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No. 16 Texas vs No. 3 Texas A&M
Arch Manning passed for one touchdown and rushed for another as No. 16 Texas kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive with a 27-17 victory over No. 3 Texas A&M on Friday night in Southeastern Conference play at Austin, Texas.
Quintrevion Wisner rushed for 155 yards for the Longhorns (9-3, 6-2 SEC), who dominated the second half after trailing 10-3 at halftime. Manning completed 14 of 29 passes for 179 yards and added 53 rushing yards on seven attempts, giving Texas the balanced punch it needed in a high-pressure rivalry spot. Bettors tracking late-season moves on the college football odds and scores page saw Texas flip the script after the break with a dominant ground game.
Marcel Reed completed 20 of 32 passes for 180 yards but threw two fourth-quarter interceptions for Texas A&M (11-1, 7-1). He also gained 71 yards on 12 carries for the Aggies, who remain in strong College Football Playoff position but were eliminated from next weekend’s SEC championship game. Georgia clinched a spot due to the Aggies’ loss and will play either Alabama or Ole Miss, depending on the Crimson Tide’s result against Auburn on Saturday. KC Concepcion rushed for a touchdown for Texas A&M.
No. 2 Indiana 56, Purdue 3
Fernando Mendoza passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Kaelon Black rushed for two more scores as the Hoosiers rolled past host Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
Roman Hemby ran for 152 yards and a touchdown as the Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) cemented the best start in school history while locking up a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on Dec. 6. Indiana will face Ohio State, Michigan or Oregon, with the opponent to be determined after those teams play Saturday. The Hoosiers outgained Purdue 548-282, including a 355-44 edge on the ground, delivering exactly the kind of profile highlighted in Sportshub’s how to bet on football guide for handicappers who lean on rushing dominance and trench mismatches.
Purdue (2-10, 0-9) hung around early before fading and closed coach Barry Odom’s debut season on a 10-game losing streak. Ryan Browne was 25-for-47 for 238 yards and an interception. Nitro Tuggle gained 80 yards on five receptions, and Antonio Harris had 15 carries for 31 yards.
No. 4 Georgia 16, No. 23 Georgia Tech 9
Nate Frazier ran for 108 yards, and Gunner Stockton threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Zachariah Branch for the game’s only TD as the Bulldogs beat the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.
Stockton completed just 11 of 21 passes for 70 yards and threw an interception, but Georgia (11-1) controlled the game defensively, holding Georgia Tech to 69 rushing yards while relying on the ground game and special teams to grind out a rivalry victory.
Haynes King threw for 181 yards and an interception for Georgia Tech (9-3), which dropped three of its last four games to finish the regular season.
No. 7 Ole Miss 38, Mississippi State 19
Trinidad Chambliss threw four touchdown passes, De’Zhaun Stribling caught two of them and the Rebels all but clinched a CFP berth with a rivalry victory over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl at Starkville, Miss.
Chambliss completed 23 of 34 passes for 359 yards as the Rebels (11-1, 7-1 SEC) overcame the noise around head coach Lane Kiffin’s potential departure to win their third straight Egg Bowl. Ole Miss improved to 5-1 in the rivalry under Kiffin and continued to look like the kind of side backers target when trying to win more college football bets, thanks to an explosive passing game and consistent red-zone production.
Freshman Kamario Taylor made his first start and carried the Bulldogs’ offense, rushing for 173 yards and two touchdowns and passing for 178 yards. Mississippi State (5-7, 1-7) fell short of bowl eligibility for a third straight season after previously making 13 consecutive bowl appearances.
No. 13 Utah 31, Kansas 21
Devon Dampier passed for three touchdowns, Elijah Davis delivered a pivotal pick-6 in the fourth quarter and the Utes ended their Big 12 campaign with a win over Kansas in Lawrence, Kan.
With Utah clinging to a 17-14 lead with about eight minutes left, Davis intercepted Jalon Daniels — one of three Utah picks — and dashed 97 yards for his second pick-6 of the season, flipping momentum and giving the Utes (10-2, 7-2) breathing room. Dampier went 15 of 25 for 253 yards and hit Larry Simmons for two scores, with Simmons finishing with 97 yards on three catches.
The win briefly kept Utah’s Big 12 title game hopes alive, but No. 20 Arizona State’s loss to No. 25 Arizona later in the day eliminated the Utes. Kansas (5-7, 3-6) dropped its third straight in a bid for bowl eligibility and lost for the fifth time in its final six games.
No. 25 Arizona 23, No. 20 Arizona State 7
Noah Fifita passed for 286 yards and a touchdown, and Arizona crossed into Arizona State territory 11 times in a dominant rivalry performance in Tempe.
Arizona (9-3, 6-3 Big 12) has now won five straight games and three of the last four meetings against the Sun Devils. The Wildcats forced five turnovers, including three interceptions of Jeff Sims, who also fumbled on a mesh with Raleek Brown. Arizona repeatedly cashed in on short fields to control tempo.
Sims finished 11 of 25 for 114 yards for Arizona State (8-4, 6-3). Fifita completed 28 of 45 passes and consistently moved the chains. After Taye Brown recovered the fumbled exchange on the Arizona State 6-yard line with 12:22 left in the third quarter, Fifita connected with Cameron Barmore for a 9-yard touchdown, putting Arizona ahead 10-7 and shifting momentum for good. For bettors looking ahead, all of these rivalry results will feed into Sportshub’s college football picks as the postseason picture and futures markets continue to tighten.
