College football: LSU knocks off Texas A&M in season finale

BATON ROUGE, La. — Max Johnson hit Jaray Jenkins with a 28-yard scoring pass down the right sideline with 20 seconds left, and LSU knocked off No. 14 Texas A&M 27-24 on Saturday night to give coach Ed Orgeron a triumphant send-off in his final game in Tiger Stadium.

LSU had lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and looked to be on the brink its first losing season since 1999 when Johnson, who'd been sacked six times in the second half, came alive on fourth-and-6 from the LSU 19.

Johnson kept the Tigers alive with a decisive pass over the middle to tight end Jack Bech and then hit Jenkins for a 31-yard gain. An 11-yard pass to Malik Nabers put LSU on the 28, setting up the go-ahead score three plays later and setting off a wild celebration in Death Valley while Orgeron smiled from ear-to-ear on the sideline.

LSU linebacker Damone Clark, a Butkus Award finalist, sealed the victory by sacking Aggies QB Zach Calzada twice.

The victory gave LSU (6-6, 3-5 SEC) two straight wins to close the regular season as a bowl eligible team. The loss likely relegated Texas A&M (8-4, 4-4) to a less prestigious bowl while ending the Aggies chance for a first 10-win season since 2012.

Orgeron, who presided over an undefeated national championship season in 2019 and has gone 11-11 since and agreed back in October to step down after this season.

Zach Calzada finished 20 of 35 passing for 242 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover. Devon Achane had 121 yards from scrimmage, with 72 yards coming on short receptions. Moose Muhammad caught a 13-yard scoring pass in the first half.

Johnson was 22 of 38 for 306 yards and three TDs, including a 45-yard scoring pass in the first half to Jenkins, who finished with eight catches for 169 yards.

BAYLOR 27, TEXAS TECH 24

WACO, Texas — Blake Shapen threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for ninth-ranked Baylor, and the Bears held on for a 27-24 win over Texas Tech on Saturday that kept alive their hopes of making the Big 12 championship game for the second time in three seasons.

Abram Smith ran for 117 yards and a touchdown for the Bears (10-2, 7-2 Big 12, CFP No. 8), who had to wait for the outcome of Saturday night's game between No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Oklahoma. The Cowboys were already locked into their first Big 12 title game, and a win over the Sooners in Bedlam would put Baylor in next Saturday's game with them.

Donovan Smith threw for 243 yards and had two TD passes for the Red Raiders, who a week earlier had only 108 total yards in a 23-0 loss to Oklahoma State in their home finale. That was the first time Tech was shut out in a 303-game span since 1997.

Smith's 38-yard TD to Mannix McLane with 11:37 left cut the deficit to 20-17. Baylor responded with a 10-play drive that ended with Shapen's pass to Sims. Then Smith threw a screen pass to tight end Travis Kootz that turned into a 75-yard score.

Shapen completed 20 of 34 passes starting in place of Gerry Bohanon, who injured his right hamstring late in the first half of a 20-10 win last week at Kansas State that Shapen finished.

HOUSTON 45, UCONN 17

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Clayton Tune threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns Saturday as No. 19 Houston tuned up for next week’s American Athletic Conference championship game with a 45-17 win over UConn.

Nathaniel Dell caught two touchdowns and Jake Herslow and Jeremy Singleton each topped 100 receiving yards to go with a TD apiece for Houston (11-1, 8-0 American), which plays at No. 4 Cincinnati for the AAC title next Saturday.

Freshman Alton McCaskill had a 31-yard touchdown run, his 16th of the year for the Cougars, but left the game in the second quarter holding his right shoulder. He finished with 54 yards on the ground.

The Cougars led 21-10 at halftime and scored on their first four possessions of the second half to put the game away. Tune completed 20 of his 31 passes in three quarters of work.

NORTH TEXAS 45, UTSA 23

DENTON, Texas — No. 15 UTSA's undefeated season ended in a blowout as North Texas running backs DeAndre Torrey and Ikaika Ragsdale combined for five touchdowns in a 45-23 rout of the Roadrunners on Saturday.

Quarterback Frank Harris had two of UTSA's three lost fumbles among six overall before sitting the second half at UNT's rain-soaked Apogee Stadium, a 10-year-old facility where a Top 25 team had never played.

UTSA (11-1, 7-1 Conference USA), which never started with more than five consecutive wins in the program's first nine seasons, is still hosting the conference championship game Friday night against either Western Kentucky or Marshall. No. 1 Georgia and fourth-ranked Cincinnati are the remaining undefeated FBS teams.

The Roadrunners, ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense, had given up six touchdowns on the ground all season. The Mean Green (6-6, 5-3) matched that late in the third quarter of their fifth consecutive victory that followed a six-game losing streak as UNT earned bowl eligibility.

RICE 35, LOUISIANA TECH 31

HOUSTON — TJ McMahon threw two late touchdown passes — including a 3-yarder to Cedric Patterson III with 61 seconds remaining — and Rice rallied for a 35-31 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

Rice (4-8, 3-5 Conference USA) led 14-10 at halftime, but JD Head connected with Smoke Harris for a 5-yard score to give Louisiana Tech (3-9, 2-6) a 17-14 lead midway through the third quarter. The Owls regained the lead on Cameron Montgomery's 7-yard TD run on the ensuing possession, but Head scored on a 22-yard run and the Bulldogs took a 24-21 lead into the final quarter.

McMahon completed 12 of 20 passes for 191 yards with one interception for the Owls. Montgomery ran for 95 yards and two TDs — including a 70-yarder that put Rice up 10-0 in the first quarter — on 10 carries.

Head connected on 19 of 35 passes for 270 yards with two TDs and two picks.

TULSA 34, SMU 31

DALLAS — Davis Brin passed for 244 yards and a touchdown, three different ball carriers also scored and Tulsa fended off SMU 34-31 in a see-saw game to end the regular season on Saturday.

Zack Long kicked field goals of 36 and 27 yards with the latter, coming with 4:06 left in the game, providing just enough to preserve the win.

Tulsa (6-6, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) was in a 17-0 hole barely more than a quarter into the contest. The Golden Hurricane rallied with 31 unanswered points into a seemingly comfortable 31-17 lead with 13:30 to go.

But SMU (6-4, 4-4) rallied with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, pulling within 34-31 when Tyler Levine crashed into the end zone from the 2 to cap a 69-yard drive with 2:50 left.

The loss was SMU's first at home this season. Tanner Mordecai, who threw for 298 yards and a touchdown for the Mustangs, set the conference single-season record with 39 TDs.

TEXAS STATE 24, ARKANSAS STATE 22

JONESBORO, Ark. — Freshman Calvin Hill rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown and Texas State held off a fourth-quarter rally by Arkansas State for a 24-22 victory in a Sun Belt Conference finale on Saturday.

Hill's 6-yard TD run capped a six-play, 83-yard drive midway through the third quarter and gave the Bobcats (4-8, 3-5) a 24-13 lead heading into the final period.

Tyler Vitt completed 11 of 25 passes for a 121 yards for Texas State with a 31-yard TD pass to Travis Graham Jr. that gave the Bobcats a 14-7 lead after one quarter.

TEXAS 22, KANSAS STATE 17

AUSTIN, Texas — Roschon Johnson came to Texas as a quarterback, converted quickly to running back, and under difficult circumstances he worked at both positions on Friday.

Johnson, a junior, ran for a career-best 179 yards, Cameron Dicker kicked three field goals, and Texas summoned some critical stops on defense to beat Kansas State 22-17.

Texas (5-7, 3-6 Big 12) ended the regular season by snapping a six-game losing streak, its longest since 1956.

“We needed to snap that losing streak,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “It was heavy. That doesn't discount the way the previous games went. But it's OK to smile.”

Johnson, the team's No. 2 running back, started in place of Bijan Robinson, who rushed for 1,127 yards this season but missed the last two games with a dislocated elbow. Johnson carried 31 times, including 11 for 77 yards in the fourth quarter. He ran for a 9-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

With Robinson out, starting quarterback Casey Thompson enduring a sprained thumb on his throwing hand, and backup Hudson Card missing because of an ankle injury, Sarkisian sometimes deployed Johnson taking direct snaps as quarterback in the wildcat formation. He completed his only pass attempt for two yards.

Thompson completed 17 of 23 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown.

IOWA STATE 48, TCU 14

AMES, Iowa — Breece Hall rushed for 242 yards and scored four touchdowns Friday night in what maybe his final game at Jack Trice Stadium, propelling Iowa State to 48-14 win over Texas Christian and setting an NCAA FBS record for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown.

Hall darted 39 yards for a score in the second quarter, giving him 24 consecutive games with at least one rushing touchdown. He shared the record with Bill Burnett, who scored a rushing TD in 23 straight games for Arkansas (1968-70).

Hall, a junior who could be a high pick in next spring's NFL draft, is the Cyclones all-time career scoring leader with 336 points and 56 touchdowns.

TCU (5-7, 3-6) gave up a total of 279 rushing yards.

UAB 42, UTEP 25

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Jermaine Brown Jr. ran for three touchdowns, Dylan Hopkins added two TD passes and UAB beat UTEP 42-25 on Friday in the regular-season finale for both teams.

UAB (8-4, 6-2 Conference USA) and UTEP (7-5, 4-4) await bowl invitations.

Hopkins completed 15 of 20 for 108 yards and threw one interception. Brown finished with 16 carries for 88 yards and DeWayne McBride 99 yards rushing on just seven carries.

Quardraiz Wadley scored on a 7-yard run late in the first quarter and Deion Hankins ran for an 11-yard TD early in the second. Gavin Baechle's 23-yard field goal with 5 seconds left made it 17-14 at halftime.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: College football recap: Baylor hangs on, Texas A&M falls to LSU