— TULSA – Cody Green connected with Keyarris Garrett for three touchdown passes Saturday and Tulsa held on to beat UCF 23-21 in a battle of Conference USA division leaders.

The win sealed the West Division title for Tulsa (9-2, 7-0) and gives the Golden Hurricane the upper hand for home-field advantage for the championship game Dec. 1.

Trey Watts ran for 122 yards for Tulsa, and Green finished with 252 yards passing, going 21 for 34 with an interception. The three scoring passes to Garrett went for 70, 20 and 13 yards – the last one making it 23-14 Golden Hurricane with 5:11 left in the third quarter.

UCF (8-3, 6-1) came within two points on Latavius Murray’s 2-yard run with 9:01 to play, but Tulsa ran nearly seven minutes off the clock and the Knights never got another first down.

Blake Bortles was 13 of 31 for 169 yards and a TD for UCF, but was sacked four times.



TULSA 23, CENTRAL FLORIDA 21

UCF    0    14    0    7–21

Tulsa    10    0    13    0–23

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Tlsa – FG Schwarz 41, 6:53.

Tlsa – Garrett 70 pass from Green (Schwarz kick), 3:51.

Second Quarter

UCF – Perriman 21 pass from Bortles (Moffitt kick), 10:26.

UCF – Bouye 76 interception return (Moffitt kick), 3:14.

Third Quarter

Tlsa – Garrett 20 pass from Green (kick blocked), 9:47.

Tlsa – Garrett 13 pass from Green (Schwarz kick), 5:11.

Fourth Quarter

UCF – Murray 2 run (Moffitt kick), 9:01.



TEAM STATS

    UCF    Tlsa

First downs    14    26

Rushes-yards    34-66    53-209

Passing    169    252

Comp-Att-Int    13-31-0    21-34-1

Return Yards    95    0

Punts-Avg.    9-37.3    6-37.2

Fumbles-Lost    1-0    3-1

Penalties-Yards    3-15    0-0

Time of Possession    28:52    31:08

Individual leaders

RUSHING – UCF, Murray 22-60, Godfrey 1-8, McDuffie 1-5, Hall 1-3, Team 1-(minus 2), Bortles 8-(minus 8). Tulsa, Watts 20-122, Singleton 18-64, Green 6-15, Douglas 7-9, Carter 1-1, Team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING – UCF, Bortles 13-31-0-169. Tulsa, Green 21-34-1-252.

RECEIVING – UCF, Hall 3-27, McDuffie 2-49, Perriman 2-33, Godfrey 2-31, Worton 2-12, Reese 1-10, Murray 1-7. Tulsa, Garrett 7-130, T.Roberson 4-41, Watts 4-38, James 3-32, Carter 3-11.



Arkansas routed

by Mississippi St.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Tyler Russell threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns to lead Mississippi State to a 45-14 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.

The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Bulldogs (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference). It also ends a three-game losing streak against the Razorbacks.

Arkansas (4-7, 2-5) moved the ball well to open the game and led 14-7 early in the second quarter. But a series of turnovers and miscues gave life to Mississippi State on both sides of the ball. The Bulldogs led 17-14 at the half and took control of the game for good in the third quarter. Arkansas finished with five turnovers.

LaDarius Perkins finished with 137 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns for Mississippi State. Chad Bumphis caught six passes – two for touchdowns – setting a single-season school record.

For Arkansas, Tyler Wilson finished the game 23 of 29 for 225 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.



MISSISSIPPI ST. 45, ARKANSAS 14

Arkansas    7    7    0    0–14

Mississippi St.    7    10    14    14–45

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

MSSt – Perkins 13 pass from Russell (Bell kick), 9:32.

Ark – Hamilton 30 pass from T.Wilson (Hocker kick), 4:24.

Second Quarter

Ark – D.Johnson 7 pass from T.Wilson (Hocker kick), 12:17.

MSSt – FG Bell 39, 9:38.

MSSt – Bumphis 6 pass from Russell (Bell kick), 4:48.

Third Quarter

MSSt – Prescott 4 run (Bell kick), 5:51.

MSSt – Perkins 24 pass from Russell (Bell kick), 1:31.

Fourth Quarter

MSSt – Bumphis 22 pass from Russell (Bell kick), 14:50.

MSSt – Griffin 60 run (Bell kick), 12:22.



TEAM STATS

    Ark    MSSt

First downs    19    24

Rushes-yards    33-126    36-203

Passing    233    302

Comp-Att-Int    24-30-2    21-34-0

Return Yards    (-1)    23

Punts-Avg.    5-45.0    4-36.8

Fumbles-Lost    3-3    1-1

Penalties-Yards    9-70    5-41

Time of Possession    29:33    30:27

Individual leaders

RUSHING – Arkansas, D.Johnson 15-88, J.Williams 4-16, T.Wilson 7-10, Wingo 2-6, K.Davis 5-6. Mississippi St., Perkins 17-91, Griffin 2-68, J.Robinson 4-26, Prescott 6-17, Milton 3-4, Russell 3-(minus 1), Team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING – Arkansas, T.Wilson 23-29-2-225, Allen 1-1-0-8. Mississippi St., Russell 19-32-0-274, Prescott 2-2-0-28.

RECEIVING – Arkansas, Hamilton 7-88, Herndon 6-84, McKay 3-30, D.Johnson 3-1, Tate 2-10, Linton 1-8, J.Williams 1-8, Wingo 1-4. Mississippi St., Bumphis 6-82, Clark 3-61, Perkins 3-40, R.Johnson 2-24, C.Smith 2-23, M.Johnson 1-27, Lewis 1-15, Morrow 1-13, Heavens 1-9, Hemphill 1-8.