Mississippi St beats Illinois in 1st game since Leach death
Massimo Biscardi made a 27-yard tiebreaking field goal with four seconds left and Marcus Banks returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown on the game’s last play as No. 24 Mississippi State rallied to beat Illinois 19-10 in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Brawl mars Mississippi State's Armed Forces win over Tulsa
(AP Photo/Jim Cowsert)FORT WORTH, Texas – A bowl victory that increased Mississippi State’s win total this season to four and No. Tulsa outgained Mississippi State in total offense 484 yards to 271, but the Bulldogs got 138 valuable kickoff return yards from Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin. Mississippi State answered with Rogers’ 13-yard throw to Griffin to go ahead 28-19. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs played in their school-record 11th consecutive bowl thanks to pandemic qualification exemptions. Mississippi State: For all of Leach’s Air Raid offenses at various stops, Rogers was his first true freshman quarterback.
Army left out in Bowl Day marred by cancellations, opt outs
When that bowl game was called off because there was not another team available, it suddenly left Army looking for a postseason opponent. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)At a time when team after team had opted out of bowl games, Army found itself in a different sort of situation — left out. “It was a difficult day for all of college football,” said Nick Carparelli, the executive director of Bowl Season, the renamed Football Bowl Association. For the Hokies, the decision ended a 27 straight bowl game run. Some of the canceled bowl games — 15 in all, including three on Sunday alone — included the Bahamas Bowl, Celebration Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, LA Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, Quick Lane Bowl, Redbox Bowl and Sun Bowl.
Postponement, outbreaks: SEC takes a hit from COVID-19
The conference on Monday postponed Saturday’s game between No. 20 Auburn and Mississippi State because of positive COVID-19 cases and quarantining within the Bulldogs’ program. Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said the Bulldogs were just a player away from having to postpone last Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt. 5 Texas A&M paused in-person activities after a player and a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a win at South Carolina. LSU is battling an outbreak that could put Saturday's game against No.
AP Top 25: No. 2 Alabama closes gap with Clemson; Liberty in
2 Alabama heading into a huge ACC matchup at fourth-ranked Notre Dame this week. The rest of the top five remained the same, with Ohio State at No. 1 on their ballots had Clemson third behind Ohio State. Penn State had the fourth-longest active streak behind Alabama (205), Ohio State (138) and Clemson (94). 4 Notre Dame: Another “biggest game of the year” — until the next one.
College Football Picks: UGA vs. 'Bama and BYU's tough test
Alabama quarterback Mac Jones (10) hands off to running back Najee Harris (22) during the second half of the team's NCAA college football game against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. Alabama won 63-48. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
College Football Picks: UGA vs. 'Bama and BYU's tough test
Alabama won 63-48. 2 Alabama in a game that could very well be first of three meetings between the SEC superpowers. A conference title rematch in Atlanta would surprise no one and another meeting in the College Football Playoff would hardly be shocking. UCF (minus 3 1/2) at Memphis — @alanwooten19Knights have won 13 straight against the Tigers; average score in the last three: 50-42 ... UCF 45-44. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Arkansas snaps 20-game SEC skid, 21-14 vs. Mississippi St.
Costello three times as the Razorbacks broke a 20-game SEC losing streak by upsetting No. 16 Mississippi State 21-14 on Saturday night. The Razorbacks allowed plenty of yards but made Mississippi State settle for small chunks. Mississippi State: The loud voices of praise Leach will be quiet this week. Mississippi State will head to Kentucky.
AP Top 25: Hurricanes move up to No. 8 following romp of FSU
The Miami Hurricanes moved into the top ten of the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, which was released on Sunday. Miami continued its season ascension of the poll following a 52-10 romp of rival Florida State on Saturday night. Where I ranked teams previously, especially at the bottom of those polls, was irrelevant.”This is unlikely to get easier, though. The only big move up for the previously ranked teams was Miami, which jumped four spots to No. Army, Kentucky and Louisville all lost their games against other ranked teams and slipped out of the Top 25.
Costello's 623 yards lead Miss. St. past No. 6 LSU, 44-34
Mississippi State quarterback K.J. Costello (3) passes in the first half an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. Costello passed for an SEC record 623 yards and five touchdowns and the Bulldogs knocked off sixth-ranked LSU 44-34 on Saturday. If we can’t, we are going to have to play more zone.”Four of Costello's touchdown passes covered between 24 and 75 yards. Mississippi State, meanwhile, has made its case to crack the AP Top 25.
New Magnolia State coaches prepare for challenging debuts
FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, file photo, Lane Kiffin speaks to Mississippi fans after being announced as the new head football coach during a introductory press conference in Oxford, Miss. In attendance were his children, daughters Presley Kiffin, 13, left, Landry Kiffin, 15, second from left, and son Knox Kiffin, 10. Mississippi State's Mike Leach and Mississippi's Lane Kiffin brought big names and offensive pedigrees to the Magnolia State. But they drew huge challenges for their debuts, with the Bulldogs visiting defending national champion and No. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
New Magnolia State coaches prepare for challenging debuts
Mississippi State's Mike Leach and Mississippi's Lane Kiffin brought big names and offensive pedigrees to the Magnolia State. Mike Leach expected to start his first season at Mississippi State versus New Mexico. Instead, both coaches — and their respective offenses — will encounter stiffer challenges in their Magnolia State debuts. 5 Florida and ex-Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen as two-touchdown underdogs. Before Deion Sanders made a prime-time splash when he was hired by Jackson State on Monday; Leach and Kiffin were splashy hires in the state.
STAT WATCH: FBS record for TD passes among feats by Burrow
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy, the national championship and set the Football Bowl Subdivision record for touchdown passes in a season. The caveat: Gordon threw 160 more passes than Burrow, who averaged 378.1 yards per game. Burrow, the ninth quarterback and 16th player to win the Heisman and national title in the same season, ended the season with 60 TD passes against just six interceptions. Burrow went into the championship game against Clemson on track to set the FBS season completion record. CHOO CHOO CHUBAChuba Hubbard won the national rushing title, and he announced Monday he'll return to Oklahoma State to defend it.