Kentucky upsets No. 6 Ole Miss on the road

OXFORD, Miss. — Kentucky dragged another highly ranked opponent into the muck, and this time coach Mark Stoops and the Wildcats closed the deal.

Kentucky upset No. 6 Mississippi 20-17 on Saturday, when Rebels kicker Caden Davis hooked a 48-yard field-goal attempt way wide with 48 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats their highest-ranked win of Stoops’ 12-year career.

“It was our kind of game. A dirty, ugly, hard-fought game,” Stoops said. “We went out and did what we had to do. We played our way. I know it’s only one game, but it was a very important game for us. Obviously, I could not be more proud of this team.”

The Rebels (4-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) had a seven-game winning streak snapped and were shocked as a 15 1/2-point favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook in their SEC opener.

“Beyond disappointing. It’s a disappointing day,” Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said. “The game comes down at the end with us having a chance to win in every phase and we didn’t do it. Got to give credit to Stoops.”

The Wildcats (3-2, 1-2) took a three-point lead with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter, with a little fumble luck. Backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was heading toward the goal line with a keeper when an Ole Miss defender knocked the ball free — right to tight end Josh Kattus, who fell into the end zone.

Two weeks after Stoops faced criticism for not being aggressive enough late in the game on fourth down in a 13-12 loss against then-No. 1 Georgia, the Wildcats’ go-ahead drive was kept alive with a 63-yard completion from Brock Vandagriff to Barion Brown on fourth-and-7 at the Kentucky 20.

Vandagriff passed for 243 yards and a touchdown, helping Kentucky play keep-away from the Rebels’ high-powered offense. The Wildcats held the ball for nearly 40 minutes.

Jaxson Dart converted a fourth-and-11 with a 42-yard pass to Caden Prieskorn on the Rebels’ final drive, but two plays later Dart took a sack that sent Ole Miss the wrong way as it tried to get in field-goal range.

Davis’ potential tying kick came on a fourth-and-7.

Dart finished with with 261 yards passing, but after Ole Miss averaged 55 points against overmatched nonconference opponents, the Rebels found the end zone only once after an opening drive touchdown.

Tre Harris led the Rebels with 11 receptions for 176 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown that gave them a 17-13 lead.

Dane Key had eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown that gave Kentucky a 10-7 halftime lead.

“All I can tell you is Stoops is in the air in the locker room,” Key said. “That’s a pretty good thing.”

No. 1 TEXAS 35, MISSISSIPPI STATE 13

AUSTIN, Texas — Arch Manning passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score, and Texas got another standout performance from its defense to earn a victory over Mississippi State.

Manning was 26-of-31 passing for 324 yards in his second consecutive start in place of Quinn Ewers, who is still recovering from a strained abdomen.

Manning’s 49-yard touchdown pass to Deondre Moore in the second quarter, and his 1-yard TD run in the third, opened up a tighter-than-expected matchup with the Bulldogs, who have lost four in a row.

Texas had cruised through its first four games and raced to an opening touchdown in five plays. But the Longhorns soon bogged down with a turnover, a dropped touchdown pass and a partially blocked punt.

The Longhorns defense did not allow a touchdown until Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren’s 12-yard run with just under 7 minutes left. That score snapped a streak of nine consecutive quarters without giving up a touchdown.

No 21 OKLAHOMA 27, AUBURN 21

AUBURN, Ala. — Kip Lewis returned an interception 61 yards for the game-winning touchdown, and Oklahoma rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Auburn for its first-ever Southeastern Conference win.

It was Oklahoma’s first SEC road game after leaving the Big 12. The Sooners bounced back from a loss at home to Tennessee the previous week.

True freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. gained 230 yards of total offense in his first career start for Oklahoma after replacing Jackson Arnold during the Tennessee game. The Sooners (4-1, 1-1 SEC) struggled on offense for much of the game, but they took advantage of several missed opportunities by the Tigers (2-3, 0-2).

Auburn’s Payton Thorne passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns, but his sixth interception of the season turned out to be the decisive play.

No. 22 BYU 34, BAYLOR 28

WACO, Texas - Crew Wakley had an game-clinching interception with 59 seconds left as the Cougars held on for a 34-28 victory at the Bears to remain undefeated, after the Cougars had twice built three-touchdown leads as Jake Retzlaff threw for two scores and ran for another one.

Wakley made a leaping interception near midfield along the sideline in front of the Baylor bench to secure the first Big 12 road victory for the Cougars (5-0, 2-0 Big 12).

Retzlaff threw two interceptions after halftime, the second a deflection caught by 337-pound nose tackle Elinus Noel III to set up Baylor at the Cougars 45 with 4:01 left. The Bears were stopped on a fourth-and-6 incompletion from the 24 with 1:47 left but still had all of their timeouts and got the ball back with only 13 seconds coming off the clock, but BYU went three-and-out.

No. 23 KANSAS STATE 42, No. 20 OKLAHOMA ST. 20

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Avery Johnson passed for three touchdowns and ran for two as the Wildcats routed the Cowboys.

Johnson passed for 259 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 60 yards and two scores.

DJ Giddens ran for 187 yards and a touchdown and had a catch for 22 yards for Kansas State for the Wildcats (4-1, 1-1 Big 12), who fell behind early before scoring 35 straight points to take control.

No. 24 TEXAS A&M 21, ARKANSAS 17

ARLINGTON, Texas — Le’Veon Moss was banged up and bottled up with the Aggies down three points in the fourth quarter of the final scheduled neutral-site game against Arkansas at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Three straight carries covering 46 yards triggered the winning drive in yet another victory for the Aggies over the Razorbacks at AT&T Stadium.

Marcel Reed threw for two touchdowns, including the go-ahead 5-yarder to Tre Watson that was set up by Moss, and ran for a score in the win.