College Football Today

STARS

-Russell Wilson threw four touchdown passes to help North Carolina State rally past No. 23 North Carolina, 28-27.

-Alex Zendejas kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired, lifting Arizona to a 20-17 victory over Arizona State in the Territorial Cup game.

-Clemson's C.J. Spiller set an NCAA record with his seventh career kickoff return for a touchdown to start the 15th-ranked Tigers' 34-17 loss at South Carolina. Spiller surpassed the six of Southern California's Anthony Davis and Tulsa's Ashlan Davis.

-Mississippi State tailback Anthony Dixon rushed for 133 yards in a 41-27 win over No. 20 Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. Dixon has 1,390 yards in 11 games, breaking James Johnson's school record by 7 yards.

-Frank Warren rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns to help Grambling State beat Southern University 31-13 in the 36th Bayou Classic in the Louisiana Superdome.

BOOMERED

It's hard to think of Oklahoma upsetting Oklahoma State, but that's technically what happened when the Sooners drubbed the 11th-rated Cowboys 27-0. The Sooners have had a dreadful season, but they salvaged it by knocking Oklahoma State out of contention for an at-large Bowl Championship Series berth. Oklahoma State was shut out for the first time since 2005 by an Oklahoma defense coming off its worst outing of the year in a 41-13 loss at Texas Tech last week. "The only good thing about this is it counts as one loss, and I told the team that," Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said.

WANTED: NEW COACH

Coach-firing season kicked into gear Saturday. Louisville fired football coach Steve Kragthorpe after finishing the year at 4-8, the school's worst season in more than a decade. Kragthorpe went 15-21 in three seasons after replacing Bobby Petrino in January 2007. Kragthorpe had two years remaining on a contract that paid him about $1.1 annually. Meanwhile, Akron fired J.D. Brookhart, who posted a 30-42 record and was the MAC Coach of the Year in 2004. The Zips won the MAC East Division title and the program's only MAC Championship in 2005.

MEANWHILE, IN TALLAHASSEE...

Florida State doesn't know if it will have a new coach next season. Bobby Bowden says he wants to "go home and do some soul-searching" before making a final decision about coaching the Seminoles in 2010. Bowden's comments came Saturday evening just moments after top-ranked Florida defeated the Seminoles 37-10 for their sixth straight in the series. Bowden has frequently said he wants to return next year, but a third-straight one-sided loss to the archrival Gators clearly left the coach in no mood to say he'd definitely be back for a 35th season at Florida State. FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher is slated to replace Bowden in January 2011 unless the 80-year-old Bowden decides to retire before next season or university officials don't renew his rolling one-year contract.

RIBBIT

Representatives from the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls watched as No. 4 TCU wrapped up its first undefeated regular season in 71 years with a 51-10 rout of New Mexico. Andy Dalton matched a career high with four touchdown passes, two to Antoine Hicks in a 12-second span, for the Horned Frogs (12-0, 8-0 Mountain West). As the final seconds ticked off the clock, fans chanted "B-C-S! B-C-S!" and then stormed the field to celebrate, creating a sea of purple.

THEY SAID IT

"This program is on the rise, maybe to the contrary of what some others are saying around the state." - Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen after the Bulldogs whipped No. 20 Ole Miss 41-27 in the Egg Bowl.

FOURTH AND INCHES

UConn's tailback tandem of Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon romped for a combined 196 yards and four touchdowns as the Huskies beat Syracuse 56-31 to become bowl eligible. UConn, which lost three in a row after the stabbing death of cornerback Jasper Howard, followed up its dramatic 33-30 double-overtime win against Notre Dame by going over .500 (6-5) for the first time since the Oct. 18 tragedy. ... North Carolina State beat No. 23 North Carolina 28-27, its third straight win over the Tar Heels. ... Arizona State's 20-17 loss to Arizona was a crusher. Kyle Williams caught two fourth-quarter TD passes, including the tying score with 2:02 to go, before muffing a punt at his own 22 to set up Alex Zendejas's winning field goal as time expired. The Sun Devils finished on a six-game losing streak, matching the school record for consecutive losses in a single season.