In the national championship race, TCU made the big news Saturday.
The Horned Frogs upset No. 5 Boise State 36-35, scoring a touchdown and a 2-point conversion with 1:05 remaining to take the lead. Broncos kicker Dan Goodale booted a 39-yard field-goal attempt wide right as time expired.
Consider Boise State’s national championship hopes over, as well as its chances to reach the Bowl Championship Series.
It’s the second straight season the Broncos’ unbeaten run ended with missed kicks. Two errant short field goals helped Nevada beat Boise State 34-31 in overtime last November.
Kellen Moore and the Broncos (8-1, 3-1) will again likely be relegated to a second-tier bowl.
TCU has a clear path to the Mountain West Conference title in its final year with the league. The Frogs also have won a league-record 22 straight games against conference foes and an MWC-record 12 consecutive conference road games.
Boise State’s 35-game home winning streak was also snapped.
In State College, Pennsylvania, No. 12 Penn State lost the first game of the post-Joe Paterno era, 17-14 to No. 19 Nebraska.
Paterno was fired Wednesday amid questions about whether he did enough to stop, report or investigate what a grand jury report said was the molestation of boys as young as 10 by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Alfred Blue and Kenny Hilliard each scored two touchdowns, and No. 1 LSU overcame a slow start.
One week after playing most of LSU’s 9-6 overtime victory at Alabama, Jordan Jefferson made his first start of the season against the Hilltoppers, hitting 8 of 14 passes for 168 yards, including a 59-yard scoring strike to Rueben Randle.
LSU (10-0), which came in favored by nearly six touchdowns, led only 14-7 at halftime before dominating the second half.
In Lubbock, Texas, Brandon Weeden threw for 423 yards and five touchdowns and Joseph Randle ran for three more scores to send the Cowboys to the first 10-0 start in school history.
The Cowboys, who improved to 7-0 in the Big 12, next play at Iowa State before closing their season at home against Oklahoma in the Bedlam game. Win both, and they likely will be headed to the BCS championship game.
Weeden threw touchdown passes of 2, 27, 28, 48 and 66 yards, and had no interceptions before his backup came in late in the third quarter. Justin Blackmon and Josh Cooper each had more than 100 yards receiving.
In Stanford, California, LaMichael James ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns and Oregon sprinted past Stanford.
James ran for scores from 1, 4 and 58 yards and had Stanford (9-1, 7-1) defenders slipping all over a slick field. The Ducks (9-1, 7-0) ended the nation’s best winning streak at 17 games — which the Cardinal began after a loss in Eugene more than a year ago — and can clinch the league’s North Division crown over Stanford with a win in one of their final two games.
In Starville, Mississippi, Trent Richardson rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown and Alabama’s defense gave up just 131 total yards.
It was a typical no-frills victory for Alabama (9-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference), which has won nine of its last 11 against Mississippi State, including four straight. The Crimson Tide defense has held 11 straight opponents to 14 points or less.
Alabama struggled again with field goals, missing two of them in the first half after missing four in last week’s loss to No. 1 LSU. But Richardson and Eddie Lacy, who rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns, made up for those miscues.
In Boise, Idaho, Casey Pachall threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Carter with 1:05 left, then connected with Josh Boyce on the go-ahead 2-point conversion, and Boise State’s Dan Goodale booted a 39-yard field-goal attempt wide right as time expired.
Pachall threw for 473 yards and five touchdowns as the Horned Frogs (8-2, 5-0) secured a clear path to the Mountain West Conference title and snuffed out the Broncos’ hopes of playing in the BCS championship game.
After Broncos running back Drew Wright fumbled in TCU territory with 2:26 remaining, Pachall marched the Horned Frogs down the field, capping a seven-play scoring drive with a TD pass to Carter to close to 35-34.
In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Dennis Johnson accounted for 140 total yards and a pair of touchdowns and Arkansas won its sixth straight.
The Razorbacks (9-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) kept alive their hopes for a second-straight BCS bowl game — and possibly more. They also earned their seventh straight win against an SEC East opponent.
Johnson led Arkansas with 97 yards rushing, including a 71-yard touchdown run in the first half. He also had 43 yards receiving.
In Clemson, South Carolina, Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired and No. 9 Clemson rallied from 14 points down in the second half to win the ACC Atlantic Division title.
Catanzaro missed a 30-yard attempt 2 minutes before his game-winner for the Tigers (9-1, 6-1). However, Clemson’s defense quickly got the ball back for one last drive. This time, Catanzaro’s attempt was straight and true and sent the Tigers to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game for the second time in three years.
Catanzaro was mobbed by teammates as fans swarmed the field in celebration.
In Iowa City, Iowa, Kirk Cousins threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns and 13th-ranked Michigan State took control of the Big Ten’s Legends Division.
B.J. Cunningham caught a pair of TD passes for the Spartans, who snapped a seven-game losing streak at Iowa dating to 1989.
Michigan State (8-2, 5-1) took a commanding 31-7 lead with two touchdowns in a 36-second stretch late in the second quarter. Cunningham followed Le’Veon Bell’s 25-yard TD run with a 22-yard touchdown catch to put Michigan State up by 24 at the break.
