A huge slate of games today, all over the country! Here’s a quick recap of what you need to know as we head towards a giant slate of games tomorrow:
Military Bowl
For the twenty-second consecutive season, the Virginia Tech Hokies, under long-time head coach Frank Beamer, have recorded a winning season, thanks to a dominating 33-17 victory over Cincinnati in Washington D.C.
Beamer was so enamoured with the victory – one that’s come at the end of an up-and-down campaign for the Hokies, during which his job security was brought up – that he led his players through some outrageous dance moves in the locker room after the game.
J.C. Coleman was the star of the show offensively for the Hokies, carrying the ball 25 times for 157 yards and a score, kicker Joey Slye added four field goals and the defense provided a fumble return for a touchdown as Tech reached 7-6, extending a streak that began way back in 1992.
Cincinnati lost their quarterback, Gunner Kiel, who was injured on the Hokies’ defensive score, and didn’t return to the field afterward. The Bearcats lost a giant cog in their offensive machine, and simply couldn’t recover. They finish their season 9-4.
Sun Bowl
This was a wonderful football game! Arizona State had what seemed a game-winning lead over Duke, up 30-17 heading into the fourth quarter, but were forced to withstand a furious comeback from a Blue Devil team searching for the school’s first Bowl win in many, many years.
The Sun Devils actually lost the lead when – running trickery like they were Boise State or something – Duke receiver Jamison Crowder found Isaac Blakeney in the end zone for a touchdown that gave them an improbable 31-30 lead. That trick play came after Duke’s punter threw a pass to convert on a 4th-and-11.
Just as quickly as they regained the lead, Duke lost it again. On the ensuing kick-off return, Kalen Ballage took the football 96 yards down the field, and Arizona State’s quarterback Taylor Kelly did the rest, shovelling a pass to Demario Richard for a four-yard score.
ASU missed the ensuing two-point conversion, but had done enough for an important win, capping a 10-win campaign for the third straight season, whilst denying the perpetually-unlucky Duke the same honour.
Independence Bowl
Down in Shreveport, Louisiana, it was the Dylan Thompson Show for South Carolina. The Gamecock quarterback passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third, as Steve Spurrier’s men overcame a slow start and a feisty Miami team to cap a season of missed opportunity with a win, and a 7-6 record.
Thompson was 22-34 for 294 yards and two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. The beneficiary of his strong arm was receiver Pharaoh Cooper, who caught nine passes for 170 yards. His biggest play also happened to be his longest: a 78-yard strike from Thompson that got the Gamecocks on the scoreboard.
Despite the loss, Miami’s star running back, Duke Johnson, had a typically strong game. He ran for 182 yards and had 51 receiving yards, but it wasn’t enough for the Hurricanes, who finish the year 6-7 and you can bet there’ll be some conversation regarding the status of head coach Al Golden, who just isn’t winning games and titles like Miami thought he would when they hired him.
Pinstripe Bowl
An epic in Yankee Stadium saw – fittingly – a Boston team lose by a single point. This wasn’t a walk-off home run by the Yankees over the Red Sox, but a missed PAT in overtime that meant all Penn State needed to do to grab a win over Boston College was score a touchdown and convert the extra point. They did it, by way of sure-footed kicker Sam Ficken, who, earlier, had converted on a long field goal to take the game into overtime, and, it later emerged, used Derek Jeter’s locker in the Yankee clubhouse.
What was a fairly pedestrian 7-7 tie at half time exploded into one of the best games we’ve seen so far this Bowl season.
After Boston College got out to a 21-7 lead with 2:12 to go in the first quarter, things didn’t look good for the Nittany Lions, who were featuring in their first Bowl since the Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky scandal gripped the sport and the school, took over, and brought about unprecedented sanctions that were later lifted.
Enter, sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg took over, and on a season where we’ve seen more of the bad Hackenberg than the good – he’s thrown far more interceptions than touchdowns this year – the strong-armed signal caller showed us a glimpse of the star freshman we knew a year ago. His poise and decision-making during the comeback explain why so many NFL scouts rate this guy so highly.
This was a victory for a team and a school who needed it desperately, though Boston College can definitely think themselves unlucky to lose the game. I don’t think there are many crueller ways to throw away a football game than miss the point-after in overtime. A strange ending to a brilliant game.
Holiday Bowl
Love defense? You came to the wrong place. There wasn’t much on show as USC (whose coaching situation is set) and Nebraska (who is transitioning from Bo Pelini to Mike Reilly, and had neither on the sideline tonight) traded big plays back and forth for most of the game, which stayed close despite the Trojans threatening, at various times, to pull away. In the end, USC managed one or two more defensive stops – including some key ones on fourth down – but at times found it tough going.
A lack of defensive depth didn’t help the Trojans in containing the double threat of Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong and running back Ameer Abdullah, who were both brilliant on the day. Armstrong threw for 381 yards and three scores, and ran for a fourth, and when he was able to set his feet in the pocket, and not be monstered by USC’s Leonard Williams, he was great. Abdullah had 88 rushing yards and 61 receiving.
USC can thank Adoree’ Jackson, the freshman defensive back/receiver, who added kick-off return specialist to his CV, running one back 98 yards, with an end zone backflip to boot, after Nebraska opened with a field goal. He also had a 71-yard touchdown catch from Cody Kessler, who had three on the night, and a rare interception. It only was USC’s twelfth of the year. Running back Javorious Allen was the real star, ripping a suspect Nebraska run defense that’s been suspect all year for 152 yards and two scores, including a 44-yard gallop in the third.
In the end, the two teams combined for more than one thousand yards of total offense, and 87 points. It was a wildly entertaining game – unless you’re either team’s defensive coordinator, of course. Still, fun for us fans, and another great advert for this event. Routinely, the Holiday Bowl serves up great drama, and this year was no different.
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