In the biggest game at Tiger Stadium in half a century, No.1-ranked Louisiana State came from 14 points down to beat No. 3-ranked Arkansas 41-17 Friday and secure a spot in college football Southeastern Conference championship game. Tyrann Mathieu returned a punt 92 yards for a score and the Tigers punished Arkansas with 286 yards rushing. Kenny Hilliard, Spencer Ware and quarterback Jordan Jefferson all scored with runs for LSU, which is 12-0 for the first time and will play No. 13 Georgia next weekend in Atlanta. A win over the Bulldogs would assure the Tigers their third trip to college football's title game in nine seasons. Though at this point, LSU might be able to get there even if it loses. Arkansas took a surprising 14-0 lead on Tyler Wilson's touchdown pass to Jarius Wright and Alonzo Highsmith's 47-yard fumble return, but LSU stormed back by scoring 41 of the next 44 points in the game. The rivalry game known as the battle for “The Boot,” a trophy in the shape of Arkansas and Louisiana, marked the first time two teams ranked in the top three had met in Death Valley since 1959, when No. 1 LSU won 7-3 over No. 3 Mississippi. Mathieu, who was playing safety instead of cornerback much of the game because of Eric Reid's injury the previous week, forced two turnovers with strips, one of which he recovered. He now has six forced fumbles this season. His fifth was a strip of running back Dennis Johnson in LSU territory late in the first half. That set up a touchdown drive that put the Tigers ahead to stay. LSU trailed 14-7 when Mathieu fielded Dylan Breeding's punt at his own 8-yard line, started left, made a hard cut straight up field, then angled left again to break into the clear. It was Mathieu's third touchdown of the season, his second on special teams. LSU's defense sacked Wilson five times (twice by Barkevious Mingo) and intercepted him once, with Morris Claiborne making his team-leading fifth pickoff of the season. Wilson completed 14 of 22 passes for 207 yards, with 60 yards on a short pass that Cobi Hamilton turned into a long gain. The play put Arkansas in position to tie the game at 21, but LSU's defense forced a field goal that made it 21-17, and the Razorbacks never got closer than that again. Jefferson was 18 of 29 for 208 yards and one touchdown, a 9-yard pass to Russell Shepard that gave LSU the lead for good at with 59 seconds left in the first half. Hilliard finished with a career-high 102 yards rushing on 19 carries, while Michael Ford rushed 11 times for 96 yards. No. 8 Houston 48, Tulsa 16: In Tulsa, Case Keenum threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns as Houston beat Tulsa and earned a spot in the Conference USA championship game. Patrick Edwards had 181 yards receiving and four scores for the Cougars, who set a school season record by winning their 12th game. The 12 straight wins also match the school's longest winning streak, set over the 1990 and ‘91 seasons. No. 22 Nebraska 20, Iowa 7: In Lincoln, Nebraska, Rex Burkhead, who started the week with his right foot in a walking boot, ran for 160 yards and a touchdown on a school-record 38 carries as Nebraska defeated Iowa. Burkhead pounded away at Iowa's defense 4 and 5 yards at a time and looked like his old self after being held to a season-low 36 yards in last week's loss at Michigan.
