College football: Aggies win big; Longhorns keep playoff hopes alive

It was a busy Saturday for college football, including in Texas.

The Aggies won with an interim coach and the Longhorns survived a trip to Ames, Iowa to keep their CFP hopes alive.

Here's a recap and roundup of this week's action in Texas college football.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M quarterback Jaylen Henderson threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns and the Aggies defeated Abilene Christian 38-10 on Saturday to start the Elijah Robinson era. Robinson, A&M’s defensive line coach, is serving as the Aggies’ interim coach following last week’s firing of Jimbo Fisher. The Aggies had a 7-yard touchdown run by Rueben Owens in the first quarter and added scores on a 34-yard Randy Bond field goal, a 13-yard touchdown catch by Noah Thomas, a 49-yard touchdown catch by Moose Muhammad III, a 3-yard touchdown run by David Bailey and a 13-yard touchdown catch by Jaden Platt from backup quarterback Marcel Reed with 56 seconds remaining.

Texas 26, Iowa State 16

AMES, Iowa — Quinn Ewers passed for 281 yards and two touchdowns and No. 7 Texas pulled away from Iowa State for a 26-16 victory. The win keeps the Longhorns alone atop the Big Ten standings and moves them closer to the conference championship game. Ewers completed 23 of 33 passes and C.J. Baxter rushed for 117 yards, helping Texas extend its winning streak to five after an Oct. 7 loss to Oklahoma. Rocco Becht threw for 323 yards and two touchdowns for Iowa State but the Cyclones netted only 9 yards rushing and averaged less than a half-yard per carry.

Texas Tech 24, UCF 23

LUBBOCK, Texas — Tahj Brooks ran for a career-high 182 yards while powering a game-clinching drive after E’Maurion Banks blocked a potential tying extra-point kick, and Texas Tech rallied for a 24-23 victory over UCF. Behren Morton threw for two touchdowns in the home finale as the Red Raiders won their third consecutive game in a battle for bowl eligibility. The Knights are making their Big 12 debut and will have to win at home against Houston next weekend to secure an eighth consecutive season of bowl eligibility. UCF couldn't hold a 14-0 lead.

TCU 42, Baylor 17

FORT WORTH, Texas — Josh Hoover threw for 412 yards with two touchdowns to tight end Jared Wiley, Emani Bailey had two long TD runs and TCU snapped a three-game losing streak with a 42-17 victory over instate rival Baylor. Wiley was wide open for catch-and-run scores of 81 and 28 yards for the 5-6 Horned Frogs. He had seven catches for 178 yards. Hoover completed 24 of 29 passes for his fourth game with at least 300 yards in five starts since taking over for injured Chandler Morris. Hoover also had his first rushing touchdown. Baylor lost its fourth game in a row to drop to 3-8.

Oklahoma State 43, Houston 30

HOUSTON — Alan Bowman threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns and No. 24 Oklahoma State kept its hopes of reaching the Big 12 Championship game alive with a 43-30 win over Houston. Ollie Gordon II rushed for 164 yards and three second half touchdowns for the Cowboys. Brennan Presley caught a career-high 15 passes for 189 yards for Oklahoma State. His 15 catches were the second most in a game in Oklahoma State history. Oklahoma State entered the day in a four-way tie for second place in the conference.

Oklahoma 31, BYU 24

PROVO, Utah — No. 14 Oklahoma forced three turnovers and scored 21 points off those takeaways to edge BYU 31-24 on Saturday. Dillon Gabriel threw for 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the first half to lead Oklahoma. Gabriel did not play in the second half after suffering an upper body injury just before halftime. Gavin Sawchuk led the Sooners on the ground with 107 yards and scored the go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown. Oklahoma (9-2, 6-2 Big 12, no. 14 in CFP) kept its hopes for reaching the Big 12 championship game alive. Aidan Robbins ran for a season-high 182 yards to lead BYU. Jake Retzlaff threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns, but he also had a pair of fumbles and an interception for the Cougars (5-6, 2-6 Big 12).

SMU 38, Memphis 34

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Preston Stone fired a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Hudson with under three minutes left in the game to seal a 38-34 win over Memphis. SMU remains tied with Tulane and UTSA, all unbeaten in the AAC, heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Mustangs close out their regular season at home against Navy while Tulane and UTSA square off in New Orleans.

UTSA 49, South Florida 21

SAN ANTONIO — Frank Harris had a school-record 523 total yards and accounted for six touchdowns to help UTSA beat South Florida 49-21 and win its seventh game in a row. UTSA — in its first season in the American Athletic Conference — can clinch a berth in the conference championship game with a win over No. 24 Tulane in the regular season finale on Nov. 24. Harris was 31-of-46 passing for 411 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and added 112 yards rushing and three TDs on 12 carries. He is the only player in the FBS this season with 400-plus yards passing and 100-plus yards rushing in a single game. Byrum Brown threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Yusuf Terry and scored on a 5-yard run for South Florida.

Prairie View A&M 21, Alabama State 14

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — David Murray’s two carries produced 2 yards and two touchdowns and Prairie View A&M beat Alabama State 21-14. Murray’s 1-yard run with 2:51 left in the first quarter was the game’s first score. His second score with 6:08 left in the third made it 14-0. Alabama State's Damon Stewart closed the scoring with a 16-yard scoring pass to Saunders with 16 seconds left. Prairie View sealed it recovering the ensuing onside kick. Stewart threw for 372 yards and two touchdowns.

North Texas 35, Tulsa 28

TULSA, Okla. — Chandler Rogers threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead North Texas over Tulsa 35-28 on Saturday. Rogers was 19 of 31 for 294 yards to help the Mean Green snap a four-game losing streak while the Golden Hurricane lost their sixth straight. Oscar Adaway III rushed for 126 yards with a score and Ayo Adeyi added 121 on 16 carries with the Mean Green finishing with 299 yards rushing and 593 yards total offense. Damon Ward, Landon Sides and Jordan Smart had TD catches. Kirk Francis was 17-of-34 passing for 251 yards and three scores with an interception for Tulsa.

Lamar 52, McNeese 27

BEAUMONT, Texas — Robert Coleman threw three touchdown passes, Khalan Griffin and Damashja Harris combined for 204 yards rushing as Lamar beat McNeese 52-27. Coleman was 12-of-17 passing for 132 yards and hit three receivers for scores. Griffin led the ground game with 123 yards rushing on 22 carries with a touchdown and Harris ran 16 times for 81 yards and two scores. Kamden Sixkiller threw a 30-yard touchdown pass Tyronne Hayes for McNeese that opened the scoring.

UIW 45, Houston Christian 24

HOUSTON — Zach Calzada threw four touchdown passes and Incarnate Word beat Houston Christian 45-24. Calzada threw three scores to Caleb Chapman, who finished with seven catches for 170 yards. CJ Hardy also had a touchdown catch for Incarnate Word (8-2, 6-1 Southland Conference). Jarrell Wiley added 93 yards rushing on 14 carries with a 41-yard run and a touchdown from short yardage. Calzada completed 29 of 38 passes for 407 yards. Colby Suits was 23-of-37 passing for 202 yards with a touchdown pass and two interceptions for Houston Christian (5-5, 4-3).

Arkansas State 77, Texas State 31

JONESBORO, Ark. — Ja’Quez Cross rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns then returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score and Arkansas State got three touchdowns from its defense and one from special teams, thumping Texas State 77-31 to become eligible for a bowl game. Arkansas State (6-5, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference) was trailing 17-14 when Cross finished off a 75-yard drive with a 42-yard run, giving the Red Wolves the lead for good with 9:14 left before halftime. Cross scored on a 15-yard, first-down run after Keyron Crawford recovered a fumble by Texas State’s Donerio Davenport for a two-score lead. He added a 57-yard touchdown run with 1:52 remaining and Arkansas State led 35-17 at intermission. TJ Finley totaled 366 yards on 37-of-55 passing for Texas State (6-5, 3-4).

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: College football: Aggies win big; Longhorns keep playoff hopes alive