College Football: Texas hangs on vs. TCU, Tarleton wins thriller against ACU

Recap and roundup of Texas college football games from Saturday.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Quinn Ewers threw for 317 yards and a touchdown in his return from a shoulder injury, helping No. 7 Texas edge TCU 29-26. The 9-1 Longhorns also got a big lift from Jonathon Brooks, who rushed for 104 yards and two TDs and set up another score with a 73-yard gain on a short pass before getting hurt late. Ewers, a sophomore quarterback who missed two games after he got hurt on Oct. 21, completed 22 of 33 passes. Emani Bailey ran for 98 yards and a touchdown for 4-6 TCU. Last year’s national runner-up lost its third consecutive game and will have to win its last two just to get bowl eligible.

Tarleton State 31, Abilene Christian 30

ABILENE, Texas — Kayvon Britten rushed for three touchdowns and Tarleton State rallied from a 16-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat Abilene Christian 31-30. Tarleton State trailed 30-14 with 14:57 left in the fourth quarter. Adrian Guzman capped a 12-play, 63-yard drive with a short field goal to get within two touchdowns and the Texans added touchdown-scoring drives of one and two plays. Britten scored on a 1-yard run after Benjamin Omayebu’s 67-yard reception. After Abilene Christian fumbled, Britten ran it in from the 17 — for his 17th touchdown of the season — and Adrian Guzman made the go-ahead extra point. Britten has scored a TD in 10 of 11 games. Tarleton State (8-3, 4-2 United Athletic Conference) matched its longest winning streak at the Division I level with four straight.

UTSA 34, Rice 14

SAN ANTONIO — Chris Carpenter returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown in the middle of a 21-point third quarter and UTSA pulled away in the second half to beat Rice 34-14. Chase Allen kicked a 26-yard field goal in the first quarter and Frank Harris had a 6-yard touchdown toss to Joshua Cephus with 57 seconds left before halftime to give UTSA (7-3, 6-0 American Athletic Conference) a 10-0 lead. However, AJ Padgett needed just four plays before connecting with Luke McCaffrey for a 27-yard touchdown 35 seconds later and Rice (4-6, 2-4) trailed by three at halftime. The Roadrunners broke the game open in the third quarter.

Texas Tech 16, Kansas 13

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Gino Garcia hit a game-winning 30-yard field goal with 3 seconds to play and Texas Tech upset No. 19 Kansas 16-13 on Saturday. Tahj Brooks ran for 133 yards and a touchdown as the Red Raiders (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) came back after Kansas (7-3, 4-3) tied the game on a 22-yard field goal by Seth Keller with 26 seconds left in regulation. Behren Morton completed passes of 16, 14 and 32 yards as Texas Tech went 63 yards in 20 seconds to set up Garcia's third field goal of the game.

Cincinnati 24, Houston 14

HOUSTON — Corey Kiner rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns as Cincinnati piled up 204 rushing yards and the Bearcats earned their first Big 12 win with a 24-14 win over Houston Saturday night.Emory Jones threw for 131 yards and a touchdown for the Bearcats, which snapped a seven-game losing streak.Jones threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Montgomery in the first quarter, and Kiner rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with eight minutes left in the second to put Cincinnati (3-7, 1-6 Big 12) ahead 14-7 in the second. Kiner added a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth.The Bearcats outgained Houston 368-241 yards.

Texas A&M 51, Mississippi State 10

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Jaylen Henderson accounted for four touchdowns in his first career start and Shemar Stewart returned a fumble for a score to lead Texas A&M to a 51-10 rout of Mississippi State Saturday night. The victory makes Texas A&M (6-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) bowl eligible after failing to qualify in last year’s 5-7 season. Henderson threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 60 yards and two more scores with Max Johnson out with a rib injury. Henderson, a transfer from Fresno State, is the third starting quarterback this year for the Aggies, who lost Conner Weigman to a season-ending foot injury after four games.

Oklahoma 59, West Virginia 20

NORMAN, Okla. — Dillon Gabriel accounted for a school-record eight touchdowns to help No. 17 Oklahoma roll past West Virginia 59-20. Gabriel passed for 423 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and three scores. Drake Stoops had career highs of 164 yards and three touchdowns receiving, Gavin Sawchuk had a career-best 135 yards rushing and Nic Anderson added four catches for 119 yards for Oklahoma. West Virginia’s CJ Donaldson ran for 79 yards and a touchdown before going down with a left leg injury in the third quarter.

Sam Houston 42, Louisiana Tech 27

RUSTON, La. — Kavian Gaither returned a fourth-quarter interception for a touchdown, Sam Houston scored four rushing touchdowns and the Conference USA newcomer Bearkats picked up their first conference win, 42-27 over Louisiana Tech. The Bearkats are in their second season at the FBS level after spending the first season in the Western Athletic Conference. They never trailed in this one but their lead that twice had been 15 points was down to one score before Gaither intercepted a Hank Bachmeier pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown with about two minutes left in the game. In addition to the pick-6, Gaither led the Bearkats with eight solo tackles and 12 total stops.

Kansas State 59, Baylor 25

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Will Howard became the all-time leader in touchdown passes in Kansas State history, leading the Wildcats past Baylor 59-25. Howard was 19-of-29 for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He moved past Josh Freeman with 45 career touchdown passes. It was Howard’s fifth game this season with at least three TD passes, tying Freeman for the school record. Kansas State has scored at least 40 points in all six home games this season. Blake Shapen was 22-of-45 for 253 yards and four touchdowns for Baylor.

Coastal Carolina 31, Texas State 23

CONWAY, S.C. — Ethan Vasko threw two touchdown passes, Reece White and Braydon Bennett each ran for a TD and Coastal Carolina beat Texas State 31-23. Vasko completed 17 of 27 passes for 145 yards and Sam Pinkney had six receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown for Coastal Carolina. Pinkney’s 25-yard TD catch capped a nine-play, 82-yard drive and gave the Chanticleers the lead for good at 14-10 midway through the second quarter, Texas State went three-and-out on its ensuing drive, and Bennett scored on a 6-yard run about 2 minutes before halftime. Ismail Madhi had 97 yards rushing on 21 carries and Malik Hornsby, who replaced starting quarterback TJ Finley to start the second half, finished 4-of-8 passing for 32 yards with 16 carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: A recap and roundup of college football in Texas on Saturday