Texas St. fires Spavital; Kansas St. win eliminates UT
Texas State coach Jake Spavital was fired Sunday after four seasons in which the Bobcats won just 13 games.
Texas State finished its second consecutive 4-8 season on Saturday with a 41-13 loss at home to Louisiana-lafayette.
The Sun Belt program has had only one winning season since moving up to the FBS in 2012.
“I strongly believe that Texas State Football can consistently win at a high level,” athletic director Don Coryell said in statement. “We have some of college football’s most passionate and generous fans and supporters; we have tremendous facilities; we are located in a hotbed of football-driven communities and recruits and we are working on providing the necessary resources to enable our student-athletes and coaches to be successful.”
Spavital, 37, was one of the youngest head coaches in major college football when he was hired after the 2018 season.
Longhorns won’t play in Big 12 title game
Kansas State (9-3, 7-2 Big 12) defeated Kansas (6-6, 3-6) 47-27 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium to advance to the Dec. 3 Big 12 championship game against TCU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
If Kansas had won, Texas would have played No. 4 TCU (12-0, 9-0) for the conference title next weekend. And win or lose, the Longhorns would have landed the Big 12’s spot in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Texas will likely play in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio if TCU defeats the Wildcats in the Big 12 championship game. If Kansas State wins and dashes the Horned Frogs’ College Football Playoff hopes, the Longhorns are expected to play in the Cheez-it Bowl in Orlando.
Nick Moyle
Wisconsin on verge of hiring Fickell
Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell informed his team on Sunday that he is leaving the school, paving the way for him to become the next head coach at Wisconsin.
A person with knowledge of Fickell’s decision told the Associated Press that Fickell was leaving and veteran assistant coach Kerry Coombs was being named interim coach of the Bearcats.
Arizona State hires Oregon’s Dillingham
Arizona State has hired Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham as head coach.
Dillingham spent two seasons at Arizona State before following Mike Norvell to Memphis, where he spent three seasons. Dillingham was named Auburn’s offensive coordinator in 2019 and spent two seasons in the same position at Florida State.
Also Sunday Stanford’s David Shaw resigned, effective immediately, after 12 seasons as Stanford’s head coach following the team’s 36-25 loss to BYU in its season finale.
Oregon State rallies for upset of Oregon
Isaiah Newell ran for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:11 remaining, and No. 21 Oregon State took advantage of critical mistakes in the fourth quarter by No. 9 Oregon to rally for a 38-34 victory Saturday.
Williams propels USC over Notre Dame
Caleb Williams polished his Heisman credentials with 232 yards passing and four total touchdowns, and No. 6 USC capped its outstanding regular season under new coach Lincoln Riley by staying firmly in the College Football Playoff race with a 38-27 victory over No. 15 Notre Dame on Saturday night.