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College football today: Week 12 updates, highlights, biggest moments and more

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C.J. Stroud threads the needle to Chris Olave for Ohio State TD (0:40)

Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud slings a 23-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave to give the Buckeyes the early lead. (0:40)

It's Week 12, and if the games earlier this week gave us any indication of what we're in for on Saturday, it's definitely going to be fun: a top-10 matchup between Michigan State and Ohio State, plus Arkansas-Alabama and Oregon-Utah.

Come back here throughout the day for the latest results, reaction and revelry from throughout the land.

Game of the moment: No. 3 Oregon at No. 23 Utah (ABC)

Oregon has the head-to-head advantage over Ohio State. But can the Ducks withstand the Buckeyes' convincing rout over Michigan State to stay ahead of them in the next College Football Playoff rankings?

The Ducks could very well have a rematch with the Utes in the Pac-12 title game in two weeks, but Saturday's game carries massive CFP implications.

Read more from Bill Connelly's Week 12 preview (ESPN+).

Full schedule: All teams | Top 25


Utah pouring it on

Tavion Thomas scored a 4-yard touchdown run with 27 seconds left in the second quarter to give Utah a 21-0 lead.

The Utes weren't done there.

Oregon tried to drive with those 27 seconds and instead went three-and-out. So the Ducks punted ... and Britain Covey ran down the left sideline 78 yards to give 23rd-ranked Utah a 28-0 lead over the third-ranked Ducks.

Buckeye bashing

Ohio State wanted to make a statement against Michigan State. Here's how the first quarter went: 23-yard touchdown to Chris Olave. ...

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Buckeyes' fans erupt as C.J. Stroud finds Garrett Wilson for 77-yard TD

Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud finds Garrett Wilson in stride for a 77-yard touchdown play to widen the Buckeyes' lead.

Michigan State punt, 77-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson. ...

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Buckeyes' Chris Olave gets second TD reception of the day

Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud flings a 43-yard touchdown to Chris Olave, their second TD connection of the game.

Michigan State missed field goal, 43-yard touchdown pass to Olave. ...

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Missouri strikes back with Star Wars troll after win vs. Florida

After Florida coach Dan Mullen dressed up as Darth Vader following the Gators' win in 2020, Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz pulls out a lightsaber after the Tigers' win on Saturday.

The Buckeyes scored touchdowns on their first seven drives in the first half. Quarterback C.J. Stroud totaled 393 passing yards and six touchdown passes at the break. Think that's impressive? So does Patrick Mahomes.

Honorary Buckeye LeBron James wanted to check in on his old pal and former Spartan Draymond Green to see how he's doing in light of the blowout.

Big play Jame

Jameson Williams has had a reception of at least 50 yards in each of his past four games entering Saturday. What did he do against Arkansas on Saturday? Just break free for this 79-yard touchdown catch.

Williams wasn't done. He caught a 32-yard pass for a touchdown in the second quarter and made a diving 40-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone in the fourth for his third TD of the day, bringing him up to 190 receiving yards.

UTSA stays perfect in thriller

With a Conference USA West title and a perfect season at stake, UTSA needed a hero.

Enter Oscar Cardenas.

Down 31-27 with seven seconds remaining, quarterback Frank Harris fumbled the snap, recovered, rolled to his left and found Cardenas in the end zone -- on a tipped pass -- to give the Roadrunners a thrilling 34-31 win.

Mizzou walks off vs. Florida

Florida's season is spiraling.

The Gators lost three straight -- to LSU, Georgia and South Carolina. Then they allowed 42 first-half points to FCS Samford. On Saturday, they lost in overtime to Missouri on a walk-off 2-point conversion to fall to 5-6.

Connor Bazelak found Daniel Parker Jr. wide open in the end zone to give the Tigers a 24-23 win and make Mizzou bowl eligible. Meanwhile, Florida, under .500 with a game to play, is not eligible for a bowl.

Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz had an epic message for everyone after the game, throwing some shade at Florida coach Dan Mullen.

Beat Yale

Somehow, a blocked punt returned for a touchdown wasn't the highlight for Harvard in its rivalry showdown against Yale.

No, it was Luke Emge orchestrating a six-play, 66-yard touchdown drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass to Kym Wimberly that put the Crimson on top for good with 22 seconds remaining.

Horns Down (bad)

Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns lost to West Virginia 31-23 on Saturday, Texas' sixth straight defeat after a 4-1 start. While the Mountaineers were recognizing military personnel during the game, each member reportedly did the Horns Down hand gesture. Even Mountaineers quarterback Jarret Doege, who threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns, did it after the game.

Down bad, indeed.

Coastal challenges Chestnut

Coastal Carolina pulled away from Texas State, but the Chanticleers' real challenge came after the game, when three players -- Charles "Ground Chuck" Ouverson, Trey Carter and Silas "One Bite" Kelly -- faced off with the legendary Joey Chestnut for a pizza-eating contest.

Jordan Davis' Heisman moment?

Davis, a 6-foot-6, 340-pound defensive lineman, has anchored top-ranked Georgia's top-ranked defense. But on Saturday, he helped the Dawgs' offense, scoring a 1-yard touchdown against Charleston Southern.

And after the Dawgs' 56-7 rout, Davis conducted Georgia's band. What can't he do?

DTR pulls a T.O.

UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson did his best Terrell Owens impersonation, scoring a touchdown and celebrating by signing an autograph. Except this one wasn't scripted; the fan near him just happened to have a pen and hat nearby.

Thompson-Robinson accounted for six total touchdowns in UCLA's 62-33 win over USC, including this 15-yard run in which he hurdled a Trojans defender.

Michigan making acrobatic plays

Which of these Wolverines receivers made the better play? Was it Andrel Anthony?

Or was it Mike Sainristil?

The trick kick return

Michigan doesn't need acrobatic catches to score touchdowns. A little trickery works, too.

After Michael Barrett caught the short kickoff, he threw it across the field to A.J. Henning, who ran 80 yards down the far sideline unscathed for the touchdown.

UCLA's Kazmeir Allen didn't need any kind of tricks. He ran right through USC's special teams unit to go 100 yards for the score.

Fake field goal alert

Arkansas trailed by 13 early in the fourth quarter. Go for the field goal and chip away at Alabama's lead, right?

Or go for the fake field goal and have punter Reid Bauer jump-throw a 32-yard touchdown to Blake Kern to make it a one-score game.

Comeback complete

East Carolina trailed Navy 35-27 midway through the fourth. But the Pirates responded with a touchdown pass to Tyler Snead, a game-tying 2-point conversion, a stop on defense and a game-winning 54-yard field goal by Owen Daffer.

Big men TDs

Oklahoma defensive lineman Jalen Redmond showed off his wheels after Key Lawrence forced a Brock Purdy fumble.

Redmond and Davis weren't the only linemen to score touchdowns. South Carolina guard Trai Jones, a 6-foot-3, 305-pound freshman, lined up at fullback and caught this 3-yard score.

Run, Caleb, run!

Oklahoma totaled just 82 rushing yards in last week's loss to Baylor. Quarterback Caleb Williams had 74 on this explosive touchdown run Saturday against Iowa State.

What an Iowa State drive

Iowa State picked off Williams and then had its drive appear to stall. Then, the Cyclones woke up. Matt Campbell called a fake punt on fourth-and-7 to keep the drive going.

Then Breece Hall channeled his inner Odell Beckham Jr. with a one-handed grab on fourth-and-5.

And the drive ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Dekkers to Chase Allen that brought the Cyclones within one score.

Shades of Tim Tebow

Fifteen years after Tebow threw his famous jump pass, Clemson running back Will Shipley did the same on this trick play.

Irish making a statement

Notre Dame is currently on the outside looking in relative to the College Football Playoff. For the Irish to move up, they need to win big and have teams above them lose.

They're doing just that against Georgia Tech so far, as Jack Kiser's pick-six helped the Irish take a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter.

Prime Time back on the sideline

Deion Sanders is back on the sideline for 9-1 Jackson State's rivalry game against Alcorn State. And perhaps no one is happier than Sanders himself.

He gone

How does Iowa respond after finding itself down 10-0? With a 100-yard kickoff return to the house by Charlie Jones.

Matt Araiza has some competition

Rutgers and Penn State traded punts on the first 12 possessions of their game. But none of them traveled as far as Adam Korsak's third-quarter punt that went 74 yards.

And just to be clear, it's not like San Diego State's Araiza had a bad game (by his standards) against UNLV on Friday. He had six punts for 285 yards, an average of 47.5, with his longest traveling 59 yards.

Sign him up!

This goes down as an Aidan O'Connell incompletion, but not for this fan.

Bill Murray hits West Point

The Civil ConFLiCT returns!

Remember the Civil ConFLiCT trophy? The, uh, different rivalry trophy that UConn coach Bob Diaco tried to start with UCF? And how neither team seemed all that interested in it? To the point that it disappeared. Well, as the Huskies and Knights renew hostilities today, the trophy is back. (We think.)

It's all fun and games

Yes, we are still talking about Taylor Swift. And we are happier than ever that Lane Kiffin has listened to the 10-minute version of "All Too Well."

NIL deal of the week

Good things happen to those who score game winners against Texas, like the several NIL deals Jared Casey has signed.

For more on Kansas' walk-on hero, check this out.

Big-time celebrations

Why not drop-kick the football after you've scored?

Every play is better when it involves a big man like Michael Smith Jr.

Scene in the stands

Well, this person has left the stands and made himself comfortable on this hill.

Latest trends

More kids designing jersey combinations would be for the best, honestly.

The amount of detail that went into these helmets is flat-out incredible.

For more on the best uniforms, check this out.

More must-see

Trayvon Rudolph ran this play to perfection.