It was a proud moment for Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida when his son, Anthony Rubio, scored his first collegiate touchdown in the Florida Gators’ blowout victory over Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl on Friday night. 

Anthony Rubio, a walk-on to the team, scored on a late nine-yard run with just over a minute remaining to extend Florida’s lopsided lead to 33-8 in what marked the Gator’s fourth straight victory. 

"Great to finish the right way," Florida coach Billy Napier said of the play. 

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The game was already decided at that point, but Rubio’s teammates rushed to crowd around him and celebrate his first score in his first college football game.

"It was insane," he told Florida beat writer Jesse Simmons of his teammate's celebration. "First, I want to thank God for that, it wouldn’t have happened [without] Him." 

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As any proud parent would, Senator Rubio took to social media to praise his son’s accomplishments. 

"Happy my son scored," he wrote in a post on X. "But what I am truly proud of is the joy from his teammates and that he gave all the glory to God." 

Rubio joined the Gators’ football program as a walk-on running back in 2023. He redshirted his first year and didn’t see any action until Friday’s game. He wrapped up the game with 32 rushing yards and one score on the ground. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Georgia is reportedly preparing for life without starting quarterback Carson Beck in the College Football Playoff.

Beck is reportedly exploring surgery options to repair an injury to the elbow on his throwing arm and is unlikely to return this season, sources told ESPN Thursday. 

On the last play before halftime in the SEC Championship game, Beck went to throw a Hail Mary, but the Texas defender hit his arm as he threw. 

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The Bulldogs quarterback went down to the ground in pain and was replaced by sophomore Gunner Stockton in the third quarter. 

Stockton was 12-16 with 71 yards and one interception, replacing Beck in the second half. In overtime, the sophomore quarterback had to leave the game because he took a massive hit to the head area.

So, Beck, while hurt, re-entered the game to hand the ball off to running back Trevor Etienne, who scored the game-winning touchdown. 

After the game, Beck talked about not having had a good grip on the ball during the play, according to On3.

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Because Georgia beat Texas 22-19 in overtime to win the SEC Championship where Beck got hurt, they secured a first round-bye as the No. 2 seed. They play the winner of No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 10 Indiana.

Stockton is in line to make his first career start in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Stockton is 25-32 passing for 206 yards in limited action across three games this season. 

While Beck may not start in the College Football Playoffs, the senior quarterback’s Georgia career is not necessarily over as he has one more year of eligibility. 

Beck could declare for the NFL Draft anyway, forgoing his last year of eligibility. The senior quarterback could also stay at Georgia for another season, or enter the transfer portal to try and boost his stock. 

This season, Beck has completed 64.7% of his passes, throwing for 3,485 yards with 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, leading Georgia to an 11-2 record. 

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While teams are vying for a national championship against 11 others, many college football players, including those in the College Football Playoff, are on the hunt for new schools.

The transfer portal opened up last week, several days before the 12-team College Football Playoff, and the timing has led to skepticism.

Earlier this week, Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula said he was put in an "impossible" situation to enter the portal, following Drew Allar's announcement to return next season, when the team has bigger things to focus on. Even head coach James Franklin said the quarterback was in a "no-win" situation.

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Well, the head coach that will be opposite Franklin in Rhett Lashlee took it a step further, calling the timing "terrible."

"I feel so awful for our kids and kids around the country," the SMU head coach said on Tuesday, via ESPN. "There's no other sport at all that has free agency in the season. It's sad. It's terrible. You hear the story about their backup quarterback saying, 'I don't have a choice.' That's wrong. That's unacceptable. That's not OK. He shouldn't have to make that decision.'"

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"The real easy thing is you don't have a transfer portal in December. That's the real easy answer, and it solves all the problems," Lashlee added. "Why in the world would we put kids in a position where they've got to decide, ‘Do I transfer or play in the playoff? Do I transfer or play my bowl game?…' People are bombarding our roster, trying to pick people off our roster, and we're trying to focus on the playoff. So yeah, it's real easy – don't have a transfer portal in December. Go to the spring."

Lashlee, who defended NIL money and transferring, finds himself in a similar scenario with his backup quarterback in Preston Stone, admitting it's a "juggling act" at the moment. Stone entered the portal last week, but will stay with the team through their playoff run.

The Mustangs will head to Happy Valley for a noon contest on Saturday, with the winner facing third-seeded Boise State and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty.

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Jackson State’s Travis Terrell Jr. just returned a punt return 81 yards for a touchdown to give Jackson State a 7-0 lead over South Carolina State in the first quarter of the Celebration Bowl on Saturday.

The only problem for Jackson State was that there was a flag on the play. 

Then, when making the call, referee Rory Bernard did something unusual.

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"I’d like to salute our military veterans," Bernard said before saluting.

Bernard’s salute drew applause from the crowd. After paying homage to the military veterans, Bernard announced the flag. 

"Personal foul, unnecessary roughness, return team, number 11, the fifteen-yard penalty will be enforced from the spot of the foul, first down," said Bernard.

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Unfortunately for Jackson State and Terrell Jr., the touchdown was wiped off the board.

The Celebration Bowl is an annual matchup of the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Jackson State is playing in its third Celebration Bowl in four years but has yet to win one as Deion Sanders was unable to win it for the school before departing for Colorado.

Jackson State came into the game with an 11-2 record, with South Carolina State at 9-2. Their meeting in this year’s Celebration Bowl is the seventh all-time meeting between the schools, with the teams 3-3 against each other. 

Bernard’s show of patriotism is likely to be the first of many on Saturday, as Army and Navy are set to face off for the 125th time at 3:00 p.m. ET.

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will both be in attendance for the Army-Navy game in Northwest Stadium, Landover, Maryland, on Saturday afternoon. 

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The NCAA is reportedly on the hunt for a replacement in the Independence Bowl.

The Army Black Knights won't be affected much - they are rather focused on their big game against Navy later Saturday.

However, it appears that they will have a new opponent in the Dec. 28 contest.

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Yahoo Sports reports that Marshall, amid over 25 players hitting the transfer portal, will be opting out of the game.

There are no other 6-6 teams remaining (six wins automatically qualifies teams for a bowl game), so the NCAA is currently working on finding a replacement through a ranking of academic progress rate scores among 5-7 teams.

A member of the Sun Belt Conference, Marshall went 10-3 this season and 7-1 against conference opponents.

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The portal opened earlier this week, and already 29 members of the Thundering Herd are looking elsewhere to play in 2025. This comes after head coach Charles Huff left for the same job at Southern Mississippi and hiring Tony Gibson to replace him.

The Independence Bowl would have been Marshall's 21st bowl game, having played in one in each of the last seven seasons, and 19 of them have come since 1997.

The Thundering Herd have lost four of their last five bowl games after winning their previous seven. Their last victory came in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl against UConn. They lost, 35-17, in last year's Frisco Bowl to UTSA.

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Alabama continues to get the benefit of the doubt from the College Football Playoff committee. 

Miami’s playoff hopes took a potentially fatal nosedive while Alabama’s got a boost Tuesday night in the last rankings before the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is set next weekend.

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The Hurricanes (10-2) moved down six spots, to No. 12 — the first team out of the projected bracket after suffering their second loss of the season. They are one spot behind the Crimson Tide (9-3), who won last week and moved up two spots to No. 11, where they are projected as the last team in.

It was the strongest indication yet that the selection committee is looking at more than mere wins and losses, but also at strength of schedule and other factors that appear to give the Southeastern Conference an edge.

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Oregon stayed at No. 1 for the fifth straight week and will head into Saturday’s Big Ten title game as the only undefeated team in big-time college football.

The pairings for college football’s first 12-team playoff will be set Sunday, the day after a slate of conference title games. The playoff games start Dec. 20, with the title game set for Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

Here are the teams currently in the dance:

1. Oregon 12-0

2.Texas 11-1

3. Penn State 11-1

4. Notre Dame 11-1

5. Georgia 10-2

6. Ohio State 10-2

7. Tennessee 10-2

8. SMU 11-1

9. Indiana 11-1

10. Boise State 11-1

11. Alabama 9-3

12. Miami 10-2

The Associated Press contributed this report.

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Eleven of the 12 teams from last week's College Football Playoff rankings are still safe.

However, a loss from a conference leader shook things up with the bracket.

In case you still need a refresher, five automatic bids will go to conference winners, with the top four seeds going to the conference leaders in order of their CFP ranking with a bye.

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The other seven bids go to at-large teams based on their place in the rankings. A team's playoff seeding may not be the same as its committee ranking due to the bracket system.

With that, here is the current playoff seeding:

1. Oregon — Big Ten leader (11-0, 8-0)

2. Texas — SEC leader (8-1, 4-1); ranked third

3. Miami — ACC leader (9-1, 5-1); ranked eighth

4. Boise State — Mountain West leader (9-1. 6-0); ranked 12th

12. BYU — Big 12 leader (9-1, 6-1); ranked 14th

The Boise State Broncos, led by Heisman contender Ashton Jeanty's 1,893 rushing yards, are now ranked ahead of Big 12 leader BYU (No. 14) in the CFP polls, giving them the No. 4 seed. But because BYU still leads its conference despite not being ranked in the top 12, it has a playoff spot.

5. Ohio State (9-1, 6-1); ranked second

6. Penn State (9-1, 6-1); ranked fourth

7. Indiana (10-0, 7-0); ranked fifth

8. Notre Dame (9-1); ranked sixth

9. Alabama (8-2, 4-2); ranked seventh

10. Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2); ranked ninth

11. Georgia (8-2, 6-2); ranked 10th

This all means that, despite being the 11th-ranked team in the country, Tennessee is on the outside looking in, along with No. 13 SMU.

Colorado is ranked 16th in the country, but it controls its own destiny to a College Football Playoff appearance. Just about everyone else needs a lot of help. 

A Colorado win over Kansas and a BYU loss to No 21 Arizona State would give the Buffaloes the Big 12 lead, which would put them in automatic bid territory. It would be up to the committee to name the Buffaloes a No. 4 seed, but they would still need to win the Big 12 title game to ensure a spot.

Oregon has been the top seed in all three playoff projections. It is the only team in the country whose playoff seed matches its CFP ranking.

A Miami loss to Wake Forest, matched with an SMU win over Virginia, would almost certainly cost the Canes an automatic bye for the time being, but it could also knock them out of the bracket entirely.

Oregon is off this week, so it will hold onto the No. 1 seed, even if the undefeated Hoosiers take down the Buckeyes in Columbus.