Top 25 roundup: No. 6 Oregon blows out No. 16 Oregon St.
(Photo credit: Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Heisman Trophy candidate Bo Nix completed 33 of 40 passes for 367 yards with a pair of touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown, and the No. 6 Oregon Ducks had much to celebrate on their home field in Eugene, Ore., after their 31-7 win over No. 16 Oregon State on Friday.
The game could mark the Ducks' final rivalry game against the Beavers for some time, gives them a spot in the last Pac-12 Championship game against No. 4 Washington, and furthers their bid for a place in the College Football Playoff. Oregon (11-1) won its sixth straight game and finished 8-1 in the Pac-12.
Oregon State (8-4, 5-4) managed just 273 yards of total offense, including 53 on the ground after what had been a successful rushing attack all season. The Ducks held the Pac-12's second-leading rusher, Damien Martinez, to 38 yards.
Oregon's offense has often been a quick-strike unit this season, but on Friday, the Ducks chewed time off the clock with two lengthy touchdown drives in the first half. Nix also set the Ducks' single-season completions record with his 305th of the season, a third-quarter pass to Troy Franklin for 17 yards.
No. 7 Texas 57, Texas Tech 7
Jaydon Blue ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and Keilan Robinson scored on a 10-yard run and a 95-yard kickoff return as the Longhorns produced a statement with a 57-7 victory over the Red Raiders in Austin, Texas, in the teams' final Big 12 Conference regular-season game.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers passed for 196 yards and a touchdown with one interception as the Longhorns (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) won their sixth straight contest and clinched a spot in the Big 12 Conference championship game against either No. 13 Oklahoma or No. 20 Oklahoma State.
Jett Bush returned a deflected interception 43 yards for another score, and Burt Auburn kicked five field goals for the Longhorns in the win that featured the much anticipated debut of freshman quarterback Arch Manning late in the third. The Longhorns' defense did the rest, holding Texas Tech (6-6, 5-4) to just 198 total yards. Behren Morton passed for 88 yards and Tahj Brooks had 95 yards on 19 carries for the Red Raiders.
No. 9 Missouri 48, Arkansas 14
Southeastern Conference leading rusher Cody Schrader ran for a career-high 217 yards and a score as the Tigers reached double-digit wins for the first time since 2014, pasting the Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark.
Schrader achieved the yardage on 27 carries, but the lion's share of his work - 192 yards - came on 22 first-half attempts. Quarterback Brady Cook was 12-of-20 for 112 yards, rushed for a score and tossed two touchdowns to Brett Norfleet, from 16 and 11 yards.
The win should put the Tigers (10-2, 6-2 SEC) into a New Year's Six bowl game, with their only two losses coming to ranked opponents LSU and Georgia. Missouri moved the Battle Line Rivalry series record to 11-4 in its favor against the Razorbacks (4-8, 1-7), who lost for the ninth time in the past 11 outings against their border rival.
No. 11 Penn State 42, Michigan State 0
Drew Allar completed 17 of 26 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Nittany Lions past the Spartans in Detroit.
Kaytron Allen rushed for 137 yards on 15 carries and Nicholas Singleton piled up 118 yards on 18 carries for Penn State (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten).
The Nittany Lions dominated throughout, collecting 23 first downs to five for Michigan State 4-8, 2-7), outgaining the Spartans 586-68 and possessing the football for more than 36 minutes. Penn State's defense collected seven sacks.
No. 13 Oklahoma 69, TCU 45
Dillon Gabriel threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns to lift the Sooners past the Horned Frogs in Norman, Okla.
Gabriel moved into seventh place in NCAA career passing yards in the win, passing three players including former Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield on
the list. Gabriel now has 14,865 career passing yards.
The Sooners' 69 points were their most in a conference game since beating Texas AM 77-0 in 2003. Oklahoma (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) kept its hopes alive to make the Big 12 championship game by recording its third straight win. TCU (5-7, 3-6) fell despite getting 344 yards and four touchdown passes from Josh Hoover.
No. 17 Iowa 13, Nebraska 10
Backup kicker Marshall Meeder kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to give the Hawkeyes a narrow road win over the Cornhuskers. Meeder, a transfer from Central Michigan who had not appeared in a game this season, was called on for the game-winning kick after starter Drew Stevens had a pair of field goals blocked in the first half.
Iowa defensive lineman Ethan Hurkett intercepted a pass near midfield with 15 seconds left and Leshon Williams broke off a 22-yard run to set up Meeder's kick. Williams ran for 111 yards on 16 carries.
Iowa (10-2, 7-2) won the Heroes Trophy despite being outgained 264-257 and managing only 57 yards in the second half. Nebraska turned it over three times, giving it an FBS-worst 31 turnovers this season.
No. 23 Tulsa 29, UTSA 16
Makhi Hughes rushed for a season-high 166 yards and a touchdown and the Green Wave claimed a spot in the American Athletic Conference championship game with victory over the Roadrunners in New Orleans.
Hughes had his seventh 100-yard game of the season and Michael Pratt threw two touchdown passes to Chris Brazzell II for the Green Wave (11-1, 8-0 AAC), who won their 10th consecutive game. Tulane, which scored 17 points off five UTSA turnovers, will host the AAC title game Dec. 2 with SMU being the most likely opponent.
Frank Harris completed 25 of 38 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown for the Roadrunners (8-4, 7-1).
