SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Ken Seals had to bide time on the bench until his final college game to make his first start for his beloved TCU Horned Frogs, but it was truly worth the wait.
Seals directed two scoring drives in the final five minutes of regulation and threw the winning touchdown pass in overtime as TCU rallied to beat No. 16 USC 30-27 on Tuesday night in the Alamo Bowl.
“It felt like a movie,” Seals said. “I just can’t even … I’m not processing it. This is just an unbelievable experience. The week leading up to it, the last 10 days, and then finishing it in this fashion is just more than any guy can dream.”
Seals completed 29 of 40 passes for 258 yards and the game-ending score.
After being sacked for a 10-yard loss on second down in overtime, Seals was facing third-and-20 from the 35 when he found running back Jeremy Payne with a short toss in the left flat. Payne caught the ball at the line of scrimmage and wriggled past four defenders, breaking multiple tackles as he bolted down the sideline into the end zone.
“I’m not really surprised,” said TCU linebacker and Defensive MVP Kaleb Elarms-Orr. ”Shoot, he be shaking me at practice sometimes, too. I’m not surprised that he just went out there and made a bunch of dudes miss. He was doing it all night. Once he made that first dude miss, I knew he was gone.”
Payne had six catches for 50 yards. He also rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
A sixth-year senior, Seals got the opportunity to start when TCU quarterback Josh Hoover opted to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 18. Seals backed up Hoover the past two seasons after transferring from Vanderbilt, where he started 22 games over three seasons.
Seals grew up a Horned Frogs fan in Azle, about 23 miles from the TCU campus.
“My mentality was just sell out, it’s your last one, man,” Seals said.
Seals directed a 13-play, 59-yard drive in the final 2:44 of regulation to force overtime on a 27-yard field goal by Kyle Lemmermann as time expired.
It was the fourth overtime in the bowl’s 33-year history.
TCU (9-4) limited USC (9-4) to a 22-yard field goal on the opening possession of OT despite incurring a pass-interference call in the end zone that gave the Trojans a first down at the 2-yard line.
USC freshman Ryon Sayeri also had field goals of 40, 28 and 41 yards.
“We had a couple of unique calls that just didn’t quite bounce our way,” Trojans coach Lincoln Riley said. “But we just did not execute good enough in the red zone either side of the ball.”
Trojans junior quarterback Jayden Maiava passed for 280 yards and a touchdown but threw two interceptions.
USC failed to score early in the third quarter following an interception by Christian Pierce. The drive ended when Maiava’s pass was intercepted in the end zone.
Jaden Richardson scored on a one-handed grab for USC in the front left corner of the end zone with 49 seconds remaining in the third. Richardson reached back with his right arm as he was falling backward, pulling the ball into his chest and tapping his right foot inbounds for a 21-yard touchdown reception from Maiava.
Taniela Tupou’s two-point reception extended USC’s lead to 21-14.
TCU grabbed a 14-13 lead in the first half on a pair of short rushing touchdowns that capped 75-yard drives.
USC: The Trojans failed to win 10 games for the third straight season.
TCU: The Horned Frogs had a prolific offense this season but must start anew next year. In addition to Hoover entering the transfer portal, TCU lost offensive coordinator Kendal Briles to South Carolina, and top wide receiver Eric McAlister is headed to the NFL.
USC: Will host Fresno State on Sept. 5 next year in what could be the first game of Maiava’s Heisman Trophy campaign.
TCU: Will face North Carolina on Aug. 29 in Dublin, Ireland, to kick off next year’s college football season.
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TCU running back Jeremy Payne, center, celebrates with teammates after he ran for a touchdown against Southern California during overtime in the Alamo Bowl NCAA college football game in San Antonio, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand on Wednesday released 18 Cambodian prisoners of war held for five months, fulfilling the terms of a ceasefire agreement the two countries signed to end bitter fighting along their border.
The release was stipulated in the ceasefire agreement signed Saturday by the defense ministers of the two countries at the same border checkpoint between Thailand’s Chanthaburi province and Cambodia's Pailin province where the soldiers were released.
“The repatriation of the 18 Cambodian soldiers was undertaken as a demonstration of goodwill and confidence-building, as well as in adherence to international humanitarian principles,” Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said the release “creates an environment conducive to peace, stability, and the full normalization of relations for the benefit of both nations and their people in the near future.”
The soldiers’ release removes a major impediment toward that goal after two rounds of destructive combat over competing territorial claims.
Thailand had insisted it was allowed to hold the men under provisions of the Geneva Conventions governing the rules of war, which said they could be detained until the end of hostilities. The prisoners were allowed visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross and other rights covered under international humanitarian law, Thai authorities said.
Their continued detention was used effectively by Cambodia’s government to rally nationalist sentiment in the conflict against Thailand.
Wednesday’s statement from Cambodia’s defense ministry said the government “has remained steadfast in the promise made to the families of the 18 soldiers and the Cambodian people: that no soldier would be left behind.”
Video distributed by Cambodia's Information Ministry showed crowds along the road from the border checkpoint to the city of Pailin cheering and waving small flags as a bus carrying the freed men drove by in a motorcade. They were expected to be flown Wednesday to the capital Phnom Penh.
The ceasefire agreement said the soldiers would be freed if the end of combat was sustained for 72 hours after it came into effect at noon on Saturday. The 72 hours passed on Tuesday, but Thai authorities said they needed to evaluate the situation, claiming that 250 Cambodian drones had been active along the border.
The two countries had given differing accounts of the circumstances of the men’s capture, which took place on the same day the initial ceasefire came into effect at the end of July.
Cambodian officials say their soldiers approached the Thai position with friendly intentions to offer post-fighting greetings, while Thai officials said the Cambodians appeared to have hostile intent and entered what Thailand considers its territory and subsequently were taken prisoner.
There were originally 20 Cambodia soldiers taken captive, but two were repatriated within days for what were said to be medical reasons.
The original July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite those deals, the countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, escalating in early December to widespread heavy fighting.
Thailand lost 26 soldiers and one civilian as a direct result of the combat since Dec. 7, according to officials. Thailand also reported 44 civilian deaths.
Sopheng Cheang reported from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Cambodian police officers stand guard as they wait for 18 soldiers released after being captured and held by the Thai army, at former Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian soldiers, center, arrive after being captured and held by the Thai army, at Prum border gate, in Pailin province, Cambodia, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AKP via AP)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian soldiers sit in a van as they arrive after being captured and held by the Thai army, at Prum border gate, in Pailin province, Cambodia, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AKP via AP)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian soldiers are welcomed by villagers upon their arrival at Prum border gate, in Pailin province, Cambodia, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, after being captured and held by Thailand. (AKP via AP)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian soldiers, center, arrive after being captured and held by the Thai army, at Prum border gate, in Pailin province, Cambodia, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AKP via AP)
