CFB: Bearcats fall in playoffs, Mizzou offense cold, K State falls on RBs career day

By MATT PIKE

Northwest knocked from playoffs as Harding runs all over Bearcats

The #2 Harding University Bisons ended the 2025 football season for the #14 Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats in the first round of the NCAA Div. II Playoffs with a 38-16 win.

Northwest Missouri State began the game with possession after receiving the opening kickoff. Quincy Torry started the drive with a four yard rush, but the drive stalled after two incomplete passes by Chris Ruhnke. Tommy Warner punted 36 yards, and the Bisons took over on their 35-yard line. 

Harding capitalized on their first possession, moving 65 yards downfield and concluding the drive with a seven yard touchdown run by Braden Jay, followed by a successful extra point. Northwest Missouri State’s subsequent drive showed promise with Ruhnke gaining 20 yards on a rush to Harding’s 46-yard line. However, the momentum shifted as Ruhnke’s pass was intercepted by Jordan Mays, who returned it 12 yards to the Bisons’ 46-yard line.

Harding extended their lead with a 25-yard field goal by Magnus Lepak after a series of runs moved them into scoring position. The second quarter began with the Bisons extending their lead, capitalizing on a series of rushing plays from Andrew Miller and Jay, culminating in a touchdown drive, a 10 yard run from Jay that pushed the score to 17-0. The Bearcats though quickly responded with a standout 75-yard touchdown run by Quincy Torry to narrow the gap.

The Bisons regained control with another rushing touchdown, another 10 yard run this time from Christian Franklin, to extend the lead even more,o 24-7. Northwest Missouri State mounted a late-quarter drive, with Ruhnke connecting on several key passes to advance downfield. The drive concluded with a 19-yard field goal by Alwaely as time expired in the quarter, sending the teams to the locker room with Harding leading 24-10 at the halftime break.

The third quarter began with the Bearcats kicking off to Harding, who quickly moved down the field. Benjamin Einess and Carter Edwards made key tackles, but Harding completed a scoring drive with a touchdown, Franklin again scoring a rushing touchdown this time from seven yards out, increasing their lead to 31-10. 

 A significant turnover for Northwest Missouri State opened the fourth quarter, as Shane Fredrickson forced a fumble from Harding’s Andrew Miller, which was recovered by O’Shea Davis at the Northwest 20-yard line. This defensive play set the stage for a promising offensive drive, beginning with a 12-yard rush by Madixx Morris. Northwest continued to move the chains, highlighted by a 19-yard rush from Te’Shaun Porter, but the drive ultimately stalled following a sack.

The Bisons capitalized on the turnover on downs by executing a series of successful rushes, culminating in a 23-yard touchdown run by Miller, extending their lead to 38-10. The Bearcats responded with a burst of offensive energy, as Porter broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run, narrowing the gap to 38-16. This was Porter’s longest rush of the season. Despite the effort, the subsequent onside kick was unsuccessful, allowing Harding to maintain possession and run down the clock, securing the victory.  Harding’s 38 points were the most given up by a Bearcat team in the playoffs since Ferris State scored 41 in 2021. 

Porter rushed for 106 yards on five carries, including one touchdown. Torry contributed significantly with 116 rushing yards on eight attempts, adding a touchdown to his performance.  Ruhnke was 7 of 15 through the air for 75 yards with an interception.  Trevor Spady had one catch for 20 yards to be the leading receiver, while Porter added two catches for 19 yards.

Harding moved to 12-0 and Northwest finished at 9-3.

Pribula returns, but Mizzou’s losing streak in Norman moves to 19 games

The Oklahoma Sooners took a critical step in their quest to reach the College Football Playoff as John Mateer threw two touchdown passes, and the #8 Oklahoma defeated #23 Missouri 17-6, knocking the Tigers losing streak to Oklahoma in Norman to 19 games.

The Sooners, coming off road wins over Tennessee and Alabama, claimed their third straight victory over a ranked opponent and their fifth over a team that was ranked when they played. The Sooners likely will make the playoff field with a win at home against LSU on Saturday.

Oklahoma gained just 276 total yards. It wasn’t flashy, but the Sooners got what they needed,

Missouri took a 3-0 lead on a 39 yard field goal by Robert Meyer and tried to extend the advantage to six before Oklahoma’s Peyton Bowen blocked Meyer’s 35-yard field-goal attempt. On the second play after the Sooners gained possession, Isaiah Sategna turned a short catch from Mateer into an 87-yard touchdown that put the Sooners up 7-3.

Mateer connected with Javonnie Gibson for an eight yard score that extended the Sooners lead, and with 17 seconds remaining in the half Oliver Robbins knocked through a 21 yard field goal for the Tigers, and Oklahoma’s lead was 14-6 at the halftime break.

In the third quarter, Sooners kicker Tate Sandell hit a 45 yard field goal for the final points of the game.  With Oklahoma up 17-6 in the third quarter, Sooner defensive back Reggie Powers III was ejected for targeting on what would have been a critical third-down stop. His teammate, Jacobe Johnson, intercepted Pribula on the next play to maintain Oklahoma’s momentum.

Oklahoma held the Tigers to 301 yards and shut them out in the second half. Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy, who led FBS with 134.6 yards rushing per game and ran for 300 yards and three touchdowns against Mississippi State last week, finished with 57 yards on 17 carries. Beau Pribula, who dislocated his left ankle last month against Vanderbilt and missed three games, returned on Saturday. He went 20 for 36 passing for 231 yards with two interceptions.  Kevin Coleman Jr. caught seven passes for 115 yards for the Tigers.

Up next, Missouri (7-4, 3-4 SEC) closes out the regular season at Arkansas on Saturday.  Kickoff is at 2:30pm with pregame at 1:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).

Jackson’s historic day spoiled as Wildcats fall to #12 Utah in road finale

Devon Dampier threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more, including a go-ahead one yard score with 56 seconds left, and #12 Utah rallied from a 12-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter for a wild 51-47 victory over Kansas State.

The game turned on an unusual play. After the Wildcats took a 47-35 lead on Joe Jackson’s third rushing touchdown of the game, Kansas State went for two, but Utah’s Tao Johnson intercepted a tipped ball and returned it to the Kansas State end zone for two points to make it 47-37.  Dampier’s 20-yard touchdown toss to Larry Simmons got Utah within three with 2:47 left. After the Utes forced a punt, Dampier led the winning drive, setting up his go-ahead score with a 59-yard run to the one on fourth down.

Lander Barton intercepted Avery Johnson’s pass with 49 seconds remaining to seal it for Utah, which kept alive its hopes for a league title and a College Football Playoff berth.

The teams went into the second quarter tied 7-7 after exchanging rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, Antonio Martin Jr rushing for a 37 yard touchdown for the Wildcats and Byrd Ficklin going in from 10 yards out for the Utes.  Kansas State’s offense exploded before halftime for 24 points, first getting a six yard rushing score from Avery Johnson to retake the lead. 

Ficklin scored his second touchdown of the game from six yards out to tie the game up again, but Jackson soon broke up the tie with his first touchdown of the game, breaking a 66 yard touchdown run.  The Utes continued trading blows with the Wildcats, scoring their final touchdown of the half to tie up the game one more time, Dampier rushing for an eight yard score.  

Kansas State broke the tie with a 22 yard field goal by Luis Rodriguez.  Late in the first half, with 1:17 until the halftime break, Jackson broke another long run for a touchdown to extend the Wildcats lead, running 80 yards to the house for a score, and sending Kansas State to the halftime break with a 31-21 lead.

Out of the halftime break Utah began their rally back on the Wildcats,  Dampier found Dallen Bentley for a 38-yard touchdown reception and Ficklin ran for his third score to put Utah up 35-31 early in the third quarter. But Johnson threw to Garrett Oakley for a two yard touchdown on fourth down and Rodriguez added a 36-yard field goal to put the Wildcats back ahead 41-35 with 8:51 to play.

Jackson rushed for a school-record 293 yards for Kansas State, topping Darren Sproles’ mark of 292 yards set in 2004. The Wildcats finished with a program-record 472 yards rushing, the most by a Division I team in a loss since Army ran for 534 in a 52-49 loss to North Texas on Nov. 18, 2017.  Johnson was 12 for 23 through the air for 102 yards with one touchdown and one interception, adding 12 rushes for 72 yards and a score.  Jaron Tibbs had six catches for 45 yards.

Up next, Kansas State (5-6, 4-4 Big 12) hosts Colorado on Saturday in the regular season finale.  The kickoff time is TBD

Kansas offense struggles on road as Iowa State snaps losing skid

Rocco Becht threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns, with two scores and 73 yards going to Brett Eskildsen, and Iowa State defeated Kansas 38-14 in the Jayhawks regular season road finale.

The Cyclones earned their first win against the Jayhawks since 2021 and came away with their first home victory since Sept. 27 against Arizona.

Carsen Hansen rushed for 99 of his 120 yards in the first half, including a four yard score to put Iowa State ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter.  That score from Hansen came after Becht threw a nine yard touchdown pass to Eskildsen on the first offensive drive of the game. Kyle Konrardy added the second-longest field goal of his career from 55-yards out to extend the lead 17-0, which is where the score stood as the two teams went to the halftime break.

The Jayhawks and Cyclones combined for four straight touchdown drives in the third quarter, with Iowa State leading 31-14 entering the fourth.  Leshon Williams opened the second half scoring for Kansas with a four yard touchdown run, but Iowa State extended their lead with Becht connecting again with Eskildsen for a 20 yard touchdown.  

Backup quarterback Cole Ballard added to the scoring for the Jayhawks, with the only other touchdown, cutting into the Cyclones lead for the moment with a 21 yard touchdown pass to Boden Groen.  Iowa State’s final score of the quarter was Becht’s third touchdown pass, connecting with Benjamin Brahmer on a 12 yard touchdown pass to send the game to the final quarter.

Aiden Flora capped the scoring with 1:07 left in the fourth with his first rushing touchdown of the season for the Cyclones, running the ball in from 38 yards out.

Jalon Daniels was 13-of-23 passing for 154 yards and an interception for Kansas.  Groen had five catches for 76 yards.  Daniel Hishaw Jr had eight runs for 50 yards, while Williams added four rushes for 42 yards and a touchdown.  Ballard in relief of Daniels was 3 for 6 for 37 yards and the touchdown. 

Kansas (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) returns home for a game against Utah on Saturday to wrap up the regular season.  Kickoff is at 11am and the game will air on ESPN.

Nebraska falters as Huskers pounded by Nittany Lions in road finale

Kaytron Allen ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and Penn State’s defense played its best game of the season to keep the Nittany Lions’ bowl hopes alive with a 37-10 win over Nebraska.  Allen, who racked up 181 yards rushing in last week’s win against Michigan State, became Penn State’s career rushing leader with 3,954 yards, passing Evan Royster’s 3,932 set in 2010.

The senior back plowed through and zipped around the Huskers all night. Allen passed Saquon Barkley on the school’s career rushing list in the first half before eclipsing Royster with a three yard run in the fourth quarter.  By then the Nittany Lions  had put the game out of reach, scoring on five-straight possessions while their defense stymied the Cornhuskers.

Allen ripped off a 50-yard run around Nebraska’s left flank on the Nittany Lion’s opening drive to help setup a short touchdown toss from Ethan Grunkemeyer to tight end Andrew Rappleyea.  Ryan Barker booted a 26-yard field goal, then Nicholas Singleton capped Penn State’s next two drives with four and 10-yard rushing touchdowns to make it 23-3 at the  halftime break, the Huskers getting just a 31 yard field goal from Kyle Cunanan.  

Nebraska mustered just 140 yards in the first half, turned the ball over on downs twice and punted twice more. Penn State forced three more turnovers on downs in the second half.

Allen added a three yard touchdown run to open the second half scoring.  The Cornhuskers didn’t find the end zone until quarterback TJ Lateef scrambled 11 yards through a broken play to cut Penn State’s lead to 30-10 with 0:55 left in the third.  Allen then scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth, which prompted bundled-up Penn State fans to chant “Terry, Terry, Terry!” as Smith, who played for Joe Paterno. wiped tears from his eyes on the sideline.  As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Penn State players pulled out signs that read “Hire Terry Smith”.

Emmett Johnson had 19 carries for 103 yards and eight catches for 48 for yards for the Cornhuskers , who have lost three of their last five.  Lateef was 21 of 37 through the air for 187 yards and added 15 rushing yards on 10 carries with a score.  Jacory Barney Jr led the receivers with five catches for 55 yards.

Up next, Nebraska (7-4, 4-4 Big Ten) hosts Iowa on Friday in the regular season finale.  Kickoff is at 11am and the game will air on CBS.

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.