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DALLAS - Robert Merrill ran for 98 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown with 7:18 left, and TCU rebounded with a 20-13 victory against winless SMU on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs (11-1) have their most wins since 1938 but won't play in a BCS game or the Liberty Bowl because of their 40-28 loss at Southern Mississippi on Nov.20.
"We just wanted to play hard and beat SMU," Merrill said. "The Southern Miss loss was tough. We were just focusing on winning this game."
Merrill's winning run came on the last of his 15 carries, when he took a handoff to the right, sidestepped into an opening and ran untouched into the end zone. His 1,081 rushing yards are a TCU freshman record.
After SMU punted, it almost got the ball back when TCU quarterback Brandon Hassell ran just 6 yards on third and 18. But Allan Adami was called for a 15-yard face mask, giving the Frogs a first down and allowing them to run out the final two minutes.
It was the first time the Mustangs lost every game in a season. Their only other winless seasons were 1916 (0-8-2) and 1960 (0-9-1).
SMU is 39-115-3 in the 15 seasons since serving the NCAA's only death penalty. The only winning season during that span was 6-5 in 1997.
SOUTHERN MISS 38, ECU 21: Dustin Almond overcame three interceptions with two touchdown runs and a touchdown pass to help the visiting Golden Eagles secure their fourth conference title in eight years.
"You don't want to share it with anybody," coach Jeff Bower said of the title. "There was no guarantee that if we didn't win this game we'd be in (the Liberty Bowl). Our kids knew that, and you want to go out being an undefeated conference champion."
Almond scored on runs of 14 and 9 yards then engineered a 61-yard scoring drive, all in the second quarter, to push Southern Miss to a 24-7 halftime lead.
East Carolina got a 65-yard touchdown from Paul Troth to Damarcus Fox before halftime, and Erode Jean returned an interception 31 yards in the third to get the Pirates within 24-14. Almond responded with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Young.
HOUSTON 56, UAB 28: Kevin Kolb passed for two touchdowns and ran for two and Anthony Evans rushed for 165 yards and three scores for the host Cougars.
Houston scored on its first three possessions, going up 21-7 on Kolb's 10-yard run, 45-yard pass to Vincent Marshall and 53-yarder to Brandon Middleton. Kolb finished 9-of-13 for 196 yards.
Evans' 1-yard run put the Cougars up 28-14 at halftime. His second 1-yard run and a 16-yard run by Kolb put Houston up 42-14 entering the fourth.