-yard run to the Arkansas 13.

Texas A&M evened the score after cornerback Terrence Frederick intercepted Mallett and returned it to the Arkansas 2-yard line. The Hogs’ defense held the Aggies for three downs, but sophomore running back Christine Michael bulled in from two yards out.

The interception was Mallett’s third in the Hogs’ last four possessions, dating back to the Alabama game.

“They did a good job of mixing things up,” Petrino said about the Texas A&M defense. “They were spinning and doing some new things they hadn’t really shown. (Mallett’s) got to be able to sit in there and keep his feet planted, see what’s going on and do what he’s been coached.

Arkansas needed just three plays to retake the lead. Mallett eluded a Texas A&M defender and found receiver Cobi Hamilton for a 71-yard score. Texas A&M cornerback Coryell Judie went for the interception, missed and Hamilton walked the final 10 yards into the end zone.

“Cobi’s a great player for us,” Petrino said. “He’s a guy that can go get the ball when it’s up in the air/ we have to continue to give him touches and he’s going to make plays.”

The Hogs got the ball in Texas A&M territory when Greg Gatson stripped Aggies’ receiver Jeff Fuller and safety Elton Ford recovered at the Texas A&M 37. Freshman Zach Hocker missed a 49-yard field goal wide right, though.

Arkansas got the ball in Aggies’ territory again when junior cornerback Greg Gatson stripped Texas A&M receiver Jeff Fuller. Safety Tramain Thomas recovered at the Aggies’ 37 and the Hogs picked up a first down, setting up a 37-yard field goal attempt.

The Razorbacks attempted a fake field goal, but holder Austin Tucker’s pitch was out of Hocker’s reach and the Aggies recovered at their own 26. Texas A&M went three-and-out, though, and the Hogs needed just five plays to score.

“Anytime it doesn’t work it’s a bad call,” Petrino said. “We worked on the look all week and they gave us the look in the previous extra points and field goal, but it didn’t work, so it’s a bad call.”

Junior Greg Childs made a leaping 28-yard catch, setting up Mallett’s 6-yard touchdown throw to tight end Ben Cleveland with 53 seconds left in the  half.

The Aggies put together a four-play, 64-yard drive, cutting the score to 21-14 when Johnson found Jeff Fuller for a 31-yard score with eight seconds left in the half.

Arkansas outgained Texas A&M 317-153 in the first half, but the Hogs were hampered by 10 penalties. The Hogs struggled with false-start penalties.

“It was loud,” Petrino said. “We were trying to change plays at the line of scrimmage, because of what they were doing. We didn’t do a good job of staying in our stance, concentrating and focusing. That’s way, way too many penalties.”

The Aggies cut the lead to 21-17 on Randy Bullock’s 38-yard field goal with 7:56 left in the third quarter. Johnson set up the field goal when he found Jeff Fuller for a 69-yard to the Arkansas 22 on third-and-11.

Texas A&M had an opportunity to take the lead after forcing a three-and-out, but Aggies’ running back Christine Michael fumbled untouched and Arkansas safety Rudell Crim recovered at the Texas A&M 30. The turnover set up Hocker’s 39-yard field goal with 5:04 left in the third quarter.

Neither team would score again and the Hogs held on for the win, while top-ranked Alabama lost 35-21 to South Carolina. Arkansas plays at No. 8 and undefeated Auburn.

“Our focus is going to Auburn and getting a win,” Petrino said. “That’s all you can do in this conference and college football, is concentrate on the week you have. Auburn’s a very good team. We’ve seen them play a few times this year. We know we’re going to have to be at the top of our game on offense, defense and special teams.”