No. 23 USTA tops North Texas 48-27 in C-USA title game

Associated PressDec 3, 2022, 12:02 AM EST

USA Today

SAN ANTONIO – Frank Harris threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 49 yards and another score, lifting No. 23 UTSA to its second-straight Conference USA championship with a 48-27 victory over North Texas on Friday night at the Alamodome.

UTSA knocked off North Texas for the second time in six weeks. In a game on Oct. 21, it took Harris’ 10-yard pass to De'Corian Clark with 15 seconds remaining to give UTSA a 31-27 victory.

Not wanting a repeat of its regular-season finale a week earlier in which UTSA found itself in a 24-0 hole against UTEP, the team came out firing from the start, scoring on the opening possession.

After falling behind 10-7, the Roadrunners reeled off 17 unanswered points, including 10 in the final 1:12 of the first half to take a 24-10 lead at the break and never trailed again.

Harris and the offense, which has scored at least 30 points in 12 of 13 games this season, kept the pressure on, rolling up 571 yards of total offense. Harris had scoring passes of 32, 14, and 39 yards to senior Zakhari Franklin, and his fourth – a 16-yard toss to junior tight end Oscar Cardenas – sealed the victory with 4:07 left.

Junior quarterback Austin Aune, who engineered a scoring drive that got North Texas within 34-27 early in fourth quarter, threw for 194 yards and score, but was picked off twice.

The Roadrunners, who ran the table in conference play this season, improved to 11-2 and will await a bowl invitation. Projections include a potential bid from the New Orleans Bowl. North Texas fell to 7-6 and is bowl-eligible.

C-USA FAREWELL

The title game marked the final Conference-USA game for both programs, which are set to join the AAC beginning next season. UTSA leaves with back-to-back crowns and UNT bows out with two straight losses in the title gamet. The Mean Green lost to Florida Atlantic 41-17 in the 2017 C-USA championship.

WILL HE, WON’T HE?

Harris, a sixth-year senior who will still have one year of eligibility, has not decided if he will come back next season as the Runners’ signal caller. He set UTSA passing records for yards in season (3,865), career (9,158) and TDs in a season (31) and career (73).

QBS FOR THE BOOKS

While Franklin was setting a UTSA record for career touchdowns, UNT’s Aune’s lone scoring toss gave him a UNT season-record 32 touchdowns passes.

AP Top 25: Ohio State jumps to No. 2 past ‘Bama, Cincinnati

Associated PressNov 21, 2021, 4:11 PM EST

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ohio State is No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll, surging three spots Sunday past No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Cincinnati in a close vote.

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank for the seventh consecutive week, but for the second week in a row, No. 2 has changed.

Alabama slipped past Cincinnati last week and then Ohio State leapfrogged them both after routing Michigan State 56-7 on Saturday. The Buckeyes received 1,434 points from the media panel. The Crimson Tide had 1,423 and the Bearcats got 1,416.

Notre Dame is up to a season-high No. 5 and Michigan will go into its game against Ohio State next Saturday ranked No. 6. The winner of Buckeyes-Wolverines will play in the Big Ten championship game.

Oklahoma State moved to a season-high No. 7 and is one of three teams from the Big 12 residing in the back half of the top 10, along with No. 9 Baylor and No. 10 Oklahoma.

The Cowboys host the Sooners next Saturday in a Bedlam game that will help decide the Big 12 championship participants. Oklahoma State has clinched a spot, and Baylor and Oklahoma are still alive.

Mississippi rounds out the top 10 at No. 8.

POLL POINTS

Michigan State was one of two teams ranked in the top 10 last week to get blown out Saturday.

The Spartans dropped five spots to 12th after losing to Ohio State and Oregon fell from fourth to 11th after getting pounded 38-7 by Utah. The Utes moved up eight spots to No. 16.

The last time two top-10 teams lost by 30 or more points on the same day was Sept. 22, 1984, when No. 15 Florida State beat No. 4 Miami 38-3 and No. 1 Nebraska beat No. 8 UCLA 42-3.

– For the first time this season no teams fell out of the rankings.

Four ranked teams lost in total, with Wake Forest and Arkansas joining Oregon and Michigan State. The Demon Deacons were the only ranked team to lose to an unranked team. Wake’s lopsided loss at Clemson dropped the Deacs eight spots to No. 21.

No. 25 Arkansas fell four spots after losing at Alabama by a touchdown, narrowly keeping Clemson from returning to the Top 25 for the first time since the last weekend of September. The Razorbacks received 105 points to Clemson’s 101.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC – 5 (Nos. 1, 3, 8, 14, 25).

Big Ten – 5 (Nos. 2, 6, 12, 17, 18).

ACC – 3 (Nos. 20, 21, 24).

Big 12 – 3 (Nos. 7, 9, 10).

Pac-12 – 2 (Nos. 11, 16).

American – 2 (Nos. 4, 19).

Conference USA – 1 (No. 15).

Mountain West – 1 (No. 22).

Sun Belt – 1 (No. 23).

Independent – 2 (Nos. 5, 13).

RANKED vs. RANKED

– No. 2 Ohio State at No. 6 Michigan. For the 24th time, The Game will be a top-10 matchup.

– No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Oklahoma State. Bedlam will be a top-10 matchup for the third time. The last time was 2015 and the Sooners won by 35.

AP Top 25: Alabama jumps Cincinnati to No. 2 behind Georgia

Associated PressNov 14, 2021, 4:05 PM EST

Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Alabama jumped Cincinnati to No. 2 behind Georgia in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday and Oklahoma dropped eight spots to No. 12 after losing for the first time this season.

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank for the sixth consecutive week and the Southeastern Conference has the top two teams in the poll for the sixth time this season.

Alabama and Georgia were flip-flopped at Nos. 1 and 2 for five weeks in September and early October.

The switch from Cincinnati to Alabama at No. 2 was more about the Bearcats than the Crimson Tide, which closed the gap on UC to four points last week.

Alabama took care of business against overmatched New Mexico State on Saturday. No surprise there.

Cincinnati remained unbeaten after winning at South Florida 45-28 on Friday night. It was the fourth straight week the Bearcats played a team with a losing record and found themselves in a competitive game in the second half. That tipped a few more voters to drop Cincinnati.

Behind the Bearcats, No. 4 Oregon, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 8 Michigan and No. 9 Oklahoma State all moved up one spot after Oklahoma tumbled.

The Sooners were No. 4 before being handed their first loss of the season at Baylor on Saturday.

The Bears moved up to No. 11 behind No. 10 Mississippi.

POLL POINTS

Alabama has the longest current streak of top-five appearances in the AP Top 25 at 29. Georgia is second after running its streak to 12 this week.

At third is Cincinnati at seven straight polls. Oklahoma had been next coming into this weekend at five straight, but with that snapped, the next best top-five streak is Oregon with two straight polls.

Alabama holds the all-time record for top-five appearances with 68 from 2015-19.

The three teams entering the rankings this week have all been there earlier in the season.

– No. 21 Arkansas is back after beating LSU. The Razorbacks had a five-week run in the Top 25, reaching as high as No. 8 before three straight losses knocked them out. Three straight wins later, they’re back.

– No. 23 San Diego State returned after winning a crucial Mountain West game against Nevada. The Aztecs had a four-week stint in the rankings but have been out the last two.

– No. 24 Utah was preseason ranked, dropped out after Week 2 of the regular season and has been back and out a couple times. The Utes are back again after winning six of seven.

OUT

– Auburn dropped out after blowing a 28-3 lead against Mississippi State to fall to 6-4.

– Penn State is out for the first time this season after losing to Michigan at home, the Nittany Lions’ fourth loss in the last five games.

– Coastal Carolina is out for the first time this season, snapping a streak of 22 weeks being ranked. The Chanticleers lost for the second time this season with injured quarterback Grayson McCall out of the lineup against Georgia State.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC – 5 (Nos. 1, 2, 10, 16, 21).

Big Ten – 5 (Nos. 5, 7, 8, 18, 19).

ACC – 3 (Nos. 13, 20, 25).

Big 12 – 3 (Nos. 9, 11, 12).

Pac-12 – 2 (Nos. 4, 24).

American – 2 (Nos. 3, 17).

Conference USA – 1 (No. 15).

Mountain West – 1 (No. 23).

Sun Belt – 1 (No. 22).

Independent – 2 (Nos. 6, 14).

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RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 7 Michigan State at No. 5 Ohio State.

No. 21 Arkansas at No. 2 Alabama.

No. 4 Oregon at No. 24 Utah.