COL FB: Arkansas 29, Kansas State 16

ARLINGTON, Texas, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Tyler Wilson threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns Friday in leading No. 7 Arkansas to a 29-16 Cotton Bowl victory over 10th-ranked Kansas State.

The Razorbacks scored the game's first 19 points and fought off a Kansas State comeback to complete an 11-2 season. Arkansas' two losses came against LSU and Alabama -- the teams that will play Monday for the national championship.

After Kansas State cut its deficit to three points early in the third quarter, Wilson drove the Razorbacks 53 yards in nine plays and hit Cobi Hamilton with a 9-yard scoring pass to give Arkansas some breathing room.

Zach Hocker added his third field goal of the game for Arkansas in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.

Wilson's first touchdown pass was a 45-yarder to Jarius Wright with 4:10 to go in the first half that gave Arkansas a 19-0 lead, but the conversion attempt was blocked and returned by Kansas State for two points.

Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein then threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Andre McDonald with 26 seconds left in the second quarter and Klein scored on a 6-yard run early in the third period to give the Wildcats hope of a comeback win. Kansas State wound up 10-3 for the campaign.

The result left the Southeastern Conference with a 5-2 record in its bowl appearances this season and the league will wind up with a 6-3 mark since it will have both a win and a loss in the championship game.

The Big 12 Conference concluded its bowl season with a 6-2 record. Kansas State and Iowa State were the only teams from that league with losses.

Three bowl games remain, among the 35 that will be played in a span of less than four weeks. SMU will meet Pittsburgh Saturday in the BBVA Compass Bowl, Northern Illinois will take on Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl Sunday and the title game will be played Monday in New Orleans.