NCAA Football News and Notes: Power 5 Recaps

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In this final edition of the NCAA football news and notes, we look at the conference championships from this past week. Champions have been crowned and we now prepare for the bowl games.

#11 Utah vs #4 USC

The Pac-12 Championship. What a football game for both programs needing this huge win for their programs. Utah came into this with a 9-3 record as the 11th-ranked team in the nation. USC comes in as the fourth-ranked team with an 11-1 record with their only loss coming against Utah.

The Trojans started hot with Caleb Williams throwing two straight touchdowns on their first two drives. They were quickly up 14-3 over Utah. After a punt from Utah, they then kicked a field goal to go up 17-3 early in the second quarter. Utah had to respond with some points but they fumbled the ball while driving, giving the ball right back to USC. The Trojans then had a turnover on downs and Utah didn’t miss this time. They went down the field and Ja’Quinden Jackson rushed for an eight-yard touchdown to put the Utes down 10. USC then punted on their next drive and Utah had an opportunity for a late score. They did just that with Cameron Rising throwing a touchdown to tie the game at halftime, 17-17.

USC needed to win this game and it came down to this half. After a punt from each team, Cameron Rising threw a 57-yard touchdown to Money Parks to go up seven. The Trojans had no response punting the ball the next couple of drives and Caleb Williams did not look 100 percent while playing. After a field goal from Utah, USC needed a score and they did just that. Williams threw a pass to Mario Williams for the score to go down three. Unfortunately for USC, their defense isn’t too good, and Rising threw another touchdown for 60 yards. This put Utah up 10 then Williams threw an interception late in the fourth quarter. Yet again Utah scored another touchdown, this time from the legs of Ja’Quinden Jackson for 53 yards. Utah could start to smell the roses soon to be. This was the dagger to the USC hopefuls and their playoff hopes. The game ended with an upset, Utah 47-24.

Cameron Rising played out of his mind this game leading Utah to a championship. He threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns. Ja’Quinden Jackson played outstanding rushing for 105 yards on only 13 carries with two touchdowns. Money Parks and Thomas Yassmin combined for 169 yards on six receptions with two touchdowns. All around an amazing game for their offense and especially their defense limiting Caleb Williams to only score 24 points and having seven sacks. Williams threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns but threw a very crucial interception in the fourth quarter. Their rushing game was nonexistent all game which is never a good sign to win a football game.

Utah is now the Pac-12 champions and has a 10-3 record. They are now ranked as the eighth seed and play in the Rose Bowl for the second consecutive year. They will have a tough opponent in number 11 Penn State on January 2nd. For USC, their playoff hopes are over after this tough loss. They move down to the 10th-ranked team and play number 16 Tulane in the Cotton Bowl on January 2nd.

#10 Kansas State vs #3 TCU

The Big 12 championship. It went to the football team who won the rough and rowdy rivalry in a very close matchup. Kansas State came into this game with a 9-3 record and was the 10th-ranked team in the nation. On the other side, TCU came in as the third-ranked team and was currently a playoff team before the game started at 12-0.

Kansas State started with the ball and punted on their first drive to TCU. The Frogs had themselves a long drive in which they scored a touchdown from Taye Barber to score first. A couple of drives later after a TCU missed field goal, Kansas State finally responded. Will Howard threw a touchdown six yards out to Ben Sinnott to tie the game at seven a piece. After some punts, Will Howard scored on three plays with him scoring on a one-yard rushing touchdown to put them up seven in the second quarter. After some turnovers and punts, TCU finally got some points back on the board and that was through a field goal with State still up 14-10 at halftime.

TCU started with the football in the second half and they had to start to get going. TCU though did not get going, punting the ball right away and then having Kansas State score a touchdown on them to go up 21-10. After getting the ball back, TCU punted the ball right back to State but luckily, they muffed the punt. Kendre Miller took advantage of the fumble and went into the endzone for the score to go back down four. At the start of the fourth quarter, TCU was driving until Max Duggan threw a critical interception. Kansas State cashed that interception in with a Deuce Vaughn 44-yard touchdown to go back up 11. TCU needed some scores and some stops and that is exactly what they got. The Frogs scored a field goal then got a stop and then scored a touchdown on their next drive. They completed the two-point conversion and all of a sudden, we had a tie game. After a Kansas State punt, TCU kneeled it out, magically going to overtime.

TCU started with the ball and instantly they were in the RedZone. They made it to the Kansas State one-yard line on third and goal. Kansas State somehow stopped them not only on third down but on fourth down too. They now had the opportunity to win the Big 12 championship with a field goal. They could do just after getting into a great position for the win 31 yards out. TY Zenter nailed the field goal and that was the game. Kansas State won 31-28 in a huge upset.

Will Howard had himself a solid game throwing for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Deuce Vaughn had himself a nice day with 130 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Kansas State’s defense played outstanding all game keeping them in the game with limiting TCU’s high-scoring offense to 28. A big reason that happened was that Max Duggan was very inconsistent all game. He threw for 251 yards with a touchdown and a critical interception. Duggan did have a fantastic game on the ground rushing for 110 yards and a touchdown. Quentin Johnson had another stellar game receiving the ball for four receptions on 139 yards.

After this huge win for Kansas State, they are now 10-3 and move up to the ninth-ranked team in the nation. They now play in the Sugar Bowl against a tough matchup for them, number five Alabama. On the other side of the ball, TCU is very lucky they did not get kicked out of the playoffs. They stayed the same at number three and now have a date with Michigan in the college football semifinals on December 31st.