12 P.M. Games: Final Scores And Recaps

Houston, TX (Sports Network) – Case Keenum threw a career-high five touchdown passes, including a 28-yarder to Patrick Edwards with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter, as 15th-ranked Houston earned a wild 50-43 win over Southern Mississippi in a Conference USA battle at Robertson Stadium.

With nearly 5 1/2 minutes to play and Houston ahead 43-36, Southern Miss went 87-yards on eight plays. After Martevious Young connected with Gerald Baptiste for a 13-yard score, the game was deadlocked with 57 seconds left.

However, the Cougars (7-1, 3-1 C-USA) would respond in a big way. Keenum quickly guided the offense just past midfield in three plays before hitting Edwards in stride for the 28-yard scoring strike. Edwards was then flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and Houston had to kick off from its own 15-yard line.

Southern Miss (5-4, 3-2) got the ball on its own 45 and after Young threw two straight incompletions, the Golden Eagles used their remaining timeouts to draw up a play with four seconds left. Young’s desperation heave though fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired.

- Via Sports Network.

Auburn, AL (Sports Network) – Ben Tate ran for 144 yards and a score on 25 carries, helping Auburn snap its three-game losing streak with a 33-20 win over 24th-ranked Ole Miss at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Chris Todd threw for 212 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-22 passing for the Tigers (6-3, 3-3 SEC), who had not won since a road win over Tennessee on October 3. Terrell Zachery caught two passes for 83 yards, while Darvin Adams added four receptions for 68 yards and a score.

Walter McFadden intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown in the win for Auburn.

Jevan Snead completed only 16-of-35 passes for 175 yards and a score for Ole Miss (5-3, 2-3) but threw the two costly interceptions. Dexter McCluster ran for 186 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in defeat, while Shay Hodge added 105 yards on seven receptions in the Rebels’ first loss in three games.

Ole Miss took the opening kickoff and drove 94 yards down the field for a touchdown. The big play of the 10-play drive was a 43-yard pass completion from Snead to Brandon Bolden to the Auburn 41, and the series ended with a seven-yard pass to Andy Hartmann for the score and early lead.

Auburn answered with a 36-yard field goal from Wes Byrum to make it a 7-3 game midway through the opening quarter.

Neither team scored again until the Tigers moved in front with a touchdown late in the first half.

Facing a 3rd-and-2 from the Auburn 18, Todd completed a 42-yard pass play to Zachery to move into Rebel territory, and three plays later Auburn scored on a 28-yard completion to Adams for a 10-7 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter. The set covered 90 yards in six plays.

Auburn used a fortunate bounce to score two touchdowns in 12 seconds early in the third quarter.

On the second Tigers drive of the period, Kodi Burns threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Trott to complete a brief three-play, 61-yard series that was started with a 41-yard pass from Todd to Zachery.

Then, on the first play of the ensuing Mississippi series, Snead’s pass to Markeith Summers was tipped by the diving wide receiver. The ball bounced high up in the air, where McFadden caught the ball, tiptoed his feet to avoid going out of bounds and ran 29 yards for another touchdown and a 24-7 Auburn lead with 11 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Tate extended the Tigers’ lead on a 53-yard rushing touchdown halfway through the third quarter, but Ole Miss answered with Morgan Hull’s 82-yard kickoff return for a score to make it 31-14.

McCluster brought Mississippi to within 31-20 on a 79-yard touchdown run on the team’s next offensive play, but the extra point attempt was blocked and returned by Auburn’s Demond Washington for two points and a 13-point lead heading to the fourth.

Ole Miss recovered a fumble at the opposing 24 five minutes into the fourth but lost 21 yards in the next three plays, forcing a punt. The Rebels had the ball deep in Auburn territory again on their next possession, but Snead was intercepted by McFadden again to end any hopes at a comeback.

The win makes Auburn bowl-eligible…Snead has thrown 15 touchdowns to 13 interceptions this season…Auburn leads the all-time series, 25-9…Ole Miss takes on Northern Arizona next week, while Auburn faces Furman…Auburn barely outgained Mississippi in the contest, 401-394…Tigers safety Zac Etheridge was taken off the field on a stretcher after a helmet-to-helmet hit with teammate Antonio Coleman.

- Via Sports Network.

Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) – Zach Collaros threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns in place of Tony Pike, as fifth-ranked Cincinnati earned a 28-7 win over Syracuse in a Big East matchup at the Carrier Dome.

Collaros completed 22-of-28 passes, while Armon Binns had five grabs for 138 yards a a pair of scores for Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0 Big East), which was able to build off a convincing 41-10 victory over Louisville last weekend. The Bearcats, who were without Pike for a second straight game while he recuperates from left forearm surgery, is off to their best start since 1954.

Kazeem Alli and Adrien Robinson also pulled in a touchdown catch apiece for Cincinnati, which extended its winning streak to 14-straight regular-season games dating back to last season.

Greg Paulus completed 12-of-17 throws for 85 yards with a TD and an interception for Syracuse (3-5, 0-3), which defeated Akron, 28-14, last weekend in non-conference play. The Orange have dropped three of their last four. Delone Carter rushed for 50 yards on 19 touches, but fumbled late in the third quarter with the Orange in the red zone. Cody Catalina had a pair of catches for 25 yards and a touchdown catch.

Mike Williams returned to the field after serving a one-game suspension last weekend against Akron for violating team rules and had four catches for 34 yards.

Cincinnati put up the first points of the game on its opening drive. Facing a 3rd-and-11 from its own 19, Collaros escaped pressure and flipped a short pass to Binns on the far side of the field and he took it the distance for an 80- yard touchdown.

The Orange answered right back on their next possession when Paulus hit a wide open Catalina in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard score with just over four minutes to play in the quarter.

Collaros fumbled a snap on a field-goal attempt early in the second period, but gathered himself and tossed a 16-yard strike to Alli in the end zone for a 14-7 Bearcats lead.

With Syracuse driving late in the second quarter and with a 1st-and-goal on the Cincinnati eight, Paulus was picked off by Drew Frey in the end zone. The Bearcats attempted to tack on three more in the closing seconds of the half, but Jake Rogers’ 43-yard effort was off the mark and it remained 14-7 heading into the break.

Collaros found Binns in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard score to put the finishing touches on a seven-play, 60-yard drive early in the third quarter to make it a 21-7 game.

Carter fumbled with the Orange in the red zone at the Cincinnati seven in the later stages of the third, but the visitors were unable to capitalize on the miscue and were forced to punt.

Another Collaros TD toss, this time to Robinson with a little under 10 minutes remaining in the game made it 28-7, which would be the final points of the day.

Cincinnati will host Connecticut on November 7, while Syracuse welcomes Pittsburgh to the Carrier Dome next Saturday…Cincinnati improved to 6-4 lead over Syracuse in the all-time series, with the Bearcats winning the last five encounters, including a 30-10 decision last season…Isaiah Pead rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries for the Bearcats.

— Via Sports Network