East Carolina capped a strong day for region teams in college football with a 44-24 win Saturday night at South Florida as Holton Ahlers threw for three touchdowns, including two to former high school teammate C.J. Johnson. … No. 8 North Carolina jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead against visiting Virginia Tech and beat the No. 19 Hokies, 56-45, as Michael Carter ran for 214 yards and Javonte Williams rushed for 169. … N.C. State got a second straight ACC road win, beating Virginia, 38-21. … Duke overcame an 0-4 start to win, 38-24, at Syracuse as Deon Jackson and Mateo Durant combined for 332 yards rushing. … Oklahoma topped No. 22 Texas, 53-45, in four overtimes in Dallas in the Red River Shootout. … Seth Small’s 26-yard field goal as time expired lifted host Texas A&M to a 41-38 win over No. 4 Florida. … No. 1 Clemson downed No. 7 Miami, 42-17, and No. 2 Alabama outscored host Ole Miss, 63-48. … The Carolina Panthers visit Atlanta for a 1 p.m. kickoff today (FOX). … The Sunday night game sends Minnesota to Seattle (NBC, 8:20 p.m.) … The American League championship series between Houston and Tampa Bay starts at 7:37 p.m. (TBS). … Game six of the NBA finals tips off at 7:30 p.m. (ABC) with the Los Angeles Lakers holding a 3-2 lead over Miami. … Martin Laird and Patrick Cantlay share the lead at 20-under par going into the final round of the PGA Tour event in Las Vegas (Golf Channel, 5 p.m.) … Darren Clarke, Colin Montgomerie and Woody Austin are tied for first in the SAS Championship at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary (Golf Channel, 2 p.m.) on the senior tour. … The NASCAR Cup playoff series is scheduled to run today on the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway (NBC, 2:30 p.m.)