Frogs take another giant leap

Confetti from a college football weekend

TCU 17, Texas 10

— Texas’ Bijan Robinson was getting Heisman support after he had averaged 153.5 points in his past four games. TCU probably ended that campaign by giving Robinson 29 yards in 12 carries, and denying Texas on 12 of 13 third down situations.

— While the defense was keeping Texas’ offense out of the end zone, Max Duggan was keeping the football in TCU’s pocket for 37 minutes, 22 seconds. His star runner, Kendre Miller, gained 138 yards on 21 carries.

— TCU is 10-0 for the first time in 12 years and has clinched a Big 12 championship spot, probably against Kansas State. The Frogs still have to go to Baylor, then play Iowa State at home, but unquestionably deserve to be in the top four in the College Football Playoff standings, announced on Tuesday.

Washington 37, Oregon 34

— The Ducks (9-2) came up in squash-colored uniforms and had their CFP hopes squashed in a loss that broke a 23-game home win streak. At least the committee won’t be faced with the absurdity of considering a team that began the season with a 49-3 loss, to Georgia.

— Oregon led 34-27 before Washington’s Michael Penix fired a 62-yard touchdown to Taj Davis, and Peyton Henry kicked the game-winner with 0:51 left. Penix continued his brilliant season by going 26 for 34, for 408 yards and two touchdowns.

— The Huskies improved to 8-2 after a 4-8 disaster in 2021, which means first-year coach Kalen deBoer probably should win Coach of the Year honors in the Pac-12.

Arizona 34, UCLA 28

— UCLA (8-2) also lost a fourth-quarter lead, this one 28-24 on a 5-yard touchdown by Zach Charbonnet with 10:22 left. Arizona tied it on Jayden de Laura’s 17-yarder to reshman Tetarioa (T-Mac) McMillan, and Tyler Loop’s field goal with 1:07 put U of A ahead.

— Arizona was 2-for-2 on fourth down and averaged 10.8 yards per pass. Down by three with 5:47 left, UCLA went for a fourth-and-six on its own 36 and Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw incomplete, setting up the Wildcats for a field goal. UCLA then worked its way to the Wildcats’ 29, but DTR was 0-for-4 after that.

— This means USC is the only Pac-12 team that can make the CFP, and the Bruins can fix that by beating the Trojans Saturday. That would also put the Bruins in the Pac-12 title game against either Utah or Oregon. In eight previous CFPs, the Pac-12 has been represented only twice, and never since 2017.

LSU 13, Arkansas 10

— Josh Williams scored the Tigers’ only touchdown on a cold, loud day in Fayetteville, but LSU (8-2) rode its defense to a win that sends them to the SEC Championship Game.

— The man of the match was undoubtedly Harold Jenkins Jr., the freshman linebacker (pictured). Although he had the flu, Jenkins had four sacks and forced two fumbles, including the game-clincher that was recocvered by Mekhi Wingo.

— For the season Jenkins has seven and a half sacks with eight tackles for loss. He’s 6-foot-2, 220 and played high school footbal in Cypress, Tex., after his family was driven out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

Alabama 30, Mississippi 24

— The Crimson Tide has learned to depend on safety Brian Branch, who missed only one tackle in his first two seasons. On Saturday he broke up Jaxson Dart’s final pass in the end zone, and preserved a win for Alabama that handed the SEC West title for LSU.

— Ole Miss (8-2) failed to convert fourth downs on its two final series, and couldn’t protect a 17-7 second quarter lead. Alabama scored the final 13 points.

— “Bryce Young put on his Superman cape,” praised Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin. The reigning Heisman winner hit 21 of 33 passes and threw three touchdowns.

Central Florida 38, Tulane 31

— It was a big day in the Garden District of New Orleans. For the first time since 1949, two ranked teams would play on Tulane’s campus.

— The day belonged to UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, the Ole Miss transfer who has always been a run-pass threat. Plumlee ran 18 times for 176 yards, including touchdowns of 67 and nine yards. With 9:58 to go, UCI led 31-24 and had fourth-and-one on its own 34. The snap went to running back Isaiah Bowser, who threw to Plumlee on the right sideline. Tulane committed pass interference, and Bowser later scored.

— UCF, Tulane and Cincinnati are tied for the American Conference lead, and the Knights should beat Navy and South Florida to go 10-2, an impressive feat for coach Gus Malzahn. Did someone say the Auburn job is open?

Vanderbilt 24, Kentucky 21

— On Oct. 19, 2019 Vanderilt knocked off Missouri, 21-14. It lost its next 26 SEC games. The streak seemed likely to survive 2022, but Mike Wright drilled an 8-yard TD pass to Will Sheppard with :32 left on a chilly day in Lexington.

— Vandy’s three wins this year are against Hawaii, Elon and Northern Illinois and the Commodores lost to Georgia by 55 points three games ago. Wright had lost his job to freshman A.J. Swann, but Swann’s injury gave him another chance and he hit 12 of 23 passes on Saturday.

— Kentucky was 5-2 and was ranked three weeks ago but has lost four of six. Its defense gave up 263 yards rushing and allowed Vandy to convert 11 of 17 third downs. Clark Lea, the second-year Commodore coach, tried to restrain tears afterward. “We’re trying to build a program,” he said, “and that’s hard.”

Wyoming 14, Colorado State 13

— ‘Tis the season of rivalries that bear trophies, and Wyoming won the Bronze Boot when it came back to beat the Rams in Fort Collins on Saturday.

— The Cowboy also took over the Mountain West with a 5-1 record. This was the sixth time in seven years Wyoming has taken the Bronze Boot, although it wasn’t the mismatch it could have been. CSU has won only twice this year and has scored touchdowns on just four of its past 21 visits to the red zone.

— The ‘Border War’ is the oldest continuous fooball rivalry west of the Mississippi, and the two schools are only 66 miles apart.

Connecticut 36, Liberty 33

— When ex-UCLA coach Jim Mora took this job it seemed more like a sentence than an opportunity. UConn was 10-50 over its past five seasons. On Saturday the Huskies won their sixth game and became bowl eligible with an upset of 19th-ranked Liberty, which was coming off a win at Arkansas and was 8-2.

— With 5:43 left, freshman quarterback Zion Turner connected with Kevens Clericus for the 30-yard game-winner. Turner was 37-2 as the quarterback at St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and won three state championships, but a knee injury last year put off some recruiters. Shortly after Mora took the job he got Turner’s signatture.

— The Huskies are bowl-eligible with a 6-5 record. They have not had a winning season since they went 8-5 and lost the Fiesta Bowl to Oklahoma in 2010.

(Writer’s note: You were warned, when all this started, that The Morning After would occasionally deal with political happenings. This might happen sometime in the next few days.)

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