PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) Noah Fifita threw for 297 yards and four touchdowns and Arizona Wildcats overcame a halftime deficit for a 34-24 victory over Washington State Cougars on Saturday night.

Tre Spivey had seven catches for 129 yards and two scores for the Wildcats (3-1) in the game between the two former Pac-12 foes.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Cougars (1-3) at home. Caden Pinnick threw for 241 yards and a touchdown.

Pinnick also ran 11 yards for a touchdown on Washington State’s opening drive. Safety Jackquintin Bal intercepted Fifita and ran 25 yards for a touchdown to put Washington State up 14-0. It was Fifita’s second interception of the season.

Before time ran out on the first quarter, Fifita hit Spivey with a 28-yard touchdown pass to narrow the gap.

Spivey also caught a 4-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14. He had six receptions for 125 yards and both TDs in the first half alone.

Washington State had a chance to go in front but Jack Stevens’ 39-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by Tre Smith. Stevens is 1-6 on field goals this season.

Jay’Vion Cole appeared to intercept Pinnick, but he did not have full control of the ball when he went out of bounds so it was ruled an incomplete pass. Stevens capped the drive with a 33-yard field goal to put Washington State ahead 17-14 at halftime.

Arizona’s Michael Salgado-Medina’s 42-yard field goal went wide right to open the second half. The Cougars blocked a 43-yard Salgado-Medina attempt to stay in front.

Fifita hit freshman Caleb Smith with a 38-yard touchdown pass to put Wildcats on top 21-17. Salgado-Medina added a 27-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

Arizona extended the lead on Fifita’s 11-yard TD pass to Isaiah Mizell.

Washington State narrowed it on Pinnick’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Ganashamoorthy with 7:15 left in the game.

Salgado-Medina made a 51-yard field goal for the final margin as the Wildcats danced on the sidelines.

Arizona hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats next Saturday.

Washington State opens the Pac-12 season at home against Fresno State.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Another home game, another record for Ohio State Buckeyes’s Jeremiah Smith.

After becoming OSU’s career leader in receiving yardage last week against Kent State, the superstar junior had a monster game on Saturday as the seventh-ranked Buckeyes defeated Illinois Fighting Illini 42-19.

Smith tied the school’s single-game mark with four touchdown catches along with 12 receptions for 217 yards, both career highs.

It is the first time an Ohio State player has had double-digit catches for at least 200 yards and four scores in a game.

“I mean, if there’s a better player in the country, it’s hard to imagine. Or even just watching him play every game this year. I think he’s taking his game to the next level this year,” coach Ryan Day said after Smith tied for the sixth-most receiving yards in an OSU game and tied for sixth-most receptions.

It is the fifth time an Ohio State receiver has had four touchdowns. The last time it happened before Saturday was Noah Brown at Oklahoma in 2016.

It appeared as if Smith would have four touchdowns in the first half. Julian Sayin was looking for him in the end zone, but Smith was well covered. Sayin tucked it, rolled around left end and dove near the pylon for a 7-yard TD with 15 seconds remaining to give the Buckeyes a 28-10 advantage at halftime.

Smith tied the mark with 10:07 remaining in the fourth quarter when he was wide open on a 26-yard touchdown to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 35-13.

“I’m pretty good with four,” Smith said when asked if he was trying to get a fifth TD.

Smith – who had eight catches for 150 yards and three TDs in the first half – also became the third receiver since 2015 from a Power Four conference to have at least three games with at least 150 receiving yards and two touchdowns in one half. DeVonta Smith had four at Alabama and Ja’Marr Chase did it three times at LSU.

Smith had TDs of 7 and 72 yards – the second-longest of his career – in the first quarter. He then had a 9-yard score in the second quarter as he just got his left foot inbounds.

Sayin completed 27 of 36 passes for 367 yards and had a rushing TD as the Buckeyes (3-1, 1-0) opened Big Ten play with a victory for the 15th straight season. Ja’Kobi Jackson ran it in from 2 yards out with 2:36 remaining.

“I think we found a rhythm in the drives today, but I think there’s still stuff to clean up,” Sayin said. “And so just how can we keep getting better? How can we improve and play better next week?”

Illinois (2-2, 0-1) kept it competitive despite Smith’s monster game. Katin Houser was 21 of 37 passing for 263 yards and a touchdown and Jordan Anderson had a 22-yard rushing score in the first quarter.

“At times we showed up in all three phases, but just not enough to get where we need to be,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. “Number four (Smith) is obviously a very talented player for them. But in critical moments we had to do a better job of having awareness where he is. We made some bad decisions with leveraging the quarterback, too many mis-contained opportunities that just allowed to extend plays.”

Sayin finished with seven rushes for 29 yards, including his second TD running this year. The score not only fired up Day, but the offensive line.

“That’s probably the most excited I’ve ever been for a touchdown. At least this season, for sure,” offensive guard Luke Montgomery said. “For a dude to put his body on the line like he does, his pocket presence in general, he’s not gonna be scared to take a hit. And for him to run like that and put his body on the line, just utmost respect for a quarterback to do that, because he didn’t have to do that.”

Illinois: Wide receiver Collin Dixon, who came into the game leading the nation with eight receiving touchdowns, was held to five catches for 63 yards.

Ohio State: Defense will be concern after the Illini rushed for 199 yards and averaged 6.0 yards per carry.

Illinois: Hosts Purdue next Saturday.

Ohio State: At No. 17 Iowa next Saturday.

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BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) Bryant Wesco Jr. had Clemson Tigers’s first punt return touchdown in eight years to break a tie late in the third quarter and the Tigers went on to beat California Golden Bears 24-10 Friday night in a game where both offenses struggled.

Both Clemson (3-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Cal (2-2, 1-1) struggled to generate much offense in the first matchup between the schools since the Golden Bears joined the ACC in 2024.

The teams combined for one offensive touchdown until Gideon Davidson put the game away with a 75-yard run with 2:59 to play. Davidson finished with 159 yards rushing and two TDs to give the Tigers their third straight win since a lopsided loss in the opener against LSU.

“Two games in a row, we’ve played some complimentary football,” coach Dabo Swinney said. “When we do, it’s a really good thing. But we’re a long way away from hoisting a trophy or anything like that. But at the end of the day, we’re 3-1. We’re still undefeated in the league and just got to keep finding a way to keep growing, learning.”

Cal got a field goal to tie the game on the opening drive of the second half, but Clemson went back ahead after the Bears punted on their next possession. Agnus Davies had a low 39-yard punt down the middle that Wesco fielded on the run. He eluded two tacklers and then broke it toward the Clemson sideline before racing in for the 65-yard score.

It was the first punt return touchdown for the Tigers since their national championship season in 2018 when Amari Rodgers had a 58-yarder in a win at Boston College.

“That’s the first punt return for a touchdown since ’18. That was a pretty good year too, so maybe that’s a good sign for us,” Swinney said.

The Tigers defense made the lead stand up as Cal never got close to the end zone again. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele finished 16 for 29 for 119 yards and two interceptions for his fewest yards in 17 career starts.

“We have to execute at a higher level, starting with me finding the answers,” coach Tosh Lupoi said.

Clemson’s Tait Reynolds wasn’t much better, throwing for 108 yards and turning the ball over twice in his second start.

“I really felt like we kind of made it harder than it needed to be,” Swinney said. “Just kind of call it early game jitters, if you will. I don’t really know, But he’s frustrated as well. Just some early game mistakes on things that he’s just got to clean up. It’s really not hard. I just think he gets a little jacked up.”

The teams traded interceptions on each opening drive and that set the tone for the first half dominated by the defenses. Cal struck first with a 35-yard fumble return touchdown by Kamar Mothudi.

But Clemson got a field goal and then took the lead on a 1-yard run by Davidson that capped a 17-play drive that was extended when Niles Davis jumped offside on a fourth-and-4 pooch punt out of field-goal formation.

Clemson: The Tigers played their fourth game ever in California and first since beating Alabama in the College Football Playoff title game on Jan. 7, 2019. Clemson looked nothing like that team led by Trevor Lawrence that went undefeated on the way to a third national title.

Cal: The Bears offense that was supposed to be the strength of the team in Sagapolutele’s second season struggled to move the ball with any consistency. Cal was held without an offensive touchdown at home for the first time since a 12-10 win over Washington in 2018. It last happened in a loss in a 21-3 defeat to Stanford in the 2012 Big Game.

Clemson: Hosts No. 6 Miami on Oct. 3.

Cal: At UNLV on Oct 3.

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