K-State pulls out win over Miss. St.

Skylar Thompson threw for 123 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to lead Kansas State to a 31-24 victory at Mississippi State on Saturday.

KSU (3-0) led 17-14 at halftime but trailed 24-17 in the fourth quarter. Then a 100yard Malik Knowles kickoff return tied the game, and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Dalton Schoen gave the Wildcats a 7-point lead with 5:37 remaining.

MSU (2-1) drove 55 yards on their final meaningful possession but ultimately turned the ball over on downs at the Kansas State 20-yard line, 1 yard short of the first-down marker.

The Wildcats managed only 269 yards of total offense, 146 of it on the ground. Schoen caught a team-high three balls for 50 yards, and James Mitchell rushed for 59 yards on 17 carries.

Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead benched senior transfer quarterback Tommy Stevens in the third quarter after his second interception and turned the Bulldogs offense over to freshman Garrett Shrader. Shrader led the Bulldogs on a methodical 12-play, 79-yard drive, running the ball into the end zone himself to give the team its first lead. From there, though, he presided over three-and-outs on three of the next four drives, and the Bulldogs never reached the end zone again.

MSU’s Osirus Mitchell led all receivers with 74 yards, and Kylin Hill, the Southeastern Conference’s leading rusher, had a game-high 111 yards on 24 carries.

In the balmy Mississippi heat, both teams had a sloppy day, with three turnovers apiece and a combined 142 yards in penalties.

(At) Arkansas 55, Colorado State 34: Arkansas quarterback Nick Starkel, in his first start in a Razorbacks uniform, led his team on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, breaking a 34-all tie and sending Arkansas to a win over Colorado State.

The Razorbacks (2-1) earned their first victory over an FBS opponent this season and only the second in coach Chad Morris’ 15 games dating back to last year.

Starkel, who transferred from Texas A&M in the offseason, was named quarterback Monday after entering and playing well in the second half of Arkansas’ loss to Ole Miss last Saturday. He rewarded Morris’ faith, going 20 for 35 for 305 yards with three touchdowns against the Rams.

(At) Mississippi 40, Southeastern Louisiana 29: Matt Corral threw for two touchdowns, and the Mississippi defense made a pair of game-saving stops on downs in the final six minutes as the Rebels defeated Southeastern Louisiana.

Corral finished 21 of 30 for 239 yards and directed a pair of fourth quarter field goal drives that preserved the Ole Miss (2-1) win over the FCS Lions (1-1). Jerrion Ealy added two touchdowns, a 94-yard kickoff return and a 30-yard run, to finish with 273 all-purpose yards.

(At) Tennessee 45, Chattanooga 0: Jarrett Guarantano threw three touchdown passes, and Tennessee rolled to a blowout of Football Championship Subdivision program Chattanooga as the Volunteers began digging their way out of their slowest start in over three decades.

Tennessee (1-2) is trying to bounce back from its first 0-2 start since 1988, when the Vols dropped their first six games before finishing 5-6. The lopsided victory over Chattanooga (1-2) provides Tennessee a momentum boost before the Vols open SEC play next week to begin a grueling monthlong stretch.