Missouri: 2023 Cotton Bowl Champions

There was plenty to say after the 88th Cotton Bowl Classic.

Missouri football just staged a fourth quarter for the ages. The Tigers, down 3-0, put up 14 of the biggest points in MU history to down Ohio State 14-3.

It was exactly what Missouri set out to do when it started this historic season about one year ago after the Gasparilla Bowl.

"We talk about developing an elite edge, and the G and EDGE stands for grit, a stubborn refusal to quit, and that's what our team displayed tonight to score 14 in the fourth quarter when you're down 3-0," Drinkwitz said. "Just really, really proud of those guys.

Here's what Drinkwitz said after winning the 2023 Cotton Bowl.

What Mizzou was about this year

Going up against Ohio State didn't mean going up against the No. 7 team in the nation. It also meant going up against established history of college football excellence.

Eight national championships, five College Football Playoff appearances since 2014 and 964 total wins.

Missouri doesn't have that kind of resume. It did not care.

"Last night, our chaplain, gave a message about the difference between a blue blood Brotherhood and a wilderness brotherhood," Drinkwitz said. "A wilderness brotherhood forged through adversity and fight and scratching and clawing for everything you get, and it just totally encompassed everything that we're about."

Drinkwitz, with his back against the wall this season, put forth one of the best seasons in Missouri football history.

Just don't think he'll take much of the credit, though.

"I'll be honest, it really doesn't have much to do with me," Drinkwitz said. "It's really about our players and our team and the legacy of the 2023 brotherhood."

'It's really not ever going to be about me'

Drinkwitz's face is now the face of Missouri athletics.

He is the coach who won Missouri a Cotton Bowl. He is the coach who has Missouri in the conversation to be a playoff team next year when the CFP expands to 12 teams.

But, he is also the man who wants fans to know the players are the ones who deserve the most credit after Friday's win.

"We have a sign in our locker room that goes around that says, 'when the weakest choose to run, we stand shoulder to shoulder and move forward together,'" Drinkwitz said. "That's what our brotherhood did."

Drinkwitz made all the right decisions this season. It led to 11 wins and a win in the Cotton Bowl.

He's willing to pass off all that credit in a heartbeat.

"It's really not ever going to be about me," Drinkwitz said. "It's going to be about our team and our coaching staff and our university."

On the game-winning fourth quarter

Missouri had some fourth-quarter inspiration from the NFL level.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, after a last-minute win over the Philadelphia Eagles led by Missouri alum Drew Lock, mentioned that games are won in that final frame. Drinkwitz took that to heart.

"We saw Coach Carroll say the other day, and actually talked to the team about it, you can't win it the first, you can't win it in the second, you can't win in the third, but you can sure win it in the fourth quarter," Drinkwitz said. "This team, they did that. They displayed that."

MU scored 14 points and forced a game-sealing turnover in the fourth quarter. It played the best quarter of the season when it mattered most.

"Appreciative to Coach Carroll for demonstrating that, and then Drew Lock giving us the inspiration to go out there," Drinkwitz said. "We didn't have to quite do it on the last drive of the game, but it was sure a lot of fun."

On Mizzou's mentality going forward

Missouri went into the 2023 season with one single mantra.

It was plastered everywhere, repeated plenty of times and sounded like a broken record to some. To some, maybe, but not to Missouri. Now, the team gets to change that mantra.

"It's why stop now," Drinkwitz said. "That's the mentality is."

Missouri climbed its way from the depths. This team was mired in hell as a squad picked to finish sixth in the SEC behind Vanderbilt. The Tigers had everything to prove.

Eleven wins and a Cotton Bowl title later, they proved it all and more.

"We've worked really hard to get this opportunity and we're not gonna sit here and change," Drinkwitz said. "So, why stop now?"

Honkai Star Rail: Automatic Lover

#RuanMei #HonkaiStarRail

Memphis: 2023 Liberty Bowl Champions

 

Memphis football had not won a game as an underdog all season, but the Tigers dispatched Iowa State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl 36-26 on Friday at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

Memphis (10-3) jumped out to a 19-0 first quarter lead and held on during some precarious moments in the fourth quarter to get to a rare double-digit win season.

Quarterback Seth Henigan was excellent again, breaking the all-time passing record for Memphis football in the third quarter. He finished 24-of-34 for 364 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for a touchdown to pace the Tigers.

Iowa State (7-6) fought back after the rough start and had some momentum near the end of the first half. But Memphis did just enough to stay out of striking distance.

The Cyclones entered as 10.5 point favorites but struggled through most of the game, and the Tigers earned the win in their home stadium in front of an announced 48,789 fans mostly split between Memphis and Iowa State.

Memphis football came out swinging

The Tigers would've been hard-pressed to put together a much better start. Henigan hit Demeer Blankumsee for a 70-yard touchdown on the opening drive, and then the Tigers defense came up with a fourth-down stop to get the ball right back. Henigan rushed for a touchdown and then found former Iowa State receiver Joe Scates for a 51-yard touchdown, and the Tigers were flying. Slow starts have been an issue, but almost everything went well out of the gate.

Seth Henigan etched his place in Memphis history

Henigan finished his third season as Memphis' starting quarterback by setting the Tigers' record for career passing yards. He found Scates for a 17-yard gain late in the third quarter to pass Brady White as the leading passer in Memphis football history. Henigan has 10,773 career yards and announced before the game he'll return for next season and will be well-positioned to break basically all of the Tigers' career passing records.

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht had success

Memphis had been worried about stopping freshman RB Abu Sama III, who rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns in Iowa State's last game against Kansas State. The Tigers defense shut Sama down early, but could not contain receiver Jayden Higgins, who had five catches for 140 yards in the first half.

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht threw for 446 yards and three touchdowns and improved as the game went on, but Memphis always had enough of a lead to keep the Cyclones in check.

The Tigers defense impressed

Memphis had spent most of the season engaging in shootouts and generally struggling to stop its opponents. Defensive coordinator Matt Barnes left for Mississippi State before this game, so linebackers coach Jordon Hankins was serving as interim defensive coordinator.

Iowa State couldn't get its running game going, and the Tigers were able to get pressure on Becht throughout the afternoon.

Memphis has momentum heading into next season

The Tigers will no doubt be among the favorites and possibly the favorite heading into next season's AAC title race. Of the three teams that finished ahead of them, Tulane lost its coach, UTSA lost its quarterback and SMU is headed to the ACC. The stakes will be higher with the expanded playoff, and Memphis will have real expectations at the beginning of next season. Friday's win gives Silverfield and his staff something concrete to build off as they prepare for a critical 2024 campaign.

Notre Dame: 2023 Sun Bowl Champions

 

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Steve Angeli passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns, guiding No. 15 Notre Dame to a 40-8 victory over No. 21 Oregon State in the Sun Bowl on Friday.

Angeli went 15 for 19 and tossed TD passes of 8 yards to Jayden Thomas, 13 yards to Jordan Faison and 13 yards to Jeremiyah Love. The sophomore was making his first start for the Irish (10-3) in place of Sam Hartman, one of many players who opted out of the game.

Jadarian Price of Notre Dame rushed for 106 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown.

Notre Dame had seven players – all starters – opt out of the game. That included Hartman and standout running back Audric Estime.

Oregon State (8-5), which finished the season on a three-game losing streak, had three starters opt out and four others enter the transfer portal — including starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and backup Aidan Chiles.

Jimmy Valsin III had the lone score for Oregon State, catching a 33-yard pass from Ben Gulbranson. Offensive lineman Tyler Voltin ran in the 2-point conversion from the wildcat formation. Gulbranson 16 for 27 for 180 yards and an interception.

Clemson: 2023 Gator Bowl Champions

 

You’ll likely hear a lot about Clemson running back Phil Mafah tonight, and for a good reason: Mafah is a stud and was the key to a Clemson 38-35 Gator Bowl win over Kentucky.

In the Gator Bowl win, Mafah was dominant on the ground, even with his limited workload. Taking just 11 carries on the game, Mafah gained 71 yards and scored four touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 3-yard touchdown with seconds left in the fourth quarter.

It was not only an excellent performance for Mafah but also historic. Mafah’s four touchdowns in this win broke two records: the Gator Bowl touchdown record and Clemson’s bowl game record. Mafah’s performance in this Gator Bowl will go down as an all-time great bowl game performance in the program’s history.

Clemson star running back Will Shipley was injured in Clemson’s 38-35 Gator Bowl win over Kentucky, with head coach Dabo Swinney sharing an update on Shipley’s health during his press conference following the game.

Late in the fourth quarter, Shipley was injured on a big kick return as he landed awkwardly out of bounds. Shipley was down for a while before being helped up and over to the bench. Here is what Swinney had to say about the injury.

“We’ll do an MRI. It’ll either be tomorrow or the next day,” Swinney said. “We’ll wait and see. But initial reports seem to be encouraging, but you never know until you do the MRI.”

Hopefully, it looked worse than it is for Shipley, who still has a decision to make on his future with the program.

Arizona: 2023 Alamo Bowl Champions

 

Oklahoma was by several measures the superior team at the Alamo Bowl. Except for one critical category.

The 12th-ranked Sooners turned the ball over six times Thursday night, allowing 14th-ranked Arizona to rally from an 11-point third quarter deficit for a 38-24 win.

A tip drill on a third-quarter Jackson Arnold pass turned into a fumble recovery for Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado, who returned the ball 87 yards for touchdown that shifted the course of the game. Originally ruled an interception, officials changed the call to a catch and fumble by wide receiver Jalil Farooq forced by a Dalton Johnson hit.

Whatever it was, it was the fourth forced turnover of the day for Arizona and the third involving Maldonado, who recorded two fumble recoveries and an interception.

It also allowed the Wildcats to add another football to the turnover sword. Which is a real thing. Arizona used it to stab footballs with Oklahoma logos for each of its forced turnovers. It eventually ran out of room for more footballs.

Oklahoma held a 24-13 lead while driving inside the Arizona at the time of the turnover. Instead of extending a double-digit lead, the Sooners allowed the Wildcats to close within 24-21 after a two-point conversion.

Two plays later, Arnold threw his third interception of the night, this one to defensive back Martell Irby. This turnover set up Arizona to tie the game at 24-24 with a field goal. After a forced Oklahoma punt, Arizona's offense drove 95 yards on eight plays capped by a 57-yard go-ahead touchdown from Noah Fifita to Jacob Cowing.

Oklahoma's next drive ended with — you guessed it — another turnover. Isaiah Ward sacked Arnold, forcing Oklahoma's sixth turnover of the day.

This inspired yet another appearance by the turnover sword.

The Wildcats converted the turnover into another touchdown for a 38-24 lead with 2:56 remaining, and the game was all but over.

Arizona overcomes otherwise big offensive night by Oklahoma

Oklahoma held a 562-to-383 edge in total offense. It outrushed Arizona 201 yards to 29. But Arizona claimed a 6-to-1 edge in forced turnovers, an advantage that was too much for Oklahoma to overcome.

Arnold completed 26 of 45 passes for 361 yards with two touchdowns. He accounted for two-thirds of Oklahoma's turnovers with three interceptions and a lost fumble. Farooq fumbled twice.

Arizona was efficient when it had the ball. Quarterback Noah Fifita completed 24 of 38 passes for 354 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Tetairoa McMillan caught 10 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, while Cowing tallied seven receptions for 152 yards and a score. The Wildcats averaged 9.3 yards per play.

Arizona caps its season with a seven-game winning streak to finish 10-3. Oklahoma fell to 10-3 with the loss.