College Bowl Capsules: Air Force picks off bowl victory over Houston
FORT WORTH — With Asher Clark and Jared Tew grinding out yards and Air Force controlling the ball for more than 41 minutes, there were few chances for Case Keenum and Houston's potent offense.
Then when Keenum got on the field in the Armed Forces Bowl, he was often under pressure or getting picked off — or both.
Air Force's top-ranked pass defense had six interceptions and Clark and Tew each ran for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Falcons to a 47-20 victory on Thursday.
"The front three kind of got in his head, kind of got into him," said safety Chris Thomas, who had two interceptions along with his 12 tackles. "When he was on the run like that, we feel like we had the advantage."
After the Falcons (8-5) went ahead on Clark's 36-yard TD to cap the opening drive of the game, Keenum's first pass attempt deflected off his falling receiver and was grabbed by Anthony Wright, who had three interceptions. That set up Tew's 6-yard TD run for a 14-0 lead.
When it was over, Keenum had thrown a career-high six picks and was 24 of 41 for a season-low 222 yards for the Cougars (10-4). Before throwing three interceptions with five TDs and a school-record 56 completions in a loss to East Carolina in the Conference USA championship game last month, Keenum had only six picks the first 12 games this season.
"Give Air Force all the credit and I'll take all the blame," Keenum said, opening an 78-second postgame statement before walking off without taking questions. "I'm going to learn from this. You know, I'm a winner and I'm a competitor. ... We're going to take this into the offseason and we're going to use it as motivation. Look for the Cougars to do something special next year because there's a lot of guys in this locker room who have got a lot of determination. "
The junior quarterback who played his 40th career game had previously said he plans to be back next season, when the Cougars return nine offensive starters, including three 1,000-yard receivers. Keenum finished this season with a nation-leading 5,671 yards with 44 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
"I'm not going to make any kind of generalization based on the overall numbers in the past two games for him," coach Kevin Sumlin said. "He's a damn good player. Has been, and will continue to be. ... He wasn't sharp today. We weren't sharp today at all."
Air Force ran for 402 yards and Tim Jefferson was effective through the air, hitting 10 of 14 passes for 161 yards.
"We felt that if we just kept doing what we do and the plays were called right, they couldn't stop us," said Tew, who finished with 26 carries for 173 yards. He had a 71-yard TD run with 3:32 left in the game after Keenum's fifth interception.
Clark ran 17 times for 129 yards for the Falcons, who had lost in the Armed Forces Bowl the past two seasons, including 34-28 to Houston a year ago. Air Force had lost three straight postseason games.
Houston's bowl win last year capped Sumlin's debut season and snapped an eight-game postseason losing streak that had spanned 28 years. This time, the Cougars missed out on their first 11-win season since 1979.
After Houston was held without a touchdown before halftime, Tyron Carrier returned the opening kickoff of the second half 79 yards for his fourth TD this season. He took the ball near the left sideline, then ran to the middle of the field before shooting through a gap and running untouched to get the Cougars within 24-13.
Air Force immediately responded with its first kickoff return for a touchdown since 1985. Jonathan Warzeka fielded the ball and stepped back into the end zone before running 100 yards. Five Houston players got their hands on him, but couldn't get him down.
According to STATS, it was only the sixth major college game since 1996 with kickoff return touchdowns on consecutive plays. None of them had been in a bowl game.
After the kickoff returns, Keenum threw a 10-yard TD to Patrick Edwards to make it 31-20. That gave Keenum a TD pass in 30 consecutive games , but this was the first time in that streak that he had more picks than scores.
Houston managed only 331 total yards after coming in with a nation-best 581 yards per game and averaging 44 points.
When Jefferson slipped down trying to run on third-and-goal from the 2 with 17 seconds and no timeouts left just before halftime, he quickly got the offense off the field and the kicking team got out in time for Erik Soderberg's 27-yard field goal.
"Just overall, we played terrific football today. If you want to break it down into the three phases, one by one, we really were outstanding," coach Troy Calhoun said. "Yet even above that, just the unity, the kind of team chemistry, the spirit that's part of these guys."
Dobbs leads Navy to 35-13 win over Missouri
HOUSTON — Ricky Dobbs listened to the chatter from Missouri's defense and knew Navy had the Tigers beat.
Dobbs ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns and the Midshipmen manhandled Missouri with their triple-option offense in a 35-13 victory in the Texas Bowl on Thursday.
Dobbs also threw a touchdown pass to Bobby Doyle and Marcus Curry ran for a score as the Midshipmen (10-4) rushed for 385 yards against Missouri's 12th-ranked run defense. Navy won time of possession by nearly 22 minutes and ran 81 offensive plays to only 57 for the Tigers.
The old-fashioned, run-first (and second and third) offense put the Midshipmen on equal footing with bigger, faster opponents all season. They nearly upset Ohio State in the season opener and beat Notre Dame on Nov. 7.
Dobbs sensed that Navy was going to take down another heavyweight when he heard the frustrated Tigers complaining about the Midshipmen's low blocks.
"You could hear them talking all the time, 'Hey, who's trying to end my career?' and stuff like that," Dobbs said. "A lot of people, as far as defenses go, they have respect for us and the style that we do. They respect it because they hate it, and hearing them talk negatively about it let us know that they have respect for it, because they don't want to do it."
The Midshipmen matched a school record for victories in a season, securing only the third 10-win campaign in its history. They wore the same uniforms they donned for their 17-3 win over Army on Dec. 12 — gold on the shoulders and lined with red on the beltline and arms to honor the Marine Corps.
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo conceded Missouri's size and speed advantage leading up to this one. The undersized defense still managed to hold the Tigers to only 65 rushing yards.
"We're going to have 11 guys running to the football," Niumatalolo said. "We're like 11 hyenas — we're going to take down an elephant sooner or later, and we're going to get on you."
Blaine Gabbert threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Danario Alexander on Missouri's second play from scrimmage, but the Tigers mustered only 298 yards the rest of the game — largely because the Navy offense kept the ball for almost 41 minutes.
"They're really efficient in what they do," Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said. "They run it well and they're going to keep doing it. We knew what they were going to do, but the thing is, they kind of take your instincts away from you."
Missouri (8-5) lost for the second time in its last five bowl appearances.
Gabbert also threw two interceptions and was sacked four times, even though Navy had up to eight players dropped into pass coverage on some plays.
"He'll tell you that he's got to play better," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "This will be a good experience, certainly for him and for all of us."
Alexander, who led the nation in receiving yards coming into the game, took a short pass from Gabbert and outran the Navy defense just 24 seconds into the game. It was Alexander's 14th TD catch of the season and eighth covering more than 50 yards.
Navy didn't panic, stuck to its game plan and the Tigers never came up with an answer.
Dobbs broke a 24-yard run on Navy's second possession, diving into the end zone with 2:58 left in the first quarter. It was Dobbs' 25th touchdown run of the year, adding to his NCAA single-season record for a quarterback.
Tigers' defensive end Aldon Smith sacked Dobbs on the first play of the second quarter, setting a Missouri record with his 12th sack of the season.
Dobbs wasn't sacked again, and the Midshipmen drove to the Missouri 22 late in the half. Dobbs ran up the middle, but Missouri safety Jasper Simmons forced a fumble just before Dobbs crossed the goal line and the Tigers recovered in the end zone.
It only slowed down the Middies temporarily.
Missouri's Derrick Washington fumbled on the next play, Navy recovered and Dobbs, unfazed by his miscue, scored on a 12-yard run with 45 seconds left before halftime.
"In any offense, great quarterbacks have a short memory, no matter if it's the touchdown pass that you threw or the interception you threw," Dobbs said.
Grant Ressel's 31-yard field goal on the last play before the break to make it 14-10.
But Navy had already set the tone for the game, rushing for 216 yards in the first half. Dobbs' 3-yard touchdown pass to Doyle finished the first drive of the third quarter and put Navy up 21-10.
Ressel kicked another 31-yarder to make it 21-13, then Navy pulled away
Dobbs joined Craig Candeto (2003) and Chris McCoy (1997) as the only Midshipmen to run and pass for over 1,000 yards in a season.
-- Chris Duncan
Broyles catches 3 TDs as OU beats Stanford 31-27
EL PASO — The combination of Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles was almost unstoppable for Oklahoma.
And while the Sooners' steely defense couldn't quite stop Toby Gerhart, yards were hard to come by for the Heisman Trophy runner-up.
Broyles set a Sun Bowl record with three touchdown receptions, Jones passed for 418 yards and Oklahoma slowed Gerhart just enough to beat No. 19 Stanford 31-27 on Thursday.
"It was a total business trip," said Jones, who completed 30 of 51 with one interception. "We were coming down here to take care of business. The game plan, the way we prepared, it was really good this week."
Jones took over as Oklahoma's quarterback after 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford was injured in an opening loss to BYU.
Broyles finished with 156 yards receiving and set Oklahoma's single-game record with 13 receptions in front of a Sun Bowl record crowd of 53,713.
"The coaches put together a good plan," Broyles said. "Landry threw the ball on the spot. The line did a good job blocking."
Jones found Broyles on TD strikes of 30, 13 and 6 yards, and the Sooners led for good at 31-24 after DeMarco Murray flipped across the goal line late in the third quarter.
The victory capped an injury-plagued season that opened with national title hopes, but coach Bob Stoops said he was proud that the Sooners (8-5) never quit.
"They were ready to play to the end, no matter the situation," Stoops said. "We got some tough breaks. That happens. But we rose to the occasion and still did what we needed to do."
Gerhart, who led the nation with 1,736 yards rushing, ran for 135 on 32 carries and scored two TDs in the first half in what is likely his final game for Stanford. The senior could petition the NCAA for another season of eligibility because of injuries early in his career, but he has said he'll enter the NFL draft if he is projected to be a first-round pick.
Stanford was making its first bowl appearance since losing to Georgia Tech in the 2001 Seattle Bowl.
Oklahoma rallied with 14 straight points in the third quarter, then held on after Patrick O'Hara missed a 32-yard field goal try with 3:19 remaining. Stanford (8-5) got a final opportunity but turned it over on downs, starting a celebration for fans wearing crimson and cream.
"We had our chances," Gerhart said. "We had the ball with two minutes and something to go. We didn't capitalize."
Broyles also had 47 yards returning four punts. But he fumbled a punt that helped Stanford draw closer early in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinal pulled to 31-27 on a 22-yard field goal by Nate Whitaker, capping a series that began when Broyles mishandled a punt. Oklahoma protested because Stanford's Johnson Bademosi hit Broyles just as the ball arrived, but officials gave possession to the Cardinal.
"They explained to me he was blocked into him," Stoops said.
Gerhart did not find a lot of room against the nation's No. 7 rushing defense. He averaged 4.2 per attempt and his longest run was a 26-yard gain in the fourth quarter.
"They're a good defense," Gerhart said. "We had to chip away at them. I had one big one, but not enough."
Stoops returned the compliment, saying Stanford's offense created a lot of challenges for Oklahoma.
"I think he's a fabulous running back," Stoops said. "He did run through us at times. They do a great job of really making you work mentally."
Stanford's Tavita Pritchard, who threw three passes in four games this season, made his 20th career start because standout freshman Andrew Luck wasn't ready after surgery to repair a broken right index finger. Pritchard was 8 of 19 for 118 yards and was intercepted twice.
Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh had indicated a day earlier that Luck, who threw for 2,575 yards passing, might play, but Luck stood on the sidelines wearing street clothes and a headset.
Harbaugh was asked if having Luck in the huddle would have made a difference.
"Who knows? I thought Tavita played an outstanding game," Harbaugh said. "His preparation was very good all week going into this. Our passing game wasn't as good as Oklahoma's. That was the difference, but I didn't think that was on Tavita."
The Sooners' tough-luck season ended with a victory and yet another injury. Defensive tackle Adrian Taylor left the Sun Bowl with his left wrapped in an air cast.
-- Tim Korte
Iowa St holds off Minnesota 14-13 in Insight Bowl
TEMPE, Ariz. — Iowa State made its two-win 2008 season seem like a long time ago.
With a 14-13 victory against Minnesota in the Insight Bowl on Thursday night, the Cyclones locked up their first winning season since 2005.
Then they partied on New Year's Eve with a band of followers in Sun Devil Stadium.
"By finishing with a winning record, you go into the offseason with a program that certainly is on its way," first-year Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said. "The program has credibility based on what we've done thus far."
Alexander Robinson ran for 137 yards, and Austen Arnaud threw for one touchdown and ran for another as the Cyclones (7-6) won for only the third time in 10 bowl games — and the second in Arizona.
As for the Golden Gophers, they can't wait for next year — and, they hope, a chance to end a four-bowl losing streak. Minnesota (6-7) made an unwanted bit of history by becoming the first three-time Insight Bowl loser.
"We came here to win the football game and we didn't get it done," Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said. "It's a great group of kids...and their hearts are broke and they're bleeding."
Minnesota's Adam Weber threw for 261 yards and a score, and Kyle Theret picked off two passes and caught a 40-yard pass on a fake punt, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Big Ten's fourth straight Insight Bowl loss to the Big 12.
The Insight pitted two 6-6 squads that needed to defeat a team from the Dakotas to become bowl-eligible. A crowd of 45,090 turned out on a 63-degree afternoon at Sun Devil Stadium, capacity 56,000, for a game that was more interesting than pretty.
The Cyclones won it the hard way.
They overcame four turnovers by Arnaud, who threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
"Our football team showed a lot of grit to overcome four turnovers and still be in a position to win a football game," said Rhoads, the first Iowa State coach to post a winning record in his debut season since George Veenker in 1931.
The Cyclones nearly had a fifth turnover, when Robinson fumbled on a long completion and the Golden Gophers recovered. But the officials gave the ball back to the Cyclones after a lengthy video review.
"I felt my knee go down," Robinson said. "I knew the whole time I was down."
Iowa State also conceded 434 yards and committed eight penalties.
But the Cyclones' defense twice came up with turnovers to repel the Gophers deep in Iowa State territory.
The first came with the Cyclones leading 7-3 late in the first half. Iowa State's David Sims picked off a pass in the end zone with 1:23 to go.
That led to the Cyclones' most impressive possession — a lightning 89-yard drive in 1 minute. Arnaud hit Jake Williams for a 38-yard score after Theret fell down, leaving Williams all alone.
That gave the Cyclones a 14-3 halftime lead, and they romped off the field to the cheers of their red-and-yellow-clad faithful.
Still down 14-3 midway through the third period, the Gophers stunned the Cyclones with a brilliant trick play. On fourth-and-4 at Minnesota's 37-yard line, punter Blake Haudan hit a wide-open Theret for 40 yards — the junior defensive back's first career reception.
One play later, Weber found tight end Nick Tow-Arnett for a 23-yard touchdown to cut Iowa State's lead to 14-10.
It was Minnesota's first offensive touchdown since Nov. 7, a span of 10 quarters.
The Gophers took advantage of another Arnaud fumble — this one at Minnesota's 40 — to drive 50 yards for a 21-yard field goal by Ellestad, trimming the deficit to 14-13 after three quarters.
Minnesota had trailed in all six of its regular-season wins, and four times rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win. The Gophers seemed poised for another comeback when they marched to Iowa State's 17 late in the fourth quarter.
But backup quarterback MarQueis Gray, inserted as a running threat, fumbled on a keeper, and Iowa State's Ter'ran Benton recovered.
"We didn't lose a game because of MarQueis Gray's fumble," Brewster said. "He's hurting. He's hurting bad."
The Cyclones ran out the final 4:04, with Arnaud and Robinson each rushing for first downs.
As a full moon rose over the mountains to the east, the Cyclones raced onto the field, then hoisted the Insight Bowl trophy.
"It means a lot to us because we get to go out the right way — on a bowl win," Iowa State senior defensive end Christopher Lyle said.
Iowa State beat its border rival for only the third time in 26 meetings — and for the first time since 1898.
-- Andrew Bagnato
Williams runs for 2 TDs to lead Va Tech past Tenn.
ATLANTA — Ryan Williams capped a brilliant first season with a record-setting game, running for two touchdowns to power Virginia Tech past Tennessee 37-14 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Thursday night.
The Hokies (10-3) took the lead with a field goal in the final seconds of the first half and outscored Tennessee 20-0 in the second half on their way to a sixth straight 10-win season.
The only team with a longer active streak is Texas with nine.
Williams, a redshirt freshman, had 117 yards rushing to become Virginia Tech's single-season rushing leader with 1,655 yards. Williams also set Atlantic Coast Conference records with 21 rushing touchdowns and 22 total touchdowns this season.
Tennessee's star running back, Montario Hardesty, could not keep up with Williams. The Volunteers' senior had 18 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown. The Hokies outrushed Tennessee (7-6) 229-5.
Tennessee was hurt by two turnovers which led to 10 points for Virginia Tech, and a dropped pass that cost them a touchdown.
Rashad Carmichael intercepted a pass by Jonathan Crompton in the first quarter to set up Williams' first touchdown run. Crompton fumbled when sacked by Nekos Brown late in the fourth quarter. John Graves recovered at the Tennessee 13 to set up Matt Waldron's third field goal, a 22-yarder.
Virginia Tech players dumped a cooler of water on coach Frank Beamer seconds later. Virginia Tech fans in the sellout crowd of 73,777 cheered, and Beamer raised his fists in response.
Williams sat out the fourth quarter after an apparent left ankle injury. Virginia Tech fans cheered when Williams left the trainer's table and ran on the sideline, but Beamer gave the fourth-quarter carries to Josh Oglesby and David Wilson.
Wilson had a 3-yard touchdown run with 5:14 remaining.
Williams needed 109 yards rushing to pass Kevin Jones' school-record record 1,647 yards in 2003.
North Carolina's Don McCauley held the ACC marks with 19 rushing touchdowns and 21 total in 1970. Clemson's C.J. Spiller matched the total touchdown mark this season. Georgia Tech's Robert Lavette also rushed for 19 touchdowns in 1982.
Williams passed Jones with his seventh carry of an eight-play touchdown drive in the third quarter. He had long runs of 21 and 32 yards in the drive before setting the record on a 6-yard run to the 3.
Tyrod Taylor scored from the 1 for a 24-14 lead. Taylor completed 10 of 17 passes for 201 yards with an interception.
Crompton completed 15 of 26 passes for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Waldron, who had a 21-yard field goal at the end of the first half, added a 46-yarder — the longest of his career — to push the lead to 27-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Tennessee's had a chance to get back into it, but wide-open Denarius Moore dropped a deep pass from Crompton on the Vols' next drive.
Williams' third-down run from the 1 gave the Hokies a 7-0 lead. Williams scored again, this time from the 3, to push the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter.
Tennessee then took the momentum.
Hardesty ran through 301-pound defensive tackle Cordarrow Thompson's tackle for a 4-yard run to cap an 80-yard drive.
Janzen Jackson's interception set up Crompton's 2-yard touchdown pass to Moore with 18 seconds remaining in the first half.
Instead of running out the clock, Taylor threw from his 33 to Jarrett Boykin, who was stopped inside the Vols' 5 as the clock apparently expired. Tennessee players left the field but were summoned back as a video review showed Boykin's knee hit the ground with 2 seconds remaining.
Waldron's 21-yard field goal gave Virginia Tech a 17-14 halftime lead.
The Hokies, who won the Orange Bowl last season, have back-to-back bowl wins for the first time in school history.
-- Charles Odum
