Aggies win and make a CFP case
K ellen Mo nd threw for 281 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 59 yards and a score Saturday, allowing No. 5 Texas A&Mto close its case for a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 34-13 victory overTennessee.
Isaiah Spiller ran for 89 yards and a touchdown, and Ainias Smith scored once rushing and once receiving.
Mond completed 26 of 32 passes as theAggies (8-1, No. 5CFP) finished their regular season and hoped for an upset or twowithin the CFP’s top four.
“I haven’t lobbied or said a word up until now,” Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We lost to the No. 1 team in the country, then won seven games in a row. We can play with anybody. We play in the best league in ball. Some teams aren’t evenplaying sevengames. They’re supposed to pick the best four.”
Tennessee (3-7) has lost seven of its last eight games, ramping up speculation about Jeremy Pruitt’s future asVols coach.
“And I get it, 3-7 is not wherewewant to be right now, you know?” Pruitt said. “But there’s one thing I can say: I can lay my head down on my pillow every night and know that I’ve done everything I could possibly do to make sure we protected everybody in our program.”
Harrison Bailey and J.T. Shrout combinedto throwfor 189 yardsandtwo touchdowns for theVols.
The Aggies had trouble getting separation in the second half. Up 24-13 at halftime, the Aggies flirted with pulling away in the third quarter, but a red zone interception ended the threat.
“After the interception, wehadthe ability to keep our composure and continue to fight,” Mondsaid. “Itwas tremendous.
“The older guys show the poise and composure that we always talk about. Thatkeeps theyoungguys calm. ‘OK, let’s move on to the next play.’”
It wasn’t until the 9:02 mark of the fourth quarter that Texas A& M got some breathing room. Mond engineered an 88-yarddrive, with akey playof a 28-yard pass to JalenWydermeyer, that ended with a 1- yard run by Smith for a 31-13 lead.
Smith had two big runs accounting for 50 yards on the Aggies’ last possession. It ended in a 21-yard field goal that accounted for the 34-13 final.
Ducks knockoffUSC: Oregon didn’t win itsPac-12division, andit only got into the championship game because Washington had to dropout. The Ducks hadn’ t won a game in nearly a month before they took the Coliseum field Friday night.
They still ended up celebrating amid confetti and streamers in their rivals’ empty stadium.
After yet another display of the big-game poise theirWest Coast foes so often lack, the Ducks are back-to-back conference champions. Anthony Brown threw two touchdown passes in his unusual Oregon debut, Jamal Hill made his second interception with 2:47 to play, and the Duckswon their second straight Pac-12 title with a 31-24 victory over No. 13 Southern California.
Vols QB set to transfer: Tennessee quarter back J arr ettGua rant ano,wh os tarted the first sevengamesthis falland32in his career, has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal as a graduate, according to ESPN. Guarantano entered the portal shortly afterTennessee’s 34-13 loss toNo. 5Texas A&Mon Saturday. He did not appear in thegame. Guarantano completed62% of his passes for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns with four interceptions this season. He lost the starting job toHarrison Bailey, who started the past three games for theVols.
Utah rallies in season finale: Ty Jordan ran for 154 yards and three touchdowns to rally Utah to a 45-28 victory over Washington State on Saturday.
BritainCovey added a career-high 134 yards and a touchdownon six catches to help power the Utes’ comeback effort. Backup quarter back Drew Lisk threw for 152 yards inrelief of starter Jake Bentley.
Utah(3-2, 3-2Pac-12) out scored Washington State 38-0 in the second half to notch its third straight victory to end the 2020 season. JaydenDe Laura threwfor 204 yards, a touchdown, and an interception to lead the Cougars. Max Borghi added 95 yards and a touchdown on the ground. WashingtonState (1-3, 1-3) closed the season with its third straight loss.
NofansinRoseBowl: TheRoseBowlwas denied a special exemptionfromthe state of California to allow a few hundred fans to attend the College Football Playoff semifinal Jan. 1, putting the game staying in Pasadena in serious doubt.
A person involved with organizing the game told The Associated Press the Tournament of Roses’ request was denied earlier thisweek.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff were still finalizing a plan forwhattodowith thegame. Adecisionwas expected before the playoffteams are selectedSunday, the person said. If the game is moved a likely site would be AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The CFP offices are located in suburbanDallas.