Winners and Losers: With conference championships set, focus shifts to the CFP – Yahoo Sports

MWC: San Diego State vs. Wyoming
This is a rematch of just a week ago when Wyoming won 34-33 after San Diego State eschewed a game-tying PAT in favor of a (failed) two-point attempt. There’s little impact on the New Year’s Six standings for this game, however, thanks to each team having multiple losses. Both teams lost Saturday night. Had San Diego State not lost to either South Alabama or the Cowboys this game could be a foil for Western Michigan’s Cotton Bowl chances.

WINNERS

D’Onta Foreman, Texas: Last week, D’Onta Foreman’s father Derrick Foreman went on an epic Twitter rant calling out Texas’ playcalling and even his own son for fumbling the ball vs. Kansas. This week, Derrick only had one word to say on the social media platform about his son reaching the 2,000 yard mark: #Special. D’Onta’s 2,000 rushing yards are indeed special as he joins Ricky Williams as the only Longhorn to eclipse the 2K mark.

Corey Davis, Western Michigan: Trevor Insley, who played for Nevada from 1996-99, was the FBS career leader in yards receiving with 5,005 yards until Friday. WMU wide receiver Corey Davis broke Insley’s record in the second quarter of a 55-35 win over Toledo on a leaping 12-yard catch. Davis now has 5,069 yards for his career with a MAC Championship and a bowl game to cushion his lead in the record books.

James Conner, Pittsburgh: The inspirational Panthers running back who beat cancer now has four games this season with at least one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown, more than anybody at the FBS level this season. Conner rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns while adding two catches for 45 yards and a score in Pitt’s wild win over Syracuse.

Bill Snyder, Kansas State: Snyder became just the sixth head coach ever to win 200 career games with just one school Saturday in the Wildcats’ 34-19 win over in-state rival Kansas. Even with 200 wins under his belt, Snyder still took the time after the game to call out his team’s questionable effort:

“You know, I probably don’t sound in a pretty good mood, but I’m responsive to how we played and we played rather ugly today,” Snyder said, according to the Associated Press. “I don’t feel good about that, I assure you.”

Southern Mississippi: Southern Miss beat Louisiana Tech 39-24 at home on Saturday to clinch a bowl berth. The Golden Eagles are the only FBS team in the state of Mississippi going to a bowl game this season. Nick Mullens threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

Texas-San Antonio: UTSA is bowl eligible for the first time in program history after a defeating Charlotte 33-14. UTSA football has only been in existence since 2011. It spent a season as a member of the WAC before joining Conference USA in 2013. It went 7-5 in 2013, but wasn’t bowl eligible because of its provisional status in the conference. However, there’s nothing keeping the Roadrunners out of the postseason this year. The Roadrunners were 3-9 a year ago, but have thrived in coach Frank Wilson’s first season. So much so, the team carried him off the field after the game. UTSA finished second in C-USA’s West Division.

Aaron Jones, UTEP: North Texas had a chance to clinch a bowl berth on Saturday against UTEP, but the Mean Green just could not stop UTEP running back Aaron Jones. Jones rushed for 301 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries in a 52-24 home win. Jones scored on rushes of 83, 48, 58 and three yards. The junior finishes with 1,773 yards rushing this season.

Navy and Alabama: As November comes to a close, here are two incredible statistics courtesy of Navy and Alabama. The Midshipmen beat SMU 75-31 on Saturday while Alabama beat Auburn 30-12.

LOSERS

Tennessee: The Vols gave up a whopping 608 yards of offense in a 45-34 loss to Vanderbilt. The Vols led 34-24 late in the third but gave up 21 points in the game’s final 16 minutes, allowing Vandy to clinch a bowl berth.

Trailing by 11 in the final two minutes, Vols coach Butch Jones made an asinine decision to go for it on 4th & 4 inside the 20. A field goal would have cut the lead to eight and at least given Tennessee a chance to try an onside kick after making it a one-possession game. Instead, Josh Dobbs threw short to Alvin Kamara, who was forced out of bounds short of the first down. Tennessee finished the regular season at 8-4 in a year it was supposed to finally be back on top in the SEC East.

Vandy running back Ralph Webb sure was happy about it.

Arizona State and Miss Arizona: Miss Arizona USA Tommy Lynn Calhoun will always remember Friday night’s Territorial Cup.

Calhoun got flattened on the sidelines by Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins. But she shook it off like a champion.

The bigger loser is Arizona State. The Sun Devils gave up 511 yards rushing to the hapless Wildcats in a 56-35 win. The loss was ASU’s sixth-straight and dropped the Sun Devils to 5-7 and out of the bowl picture.

Cincinnati: After jumping out to a 24-7 lead over Tulsa, Cincinnati looked like it might finish its season on a high note. Instead, Tulsa stormed back and won 40-37, bringing a brutal season to a fitting end. Cincy led 34-24 with under six minutes to go, but allowed Tulsa to tie things up in the final minutes. It would be a major surprise if head coach Tommy Tuberville returned for the Bearcats in 2017.

Arkansas: The Hogs have laid some eggs in 2016 and Friday’s loss to Missouri might have been the biggest. Arkansas led at halftime 24-7 before losing 28-24 to a Missouri team that entered the game at 3-9.

The Hogs had more than 40 minutes of possession, though most of that came in the first half. Arkansas surprisingly went to the pass more in the second half and it hurt as Austin Allen threw two interceptions.

Arkansas ends the regular season 7-5 with losses to Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Missouri. One of these things is not like the other.

Ole Miss: Ole Miss was blown out 55-20 at home to rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl to finish the season 5-7. The Rebels trailed just 27-20 at halftime but were outscored 28-0 in the second half and allowed 457 yards rushing overall in the loss. After the loss, Hugh Freeze told reporters he was “glad the season is over.” Your fans probably feel the same way, Hugh.

Mark Helfrich, Oregon: After losing to rival Oregon State for the first time since 2007, Oregon has a decision to make with head coach Mark Helfrich. The loss dropped the Ducks’ record to a miserable 4-8 mark after making a bowl game 11 years in a row. After the Ducks upset Utah last weekend, it looked like Helfrich might be able to keep his job. Saturday’s 34-24 loss, in which the Ducks allowed 310 yards rushing, won’t help his cause.

Bonus loser: Spelling is hard