PASADENA, Calif. — Kevin Hogan passed for 234 yards and two touchdowns, and Stanford crushed No. 9 UCLA’s hopes for the Pac-12 South title and a College Football Playoff spot with a 31-10 victory Friday.
Devon Cajuste and Michael Rector caught scoring passes for the Cardinal (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12) as the two-time defending Pac-12 champions salvaged some satisfaction from a down season by trouncing the Bruins (9-3, 6-3, No. 8 CFP) for the seventh consecutive time.
With a dynamite 16-for-19 performance by Hogan and two rushing TDs from Remound Wright, Stanford snatched the South title away from UCLA, which needed a victory to advance to the conference title game. Instead, the Bruins flopped in another big game and Stanford handed the division crown to Arizona, a 42-35 winner over Arizona State on Friday.
“We had very good preparation,” Hogan said. “We knew what looks they were going to be in, and I got great protection. We had a lot of fun.”
Brett Hundley passed for 146 yards in likely his final home game for the Bruins, losing a matchup with Hogan for the fourth time in three years.
After an up-and-down season, an inspired Hogan made sure the Cardinal didn’t miss top receiver Ty Montgomery, who sat out with a shoulder injury. Hogan completed his first 12 passes, scrambled for key yards and showed poise in the pocket, particularly in avoiding a sack before uncorking a 37-yard TD throw to Cajuste 41 seconds before halftime to cap a 92-yard drive.
NO. 12 ARIZONA 42, NO. 13 ARIZONA ST. 35
TUCSON, Ariz. — Nick Wilson ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns and Arizona held off Arizona State in the Territorial Cup to win the Pac-12 South title.
Arizona (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12, CFP No. 11) needed to beat its biggest rival and have Stanford knock off No. 9 UCLA to win the Pac-12 South. The Cardinal took care of the first part by rolling over the Bruins. The Wildcats handled their end with a stream of big plays and a final defensive stand.
Arizona will face No. 3 Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game on Dec. 5.
Arizona State (9-3, 6-3, CFP No. 13) got a spark by replacing Taylor Kelly with Mike Bercovici, but a final drive stalled at Arizona’s 40. Bercovici threw two TD passes, but had a key interception that led to a score.
Anu Solomon threw for 208 yards and hit Samajie Grant on a pair of touchdown passes for Arizona.
NO. 17 MISSOURI 21, ARKANSAS 14
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Marcus Murphy scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 12-yard run with 4:38 remaining and Markus Golden recovered a fumble to seal Missouri’s victory over Arkansas and send the Tigers to the SEC championship game for the second straight season.
Missouri (10-2, 7-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 17 CFP) tied it at 14 early in the fourth quarter with a 98-yard drive capped by Jimmie Hunt’s 4-yard TD reception and a reverse pass by receiver Bud Sasser to Darius White for the 2-point conversion. Arkansas (6-6, 2-6) was driving for the tie when Kentrell Brothers stripped Alex Collins and Golden recovered with 2:13 to go at the Missouri 35 to thwart Arkansas’ bid to tie it.
A sellout crowd of 71,168 stuck around for the fourth quarter surge by the Tigers that kept Georgia out of the SEC title game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta. The Bulldogs (9-2, 6-2) would have won the East by virtue of a blowout victory against Missouri earlier in the season.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 67, NO. 19 MARSHALL 66, OT
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Brandon Doughty threw a Conference USA-record eight touchdown passes, the last in overtime to Jared Dangerfield followed by a 2-point conversion pass to Willie McNeal that lifted Western Kentucky over Marshall.
Marshall’s Rakeem Cato had seven touchdown passes but threw four interceptions as the teams combined for 1,446 yards of offense.
Doughty broke the previous conference record of six TD passes. He was 34 of 50 for 491 yards.
Western Kentucky (7-5, 4-4 Conference USA) foiled Marshall’s bid for the fourth perfect season in school history. The teams tied the Bowl Subdivision record for the most combined points scored in a game involving a ranked team, set when West Virginia beat Baylor 70-63 in 2012. It was the highest-scoring game in Conference USA history, eclipsing East Carolina’s 65-59 win over Marshall in double overtime in 2012.
Marshall (11-1, 7-1) saw its 13-game home winning streak snapped and likely lost its chance to earn a place in the New Year’s bowls. The College Football Playoff committee will pick one team from outside the five major conferences for one guaranteed spot. Marshall was 24th in the CFP this week, one place behind Boise State, which plays Utah State on Saturday.
Marshall already has qualified for next week’s conference championship and will meet the winner of Saturday’s game between Rice and Louisiana Tech.
AIR FORCE 27, NO. 21 COLORADO ST. 24
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Will Conant made a 39-yard field goal as time expired after backup quarterback Nate Romine completed a long pass, and Air Force upset Colorado State to snap the Rams’ nine-game winning streak.
Fullbacks Shayne Davern and D.J. Johnson scored for Air Force (9-3, 5-3 Mountain West Conference), which has won six straight over the Rams (10-2, 6-2) at Falcon Stadium.
Romine stepped in for starter Kale Pearson, who was a late scratch with a tender right ankle. Romine ran for a score and threw for 135 yards, including a 26-yard strike to Garrett Brown to get the Falcons in field-goal range.
This after Colorado State went for it on fourth-and-short in Air Force territory, only to have Dee Hart stopped short.
UNLV coach Hauck to step down
LAS VEGAS — UNLV finally took a step forward under Bobby Hauck last year, only to backslide and cost him his job.
Hauck will step down after coaching the Rebels’ season finale against Nevada on Saturday. UNLV is 2-10 this season after going to a bowl game last year for the first time since 2000.
Athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy announced Friday that Hauck had submitted his resignation, effective Monday.
“No one has worked harder in trying to achieve consistent success with our football program than Coach Hauck and we thank him for his dedication and leadership,” Kunzer-Murphy said. “He and his staff have worked tirelessly in trying to achieve the results we all want to see but it unfortunately has not happened.
Hauck had two years left on his contract and will receive a buyout of $400,000.
The Rebels are 15-48 in five seasons under Hauck, going 11-27 in the Mountain West Conference. UNLV had three straight two-win seasons under Hauck before he led the Rebels to a 7-6 record and the bowl appearance last year.
By wire sources