Missouri beats Arkansas, 21-14, to win SEC East title

Marcus Murphy scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 12-yard run with 4:38 remaining and Markus Golden recovered a fumble to seal No. 17 Missouri’s 21-14 victory Friday against Arkansas and send the Tigers to the SEC championship game for the second straight season.

Missouri (10-2, 7-1) tied it at 14 early in the fourth quarter with a 98-yard drive capped by Jimmie Hunt’s 4-yard TD reception and a reverse pass by receiver Bud Sasser to Darius White for the 2-point conversion.

Arkansas (6-6, 2-6) was driving for the tie when Kentrell Brothers stripped Alex Collins and Golden recovered with 2:13 to go at the Missouri 35 to thwart Arkansas’ bid to tie it.

The Razorbacks had won two straight, both shutouts against ranked teams.

No. 24 Marshall 67, Western Kentucky 66

Brandon Doughty threw a Conference USA-record eight touchdown passes, the last in overtime to Jared Dangerfield followed by a 2-point conversion pass to Willie McNeal that lifted Western Kentucky to the victory.

Marshall’s Rakeem Cato had seven touchdown passes but threw four interceptions as the teams combined for 1,446 yards of offense.

Doughty broke the previous conference record of six TD passes set on eight occasions.

Western Kentucky (7-5, 4-4) foiled Marshall’s bid for the fourth perfect season in school history. The teams tied the Bowl Subdivision record for the most combined points scored in a game involving a ranked team, set when West Virginia beat Baylor 70-63 in 2012. It was the highest-scoring game in Conference USA history, eclipsing East Carolina’s 65-59 win over Marshall in double overtime in 2012.

Marshall (11-1, 7-1) saw its 13-game home winning streak snapped and likely lost its chance to earn a place in the New Year’s bowls. The College Football Playoff committee will pick one team from outside the five major conferences for one guaranteed spot. Marshall was 24th in the CFP this week, one place behind Boise State, which plays Utah State on Saturday.

Air Force 27, No. 21 Colorado State 24

Will Conant made a 39-yard field goal as time expired after backup quarterback Nate Romine completed a long pass, and Air Force upset Colorado State to snap the Rams’ nine-game winning streak.

Fullbacks Shayne Davern and D.J. Johnson scored for Air Force (9-3, 5-3), which has won six straight over the Rams (10-2, 6-2) at Falcon Stadium.

Romine stepped in for starter Kale Pearson, who was a late scratch with a tender right ankle. Romine ran for a score and threw for 135 yards, including a 26-yard strike to Garrett Brown to get the Falcons in field-goal range.

This after Colorado State went for it on fourth-and-short in Air Force territory, only to have Dee Hart stopped short. It gave Air Force good field position and 38 seconds left.

Navy 42, South Alabama 40

Keenan Reynolds ran for three touchdowns Friday afternoon, and Navy survived a pair of South Alabama two-point conversion attempts that were both wiped out by penalties in the final seconds.

Brandon Bridge hit Jeremy Jones with a 10-yard TD pass to pull the Jags within two points with 39 seconds left, but his two-point conversion pass to Shavarez Smith was wiped out by an ineligible man downfield call. Bridge’s successful scramble to the end zone for another apparent tying conversion was erased by a holding call.

Brendon Clements then intercepted Bridge’s desperation heave into the end zone and the Midshipmen recovered the ensuing onside kick.

Reynolds ran for three touchdowns, while Noah Copeland added running touchdowns of 3 and 13 yards.

Navy (6-5) went ahead for good when Chris Swain ran in from 34-yards out for a 21-17 lead with 3:07 left in the half.

South Alabama (6-6) got four touchdown passes from Bridge.

Texas A&M fires defensive coordinator

Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mark Snyder was fired Friday, a day after the Aggies gave up 491 yards in a regular-season-ending loss to Louisiana State.

Texas A&M (7-5) gave up 384 yards rushing in a 23-17 loss on Friday night at Kyle Field.

Snyder has been at Texas A&M since Coach Kevin Sumlin was hired in 2012. Sumlin said in a statement that Snyder “understands the production needed to be better on the defensive side of the football.”

The Aggies rank 103rd in total defense by giving up 449 yards a game. Linebackers coach Mark Hagan will be A&M’s interim defensive coordinator for the team’s bowl game.