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College football scores, NCAA top 25 rankings, Week 7: Miami bounces back, Memphis wins wild shootout

NCAA football scores and highlights from the teams in action during Week 7 of the 2020 season

Week 7 of the 2020 college football season is in the books -- the final week of the college football season before the Big Ten joins the party. It was another eventful week around the country, but once again we were reminded that there are two top dogs at the moment separating themselves above everyone else: No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama. Both earned noteworthy wins on Saturday as the Tigers offense scored at will in a victory over Georgia Tech while the Tide pulled away in the second half to take down No. 3 Georgia. 

Elsewhere across the schedule -- speaking of Clemson -- No. 13 Miami bounced back from that humbling loss to the Tigers last week with a victory over ACC foe Pitt. The most exciting result of the day, however, may have come to us from two teams not currently ranked in the AP Top 25 as UCF and Memphis delivered us another AAC classic to remember. 

There was a lot to cover with those games and everything in between. CBS Sports was here every step of the way to update you with the latest scores, highlights and storylines throughout the day.

College football scores, schedule -- Week 7

Kentucky 34, No. 18 Tennessee 17 -- Box score
No. 13 Miami 31, Pitt 19 -- Box score
South Carolina 30, No. 13 Auburn 22 -- Box score
No. 1 Clemson 73, Georgia Tech 7 -- Recap, takeaways
No. 4 Notre Dame 12, Louisville 7 -- Recap, takeaways
Arkansas 33, Ole Miss 21 -- Box score
Memphis 50, UCF 49 -- Box score
No. 21 Texas A&M 28, Mississippi State 14 -- Box score
Florida State 31, No. 5 North Carolina 28 -- Recap
No. 2 Alabama 41, No. 3 Georgia 24 -- Recap, takeaways
Check out the complete Week 7 scoreboard

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Live updates
 
@Cover3Podcast via Twitter
 
@Cover3Podcast via Twitter
 

FINAL: Clemson 73, Georgia Tech 7

No. 1 Clemson got off to a sluggish start to its early kickoff against Georgia Tech on Saturday. But after a few mental mistakes and the cobwebs were cleared, the Tigers turned took a 7-7 score and turned it into a 52-7 halftime lead and eventually a 73-7 final in one of the most impressive blowouts you'll see anywhere in college football this week.

Trevor Lawrence threw for a career-high 404 yards on 24-of-32 passing with five touchdowns and one interception and was done for the day after the first drive of the second half. Much of that early damage done through the passing game was courtesy of the speedy senior wide receiver Amari Rodgers (six catches, 161 yards, two touchdowns) but the first half included touchdown grabs for Cornell Powell, Frank Ladson and tight end Davis Allen.

Coaches have bemoaned the absence of non-conference games from the schedule not expressly because they give the opportunity for extra wins but instead for the extra reps that backups get in games that get lopsided. That playing time on Saturdays is impossible to replicate during the week or in preseason, and it's huge for solidifying a team's depth. Clemson just used Georgia Tech, its annual crossover rival in ACC play, as an opportunity to sort out its depth for the long season ahead and eventual postseason run.

That says more about Clemson than it does about Georgia Tech, and the fact they got a chance to treat this like a depth-building game against an FCS opponent is going to make it even harder to see them lose later in the year.

 

POOKA WILLIAMS, COVER MACHINE. Jayhawks were +22.5 on our picks this week.
 

FINAL: No. 13 Miami 31, Pitt 19

The Miami defense stands tall in the red zone and helps overcome an off-schedule day for D'Eriq King and the offense in a bounce-back win. As a Coastal Division foe, Pitt has often played Miami tough and today was no different with a fight that exceeded expectations, particularly with starting quarterback Kenny Pickett ruled out for the game. Pitt has been one-dimensional for much of the season with not much consistency in the run game, and Miami's aggressive defensive front was able to overwhelm the Panthers in the trenches. 

 

Final: Liberty 38, Syracuse 21

Don't look now, but Liberty is 5-0 and one of the most interesting and fun Group of Five teams out there. Syracuse is trending in the wrong direction at 1-4 and gets [/checks notes] Clemson next week. Not great! 

 

MEANWHILE LET'S CHECK IN ON CLEMSON-GEORGIA TE-- OH GOD (Clemson leads 73-7)
 

Final: Kentucky 34, Tennessee 7

Well now, this isn't going to look too good for Jeremy Pruitt's Vols. One week after watching Georgia pull away, Tennessee lets a hangover turn one loss into two. The first half of this game was dominated by Kentucky takeaways, including two pick-sixes. The second half, though? That was all Kentucky's ground-and-pound mentality. The Wildcats ran the ball 45 times at a deliberate, but efficient 4.2 yards per clip. Three of their four second-half drives resulted in scores and the final one wound out the clock. A big, on-brand victory for Big Blue Nation and a bitter loss for the Vols. 

 

Shi Smith. That's it. That's the update. Smith has had two monster catches today, but this one has to take the cake.
 

End 3Q: South Carolina 27, No. 15 Auburn 19

The Auburn offense is in disarray. Bo Nix got into it with Seth Williams on the sideline after one failed third quarter drive. Meanwhile, Shi Smith continues his quiet but awesome season for SC. Would be Gamecocks' first win over Auburn since joining the SEC.

 

End 3Q: Kentucky 27, No. 18 Tennessee 7

Vols go 3-and-out to start the half, then Kentucky's offense finally does something. Wildcats marched 76 yards on 11 plays in 5:49 to take what feels like an insurmountable lead for a Tennessee offense that can't get out of its own way. Vols looked pretty good in opening wins vs. South Carolina and Missouri but have been embarrassingly bad in the last five quarters. Would be UK's first win in Knoxville since 1984.
 
@Cover3Podcast via Twitter
 

Bubba Wallace has something to say about Tennessee's quarterback situation.
 

LARGE MAN INT ALERT. Get a load of WVU D-lineman Darius Stills as he LAYS OUT for this INT against Kansas. West Virginia wasn't able to capitalize by scoring, but that was a remarkable play. Mountaineers are up 14-10 after falling behind early.
 

Half: No. 13 Miami 14, Pitt 6

D'Eriq King and the Miami offense have had a rough day. Pitt is doing a great job of applying pressure on the quarterback and the Hurricanes aren't getting the kind of explosives through the ground game that are needed to power the offense. Pitt can't do much either with Kenny Pickett out, so it's as uch of a rock right as you might imagine.

 

Half: No. 15 Auburn 16, South Carolina 14

Bo Nix is playing on the road, meaning he's prone to interceptions. He's thrown two of them so far to help South Carolina hang around. Gamecocks punched in both their TDs following Nix interceptions. There was at least one highlight for the Auburn passing game in the first half, though....
 

Half: Kentucky 17, No. 18 Tennessee 7

A week after beating Mississippi State 24-2 with just 157 yards of total offense, Kentucky takes a 10-point lead into the break on Tennessee with just 75 yards of total offense.

Wildcats' defense making things happen again. Three interceptions in the first half, including two pick-sixes on Jarrett Guarantano. Vols pulled Guarantano, and his replacement J.T. Shrout threw an INT on his only pass attempt. The tally now stands at NINE interceptions in the last six quarters for UK.
 

Remember: Georgia Tech and Clemson were tied at 7-7. Now, we're entering large man touchdown territory for the Tigers. Clemson is up 31-7 on the Bees and even though it hasn't been perfect -- Etienne has a fumble and Lawrence has a pick -- they're rolling.
 

Tennessee has made some pretty bad mistakes passing the ball today, but let's give it up for Kentucky's defense. Wildcats got a SALTY unit.
 
@SEConCBS via Twitter
 

End 1Q: No. 1 Clemson 17, Georgia Tech 7

Clemson's stars Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne have one turnover each, but the Tigers' defense has come up with stops each time to keep the Yellow Jackets from turning the opportunity into points. Lawrence is 8-for-12 on the day so far with two touchdown passes, one red zone target to Cornell Powell and an 83-yard heave to Amari Rodgers that featured the speedster simply blowing past the entire Georgia Tech secondary.

 

Kentucky's defense!

Well, actually. It's Tennessee's offense. Jarrett Guarantano just threw his second pick-six of the first half as the Volunteers have gift-wrapped a 14-0 lead for Kentucky with 10:33 left in the second quarter. This is exactly what the Wildcats needed, considering how bad their own offense is. The turnover tally is a four total for the game so far.
 

End 1Q: No. 13 Miami 7, Pitt 0

No Kenny Pickett for Pitt and no Brevin Jordan for Miami, so it should come as no surprise that both of the offenses are off to sluggish starts in what has mostly been a punting contest. There were 6 punts and 8 first downs in the first quarter, and the punts were mostly excellent. Field position has been bad as a result, and Miami's lone explosive play -- a 35-yard catch-and-run score by Cam'Ron Harris -- is the only non-punting highlight of the period.

 

End 1Q: No. 15 Auburn 9, South Carolina 0

Bo Nix hit Eli Stove for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 4:33 left in the quarter to put Auburn up 9-0 (failed 2-point conversion on bizarro play). Auburn's defense is back to looking like Auburn's defense usually does as South Carolina did not pick up a first down until its third series.

 

Uh oh, Les Miles things are happening even though Les Miles didn't travel with Kansas to Morgantown. A tip drill resulted in a Jayhawks touchdown and now Kansas is up 10-0 on West Virginia in the first quarter. Strange things happening in this game ...
 

End 1Q: No. 18 Tennessee 0, Kentucky 0

Tennessee and Kentucky traded fumbles in an ugly first quarter. The under on this 45.5-point total is looking pretty strong as the Wildcats will punt on fourth-and-23 to start the second quarter. The highlight of this one so far is Jeremy Pruitt wearing a more effective mask this week (see bottom left photo)
 
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@SEConCBS via Twitter
 
@SEConCBS via Twitter
 

However, Pitt won't be the only one without a key player. Miami TE Brevin Jordan is out after he suffered an injury vs. Clemson. That's D'Eriq King's first and second choice in the passing game. Big loss here.
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