No. 4 Cincinnati stays unbeaten via win at ECU
Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes as No. 4 Cincinnati, aiming to maintain its position in the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings, completed a perfect regular season by beating East Carolina 35-13 Friday in Greenville, North Carolina.
The Bearcats (12-0, 8-0 American Athletic Conference) are trying to become the first team outside of a Power Five conference to compete in the four-team CFP. They’ll play host to Houston next week in the AAC title game.
This outcome was largely achieved because of Cincinnati’s defense. As a bonus, Arquon Bush blocked a field goal and Ahmad Gardner returned the ball 60 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown to make it 28-6.
ECU (7-5, 5-3) had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Ridder finished 17-for-28 for 301 yards with two interceptions.
“You see why they’re in contention for a national championship,” East Carolina coach Mike Houston said. “I thought our kids played really, really hard. I thought they did many things well. … For our young players, it’s a great learning experience.”
Air Force 48, UNLV 14: The host Falcons (9-3, 6-2 Mountain West) closed their regular season without throwing a pass, running on all 69 snaps for 511 yards as they dominated UNLV 48-14. Brad Roberts had 98 yards and two scores on 16 carries, and Emmanuel Michel had 123 yards and a TD on 12 rushes against the Rebels (2-10, 2-6).
No. 25 Arkansas 34, Missouri 17: KJ Jefferson completed 15 of 19 passes for 262 yards and a touchdown and ran six times for a team-high 58 yards for the host Razorbacks (8-4, 4-4 SEC). Arkansas’ most successful season in a decade is complete just two seasons removed from the worst two seasons in school history.
Tyler Badie ran for 219 yards and a score for the Tigers (6-6, 3-5).
No. 19 Utah 28, Colorado 13: Cameron Rising threw three touchdown passes, Tavion Thomas ran for 142 yards and a score, and the host Utes (9-3, 8-1 Pac-12) won their fifth straight game. They rushed for 265 yards and held Colorado (4-8, 3-6 Pac-12) to 148 yards of total offense with the conference title game looming.
Rising scrambled and found Britain Covey on an improvised forward pitch for a 13-yard touchdown with 6:45 left in the third quarter to cap the scoring.
Thomas proved tough to tackle on any play, but especially when he powered through the first level and into the secondary to extend his school record to 18 rushing TDs.
Rising was 14-of-23 for 179 yards passing. T.J. Pledger added 103 yards on the ground.
Colorado’s Brendon Lewis was harassed all game and finished with 84 yards passing, going 9-for23, with four sacks.
FRIDAY
No. 9 Mississippi 31, Mississippi State 21: Snoop Conner ran for two touchdowns for Ole Miss, which scored 21 straight points for a road victory in Starkville in a windy, rainy and cold Egg Bowl. Matt Corral ran for a touchdown and passed for 229 yards to help Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC) overcome an early 6-3 deficit. Corral was 25 of 33 with an interception. Will Rogers was 38 of 58 for 336 yards for the Bulldogs (7-5, 4-4).