Bowl season takeaways: Middle Tennessee wins despite minus-66 (!) rushing yards
Bowl season is finally upon us! Our reporters are breaking down the best of the games from notable performances, breakout players and so much more.
Saturday, Dec. 24
EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl: Middle Tennessee 25, San Diego State 23
Middle Tennessee ended its season on quite a roll, coming from behind to beat San Diego State 25-23 in the EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl. The Blue Raiders needed to pull off the improbable to get to bowl eligibility, winning three straight to end the regular season, so it makes sense that their bowl game was filled with the improbable. Middle Tennessee trailed 14-0 early, but found a way back into the game thanks to four San Diego State turnovers (the Aztecs finished with five). Jordan Ferguson became the second player this season to have an interception and a receiving touchdown in a bowl game. His interception led the Blue Raiders to take their first lead of the game in the fourth quarter. But after San Diego State went ahead, Zeke Rankin made what turned out to be the game-winning 37-yard field goal with 2:05 remaining — his career-high fourth of the game. But perhaps most improbable of all … Middle Tennessee finished with minus-66 yards rushing, the fewest by any team (win or lose) in a bowl game in FBS history. It is also the fewest yards by the winning team in any game (regular-season or bowl) over the past 25 seasons. — Andrea Adelson
Friday, Dec. 23
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: Wake Forest Demon Deacons 27, Missouri Tigers 17
If this was Sam Hartman‘s last game as Wake Forest’s quarterback, as rumored, he went out with a bang. He threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, two to Taylor Morin, and his Demon Deacons beat Missouri 27-17 in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. After falling behind early in the second half, they scored the final two touchdowns to pull away. Missouri’s offense picked up steam following a slow start but went just 2-for-5 on fourth downs and fell short. It’s a fitting potential send-off for Hartman, who has thrown for 12,967 yards and 110 touchdowns in a Wake uniform. He led the Deacs to a 19-8 record over the last two seasons, plus an ACC Coastal title in 2021. The win was also Dave Clawson’s fourth bowl victory in the last seven years at Wake; they had won just six bowls in their history before his 2014 arrival. — Bill Connelly
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: Houston Cougars 23, Louisiana Ragin Cajuns 16
Houston has been playing with fire all season long with seven games decided by one score or less and three games that went into overtime. So it’s no wonder things would come down to the wire against Louisiana, clawing out of a 13-0 hole in the first half to make it a tie game with under 3 minutes to play. Then senior quarterback Clayton Tune went to work, starting off the drive with a 33-yard run. A few moments later, after a 41-yard pass and a 15-yard run, Tune connected with Nathaniel Dell for a 12-yard game-winning touchdown. Tune tied the FBS lead in passing touchdowns this season with 40 and set an AAC record with 119 career touchdowns responsible for. The win gives Houston eight-plus wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016. Louisiana finishes with its first losing season since 2017. — Alex Scarborough
Thursday, Dec. 22
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force 30, Baylor 15
The Falcons dominated the Bears, rushing for 276 yards to finish 10-3 with their fifth straight victory, polishing off back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since 1997-98. Brad Roberts was the workhorse as usual, rushing 37 times for 116 yards and two TDs for his 11th 100-yard game of the season. Baylor, the preseason pick to win the Big 12 for the first time in school history, finished 6-7, suffering the indignity of a blowout loss in rival TCU’s stadium in the bitter cold with wind chill in the negative digits. The Baylor offense struggled mightily, finishing 0-for-11 on third downs, with Blake Shapen completing just 11 of 23 passes for 188 yards and two scores. Freshman running back Richard Reese came into the game needing 38 yards for a 1,000-yard season but was held to 10 yards on eight carries. — Dave Wilson
Wednesday, Dec. 21
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Western Kentucky 44, South Alabama 23
Senior quarterback Austin Reed made things look easy in the Big Easy as Western Kentucky blitzed South Alabama for 677 total yards. Reed, second in the FBS in passing yards to Washington‘s Michael Penix Jr. coming into the contest, completed 36 of 55 passes for a career-high 497 yards and four touchdowns in what was his ninth 300-yard passing game of the year. Seven different receivers caught passes from Reed, with Dalvin Smith (145 yards, one TD), Jaylen Hall (138 yards, one TD) and Malachi Corley (114 yards, two TDs) combining for 26 receptions and Smith adding a 25-yard scoring pass. The Hilltoppers, who racked up 434 total yards in the first half, tallied the game’s first 24 points and led by 28 points at halftime after Reed threw for 329 yards and three scores. — Blake Baumgartner
Tuesday, Dec. 20
Boca Raton Bowl: Toledo Rockets 21, Liberty Flames 19
Liberty’s defensive front dominated in Tuesday night’s Boca Bowl. Everything else, not so much. The Flames racked up 12 tackles for loss and four sacks, but they gained just 253 total yards and fell 21-19. Toledo scored on three straight second-half drives to take control, and the Rockets, fresh off of their first MAC title in five years, won all three of the game’s pivotal two-point conversions — they converted one and stopped two. After going just 24-20 from 2018 to ’21, Toledo’s Jason Candle engineered a 9-5 campaign this fall, their best since going 11-3 in 2017. — Connelly
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Eastern Michigan 41, San Jose State 27
0:25
Chris Creighton gets a bucketful of French fries as Eastern Michigan defeats San Jose State 41-27 to win the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
It took 35 years, but Eastern Michigan did it again. The Eagles’ 41-27 win Tuesday against San Jose State was the program’s second bowl win — ever — and its first since 1987 against … San Jose State. After starting the season 2-2, the Eagles earned their first nine-win season since finishing 10-2 in 1987. San Jose State had lost the ball just six times all season, tied with USC for the fewest turnovers among all FBS teams, but finished with three Tuesday. Two turnovers in the first half led to a 30-13 deficit the Spartans couldn’t overcome, and quarterback Chevan Cordeiro‘s interception with less than two minutes remaining sealed the win for Eastern Michigan. Eastern Michigan’s 41 points set a school record single-game point total in an FBS bowl. — Heather Dinich
Monday, Dec. 19
Myrtle Beach Bowl: Marshall Thundering Herd 28, UConn Huskies 14
Rasheen Ali and Khalan Laborn combined to rush for 182 yards and a touchdown and the Marshall defense forced four takeaways to lead the Thundering Herd to their first bowl win since 2018. Still, it was a worthy performance for a UConn team that was a major surprise to even make a bowl. The Huskies still haven’t won a bowl since 2009, but they outgained Marshall and staged a second-half comeback that fell short largely on the back of a couple of failed fourth down tries. — David Hale
Saturday, Dec. 17
Frisco Bowl: Boise State Broncos 35, North Texas Mean Green 32
In his first season at Boise State, freshman running back Ashton Jeanty had only crossed the 100-yard threshold in a game one time. On Saturday against North Texas, Jeanty exploded through that mark for 178 yards on the ground, 6.4 yards per carry and one touchdown. Jeanty’s performance, as well as two interceptions forced by the defense, keyed Boise State’s win over North Texas, after the Broncos were down 10-3 early. The victory gives the Broncos a 10-win campaign as well as a glimpse of what their offense could look like next season with Jeanty in the backfield as the team’s primary ball carrier. — Paolo Uggetti
New Mexico Bowl: BYU Cougars 24, SMU Mustangs 23
Cornerback Jakob Robinson saved the night for BYU by denying SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai‘s potential game-winning 2-point conversion with eight seconds left in regulation, preserving a 1-point victory. The Cougars built a 14-point lead in the third quarter on a 76-yard pick-six from linebacker Ben Bywater and running back Christopher Brooks‘ 22-yard scoring run, only to see the Mustangs come back with 13 fourth-quarter points. The Cougars, buoyed by the efforts from Robinson and Bywater, won despite the Mustangs holding a 389-256 edge in total yards. Quarterback Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters and Brooks combined to run for 184 yards and two scores as BYU ran for at least 200 yards for the fourth time in its past five games (209) while ending the season with a fourth straight victory. — Baumgartner
Lending Tree Bowl: Southern Miss Golden Eagles 38, Rice Owls 24
2:16
Southern Miss takes home a LendingTree bowl victory thanks to Frank Gore Jr.’s 329 rushing yards and 3 total touchdowns.
Frank Gore Jr. not only rewrote Southern Miss’ bowl and school record books, he broke the NCAA bowl game record with 329 rushing yards in a 14-point victory. Gore ended his sophomore season with a bang by running for two touchdowns and throwing for another as he also broke Camerun Peoples‘ bowl rushing record. Spurred on by Gore, Southern Miss churned out a season-high 361 rushing yards and won its first bowl game since 2016. Senior linebacker Daylen Gill recorded three of Southern Miss’ five sacks. Rice freshman quarterback AJ Padgett (295 passing yards) threw three touchdown passes — two to senior wide receiver Isaiah Esdale — in the third quarter as the Owls erased a 14-point halftime deficit, taking a short-lived 7-point lead. — Baumgartner
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel: Fresno State Bulldogs 29, Washington State Cougars 6
A 1-4 start to the season now feels like a lifetime ago. Fresno State hasn’t lost since then, beating Washington State to finish the year with a 10-4 record. Quarterback Jake Haener was sharp, completing 24 of 36 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. And Jordan Mims went off for the Bulldogs, rushing for a career-high 210 yards and two touchdowns on only 18 carries. But don’t forget the Fresno State defense, which limited quarterback Cameron Ward and Washington State to the Cougars’ lowest total of the season. Fresno State picked off Ward — a 3,000-yard passer on the season — and held him to only 137 yards passing on 32 attempts. — Scarborough
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: No. 14 Oregon State Beavers 30, Florida Gators 3
0:28
Silas Bolden puts on his cape and dives to make an incredible snag for a Beavers first down.
A week after signing a six-year deal worth $30.6 million, Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith led his team to a dominating triumph over Florida, securing the Beavers’ first 10-win season in 16 years and their first-ever victory against an SEC opponent. It was a balanced, all-round effort for Oregon State, which threw for 189 yards and rushed for 164 yards — 107 of which came from junior running back Deshaun Fenwick. The defense allowed only 1.2 yards per rush. A 40-yard field goal by Adam Mihalek with less than a minute remaining avoided the shutout and extended the Gators’ streak of scoring in games to 436. — Scarborough
Cricket Celebration Bowl: NC Central Eagles 41, Jackson State Tigers 34 OT
In his final game as coach at Jackson State, Deion Sanders failed to complete an undefeated season as NC Central upset the Tigers 41-34 in a wild overtime finish. Shedeur Sanders threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Travis Hunter with no time left to send the game to overtime. But it was NC Central’s Davius Richard who did the scoring in the extra period. NC Central reached 10 wins, the third team in program history to reach double-digit wins in a season. NC Central had 276 yards rushing. Richard had 177 passing yards, 97 rushing yards and 3 total touchdowns. But all eyes were on Jackson State and what would happen as Deion Sanders exits for Colorado. It was a back-and-forth game throughout. Shedeur Sanders finishes the season with 46 total touchdowns. With one chance left to send the game into a second overtime, he threw an incompletion to end the game. Jackson State finishes 12-1, the most wins in a season in program history. — Andrea Adelson
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: Louisville Cardinals 24, Cincinnati Bearcats 7
Louisville claimed the Keg of Nails trophy in the renewal of its rivalry with the Bearcats, using a dominant defense and run game to win 24-7 — its first bowl victory since 2019. The game featured two interim coaches — Kerry Coombs at Cincinnati for Luke Fickell (who left for Wisconsin) and Deion Branch for Louisville, after Scott Satterfield left to replace Fickell. Satterfield was not at the game, instead hosting recruits in Cincinnati. But his former team played hard without him, and its aggressive defense — No. 2 in the nation in sacks — made play after play, making it a long day for Cincinnati quarterback Evan Prater. Louisville, playing without quarterback Malik Cunningham (opt out) was far from perfect on offense but had a season-high 287 yards on the ground — getting 100-yard rushing performances each from reserve running backs Maurice Turner and Jawhar Jordan. — Adelson
Friday, Dec. 16
Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl: UAB 24, Miami (Ohio) 20
1:21
UAB LB Reynard Ellis makes the game-saving tackle at the 2-yard line to secure the victory for the Blazers in a 24-20 thriller vs. the RedHawks.
Junior running back Jermaine Brown Jr.’s big day led the way as UAB secured a 24-20 victory over Miami (Ohio), giving incoming head coach Trent Dilfer some momentum to build off heading into 2023. Brown ran 24 times for 116 yards and two touchdowns to help the Blazers win without the services of FBS-leading rusher DeWayne McBride, who opted out of the game. Brown’s fourth-down touchdown run with 1:33 left in the game put UAB in front to stay — the game’s fourth lead change in the second half. Despite losing the turnover battle (3-0), UAB pulled out the victory with the help of six players combining for four sacks. — Baumgartner
Duluth Trading Cure Bowl: No. 24 Troy 18, No. 25 UTSA 12
What a finish for Troy first-year head coach Jon Sumrall, closing out a 12-2 season by scoring 18 unanswered points to beat UTSA on Friday for the Trojans’ 11th straight win. Troy had just 153 total yards and did not cross midfield in the first half, but five takeaways — including two interceptions and a forced fumble on UTSA quarterback Frank Harris, who was sixth in the FBS in passing coming into the game — was too much to overcome for the Roadrunners. The Trojans became the first team to win a bowl game with less than 175 yards of offense since UCLA in the 2002 Las Vegas Bowl against New Mexico. — Wilson
-
Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani‘s second start saw him record his first two strikeouts, but he did not advance beyond the first inning despite throwing only 18 pitches — a sign of how careful the Los Angeles Dodgers are being with his pitching progression.
“That was the original plan,” Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said after the Dodgers’ 13-7 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday. “I look forward to adding more and more pitches.”
Ohtani worked around a wild pitch and a dropped popup from outfielder-turned-shortstop Mookie Betts to throw a scoreless top of the first inning, while making his second start in seven days. He struck out the game’s third batter, Luis Garcia Jr., on a sweeper that dropped toward his shoe-tops, then executed a tight, arm-side slider to strike out Nathaniel Lowe and end the inning. Ohtani’s fastball topped out at 98.8 mph after reaching triple digits in his pitching debut Monday.
Ohtani, who called his own pitches through a PitchCom device, said he was “able to relax much better” in his second outing. The biggest improvement, Ohtani added, was “the way my body moves when I pitch.”
“It’s something that I worked on with the pitching coaches, and I felt a lot better this time.”
Offensively, Ohtani went 2-for-19 with nine strikeouts in the five days between his starts. Ohtani has remained at the leadoff spot on his start days, which has meant rushing to put on his helmet, elbow pad and batting gloves in the middle of the first inning, then walking toward the batter’s box without hardly being able to take any practice swings.
In his pitching debut Monday, that was followed by a strikeout. The same occurred Sunday. But his bat came alive later in the game, after the Dodgers had finally broken through against Nationals starter Michael Soroka. With the bases loaded, no outs and his team leading by a run in the seventh, Ohtani laced a 101.3 mph bases-clearing triple to break open the game. An inning later, he added a two-run homer — his National League-leading 26th — on a ball that just barely made it over the fence in left-center.
“He’s a unicorn,” Dodgers rookie catcher Dalton Rushing said. “He does it all.”
The Dodgers have considered moving Ohtani out of the leadoff spot on his start days, particularly at home, to avoid the shorter preparation time before his first plate appearance. But they are adamant about continuing to be methodical with his pitching progression. He’ll make his third start at some point in the next six to eight days and could extend into the second inning then, but it’ll be a while until he is built up like a traditional starting pitcher again.
“It’s going to be a gradual process,” Ohtani said. “I want to see improvements with the quality of the pitches that I’m throwing and then also increasing the amount of pitches.”
Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman will be out through the All-Star break, and the team lost another catcher when Maverick Handley left Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees in the second inning following a collision at the plate with Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Rutschman suffered a left oblique strain that landed him on the injured list for the first time in his career. Interim manager Tony Mansolino described Rutschman’s injury as “mild” but added that the team doesn’t want to do anything to aggravate the problem and keep the two-time All-Star out longer.
Mansolino said Rutschman will be out through the All-Star break, which is July 14-17, before the Orioles return to play at the Tampa Bay Rays on July 18.
“He’s dealt with it fine,” Mansolino said. “He wants to play. He’s kind of going stir crazy. I think the fact that it is mild in nature probably makes it a little harder for him. We all know abdominal and oblique injuries, if you push those things, they can get really ugly, and instead of being three or four weeks, it could be three months.
“… In his mind he probably thinks he can possibly go out there, but obviously, we know medically that’s not the smart thing to do for him right now.”
Rutschman began feeling pain Friday during batting practice before he was scratched from that day’s lineup then placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday after undergoing an MRI.
With two outs in the second Sunday, DJ LeMahieu lined a single to left field and Chisholm scored from second base. Colton Cowser‘s throw was up the third-base line. Handley moved to his left for the throw, arriving for the ball at the same time as Chisholm. The Yankees third baseman tried to veer to the inside to avoid contact, but his elbow appeared to hit Handley in the head.
After Mansolino and trainer Scott Barringer checked him out, Handley was replaced by Gary Sanchez.
“He got hit pretty hard,” Orioles manager Tony Mansolino was quoted as saying by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. “We haven’t seen a collision like that at the plate, probably, since all the new rules came in. So we’re evaluating him right now, full body, every part of it. We’ll have more information tomorrow. … We’re evaluating everything right now, so nothing official on concussion protocol. There’s obviously a chance that that happens. We’ll have more information tomorrow on him.”
Infielder Jordan Westburg will also be out for at least a few days because of a sprained left index finger sustained even though he wore a sliding mitt.
Westburg injured his finger while stealing second base in Saturday’s 9-0 loss to the New York Yankees.
“Actually the sliding mitt that’s supposed to protect his hand, that’s the one that he did it,” Mansolino said. “Doesn’t know how he did it. It’s been the same mitt that he’s used for a couple years, talking about it this morning. Kind of crazy that he hurt his finger. That’s what those things are for.”
Mansolino said X-rays were negative and that the Orioles are hoping that Westburg misses only two or three days.
Rutschman, 27, is hitting .227 with eight homers and 20 RBIs in 68 games this season. He has been among the more durable catchers in the majors. After playing 113 games following his debut in May 2022, he appeared in 154 games in 2023 and 148 last season.
Westburg missed more than a month with a left hamstring strain before returning June 10. The 26-year-old is hitting .229 with seven homers and 17 RBIs in 34 games this season. He had 10 hits in his first 25 at-bats before going hitless in his next 14.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle (strained right hamstring) also is on the injured list along with outfielders Tyler O’Neill (left shoulder impingement) and Jorge Mateo (left shoulder inflammation).
Right-hander Yennier Cano was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after striking out the side in the seventh inning Saturday, and right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo was recalled from the Tides on Sunday.
“It starts ultimately with the amount of innings that we’ve had covered here recently with the bullpen,” Mansolino said. “We need a fresh arm. You have a limited amount of bullpen guys that have options.”
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike