Bowl News and Notes Part 2

HAWAII BOWL S Mississippi 24 Nevada 17 - Larry Fedora had accepted the job at N Carolina but opted to still coach this one. Fedora said about QB Davis “It wasn’t his best game. Davis hit 18-41-165 and was off most of the night but did lead a game winning TD drive in the 4Q. NV was without its top WR Rishard Matthews who was a late scratch and the game featured a Hawaii Bowl record 17 punts with the 41 combined points being the fewest in the bowl’s history. SM got a 19 yd PR to the NV31 but settled for a 50 yd FG and missed it. 2 punts. NV went 62/5pl but on 3&4 from the 13 was int’d in the EZ. 3 punts. SM blk’d a punt and rec’d it for a TD with 14:06 2Q. NV went 81/13pl and got a 5 yd TD run, 7-7. NV went 68/4pl and got a 45 yd TD run by Mark, 14-7. SM ret’ the KO to the NV36 but fmbl’d. NV was SOD on 4&1 at their own 44 but SM would settle for a 48 yd FG, 14-10 (1:21). NV fmbl’d the KO at their own 24 and SM got a 2 yd TD pass with :12 left in the half to lead 17-14. At the half NV had a 235-109 yd edge. 3Q 2 punts. SM got 1 FD and missed a 48 yd FG. 1 punt. SM went 33/8pl but was SOD on 4&6 at the NV39. SM fmbl’d the punt at their own 14 but NV settled for a 37 yd FG, 17-17 (2:44). Three 3&outs. NV got 2 FD’s to midfield and punted. SM got 1 FD to the NV44 and punted. NV went 3&out and SM went 68/7pl and got a 4 yd TD pass with 5:48 left, 24-17. NV got 1 FD and was SOD at the 50 with 3:56 left and SM would get 3 FD’s to the 16 and took a knee 3x.

MILITARY BOWL Toledo 42 Air Force 41 -  UT has the youngest HC in the country with 32 year old Matt Campbell who was in charge of them for the first time and delivered a 42-41 win. At the end of the game, AF appeared to tie it with a TD but lined up for the xp and ran a fake and the holder had the ball punched out while trying to run the option and UT held on for the win. AF had a 407-339 yd edge with the difference in the game being UT getting a 37 yd IR TD and also an 87 yd KR TD. Tim Jefferson was the first QB in service academy history to lead his team to 4 consecutive bowls and hit 13-22-159. UT missed a 47 yd FG on the opening poss but the teams would have 5 consecutive TD’s with UT rec’ing an onside kick and getting a 41/1pl TD and also an 87 yd KR TD and they led 21-14 after 1Q. AF on 4&gl got a 1 yd TD run but on their next drive on 4&4 were SOD at the TU25. After a fmbl, AF went 44/4pl for a TD and it was 28-28 at the half with AF having a 255-231 yd edge. UT got a 37 yd IR TD but it was 35-35 after 3Q’s. The teams punted on 5 straight poss with UT’s P pinning AF at the 3 twice. UT went 37/5pl for a TD after a 27 yd punt. The TD on 3&6 with a 33 yd pass with 5:01 left. AF went 78/12pl for a 4&3, 33 yd TD pass but the 2 pt failed.

INDEPENDENCE BOWL Missouri 41 North Carolina 24 - NC had a interim HC this year in Everett Withers and he accepted the DC job at Ohio St and this would be his final game at NC with the Heels having already hired Larry Fedora. It appeared NC’s coaches had been busier job hunting whereas Missouri ended the season with a 4 game win streak for the first time since 1965. James Franklin was the MVP as he rushed for 142 and passed for 132 despite the game being played in rain and cold weather. He led MO to 31 pts in the 1H as the Tigers had a 318-166 yd edge and a 31-10 lead. MO’s mascot “Truman the Tiger” actually shattered the Independence Trophy prior to the game in a pregame accident and they had to use a replacement. MO finished with a 513-353 yd edge. The game was NC 7-0 and MO drove 58, 80 and 81 yds for 2 TD’s and a FG, 17-7 then got a fumble and an int setting up 40 and 59 yd drives for a 31-7 lead and NC got a 21 yd FG on the final play of the half, 31-10. MO was int’d at the NC17 to open the 3Q and after 2 punts NC went 77/5pl for a TD to get back to 31-17 but MO, after a 49 yd KR, went 34/5pl for a TD, 38-17. NC was SOD at the MO31 and MO went 60/11pl for a 26 yd FG, 41-17 (6:22).NC drove 62/6pl getting a 17 yd TD pass with 4:08 left to get within 17 and MO, with bkp QB Costello got, 3 FD’s ending the game at the NC16.

LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA BOWL Purdue 37 W Michigan 32- Tough loss for WM as they had an amazing 7 turnovers, allowed PU to recover 2 onside kicks and WM was also SOD twice on 4th down and allowed a 99 yd KR TD by Raheem Mostert. WM had 30-23 FD and 485-442 yd edges as Alex Carder hit 31-57-439 and WR Jordan White almost broke the NCAA bowl record with 13 rec’s for 265 yds but on the final drive Carder fmbl’d and PU rec’d with 1:50 which cost them a shot at it. There was a solid crowd of 46,177 on hand. PU was w/o top RB Ralph Bolden and Akeem Shavers came in ? but rushed for a career high 148 yds on 22 carries. There were some unusual plays in the game as WM twice turned it over but PU on the return turned it right back over. However, it resulted in 17 and 49 yd losses for WM as they had a 4&10 at the PU12 and fmbl’d and PU ret’d it 21 yds to the WM39 but fmbl’d it back. The game really turned when WM led 15-10 and allowed a 99 yd KR TD. PU then onside kicked and rec’d and drove 61/6pl for another TD and stunningly led 24-15 and after WM was SOD PU added a 19 yd FG on the last play of the half.

BELK BOWL NC State  31 Louisville 24 - Tom O’Brien has done extremely well in bowl games moving his record to 9-2 after a win over UL. While it was a 7 pt win, NCS led 31-10 with 6:31 left in the 3Q but UL had the ball at the NCS45 with 1:07 left but on 4&23 they were int’d at the 16. David Amerson who led the NCAA in int recorded 2 more incl a key 65 yd IR TD in the 3Q and he had the int with :41 left in the game at the NCS16. Amerson finished with an ACC record 13 int’s this year. Cards frosh QB Teddy Bridgewater did have a solid game hitting 24-43-274 yds but had those 3 int’s. Down 21 pts, UL did benefit from a fake punt and a rec’d onside kick to get back into the game. An interesting decision came with 1:35 left 2Q when O’Brien passed up a 50 yd FG or a punt and opted to go for it on 4&2 at the UL33 but was SOD. Tied 7-7, UL got an int with 9:47 left 2Q and went 48/7pl for a 32 yd FG and the lead, 10-7 (6:56). NC went 80/5pl for a TD to lead 14-10 then UL was SOD on 4&1 at the NC32 with 2:11 left in the half. That play was huge as 2pl later NCS got a 68 yd TD pass and led 21-10 at the half with a 234-201 yd edge. Roughing the P and roughing the QB gave them a pair of FD’s on a 60/14pl drive but they settled for a 34 yd FG. Amerson then got a weaving 65 yd IR TD to make it 31-10 (7:56). UL’s TD with 3:55 left made it 31-24 setting up the NCS failed 4&2 try and the int. UL did finish with a 391-329 yd edge.

ALAMO BOWL Baylor 67 Washington 56 - Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin only threw for 1 TD pass but it was the highest scoring bowl game in regulation in NCAA history. The two combined for 1,397 yds with BU having a 777-620 yd edge but the final was a bit misleading as BU did jump out to a 21-7 lead but actually trailed 35-21 in late 2Q and 42-24 in the 3Q. In fact, they were down 49-39 and 56-53 with 9:40 left in the game. BU took the lead with 8:15 left on a 4 yd TD run and UW went for it on 4&8 from the BU39 and were SOD with 3:20 left. BU got 1 FD and with 1 more FD they could have run out the clock but Ganaway on 2&3 ripped off a 43 yd TD run with UW having just 10 players on the field with 2:28 left. UW led 42-31 and had a FD at the BU17 when they fmbl’d. Later UW missed a 43 yd FG with 3:38 left in the 3Q and all’d BU to take the lead on the next poss. BU used a short KO and UW’s OL Shelton, while fighting for extra yards, fumbled at their own 46 and BU took a knee.Terrance Ganaway had 5 TD’s and ran for 200 yds on 21 carries. Keith Price outplayed Griffin hitting 23-37-438 yds and had an amazing 7 TD’s with 4 pass and 3 rush. Price is just a soph and threw for a school record 29 TD’s and will draw many comparisons to RG3 in the preseason Heisman articles next year. The Alamo Bowl added 800 temporary seats to take advantage of the Heisman winner playing in their bowl and the att of 65,256 was the 5th largest in bowl history.

ARMED FORCES BOWL BYU (+1) 24 Tulsa 21 - BYU’s Riley Nelson appeared to be ready to spike the ball at the end of the game on a 2nd & gl from the 2 but then faked the spike and hit WR Hoffman in the EZ for a TD with :11 left as BYU won the Armed Forces Bowl. BYU had a 344-272 yd edge and got a 10 win season for the 5th time in Mendenhall’s 7 years. A couple of key factors went in BYU’s favor. Their P had an exceptional day with 6 punts pinning TU inside their 20 as TU had starting positions of 6, 7, 14, 12, 19 and 1 after punts. With :25 left in the half, BYU punted and TU fmbl’d the punt on their own 17. BYU got a 17 yd TD pass with :12 left on the next play to take the 14-10 lead. BYU’s final drive, which went 48/12pl for the TD was highlighted by a 4&9, Riley Nelson run of 14 yds which got them to the TU33 prior to the fake spike and TD.

HOLIDAY BOWL Texas 21 California 10 - UT finished with a 255-195 yd edge with their D getting 5 takeaways and 6 sacks. Cal is 0-5 vs UT dating back to 1959. The 1H was a defensive struggle and while Cal had an 8-4 FD edge, UT had a 92-73 yd edge. Cal got a 47 yd FG on their opening drive of 40/11. UT rec’d a fmbl at the Cal19 late 1Q but missed a 38 yd FG. UT’s TD drive in the 2Q was 48/9pl after a 24 yd punt for the 7-3 lead (6:08). Cal opened the 3Q with a 69/11pl drive for a 6 yd TD, 10-7 (9:47) but UT went 76/4pl and got a 47 yd TD pass on the next poss to lead 14-10 (8:06). Cal got a PR to the UT27 but fmbl’d on 3&27 after a PF and TX rec’d at the Cal44 and basically put the game away 3 plays later with a 4 yd TD run, 21-10 (14:57). Cal punted twice and then fmbl’d on their own 29 with 3:24 left. UT got a pair of FD’s to the Cal 8 and took a knee to end it.

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL Florida St 18 Notre Dame 14 - ND led this game 14-0 as FSU started 4 frosh on the O-line and they struggled in the first 1.5Q. The Seminoles had just 18 yds offense in the 1Q but that O-line solidified and FSU would pile up 186 yds in the 2H. ND shuffled between QB’s Tommy Rees who hit 16-27-163 and Andrew Hendrix who was 3-8-24. Michael Floyd caught a juggling TD pass in the 3Q but got inj’d on the play and was limited after that. ND’s Manti Te’o had 13 tkls and a sk. The only TD in the 1H came on a ND 29 yd FR TD by Motta. ND did get a 41 yd PR to the FSU37 and on 1&gl from the 4 was int’d in the EZ 1pl before their 29 yd FR TD. ND missed a 47 yd FG with :09 left 1Q. FSU gained 3 yds on 4&4 and was SOD at the ND37 (7:00 2Q). FSU had a 104-91 yd edge at the half. ND opened the 3Q with a 62/9pl drive for a TD and a 14-0 lead (11:24). FSU got a 77 yd KR to the ND21 and got a 42 yd FG, 14-3 then went 84/10pl for an 18 yd TD pass, 14-9 (14:54). FSU got a 17 yd IR to the ND18 and 2pl later a 15 yd TD pass gave them the lead but the 2pt failed, 15-14. FSU went 71/9pl and settled for a 29 yd FG with 8:05 left. ND did get a face mask on FSU on a PR and started at the FSU28 and was at the 18 when on 1st & 20 after a hold at the 28, they were int’d in the EZ with 2:48 left.

INSIGHT BOWL Oklahoma 31 Iowa 14 It was a misleading win for OU. At the end of the game, IU was down by 10 and faced a 4&6 from their own 30 and gained 5 yds. OU was just trying to run the clock out. On 4&1 at the IU21 where a FD would have had them run out the clock, QB Bell ripped off a 21 yd TD run for a 17 pt win. Landry Jones hit just 16-25-161 yds with 1 TD and 1 int. IU trailed 21-0 and an ESPN skycam crashed to the field with minutes left, narrowly missing WR McNutt. James Vandenberg hit 23-44-216 yds and IU was playing without their starting RB Marcus Cocker who was susp’d. Jordan Canzeri led with 58 yds on 22 carries. A couple of interesting stats out of the game were at half IU had a 134-89 yd edge. They had a 38 yd pass wiped out by an illegal formation and the 64/10pl drive end on a SOD at the OU9 and the Sooners had a 5 yd “drive” for a TD after an int and only 1 true offensive drive (66/13) which got them a 2Q TD and a 14-0 lead. It was 21-14 when OU got a 35 yd FG with just 2:28 left and IU was SOD on 4&6 gaining 5 yds with OU getting that 4&1, 21 yd TD run with :45 left.