Texas A&M finishes strong vs. Auburn
AUBURN, ALA.— Texas A&M looked every bit the playoff contender with a seemingly unstoppable offense and impenetrable defense — in the fourth quarter, at least. And that was plenty. Kellen Mond passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third and the fifth-ranked Aggies scored 17 points in the fourthquarter of acomefrom-behind 31-20 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
The Aggies (7-1, CFP No. 5) dominated the final quarter to win their sixth straight and remain in College Football Playoff contention. The Tigers (5-4), who have gone 0-3 against teams ranked in the top five at the time, led 20-14 entering the fourth.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher wasn’t interested in speculating on howthe win might affect his team’s playoff chances.
“That’s for y’all to judge,” Fisher told reporters. “I’m gladwe’re winning, I’m glad we’re playing. I don’t’ really care. We’ll evaluate everything at the end of the year.”
Mond rebounded fromhis worst game of the season against LSU with a strong performance. He completed 18 of 23 for 196 yards, highlighted by two TDs to Jalen Wydermyer, and ran for 60 yards.
■ TCU 29, Oklahoma State 22: TCU quarterback Max Duggan threw a go- ahead, 71- yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter and ran for two more scores as the Horned Frogs held off No. 19 Oklahoma State 29-22 on Saturday.
Duggan threw for 265 yards and ran for 104 to lead the Horned Frogs (5-4, 5-4 Big 12).
Derius Davis caught the long TD pass in stride near the 25 with 7:56 left to give the Horned Frogs the lead. They stayed in front when
T rev on Mo eh rig made a onehanded interception of a deflected pass in the end zone, and TCU had a fourthdownstop with 2:18 left after its own turnover.
Oklahoma State (6-3, 5-3), with a makeup game remaining at Baylor, wasn’t necessarily eliminated from making the Big 12 championship game in two weeks, butwould need a lot of help to get there.
■ Rice 20, Marshall 0: Safety Nae em Smith returned one of fiveMarshall interceptions for a touchdown and Rice shockedthe 15th-ranked Thundering Herd 20-0 on Saturday.
The three- touchdown underdogOwls (2-2, 2-2 Conference USA) beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 1997 despite being without their two top offensive weapons and getting outgained 245 yards to 213.
Marshall (7-1, 4-1) saw its bid to keep a perfect season
going end.
■ North Carolina 49, Western Carolina 9: Michael Carter rushed for three touchdowns and Sam Howell threw for two touchdowns as North Carolina rolled pastWestern Carolina n its home finale Saturday.
North Carolina (7-3, No. 17 CFP) built a 42-3halftime lead against the Football Championship Subdivision opponent.
Nine different players caught passes from Howell, who was 20 of 23 for 287 yards before sitting out the second half. Those connections included a 22-yard hook-up to Antoine Green, who made his first catch of the season on the first-quarter play, and a 26-yard strike to Dazz Newsome with 49 seconds left in the first half.
TheTarHeels pickedup16 firstdownsafter just26 snaps on offense. They topped the 40-point mark for the sixth time this year.