TCU awaits CFP fate after first loss
ARLINGTON, Texas — Ty Zentner kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime as 13thranked Kansas State beat No. 3 TCU 31-28 in the Big 12 championship game Saturday, leaving the Horned Frogs to wait another day to find out if they had already done enough to get into the four-team College Football Playoff.
The Wildcats set up the winning field goal after TCU had the opening possession of overtime and Kendre Miller was stopped short on consecutive plays from inside the 1.
Deuce Vaughn ran for 130 yards and a touchdown and Will Howard threw two TDs for the Wildcats (10-3, No. 10 CFP), who six weeks earlier had jumped out to a 28-10 lead early in the second quarter before TCU scored the game’s last 28 points.
That was one of five games the Horned Frogs (12-1, No. 3 CFP) won when trailing after halftime. But they couldn’t do it again with the chance to guarantee being the first Big 12 team other than Oklahoma to make the playoff.
“We got beat today and now it’s out of our hands. That’s something that we wanted to do is be in control,” TCU quarterback Max Duggan said. “All we can do is kind of watch.”
TCU, the first Big 12 team to complete a regular season undefeated since Texas in 2009, could still get into the playoff. While their case was helped when fourth-ranked Southern California (11-2) lost 47-24 to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night, the Frogs now have to wait until the final CFP rankings come out Sunday.
“I think we’re certainly deserving. I think the league is one of the best leagues in the country to go through, undefeated in the league, certainly we ought to get in,” first-year TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “And I don’t think we should be punished for coming to the Big 12 championship game.”
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said before the game that TCU, with first-year coach Sonny Dykes, already deserved to be in the playoff.
“You look at their strength of schedule. You think about how they’ve performed all year long,” Yormark said. “I think regardless, they should be in, for sure.”
Max Duggan, who went from losing his job as TCU’s starting quarterback going into the season to now being a potential Heisman Trophy finalist, threw for 251 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for 110 yards with an 8-yard score with 1:51 remaining in regulation.
NO. 1 GEORGIA 50, NO. 11 LSU 30
With all sorts of turmoil behind them in the rankings, Georgia left no doubt about the top team heading into the College Football Playoff, dismantling LSU 50-30 in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Stetson Bennett’s threw a season-high four touchdown passes in another stellar postseason performance, while Christopher Smith gave the Bulldogs an early spark with a heads-up play that turned a seemingly harmless blocked field goal into a 96-yard TD.
Not that any fortuitous breaks were needed, but Georgia (13-0, No. 1 CFP) caught a big one when a deflected pass bounced off an LSU receiver’s helmet and wound up being picked off by the Bulldogs, setting up a score that contributed to a 35-10 lead by halftime.
LSU’s hopes of denying the reigning national champs their first SEC title since 2017 were further dampened by quarterback Jayden Daniels re-injuring a sore right ankle late in the first half. Not that backup Garrett Nussmeier played poorly, guiding the Tigers (9-4, No. 14 CFP) to three second-half touchdowns.
NO. 18 TULANE 45, NO. 22 UCF 28
NEW ORLEANS — Michael Pratt accounted for 442 total yards and five touchdowns, Tyjae Spears highlighted his 199 yards rushing with a 60-yard score and Tulane beat UCF 45-28 in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
The victory virtually assured Tulane (112) would play in the Cotton Bowl — its first major New Year’s Day bowl since the 1939 season — only one season after going 2-10.
Pratt passed for a career-high 394 yards, including touchdowns of 73 yards to Duece Watts, 60 and 10 yards to Shae Wyatt and 43 yards to Lawrence Keys. Pratt also ran for a pivotal 18-yard touchdown with 4:04 left.
The Green Wave, which earned the right to host the title game by ending Cincinnati’s 32-game home winning streak last weekend, avenged a 38-31 regular-season loss to UCF (9-4) on the same field three weeks ago.
DEION CLOSES IN ON COLORADO JOB
With signs pointing toward Deion Sanders becoming the next coach at Colorado, the school’s board of regents called a special meeting for Sunday.
Nothing’s official yet regarding the Jackson State coach, whose team won the SWAC championship on Saturday, 43-24, over Southern to finish the regular season 12-0. The university hasn’t commented on any candidates taking over, either. But the scheduling of a regents meeting could be another signal that a coaching hire could be imminent.
As other schools have filled their head coaching vacancies in the past week, with national signing day and the opening of the transfer portal fast approaching, Colorado has waited until championship weekend plays out.
Sanders was leading Jackson State in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game against Southern on Saturday. Heading into the game, he was 26-5 in three seasons.
Sanders said earlier this week he received an offer from Colorado. He also said he had been contacted by other schools. But he deflected any decisions regarding his future until after the end of the season.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer has been at Jackson State, a historically Black college that plays in the NCAA’s Championship Subdivision, since 2020.