Vanderbilt fires head coach Derek Mason
Vanderbilt fired coach Derek Mason on Sunday after losing the first eight games of his seventh season, and offensive coordinator Todd Fitch will serve as the interim coach.
Mason posted a statement on Twitter thanking Nashville and Vanderbilt for embracing his family. He said he was grateful to be Vanderbilt's coach the past seven years.
Hired in 2014 as Vanderbilt's 28th coach, Mason replaced James Franklin when he left for Penn State. Mason came to Vanderbilt after being associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Stanford. He became the first Vanderbilt coach since the 1920s to beat in-state rival Tennessee three straight seasons.
He guided the Commodores to a bowl twice in three seasons, the last clinched with a 38-13 rout of Tennessee in November 2018.
Alabama remains unanimous top team in AP poll
Alabama is the unanimous No. 1 again in The Associated Press college football poll as the top eight teams in the rankings held steady for the fourth week in a row.
The Crimson Tide got 62 first-place votes for the second consecutive week and are followed by No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Clemson.
Southeastern Conference teams Texas A& M and Florida are fifth and sixth, respectively. Unbeaten Cincinnati is seventh and undefeated BYU is eighth.
The changes in the poll came after that, with Miami inching up to No. 9 and Indiana returning to the top 10.
From the Big 12, Iowa State is No. 12 followed by 13th-ranked Oklahoma and 19th- ranked Oklahoma State. Texas fell out of the top 25. Tulsa is No. 22. UTEP: The Miners suspended football activities Sunday and called off another game after “multiple members” of the football team tested positive for COVID-19. UTEP won't play host to Southern Miss as scheduled Friday after scrapping this weekend's game at Rice because of the positive tests.
LSU: Terrace Marshall Jr. has decided to opt out for the rest of this season, leaving the Tigers without their leading receiver on the week they're scheduled to host No. 1 Alabama
Late Saturday
BAYLOR 32, KANSAS STATE 31:
Charlie Brewer confidently moved Baylor down the field and John Mayers kicked a 30-yard field goal on the final play. Mayers' kick gave the Bears a 32-31 win over Kansas State on a rainy Saturday, snapping a fivegame losing streak. They lost on a game-ending field goal their last game, the second in a row in which they blew a two-touchdown lead after halftime. Brewer completed 31 of 39 passes for 349 yards and
two touchdowns. The senior quarterback completed four passes in a row for 45 yards on the final drive.
TCU 59, KANSAS 23: Max Duggan threw for touchdowns on his only three completions while running 58 yards for another score, TCU ran for 337 yards in all, and the Horned Frogs bludgeoned their way to a victory despite coach Gary Patterson estimating his team was “missing close to 40 guys” due to COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and run-of-the-mill injuries.
NO. 5 TEXAS A&M 20, LSU 7: Isaiah Spiller ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and Buddy Johnson returned an interception for a score in Texas A&M's victory.
NO. 13 GEORGIA 45, SOUTH CAROLINA 16:
James Cook ran for 104 yards on just six carries and three other Georgia backs had at least 77 yards
WASHINGTON 24, UTAH 21:
Down 21-0 at halftime, Washington capped its comeback with Dylan Morris hitting Cade Otton on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 36 seconds left to give the Huskies a win.
UCLA 27, ARIZONA 10:
Demetric Felton rushed for career-high 206 yards and a touchdown, Brittain Brown added two scores on 72 yards as the Bruins defeated Arizona at the Rose Bowl.