LSU ushers Arkansas out of BCS picture

Cross off Arkansas from the dwindling list of national championship contenders.

JaMarcus Russell threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 9 LSU held off No. 5 Arkansas 31-26 Friday in Little Rock, Ark., to derail the Razorbacks’ slim national title hopes.

Arkansas was No. 6 in the BCS standings this week, but the Razorbacks held out hope that wins over the Tigers (10-2, 6-2) and next week against Florida in the Southeastern Conference title game would help them jump the other contenders and into the championship game against Ohio State.

Instead, LSU improved its chances of landing a bid to the Bowl Championship Series.

Arkansas pulled within five at 31-26 on Felix Jones’ 5-yard touchdown run with 4:53 remaining, and the Razorbacks (10-2, 7-1) got the ball back at their own 27 with 2:04 to play. But Casey Dick threw four straight incompletions.

Texas A&M 12, (11) Texas 7: Stephen McGee scored on an 8-yard run with 2 1/2 minutes to play and the Aggies stunned No. 11 Texas 12-7 at Austin behind a power running game and tough defense to snap a six-game losing streak in the bitter rivalry.

The Aggies (9-3, 5-3) rushed for 244 yards against the nation’s top run defense and intercepted Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy three times, the last with just over a minute to play.

(23) Nebraska 37, Colorado 14: Zac Taylor threw two touchdown passes on a record-setting day and Nebraska (9-3, 6-2 Big 12), already bound for the Big 12 championship game, whipped against Colorado (2-10, 2-6) in a victory at Lincoln, Neb.