longview.

I sit around and watch the tube

But nothing's on

I change the channels for an hour or two

Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit

I'm sick of all the same old shit

In a house with unlocked doors and I'm fuckin' lazy

Bite my lip and close my eyes

Take me away to paradise

I'm so damn bored, I'm going blind

And I smell like shit

Peel me off this Velcro seat

And get me moving

I sure as hell can't do it by myself

I'm feeling like a dog in heat

Barred indoors from the summer street

I locked the door to my own cell and I lost the key

Bite my lip and close my eyes

Take me away to paradise

I'm so damn bored, I'm going blind

And I smell like shit

I got no motivation

Where is my motivation?

No time for no motivation

Smoking my inspiration

I sit around and watch the phone

But no one's calling

Call me pathetic, call me what you will

My mother says to get a job

But she don't like the one she's got

When masturbation's lost its fun, you're fuckin' lazy

Bite my lip and close my eyes

Take me away to paradise

I'm so damn bored, I'm going blind

And loneliness has to suffice

Bite my lip and close my eyes

I'm slipping away to paradise

Some say, quit or I'll go blind

But it's just a myth.

Troy: 2022 Sun Belt Football Champions

TROY, Ala. – On the one-year anniversary of his first team meeting as Troy's head coach, Sun Belt Coach of the Year Jon Sumrall led his team to the 2022 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Football Championship on his home field. 

Troy scored on five of its first six drives, jumping out to a 31-0 advantage, and never trailed Saturday en route to claiming the league title. The Trojans earned a 45-26 win against Coastal Carolina on Saturday in front of 21,554 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 

“A year ago today is the first time I had a team meeting here in this room with the guys about the direction we were about to take this thing,” Sumrall said. “I wanted them to understand that things weren’t going to be the same and we were going to work harder than they’d ever worked. They bought in. We invest deeply in relationships with our players and care deeply about them.” 

Troy (11-2) extended its win streak to 10 games. For the Trojans, it is their seventh all-time Sun Belt Football Championship and their third outright Sun Belt crown. Troy’s seventh all-time Sun Belt Football Championship marks the most by any program in league history. 

“I’m really proud of our guys for their toughness through adversity,” Sumrall said. “This bunch has earned it. They’ve adjusted to a lot of new things and changes that were probably uncomfortable at first. I could not be more proud to be the head coach of the Troy Trojans.” 

Troy’s 10-game winning streak – its longest at the FBS level – is the first for the Trojans since an 11-game spree in 1995. The streak began after the team started the season 1-2, including a heartbreaking 32-28 loss at App State on Sept. 17. 

Troy’s junior quarterback Gunnar Watson was named the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game Most Valuable Player. He completed 12-of-17 passes for 318 yards with three touchdown strikes. It was his fifth career three touchdown performance.  

“I think we had a really good plan for them,” Watson said. “It just seemed like everything was going right for us. I think when we came out the first drive and got a field goal, next drive we scored, momentum was on our side and we kept rolling with it.”  

Wide receiver RaJae’ Johnson caught four passes for 134 yards with a pair of touchdowns. His 134 receiving yards marked a Sun Belt Football Championship Game record. Fellow receiver Deshon Stoudemire had three catches for 99 yards with a touchdown. Running back DK Billingsley rushed for three touchdowns on 57 total yards, moving him into 10th place in Troy school history for career rushing touchdowns. 

Troy’s star linebacker Carlton Martial, the 2022 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, is the all-time leading tackler in NCAA FBS history. He finished with nine tackles on Saturday to give him Troy’s all-divisions school record for career tackles with 563. 

“When I lay my head down on my pillow, I think I’ll be satisfied,” Martial said. 

Coastal Carolina (9-3), which is 31-6 since the start of the 2020 campaign, lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2019. 

“First of all, let’s congratulate Jon and his staff and his team,” Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “They’re champions; they’ve earned that. They’ve had a tremendous season and they came out and really took it to us from the opening drive. We could not respond at all there in the first half. I was proud of our team trying to come back there in the second half. I thought we showed a lot of effort, a lot of fight. I was disappointed in the outcome, but I’m not disappointed in this team.”

Chanticleers’ quarterback Grayson McCall, the three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year who had not seen game action since being injured in his team’s Nov. 3 contest against App State, completed 29-of-41 passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns. He became Coastal’s all-time leader in career touchdowns responsible for and extended his streak to at least one touchdown pass in 23 consecutive games. 

Troy opened the scoring with a field goal on the game’s opening drive, completing a nine-play, 57-yard series with a 35-yard field goal by Brooks Buce. 

After forcing Coastal Carolina into a three-and-out in the next series, Troy’s Stoudemire hauled in a pass from Watson for a 65-yard score that gave the Trojans a 10-0 advantage. 

On its third drive of the game, Troy’s Billingsley rushed for an eight-yard touchdown that completed a four-play, 62-yard drive. The Trojans led 17-0 after the first quarter. 

Early in the second quarter, Billingsley ran in his second touchdown of the game with a 33-yard rush for score to extend Troy’s advantage to 24-0. 

Less than three minutes later, Johnson snared a pass from Watson and ran it in 67 yards for the touchdown with 9:47 remaining in the second quarter. That marked the longest touchdown reception in Sun Belt Football Championship Game history and put the Trojans in front 31-0. 

With 29 seconds remaining until halftime, Coastal Carolina put its first points on the board when McCall called his own number and ran eight yards for the touchdown. 

Troy held a 31-7 advantage at intermission. 

The Chanticleers scored quickly out of halftime as McCall found Jared Brown, the 2022 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, down the middle for a 30-yard touchdown strike, but the two-point conversion effort failed. 

Troy scored twice more in the third quarter, first when Johnson caught his second touchdown pass of the day, a 36-yard reception from Watson to put Troy ahead 38-13. 

On the next series, McCall fumbled for Coastal Carolina and Troy recovered on its own seven-yard line. Eight plays later, Billingsley rushed up the middle for a three-yard touchdown – his third of the day. That gave the Trojans a 45-13 advantage entering the fourth quarter. 

McCall threw for a pair of scores in the fourth quarter to make the final 45-26 margin. The first was an 11-yard toss to Sam Pinckney and the second was a 21-yard reception by Tyson Mobley. 

NOTABLES

•    The all-time series between Coastal Carolina and Troy is now tied 3-3. The Chanticleers had won three consecutive meetings in the series before Saturday’s win by the Trojans. 

•    The home team is undefeated in the Sun Belt Football Championship with the host institution winning each of the four Sun Belt Football Championship Games. 

•    The match-up between Coastal Carolina and Troy marked the only conference football championship game in the nation that featured both teams with two-or-fewer losses. 

•    Troy’s 7-0 record at home ties the school record for best home record with the 1996 squad. 

•    Troy set a season attendance record with an average of 25,661 fans per contest. The Trojans set the school single-game attendance record against Army on Nov. 12 with 31,010 fans. 

•    Troy has won 57 games since the start of the 2016 season, which ranks tied for 21st-most in the nation and during that time and seventh most among non-autonomy conferences. 

Georgia: 2022 Southeastern Football Champions

ATLANTA - Georgia swatted away the field goal attempt, the ball spinning to a stop at its 4-yard line. The LSU players trudged off the field, thinking the play was over.

Christopher Smith knew better. He suddenly scooped it up and took off the other way, sprinting 96 yards for a touchdown that epitomized the Bulldogs program.

They were a step ahead of LSU on Saturday.

They've been a step ahead of everyone for two years now.

With all sorts of turmoil behind them in the rankings, Georgia headed to the College Football Playoff as the clear No. 1, dismantling the No. 11 Tigers 50-30 in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday.

Stetson Bennett's threw a season-high four touchdown passes in another stellar postseason performance, while Smith's heads-up play gave the Bulldogs an early spark.

"I've got good players around me. I'm not that bad at football, either," Bennett said with a smile. "We've got a good team."

Georgia (13-0, No. 1 CFP) also caught a big break when Smith deflected a pass that bounced off an LSU receiver's helmet and wound up being picked off by the Bulldogs, setting up a score that contributed to a 35-10 lead by halftime.

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels re-injured a sore right ankle late in the second quarter, giving way to Garrett Nussmeier in the second half.

The backup guiding the Tigers (9-4, No. 14 CFP) to three second-half touchdowns, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Georgia accomplished something that not even last season's national championship squad could could do - win its first SEC title since 2017. The Bulldogs were denied in this game a year ago by Alabama, before bouncing back to beat the Crimson Tide in the title game.

"I don't want one kid to walk out of our program without an SEC championship ring in their careers," coach Kirby Smart said. "That could've happened. They said enough is enough and got 'em one tonight."

Georgia heads into the playoff assured of a return trip to Atlanta for a de facto semifinal home game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, just 75 miles from its Athens campus.

LSU's outside hopes of crashing the four-team playoff field were wiped out a week ago by a stunning loss at Texas A&M, one of several upsets that will give the selection committee plenty to think about before its announcement Sunday.

Tennessee and Clemson also ruined their playoff hopes with losses late in the regular season, while No. 4 Southern California is presumably out after getting blown out by Utah in the Pac-12 title game Friday night.

Just as the SEC game was kicking off, No. 3 TCU lost to Kansas State in overtime for the Big 12 championship, further clouding a playoff picture that suddenly looks much more favorable for No. 5 Ohio State and No. 6 Alabama.

No matter who makes the elite field, Georgia is firmly focused on becoming the first repeat national title since Alabama in 2011-12, having won all but one game this season by double-digit margins.

"I've tried not to play attention to any of it," Smart said of all the chaos. "It didn't matter to me. That's so far away."

The Bulldogs showed they are more than just a bunch of talented athletes - this is a smart, well-coached group.

When Nazir Stackhouse burst through the middle of the line to block LSU's 32-yard field goal attempt late in the first quarter, Smith knew what to do.

"That's a scenario we go over a lot in practice," he said.

He looked toward the sideline to see if it was OK to grab it.

"You're not allowed to pick it up unless you can score with it," Smart said.

Smith took care of the rest.

LSU coach Brian Kelly blamed himself and his staff for allowing the play to happen.

"Obviously, we did a poor job if coaching," he said. "It's our responsibility to have our guys alert in that situation. They were not alert."

LSU quickly tied it up on Daniels' 53-yard touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte, only to have Bennett take control from there.

The sixth-year senior, a former walk-on who was offensive MVP of both Georgia playoffs wins a year ago, struck for four TD passes in a less than 15-minute span: 3 yards to Brock Bowers, 22 yards to Ladd McConkey, 14 yards to Darnell Washington and 3 yards to Dillon Bell.

Just like that, Georgia led 35-7.

"I was in a zone," Bennett said.

It's been that way for two years now.

THE TAKEAWAY

LSU: Kelly's debut season turned a bit ugly the last two weeks, but the Tigers are on the right track. "We want to get back here next year. That's our goal," Kelly said. "Get back here and win it."

Georgia: Win or lose in the SEC title game, the Bulldogs were assured of a spot in the playoff. But Smart continues to impress with his ability to keep the team motivated. While there were some huge defensive lapses in the second half, this game was never in doubt.

GOING FOR 2

When Georgia scored its final touchdown early in the fourth quarter for a 48-23 lead, Smart surprisingly called for a 2-point conversion.

The Bulldogs converted it with a trick play, but Smart insisted that he wasn't trying to run up the score.

"The books says you go for 2 there," he said.

When asked about the play, Kelly stumbled over his words a bit before finally saying, "I don't get too caught up in what other teams are doing."

INJURY REPORT

While Daniels went down for LSU, Georgia also lost a couple of players to injuries in the first half.

McConkey landed awkwardly making a catch along the sideline, inflaming a knee issue that's been bothering him all year. Tight offensive tackle Warren McClendon sustained what appears to be a mild MCL sprain.

Neither returned after halftime.

Kansas State: 2022 Big 12 Football Champions

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ty Zentner kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime as 13th-ranked Kansas State beat No. 3 TCU 31-28 in the 2022 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship. 

The Wildcats set up the winning field goal after TCU (12-1) had the opening possession of overtime and Kendre Miller was stopped short on consecutive plays from inside the 1.

Deuce Vaughn (Most Outstanding Player) ran for 130 yards and a touchdown and Will Howard threw two TDs for the Wildcats (10-3, No. 10 CFP), who six weeks earlier had jumped out to a 28-10 lead early in the second quarter before TCU scored the game’s last 28 points.

TCU, the first Big 12 team to complete a regular season undefeated since Texas in 2009, could still get into the playoff. 

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said before the game that TCU, with first-year coach Sonny Dykes, already deserved to be in the playoff.

“You look at their strength of schedule. You think about how they’ve performed all year long,” Yormark said. “I think regardless, they should be in, for sure.”

This is Kansas State's third Big 12 Football title and first since 2012. 

Michigan: 2022 Big Ten Football Champions

 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Donovan Edwards ran for 185 yards and a score, J.J. McCarthy threw three touchdown passes and No. 2 Michigan beat Purdue 43-22 on Saturday night for its second straight Big Ten title and a likely No. 2 playoff seed.

College football’s winningest program has the first 13-win season in school history. Two more victories would give the Wolverines (13-0, No. 2 CFP) their first national championship since 1997.

And with injured star Blake Corum sidelined by a season-ending left knee injury, Edwards stole the show for the second straight week.

After shredding rival Ohio State for 216 yards and two scores last week, Edwards broke open this game with a 60-yard on the first play of the second half to set up one score. He added a 27-yard TD sprint on Michigan’s next series to make it 28-13.

Purdue (8-5) never recovered from Michigan’s quick, seven-play onslaught after it trailed 14-13 at halftime.

But quarterback Aidan O’Connell and receiver Charlie Jones helped the Boilermakers make it interesting for a while.

O’Connell was 32 of 47 with 366 yards and two interceptions after missing some practice time early this week to mourn the death of his oldest brother. Jones, who lost to Michigan in last year’s game while playing for Iowa, had 13 receptions for 162 yards.

It just wasn’t enough.

Michigan showed no signs of a hangover after last week’s rout over the Buckeyes, taking a 7-0 lead on its opening possession with a 25-yard TD pass from McCarthy to Colston Loveland.

Purdue answered with Devin Mockobee’s 1-yard scoring run to tie the score then took the lead on Mitchell Fineran’s 33-yard field goal.

Michigan answered by taking advantage of an offside call on fourth-and-6 by going for the first down, picking it up and eventually converting the drive into a 7-yard TD pass from McCarthy to Luke Schoonmaker. They never trailed again.

Edwards big run set up Kalel Mullings’ 1-yard TD plunge before Edwards celebrated his own scoring run.

All Purdue could muster was three more field goals.

McCarthy was 11 of 17 with 161 yards and one interception.

Corum posted a message on Twitter on Saturday morning to say his knee surgery went well.

THE TAKEAWAY

Purdue: The Boilermakers’ magical season ended with a solid showing in the championship game where they played better than most expected. Still, they won the Big Ten’s wild, wild West, both trophy games and should be bound for a warm-weather bowl game.

Michigan: Yes, the Wolverines may have already locked up a top-two seed thanks to losses by Southern Cal and TCU. Michigan now has back-to-back conference crowns for the first time since 2003-04 though the hard part remains — ending its national title drought.

DIALING UP TRICKERY

Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm played one season in the now defunct XFL and has acknowledged that experience helped him understand how to inject personality and creativity into play calling. It was on full display Saturday.

A surprise end around set up Purdue’s first score, a fake punt helped keep its second scoring drive alive and then Mockobee sprinted 25 yards on a fake flea-flicker in the third quarter.

Clemson: 2022 Atlantic Coast Football Champions

 

No. 9 Clemson isn't going to compete for a national title this season, but it returned to conference supremacy and clinched a spot in the Orange Bowl with a 39-10 shellacking of No. 23 North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game. The win marks the Tigers' seventh ACC crown of the past eight seasons and brings a bit of redemption for Dabo Swinney's program after it failed to make the league title game last season for the first time since 2014.

North Carolina jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but faded fast once Clemson turned to freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik on its third possession. With junior starter DJ Uiagalelei proving ineffective, Klubnik entered and quickly flipped the momentum in the Tigers' favor by directing a 71-yard touchdown drive. The former five-star prospect and heir-apparent to Uiagalelei completed 20 of 24 passes for 279 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, while also running for 30 yards and a score. Klubnik remained on the field until third-string quarterback Hunter Johnson entered with the game out of hand in the fourth quarter.

Klubnik's counterpart, North Carolina's Drake Maye, guided the Tar Heels into the red zone five times, but those trips produced just 10 points. A fumble and a blocked field goal attempt hampered the Tar Heels in the first half, and a costly interception gutted their chances during the the third quarter.

With the Tar Heels trailing just 24-10, Maye threw an ill-advised third-down pass that Clemson's Nate Wiggins intercepted and returned 98 yards for a touchdown with 5:05 left in the third quarter. The play zapped UNC's hopes of a rally and ushered in the Tar Heels' third consecutive loss. At 9-4, North Carolina can still reach double-digit victories for just the second time since 1997 if it wins a bowl game. 

Clemson has already reached double-digit wins for a 12th straight season under Swinney and can finish 12-2 if it wins the Orange Bowl. Tennessee is its projected opponent for the game, which is set for Dec. 30 in Miami. With such an emphatic win in the ACC Championship Game, Clemson would have been in great shape to make the College Football Playoff if only it hadn't lost to South Carolina last week. Without the loss to the Gamecocks, which marked Clemson's first home loss since 2016, the Tigers would have benefitted tremendously from this weekend's losses by No. 3 TCU and No. 4 USC. 

But a league title and New Year's Six bowl appearance are nothing to scoff at, especially after the program lost long-time coordinators Tony Elliot (Virginia) and Brent Venables (Oklahoma) to head coaching gigs after the 2021 season.

Tulane: 2022 American Football Champions

 

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As Tulane receiver Shae Wyatt watched jubilant fans streaming onto the field, he couldn’t help but reflect upon how far his team had come since finishing last season 2-10.

“It’s definitely surreal,” said Wyatt, whose two touchdown catches were no small part of why a celebratory scene so hard to conceive of a year ago was unfolding around him. “Seeing all the other schools with their success, and having their fans storm the field — eventually, everybody wants that.”

Michael Pratt accounted for 442 total yards and five touchdowns, Tyjae Spears highlighted his 199 yards rushing with a 60-yard score and No. 18 Tulane beat No. 22 UCF 45-28 on Saturday night in the American Athletic Conference championship game.

The victory virtually assured Tulane (11-2) would play in the Cotton Bowl — its first major New Year’s Day bowl since the 1939 season.

A full hour after the game, Tulane players were still in uniform, walking back to the field from the locker room to pose for photos with teammates, some with cigars in hand. Spears joked that his elbow was sore from fans pulling on him for a congratulatory embrace.

“It was an amazing feeling, man,” Spears said. “That’s something that will stick with us for the rest of our life.”

And Wyatt suggested that Tulane’s remarkable turnaround should serve as a lesson.

“They were just throwing dirt over us and for a while it was hard to bounce back,” Wyatt said of last season, during which Tulane was displaced by Hurricane Ida to a Birmingham hotel for a month, and plagued with injuries to prominent players.

“If you keep your faith and you believe in your brothers that are next to you, flowers will grow. I promise you,” Wyatt said. “I hope this is a testament to anybody out there.”

Pratt passed for a career-high 394 yards, including touchdowns of 73 yards to Duece Watts, 60 and 10 yards to Wyatt and 43 yards to Lawrence Keys. Pratt also ran for a pivotal 18-yard touchdown with 4:04 left.

“It was awesome to close out that game and have those fans so fired up,” said Pratt, named the game’s most outstanding player.

Spears electrified the record crowd of 30,118 at Tulane’s cozy, on-campus Yulman Stadium with his long scoring run, on which he broke two tackles near the line of scrimmage, made two other defenders miss and hurndled his own fallen teammate after cutting back inside.

The Green Wave, which earned the right to host the title game by ending Cincinnati’s 32-game home winning streak last weekend, avenged a 38-31 regular-season loss to UCF (9-4) on the same field on Nov. 12.

But UCF was not quite the same team because of QB John Rhys Plumlee’s nagging hamstring injury, which appeared to rob him of the explosiveness he displayed by running for 176 yards in the previous meeting.

Plumlee struggled enough early on that coach Gus Malzahn pulled him in the second quarter in favor of Thomas Castellanos. But with Tulane up 24-7 in the middle of the third quarter, Malzahn put Plumlee back in as primarily a passer — and he nearly led the Kights all the way back.

“He’s one of the toughest players I think I’ve ever coached,” Malzahn said. “John Rhys just kept telling me, ‘Coach, give me another chance.’ ... He really gave us a spark.”

Plumlee led UCF quickly for a touchdown to make it 24-14, converting a fourth-and-10 pass along the way and capping the drive with a 17-yarder to Kobe Hudson.

“You work all year to play in a game like this,” said Plumlee, who completed 29 of 39 for 209 yards and one TD, but finished with minus-7 yards rushing as Tulane had six sacks. “I didn’t want to sell myself short or sell this team short.”

Tulane responded when both UCF safeties froze on a play-fake to Spears and Pratt found Watts running free behind the defense.

UCF cut it to 31-21 when former Virginia QB RJ Harvey took a backward pass from Plumlee and launched a 49-yard TD pass to Hudson.

And the Knights got the ball right back when Spears fumbled after a catch on the Green Wave 30. Isaiah Bowser’s 10-yard run shortly after got UCF as close as 31-28 with 9:48 still left.

But Pratt again found a way to lead the Wave down the field, connecting with Wyatt for the longer of the receiver’s two TDs, and UCF didn’t threaten again.

It was a dream end to week that got off to a less-than-ideal start with reports out of Atlaata that head coach Willie Fritz being pursued by Georgia Tech.

“Well, I sure am glad I stayed,” Fritz said. “I made a commitment to these kids and the last thing I ever wanted to be was a distraction. So, I’m just proud to be here.”

UTSA: 2022 Conference USA Football Champions

 

SAN ANTONIO – No. 23 UTSA (11-2, 8-0 C-USA) won its second consecutive Conference USA championship on Friday night, knocking off rival North Texas (7-6, 6-2 C-USA) 48-27 in front of 41,412 fans at the Alamodome. That marks the third-largest crowd in a C-USA Championship Game and UTSA history. QB Frank Harris was named the 2022 Ryan C-USA Championship Game’s Most Valuable Player. He completed 32-37 passes for 341 yards and a C-USA Championship Game record-tying five total touchdowns (four passing), while also rushing for 49 yards on 16 carries.

 

The Roadrunners jumped out to an early lead, courtesy of a Kevorian Barnes 27-yard touchdown run to open the scoring, capping off a seven-play, 75-yard opening drive to put UTSA on top in the opening minutes. Barnes finished with a career-high 28 carries for 175 yards and a touchdown.

 

North Texas answered back immediately to tie the game at 7-7, thanks to a two-yard touchdown run by Ikaika Ragsdale, who scored on fourth-and-goal. The Mean Green marched 70 yards in 11 plays.

 

The Mean Green came up with a big fourth-down stand at the goal line in the final minute of the first quarter and then turned it into a 95-yard scoring drive that was capped off by an Ethan Mooney 22-yard field goal to give UNT its first lead at 10-7.

 

UTSA forced the first turnover of the game as Clifford Chattman picked off Austin Aune and returned it 27 yards inside the Mean Green 20. It marked Chattman’s fourth of the season, and fourth in as many weeks for the Roadrunners, which is a program record. Harris capitalized for UTSA with an 11-yard touchdown run to put the Roadrunners on top 14-10 midway through the second quarter.

 

UTSA got the ball back with 37 seconds remaining in the half and Harris drove the Roadrunners 62 yards in three plays to extend the USTA lead to 24-10. He hooked up with Zakhari Franklin on a 32-yard scoring strike just before the break.

 

After the Mean Green opened the second half with a field goal, UTSA responded as Harris and Franklin connected for a second time, this time from 14 yards out, to push the Roadrunners to a 31-13 lead early in the third quarter.

 

North Texas wouldn’t go away easily, as Aune broke the single-season program record for touchdown passes (32) when he connected with WR Jyaire Shorter on a 36-yard touchdown toss to cut the deficit to 31-20. Aune’s record broke that of Mason Fine’s 2017 season, when the former C-USA Player of the Year threw 31.

 

Following a UTSA field goal, North Texas pulled within a touchdown at 34-27 as Isaiah Johnson scored from one-yard out to cap off an eight-play, 64-yard drive early in the fourth quarter.

 

The Harris-Franklin connection would not be denied, as the pair hooked up for the third time with 11:09 to go in the final frame, this time from 39 yards out. Franklin’s third touchdown grab of the night set a new C-USA Championship Game record for receiving touchdowns. Franklin finished with 10 catches for 144 yards and the three scores.

 

UTSA then picked off Aune for the second time on Friday night, as Ken Robinson came up with the interception. UTSA tacked on a pair of touchdowns to stretch its lead to 48-27, which was the final score.

 

Both UTSA and North Texas now await their bowl fates, which will be decided on Sunday, Dec. 4.

Fresno State: 2022 Mountain West Football Champions

 

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Jake Haener threw for 184 yards and a touchdown, Nikko Remigio returned a punt 70 yards for a score, and Fresno State defeated Boise State 28-16 to win the Mountain West Conference championship Saturday afternoon.

Fresno State (9-4) overcame a 1-4 start to the season and a rash of injuries to win its final eight games, claiming the program's third Mountain West crown.

Boise State (9-4), which won 40-20 in the regular-season match-up between the teams, fell to 3-3 in Mountain West title games.

Boise State controlled the game early but struggled to find the end zone, clinging to a 3-0 lead late in the first half. But that all changed when Fresno State scored two touchdowns in a span of 2:36 right before halftime.

Remigio's electric return snaking back and forth across the field sparked Fresno State before Cameron Lockridge intercepted the first of two passes, returning it 25 yards to the Broncos' 17-yard line. Three plays later, Jordan Mims scored on a 2-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 14-3. They never relinquished the lead.

After Boise State edged within 14-9 in the third quarter, Fresno State tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Jordan Mims rushed for 83 yards and a pair of scores for Fresno State.

Boise State's Taylen Green was 17-of-38 passing for 175 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

THE TAKEAWAY

Boise State: While Broncos quarterback Green made his initial splash on the team with his legs, it's his arm that turned the season around. However, Green was often off-target against Fresno State.

Fresno State: The Bulldogs' 10-3 campaign a year ago served as a springboard for sustained success in 2022. However, Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford, who has now won two Mountain West titles, will have his work cut out for him in 2023 as his talented team is losing eight seniors on offense and five more on defense. If he chooses to utilize the transfer portal, he could shore up the team's short-term needs and keep Fresno State in contention for another conference title.

Toledo: 2022 Mid-American Football Champions

 

DETROIT, Mich. – A smothering defense and a gutty performance by sophomore quarterback Dequan Finn launched the Toledo Rockets (8-5) to a 17-7 victory over Ohio (9-4) in the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday.

It was Toledo's 12th MAC Championship title overall, and fourth triumph in the MAC Championship Game. It was also Head Coach Jason Candle's second MAC title. His Rockets won the title in 2017, his second year as Toledo's head coach.

"I'm really proud of our football team," said Candle, who is now tied with former Rocket head coaches Frank Lauterbur and Tom Amstutz with two outright MAC titles. "It takes a strong and mentally tough group of young men to get to this point. This team is resilient and has a lot of resolve. They understand the importance of responding to adversity rather than reacting to it. I've challenged them since day one to be who they said they were going to be, and they wanted to be MAC Champions. I was excited to watch those guys hoist the trophy."

"This team, we've been through a lot this whole year," added Finn, a Detroit native who won a state championship at Ford Field in high school in 2018. "It's been a rollercoaster for us, with ups and downs. We've fought through adversity and rough patches. Ultimately throughout the whole course, we stayed together as one. Even on the bad days. The whole emphasis was stay together as one, because when we splinter off, we are not the same. When we play as one, no one can stop us. I am happy for this team, happy for the coaches. It's a surreal moment."

Holding a 10-7 lead in the fourth quarter, Finn hit sophomore wide receiver DeMeer Blankumsee for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 10:36 left in the game. Toledo's defense then did its job, holding the Bobcats scoreless on their final three drives.

Finn, who missed two games in November with a sprained ankle, was 16-of-25 for 154 yards and added 86 yards on the ground. Toledo's running game totaled 236 yards, led by sophomore Jacquez Stuart, who had 93 yards and the game's first touchdown, a 29-yard run on Toledo's opening drive. Sophomore Jerjuan Newton was Finn's top target, snagging six passes for 77 yards.

Toledo's defense, ranked No. 1 in the MAC much of the season, dominated the Bobcats for most of the game, holding Ohio to the fewest points by any team in MAC Championship Game history. Ohio gained 262 yards of total offense, including just 69 yards in the second half. Junior linebacker Dallas Gant led Toledo with 10 tackles and junior Nate Bauer had an interception.

"Our defense played lights out," said Candle. "Great job by that staff coming up with a game plan and great execution by our players. We made things really tough on their quarterback, who is a good runner. But we executed the game plan at a high level."

Finn was named the game's Offensive MVP, senior linebacker Dyontae Johnson (eight tackles, 0.5 TFL) was Defensive MVP, and redshirt freshman punter Jonathon Batzke (46.5 punting average) was the Special Teams MVP.

First Quarter

      Toledo opened the game with an efficient eight-play, 75-yard drive to take the early 7-0 lead. Jacquez Stuart brought it home with a zig-zagging 29-yard touchdown run.

Second Quarter

      Ohio squared things up at 7-7 when Sieh Bangura scored from two yards out with 6:47 left in the half. Officials originally ruled that Bangura was stopped short of the goal line but the call was overturned by replay. Toledo regained the lead with 16 seconds left in the half on a 44-yard field goal by Thomas Cluckey.

Third Quarter

      Toledo had a chance to add to its lead when Stuart ran for 48 yards to the Ohio 16-yard line. The drive ended though when Finn was sacked on fourth-and-four at the 19-yard line.

Fourth Quarter

      The Rockets made it 17-7 on a 16-yard touchdown reception by DeMeer Blankumsee with 10:36 left. Ohio had three possessions after that, but Toledo's defense stopped them each time. Nathaniel Vakos missed a 55-yard field goal attempt with 8:15 left, and the Bobcats were stopped on fourth down in their final two possessions.

Jackson State: 2022 SWAC Football Champions

JACKSON, Miss.- The Jackson State University football team defeated Southern 43-24 Saturday in the Cricket SWAC Championship game.

 

Jackson State (12-0) won its 18th SWAC Championship and clinched a berth in the Cricket Celebration Bowl set for Saturday, December 17 in Atlanta versus North Carolina Central. It is the first back-to-back SWAC titles for JSU since 1995-96.

 

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was named Offensive MVP after passing for 320 yards and four touchdowns. Linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. was named Defensive MVP after making five tackles, one sack, and three tackles for loss.

 

The opening 11 minutes set the tone for the game. The nation's top ranked defense forced three turnovers (two fumbles, one interception), and made two sacks.

 

Following a three-and-out forced by the JSU defense, the Tigers' offense drove 61 yards in nine plays as Alejandro Mata's 22-yard field goal gave Jackson State a 3-0 lead.

 

On the ensuing possession, Herman Smith III intercepted a Southern pass and returned it 37 yards to the Jaguar one-yard line. Sy'Veon Wilkerson's one-yard TD run two plays later and PAT kick gave Jackson State a 10-0 lead with 8:26 to play in the first quarter.

 

On the ensuing possession, Miller Jr.'s sack and forced fumble was recovered by Antonio Doyle Jr. at the SU 14. On the next play, Sanders fired a 14-yard touchdown pass to Shane Hooks, and Kevin Coleman's two-point conversion pass gave JSU an 18-0 lead with 6:35 to play in the first quarter.

 

Jackson State made its third takeaway in as many possessions on the next Southern drive as Baron Hopson's sack and forced fumble was recovered by Justin Ragin at the JSU 42-yard line. The Tigers found the end zone again only four plays later as Sanders and Hooks connected on a 40-yard scoring pass. A Sanders-to-Coleman two-point conversion pass gave JSU a 26-0 lead with 3:51 to play in the opening period.

 

After Southern scored early in the second quarter, JSU scored on its fifth straight possession. A seven-play, 85-yard Jackson State drive ended with a 14-yard scoring pass from Sanders to Coleman, with Mata's PAT giving the Tigers a 33-7 lead with 11:25 to play in the first half.

 

After Southern closed the gap in the third quarter, JSU put the game away for good. Sanders threw his fourth TD pass of the game, a nine-yard strike to Rico Powers late in the period for the final margin.

About the SWAC

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is considered one of the premier HBCU conferences in the country and currently ranks among the elite in the nation in terms of HBCU alumni playing with professional sports teams.

 

Current championship competition offered by the league includes competition for men in Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, and Tennis.

Women’s competition is offered in the sports of Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, and Volleyball.

 

Follow the SWAC

For complete coverage of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, please follow the SWAC on social media at @TheSWAC (Twitter), @TheSWAC (Facebook), and @TheSWAC (Instagram) or visit the official home of the Southwestern Athletic Conference at www.swac.org.