SARVER, Pa. – Brad Sweet put some distance between himself and Donny Schatz in the race for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship Saturday night during the Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway.

Sweet raced to his 16th Outlaw win of the season with a dominant performance at the four-tenths-mile dirt oval, firing off from the pole and leading all 35 laps en route to victory lane.

The driver of the No. 49 NAPA Auto Parts-backed, Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb-prepared sprinter was never seriously threatened and took the checkered flag 1.898 seconds in front of runner-up Shane Stewart.

Making the night even more special, Saturday night’s score was the milestone 50th victory of Sweet’s Outlaw career, with nearly a third of those wins coming this season alone as part of a magical year.

“We hit on some stuff here last year at this same race, and basically ran the car the same way tonight to where it paid off,” Sweet said in victory lane. “I didn’t feel like we as good as we were last year at this race, but obviously we ended up parked and celebrating, so that says a lot that a little bit off for us right now is still good enough to win. That’s a great feeling to have.”

While Sweet celebrated with the victory laurels, Schatz was left wondering what might have been after pursuing Sweet for the first half of the race, before engine woes on lap 21 sidelined him for the night.

As a result, Schatz was scored 18th in the final rundown after rolling off alongside Sweet on the front row, losing 36 crucial points in the title tilt and now standing 40 markers behind leaving Lernerville.

“I don’t know where Donny finished, but I just try to stay focused on our car, because as long as we’re winning the race, we know that we’re gaining points,” Sweet noted. “We can’t control what Donny does or what his team does, so we really just stay focused on our NAPA No. 49 car. We’ve had what feels like the best car all year; we’ve been up front a lot, even though we’ve fought a little adversity.

“We’ve been on a little roller coaster ride where we’ve been up and down a little bit lately, but I think we’ve really dug deep and bounced back in a big way.”

Two early incidents slowed the pace, with Clay Riney and A.J. Flick running into trouble in turns one and two on the opening lap, while Flick followed up his first-lap woes with a flip over the banking on the second revolution that ended his night.

The next 18 laps ran uninterrupted, with Schatz dogging Sweet through traffic, but the 10-time Outlaw champion’s pursuit suddenly stalled on lap 21 as he slowed on the frontstretch with an ill-sounding engine.

Schatz went to the work area – and saw an immense display of sportsmanship as members of Sweet’s KKR crew jumped in to try and help get his No. 15 Toco Warranty machine back on track, but it wasn’t meant to be as Schatz pulled back in moments after the ensuing restart.

That left Sweet out in front over Shane Stewart, David Gravel and Sheldon Haudenschild, and though Stewart kept pace initially with Sweet when racing conditions resumed, Sweet steadily began to extend his margin back out as the laps wound down.

In the end, no one had anything for Sweet on this night, though Stewart gave it a valiant effort in coming home second at the final flag. David Gravel, who closed on Stewart in the final laps but couldn’t pounce, completed the podium in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41.

Ian Madsen crossed fourth and Daryn Pittman, from 10th, finished fifth.

Hard charger Sheldon Haudenschild moved forward from 14th to sixth, followed by Jacob Allen, Logan Schuchart, Tim Shaffer and Kraig Kinser.

To view complete race results, advance to the next page.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Aaron Reutzel capped off his second-straight Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions title in style Saturday night at Eldora Speedway, going back-to-back in the 4-Crown Nationals.

Reutzel passed Cory Eliason for the point on lap 16 of the 25-lap All Star feature and raced off into the distance, securing his 16th series win of the season after only needed to fire for engine heat in order to clinch the championship.

The Clute, Texas native took the checkered flag in front by 2.5 seconds over Eliason, with Gio Scelzi completing the podium finishers with a third-place run.

But the night was all about Reutzel, who celebrated as the race winner and series champion in victory lane.

“I can’t say enough about this team. What we’ve done is unreal,” said Reutzel. “Last night, it was rough and heavy and we were good for so long; we should’ve come away with a win last night. Tonight it was dead slick and we were good. That’s just a testament to this team that we just work really hard and try to be good on anything, and that we didn’t do it from the front row either. There’s been a lot of naysayers here in the last month saying that we’ve been only winning off the front row. Well, we drew the worst pill we could draw tonight. So we’ll give them something else to talk about now.

“This has been an absolute dream season, and what a great way to cap it off, in victory lane at Eldora.”

However, Reutzel was still apologetic even as he celebrated, after contact between he and Cale Thomas on the ninth lap of Saturday’s feature caused Thomas to go into a 360 spin and dropped the Ron Gorby-owned No. G1 from contention at the front of the field.

“I have to apologize to Ron Gorby, because I didn’t mean to get into his car there,” Reutzel lamented. “That kid was running the top the whole race, and he chopped me when I wasn’t expecting it and he went down and kind of shut it down on the bottom. I was going in way harder than that and my brakes just don’t work that well at that point (in the corner). So I apologize. I feel bad for that because he was having a good run and he deserved to have a good run. He works hard on his car and I do feel bad for it.”

A spin by Trevor Baker with 11 to go gave Reutzel the shot he needed to pounce, and the Texan did just that on the final restart of the race. Reutzel dogged Eliason for a lap after the green flag waved, before pitching his car to the bottom of the second corner to clear the Rudeen Racing No. 26 for the point.

After that, the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports No. 87 was unstoppable, with Eliason and Scelzi unable to mount a charge through traffic in the closing stages.

Buddy Kofoid pulled in a strong fourth-place finish in just his third start with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, while six-time All Star champion Dale Blaney filled out the top five.

Sixth through 10th were Greg Wilson, Cale Conley, Chad Kemenah, Rico Abreu and James McFadden.

The finish:

Feature (50 laps): 1. #87 – Aaron Reutzel; 2. #26 – Cory Eliason; 3. #71 – Gio Scelzi; 4. #67 – Buddy Kofoid; 5. #11 – Dale Blaney; 6. #W20 – Greg Wilson; 7. #3c – Cale Conley; 8. #K4 – Chad Kemenah; 9. #24 – Rico Abreu; 10. #9 – James McFadden; 11. #99b – Brady Bacon; 12. #70 – Brock Zearfoss; 13. #33m – Mason Daniel; 14. #13 – Paul McMahan; 15. #98h – Dave Blaney; 16. #12n – Joey Saldana; 17. #81 – Lee Jacobs; 18. #5t – Travis Philo; 19. #41s – Dominic Scelzi; 20. #2c – Wayne Johnson; 21. #49d – Shawn Dancer; 22. #99 – Skylar Gee; 23. #G1 – Cale Thomas; 24. #40 – George Hobaugh; 25. #45 – Trevor Baker.

Lap Leader(s): Cale Thomas 1-6, Cory Eliason 7-15, Aaron Reutzel 16-25.

Australia Women 4 for 217 (Mooney 113, Gardner 49) beat Sri Lanka Women 7 for 176 (Atapattu 113, Wareham 2-19) by 41 runs

Australia Women began their international season with an expected victory, as Beth Mooney scored her second T20I hundred, but the story of the day belonged to the visiting captain Chamari Atapattu, who produced a brilliant 60-ball century to rekindle her liking of Australian bowling, as runs flowed at North Sydney Oval.

Mooney's 113 off 61 balls was the cornerstone of Australia's 4 for 217 - their second-highest T20I total behind the 3 for 226 against England Women a few months ago during the Ashes. Mooney added 72 for the first wicket with Alyssa Healy (43) and 115 off 60 balls for the third wicket with Ash Gardner (49) on a ground with enticingly short boundaries, which Gardner cleared four times.

Sri Lanka Women did not threaten the target but Atapattu, who scored 178 when these two teams last met - at the 2017 World Cup - played a breathtaking innings. This was only the second time she has passed fifty in her T20I career, as she thrashed Australia's attack to all parts, in turn carrying Sri Lanka to comfortably their highest T20I total.

One of her six sixes laid claim to be the shot of the day, when it landed on the roof of the stand over long-on and she reached her century - Sri Lanka's first in T20Is - with a powerful shot down the ground off Delissa Kimmince, celebrating with an emotional leap and gestures towards her team's dugout. Atapattu knows she has to lead from the front and this was a mighty statement.

Batters have long wanted to roll up the North Sydney Oval pitch and take it with them. Today was no different. Mooney's century, brought up with a crunching cover drive off her 54th delivery, made her just the fourth player to score two T20I centuries in the women's game alongside her captain Meg Lanning, Danielle Wyatt and Deandra Dottin.

The only surprise of Australia's innings was a rare low score for Lanning who was given lbw for 1 when sweeping at Oshadi Ranasinghe during the one brief period when Sri Lanka had a modicum of control.

After Lanning had handed coin-toss duties to Healy following her recent poor record (which paid dividends when Australia won the toss), the tone was set with the first over of the innings which went for 11 runs with Mooney collecting a brace of early boundaries. Healy was soon off and running as well, playing particularly strongly down the ground, with Australia ending the Powerplay on 0 for 64.

Against the run of play, Healy departed when she skied another attempt to go down the ground and Ranasinghe steadied herself under a good catch. Between overs seven and ten Sri Lanka managed to keep a lid on things, conceding 30 runs in the four overs, but it was a brief period of consolidation by Australia. During this time Udeshika Prabodhani pulled out of her run-up three times when she saw Mooney attempting to lap the ball, and also threatened to run out the non-striker backing up.

Full report to follow...

LOS ANGELES -- Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter waged the possible fight of the year, but it was Spence who got the nod in an action-packed victory by split decision to unify two welterweight world titles Saturday night at Staples Center.

After a little bit of a slow start, the fight turned into an all-out slugfest in the third round and never let up as the crowd of 16,702 spent long portions of the fight on its feet. But it was Spence -- who scored a knockdown in the 11th round -- winning 116-111 on two scorecards, while one judge favored Porter 115-112. ESPN had it 115-112 for Spence.

Both men said ahead of the fight that the winner should be viewed as the best fighter in the 147-pound division. It is a talent-rich weight class that is also home to Manny Pacquiao, the all-time great legend who owns one of the belts, as well as Terence Crawford, who owns the other major belt and ranks No. 2 in the ESPN pound-for-pound best poll.

But Spence, who was No. 5 on the pound-for-pound list heading into the fight, made his case to rise, as he scored the biggest win of his career against a two-time world titlist in a tremendous battle.

"It feels good to win. This is a lifetime dream. It shows hard work pays off," Spence said of unifying belts. "Thanks, Shawn Porter, my whole team and all my Texas people for coming out. Shawn Porter is a rough and awkward fighter. I didn't get off what I wanted to. He's a true champion. He made it tough."

Spence retained his title for the fourth time and accomplished his long-stated goal of unifying belts, even if he did not get the knockout he so vociferously insisted he would notch.

It was an impressive follow-up performance for Spence, who shut out four-division world titlist Mikey Garcia in March in a high-profile decision victory. Garcia was a much smaller man who had called Spence out and moved up two weight divisions to challenge him. Spence never imposed himself. Instead, he easily outboxed Garcia in a one-sided rout.

He promised things would be different against Porter, a bona fide welterweight with a strong résumé, loads of experience and a good chin. Spence was true to his word, delivering everything he said he would other than a knockout.

"All my punches have bad intentions. Boxing Mikey Garcia, I wanted to show people I could do it with that style," Spence said. "Porter was throwing a lot. I wanted to show I was the bigger and stronger welterweight."

The fight began with each man doing what most expected, with Spence (26-0, 21 KOs), 29, a southpaw from DeSoto, Texas, working his jab and Porter looking to force his way inside.

The fight turned into a slugfest in the third round as they attacked each other with abandon. Spence landed a hard counter left on the button, but Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs), 31, of Las Vegas, took it well, and as they continued to trade, he got in a big right hand.

Porter, making his second title defense, opened the fourth round with a flurry of punches that all appeared to land and then connected with a right hand. Spence came back with a counter left, and they battled back and forth. Porter landed a tremendous right hand on the top of Spence's head, and then a left from Spence rocked Porter's head back with 30 seconds to go in an action-packed round.

They continued to battle at a fast pace in the middle rounds, with Porter forcing everything he could to stay on Spence on the inside, and Spence looking to land his left hand.

Porter had a strong seventh round. He started fast and never slowed down as he outworked and outhustled Spence, who might have been looking for a breather after such an intense pace through the first half of the bout.

Porter landed a left hand to the head that wobbled Porter about 30 seconds into the eighth round and continued to fire away. He landed a right hand late in the round in which Spence did not seem to do much.

The ninth round also was action-packed with both fighters landing powerful shots but Porter, who would not given an inch, seeming to land the more telling right hands to the head over and over. He snapped Spence's head back with one early in the round, and they fought toe-to-toe for most of the round.

As the 11th round opened, the crowd broke into a "Porter! Porter!" chant as the fighters waded back into battle in another round of fierce back-and-forth action..

Spence scored the definitive moment of the fight late in the 11th round when he cracked Porter with a left hand on the chin to score a knockdown. Porter easily beat the count and went after Spence with abandon and incredible determination.

"I think that knockdown was the difference. I couldn't come back to the corner with my head down after that," Porter said.

Both fighters were going for a knockout in the 12th in yet another wildly exciting round. Neither man would give in as they traded to the final bell with the crowd on its feet.

Spence landed 221 of 745 punches (30%), and Porter landed 172 of 744 (23%), the most Spence has been hit in his career.

Porter was proud of his effort but credited Spence, whom he has known and been friendly with for years.

"He's a strong kid. We both came in to do the job," Porter said. "I think I had a little more than what he expected, but he handled it. Congratulations to him and his team. We're proud of what we did."

Porter had never shied away from a challenge and embraced fighting Spence when few other top welterweights were interested. Porter had already defeated the likes of Danny Garcia for a vacant world title last September, formidable mandatory challenger Yordenis Ugas in March as well as Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, Devon Alexander and Paulie Malignaggi.

Though he met his match in Spence, he knew he had been in a special fight.

"I've said this before: I've had a lot of experience in the boxing ring," Porter said. "Did you enjoy that fight?"

The answer from all probably was a resounding yes, with Spence enjoying it as much as anyone. After the fight, Garcia, a former welterweight and junior welterweight titlist, who was part of the Fox PPV broadcast team, was in the ring. Spence was asked if he would fight him -- even though he has said he wants Pacquiao or Crawford to further unify the division.

Said Spence: "I've told my team: You line them up, I'll knock them down."

No college football team ranked in the AP Top 10 lost in Week 5, but only one of them was truly tested.

Top-ranked Clemson survived an upset bid Saturday from unranked North Carolina. Tar Heels coach Mack Brown's decision to go for 2 after Javonte Williams' 1-yard touchdown rush brought UNC within 21-20 didn't work out, and the defending champs extended their winning streak to 20 games.

Alabama, meanwhile, put on a clinic against Ole Miss. Tua Tagovailoa threw five of his six touchdown passes to DeVonta Smith, who broke Amari Cooper's single-game program record for receiving yards (274) and TDs in a 59-31 rout.

Even though No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 LSU were idle, the SEC continued its dominance. Bo Nix and JaTarvious Whitlow combined for six total touchdowns as No. 7 Auburn routed Mississippi State 56-23.

Outside the SEC, No. 5 Ohio State raced out to a 38-0 halftime lead en route to a 48-7 victory at Nebraska. While J.K. Dobbins led the Buckeyes with 177 rushing yards, it was Master Teague III (13 carries, 81 yards, 2 TDs) and quarterback Justin Fields (12-72-1) who found the end zone.

Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts upped his bid for the Heisman Trophy by throwing for three touchdowns and 415 yards, while also running for 70 yards and a score in the sixth-ranked Sooners' 55-16 victory over Texas Tech.

Through the end of September, the race for the College Football Playoff is beginning to take shape.

Here's how our writers see the playoff field after Week 5. (Note: These are not their projections for how the season will end.)

Andrea Adelson: 1. Alabama; 2. Clemson; 3. LSU; 4. Oklahoma
Edward Aschoff: 1. Clemson; 2. LSU; 3. Alabama; 4. Ohio State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Alabama; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Clemson; 4. Ohio State
Bill Connelly: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Oklahoma; 4. Clemson
Heather Dinich: 1. Alabama; 2. Auburn; 3. LSU; 4. Georgia
David M. Hale: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Clemson; 4. Georgia
Sam Khan Jr.: 1. Auburn; 2. LSU; 3. Alabama; 4. Clemson
Chris Low: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Auburn; 4. Clemson
Ivan Maisel: 1. Oklahoma; 2. Ohio State; 3. Clemson; 4. Alabama
Ryan McGee: 1. LSU; 2. Alabama; 3. Oklahoma; 4. Clemson
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Auburn; 2. Ohio State; 3. Alabama; 4. LSU
Alex Scarborough: 1. Clemson; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Alabama; 4. Ohio State
Mark Schlabach: 1. Alabama; 2. Georgia; 3. Oklahoma; 4. Ohio State
Tom VanHaaren: 1. Alabama; 2. Clemson; 3. Ohio State; 4. Oklahoma

Here's how close we came to having the college football world turned on its head Saturday evening: Against Clemson, North Carolina's Sam Howell got hit at the 3-yard line, was spun upside down, and then half-flipped/half-fumbled the ball into the hands of Tar Heels receiver Dazz Newsome.

In a parallel universe, Newsome scores. Unranked North Carolina wins. No. 1 Clemson loses its first regular-season game in two years.

That didn't happen, of course. The Tar Heels' 2-point conversion failed, and Dabo Swinney's squad held on to win 21-20. This is Clemson, after all. The Tigers are masters of stopping 2-point tries, having survived similar near-disasters against Notre Dame in 2015 and Texas A&M last season. But it's hard not to wonder ... what if?

On the field throughout their victory, the Tigers hardly looked like a team ready to go toe-to-toe with a genuinely good opponent anyway.

So what would've happened if Newsome found the end zone? Is a one-loss Clemson team, muddling through the season with a résumé that looks like a high school sophomore applying for a job at Taco Bell, still a lock for the playoff?

It's an intriguing discussion, because if the Tigers don't flip a switch soon, this might not be the last time the debate looms over a stunningly close fourth quarter.

Trevor Lawrence was the Heisman Trophy favorite entering the season, but five games in, he's got just eight touchdown throws to go with five picks.

After exploding for 205 yards in the opener, Travis Etienne has gone four consecutive games without topping 76.

The defensive line, the strength of the Tigers throughout this run of playoff campaigns, failed to rattle North Carolina's freshman QB, Howell.

Yes, Clemson is 5-0. That's the important part, as Swinney was quick to note after the game. But Swinney also reminded fans that Clemson was outplayed and outcoached, and for a team that was a cinch for the playoff, those comments are tough to ignore.

So what gives?

Perhaps this lackluster schedule is a part of it. As Mack Brown, Swinney's counterpart Saturday, is well aware, the only thing harder than winning is to keep winning. The demands, the attention, the hype that follow a championship all take a toll. Swinney has always seemed to have the magic formula for his Tigers, a Svengali spell to convince his guys they're still the underdogs. But given the near certainty surrounding Clemson's playoff march in 2019, maybe that magic is running out.

There's something to be said for the old notion that Clemson gets everyone's best shot, too. Brown's decision to go for 2 -- made even before North Carolina scored a potential game-tying TD with 1:17 to play -- underscored the idea the Tigers are everyone's Super Bowl. If there's a trick up their sleeve, it's coming out for Clemson.

After the game, Swinney also commented that this is a young team, and as silly as it sounds, perhaps that's the ultimate issue. Lawrence and Justyn Ross are just sophomores. The defense is full of fresh faces. So maybe it takes a game like Saturday's for these kids to grow up, for them to learn how to struggle and persevere.

That final 2-point try probably added plenty of gray hairs to every Clemson fan in the country, so it only makes sense it aged the team a bit, too.

Heisman Five

1. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

Through four games, Hurts has nearly 1,300 total yards of offense, has 12 touchdowns and is completing 77% of his throws. And those are just his numbers from the first halves of his games.

2. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

Ole Miss has jumped out to an early lead in each of the past two seasons against Alabama only for Tagovailoa to utterly torch the Rebels' defense the rest of the way. This Saturday: tossed six touchdowns (school record) for 84 career total TDs (also a school record).

3. Joe Burrow, LSU

He was off this week, so his passer rating went up only three points.

4. Justin Fields, Ohio State

Fields had six touchdowns in the second quarter a week ago. In Saturday's drubbing of Nebraska, he had just three in the entire first half. Fields is really slacking.

5. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin

Taylor racked up 119 hard-earned yards against Northwestern, his ninth consecutive 100-yard game. That's the longest streak since Florida Atlantic's Devin Singletary had 12 straight in 2017. Taylor even made those throwback khakis Wisconsin was wearing look good.

So long, old friend

It's the end of an era in college football. On Saturday, we bid farewell to arguably the nation's greatest rivalry, the Civil ConFLiCT.

This proud tradition came to a raucous end in a game for the ages, when the upstart Knights of UCF narrowly escaped mighty UConn by a score of 56-21.

Now, the rivalry dies, thanks to UConn's decision to leave the storied American Athletic Conference, but we'll always have the memories. There was the time UCF won the trophy, then just left it on the field and forgot about it. Then there was the time ... OK, that was the only good thing to come from the rivalry.

Regardless, it's always sad to see tradition end, so we felt it was only wise to come up with some alternative rivalries that might fill the void.

The Healthy CarCinogen: The annual showdown between East Carolina and Cincinnati checks all the boxes. One terrible team vs. one good one? Done. A rivalry with no geographic significance? Yessir. A pointless trophy that gets lost the first time it's awarded? OK, we've got to work on that.

The Battle for Eastern Missouri: We'll give the winner of Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee full ownership of the eastern edge of Missouri, which borders both states, perhaps giving the winning coach the key to the city of Cooter, Missouri.

The Upbeat U Bowl: UTEP and UAB will fight for the right to be the most upbeat university in the country -- Upbeat U being an anagram for UAB-UTEP.

The Troy MAClure Bowl: This will be a revolving rivalry showdown between Troy and a team from the MAC. You might remember this trophy from such games as Troy 35, Akron 7 last week or Troy 42, Buffalo 32 in 2018.

Bully is a MOOD for MSU fans everywhere

Mississippi State's mascot came away unscathed after Auburn's JaTarvious Whitlow nearly barreled into him. The same can't be said for the Bulldogs, who lost a blowout to the Tigers.

And then there were ... 18

Virginia, Kansas State, UAB and Cal all fell in Week 5, leaving us with 18 remaining unbeaten teams to wrap up September. Some of the names were expected: Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma. A few others register as only mild surprises: LSU, Auburn, Wisconsin. And there are always a few top Group of 5 teams still standing at this point, too, and it's no shocker that Memphis, Appalachian State and Boise State are here.

The rest, though? There are some teams treading in new territory. So, how do they stack up? Here's how we'd rank them based on likelihood they're still undefeated at the end of October.

Wake Forest: The Deacons are shaping up as the only real competition for Clemson the rest of the way, but the crazy thing is the reverse might be true, too. Wake has winnable games ahead of it all the way to its road trip to Death Valley on Nov. 16.

Baylor: Matt Rhule's team is playing well, and the schedule is incredibly backloaded. Though K-State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State all present some challenges, it's not crazy to think the Bears could run the table until seeing Oklahoma and Texas in back-to-back weeks in mid-November.

SMU: The Mustangs are off to their best start in 35 years, so this is uncharted territory in the post-death penalty era. If they can escape Temple on Oct. 19 and a road trip to Memphis on Nov. 2, though, they could make a real run at a New Year's Six bowl.

Minnesota: The Gophers might be the quietest 4-0 team in the country, perhaps due to some narrow escapes. Though they were in control throughout their game against Purdue on Saturday, it was their fourth one-possession victory of the season. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, that's the first time that has happened since Penn State in 1985. Those Nittany Lions won their first 11 before losing to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and ironically, Minnesota has a pretty manageable schedule before a date with Penn State on Nov. 9.

Iowa: Life gets far more difficult for the Hawkeyes starting next week, with a trip to Michigan followed by a date with Penn State, but we've seen Iowa pull some upsets before. Kirk Ferentz is always good for making the Big Ten a bit more interesting.

Non-Beliebers

After Arkansas was stunned by San Jose State last week, QB Nick Starkel vowed to give up his Justin Bieber fandom to focus more on football. Seemed like a good idea to us, though The Biebs was less than thrilled about it.

"I'm disappointed @nick.starkel," he said on Instagram.

BREAKING NEWS: Nick Starkel is no longer a Belieber. pic.twitter.com/5QijHCwLx6

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 23, 2019

So, how'd the Bieb-free lifestyle go for Starkel? A mixed bag. He threw four fewer interceptions Saturday and completed 12 of 17 passes ... but he also hurt his arm while throwing a pick at the goal line. His backup, Ben Hicks, nearly helped Arkansas upset Texas A&M, but the bid fell just short. The win helps A&M avoid its first 2-3 start to the season since 2008.

The lesson: Best to stay on Bieber's good side.

Rutgers: The gift that keeps giving ... up TDs

Trouble at work? Fighting with the spouse? Lost a brutal road game to Wisconsin and your khakis are wrinkled?

Well, we've got the cure for your Saturday blues: Rutgers.

Nothing turns a frown upside down quite like the football team from New Jersey, designed to act quickly by rolling out the red carpet for your offense on its way to the end zone while never letting its own offense dent your scoreboard.

Just watch as Michigan's wretched performance against the Badgers is erased in an instant with just one dose of Rutgers. Now those chants of "overrated" have been replaced by the joy of a 52-0 victory.

Clinical trials show Rutgers consistently delivers strong results to all opponents in need of an easy win. Need a shutout for your battered defense? Rutgers has gone scoreless nine times since the start of the 2014 season. Want to get your second-string players some work? Rutgers has lost 21 games by 30 or more since 2013. And if you're a member of the Big Ten, there's even more benefit to taking Rutgers -- the Scarlet Knights haven't cracked 20 in 13 consecutive conference games, all losses.

Warning, side effects including watching a Rutgers football game.

Best of ESPN Stats & Info

• Clemson closed out the first quarter of its game against North Carolina trailing 7-0. Alabama was losing 10-7 to Ole Miss after the first frame, too. The last time both Clemson and Alabama trailed after one quarter on the same day? That would be Nov. 6, 2010, one month after Trevor Lawrence's 11th birthday.

• At Alabama, DeVonta Smith put on a clinic against an overwhelmed Ole Miss secondary, catching 11 passes for 274 yards and five touchdowns. Smith caught four of his scores in the first half alone, and by game's end, he had stamped his name into the record book, setting the Alabama record for receiving yards and tying the SEC mark for touchdown catches.

• Wake Forest QB Jamie Newman accounted for 345 yards and two passing TDs in a win over Boston College, sending the Demon Deacons to their first 5-0 start since 2006. It was Newman's ninth straight game with a TD pass, which is the longest by a Wake QB in 15 years and just two shy of Brian Kuklick's school record.

• Virginia ran the ball 29 times, and 55% of those runs were stuffed for a loss or no gain. That's the highest stuff rate by a Notre Dame defense since the Irish stopped 56% of Stanford's rushes in 2005. For the game, Notre Dame held the Cavaliers to just 4 yards on the ground, a massive turnaround from some early-season woes. The Irish entered play ranked 110th in rushing defense.

• Princeton quarterback Kevin Davidson threw for 381 yards and seven scores in a thrashing of Bucknell. The seven touchdown passes set an Ivy League record.

Big bets and bad beats

• Pittsburgh had a close call with FCS Delaware, trailing in the fourth quarter and winning by just four. Panthers fans probably knew better than to bet the home team, though. It's the fifth time in the past nine seasons Pitt has failed to beat an FCS team by more than a touchdown, including a 2012 loss to Youngstown State. Since Pat Narduzzi took over as head coach in 2015, Pitt is 0-5 against the spread vs. FCS teams.

• Nothing like a Friday night bad beat to get the weekend off to a rollicking start, and Air Force gave us one bettors won't soon forget. The Falcons were a 19.5-point favorite and led 41-10 with less than five minutes to play. So what happened? San Jose State scored twice, including one TD that followed a head-scratching decision by Air Force to go for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 22, leading to a 41-24 final.

• Northwestern might not always pull out the win, but the Wildcats have been cover machines when playing the underdog role of late. Pat Fitzgerald's bunch struggled to do much of anything on offense in Saturday's 24-15 loss, but the defense kept things relatively close against 23.5-point favorite Wisconsin. Northwestern is 14-5-1 against the spread in its past 20 games overall as a 'dog -- though last weekend's blowout against Michigan State was a notable exception -- and it's a whopping 11-0 ATS as a road underdog.

• Bettors won't have the final say in Clay Helton's future at USC, but they'll probably be happy to see him go when the time comes. After failing to cover in a loss to Washington on Saturday, the Trojans are now a dismal 9-21-1 against the number since 2017.

• The Civil ConFLiCT ended in a completely uncivil way for UCF backers. UConn tossed the final TD in the rivalry with 19 seconds left, allowing the Huskies to cover a 42-point spread. In lieu of winnings, someone should send a piece of the ConFLiCT trophy to anyone who had the Knights.

• Oklahoma State's Chuba Hubbard finished with 296 yards on the ground in a 26-13 victory over Kansas State. It's Hubbard's third 200-yard game of 2019, becoming the first Big 12 player with three such performances in his first five games of the season since Ricky Williams in 1998. He's just the seventh FBS player to do it in the past 15 seasons, joining Leonard Fournette, Ameer Abdullah, LaMichael James, DeAngelo Williams, Ryan Moats and Cody Getz.

Under-the-radar play of the week

Until Saturday, the "Charlotte Special" meant a free month's rent when you signed a year lease on a new apartment in Uptown, but the 49ers gave the term new life with a perfect rendering of the "Philly Special." This one comes a week after Pitt ran the play to beat UCF, too. Will the play ever get old? No. No, it won't.

THE CHARLOTTE SPECIAL?! ��@CharlotteFTBL trickery takes them down to the goal line!

��: @ConferenceUSA on NFL Network pic.twitter.com/4Bcn0etefP

- NFL Network (@nflnetwork) September 28, 2019

Under-the-radar game of the week

Sure, UMass got smoked by an FCS opponent three weeks ago, and yes, the Minutemen had allowed 40 or more points in every game this season, and of course Walt Bell's team isn't very good. But let it be known that UMass is not the worst FBS team this season, thanks to a 37-29 win over Akron. The Zips turned the ball over three times, allowed UMass to convert on 11 of 18 third- or fourth-down tries and fell to 0-5 on the season. A road trip to Kent State next week might be Akron's best shot to avoid a winless season. The Zips, Rice and New Mexico State are the only remaining winless FBS teams.