FFXIV: The Misadventures

#FFXIV

Winthrop: 2019-20 Big South Men's Basketball Champions

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- It took a freshman to bring Winthrop back to where it almost always used to go -- the NCAA Tournament.

DJ Burns scored 16 points, 12 of them in the second half, to lead the second-seeded Eagles to a 76-68 win over fifth-seeded Hampton on Sunday in the Big South Conference championship game.

Winthrop is off to its 11th NCAA Tournament, but just the fourth for the Eagles (24-10) since 2007, when coach Gregg Marshall set the bar for small conference excellence, winning the Big South seven times in nine seasons before heading to Wichita State.

"You walk in that gym every day and you look up and those banners just stare at you," said Eagles coach Pat Kelsey, who made his second Big Dance in his eighth season.

Kelsey blew a kiss to his family as the buzzer sounded and students, let in free at the university president's declaration on Twitter, stormed the court. The No. 2 seed Eagles got to play at home after Hampton (15-19) beat top seed Radford in the semifinals.

Hunter Hale threw the ball almost into the rafters as the students swarmed. The senior transferred to Winthrop after two seasons at Division II Grand Valley State in Michigan. His 10 points included a soft jumper with the shot clock winding down that put Winthrop up seven with 1:08 to go.

The freshman Burns flipped a game that Hampton appeared might run away with. The Pirates led by as many as 15 in the first half and were up 39-32 with 16 minutes to go,

Burns scored 12 of Winthrop's next 21 points on a combination of soft hooks and power spin moves as Hampton gambled by not double teaming him.

"People have doubled and had some success. People have doubled and gotten burned, pun intended," Kelsey said.

Hampton's Jermaine Marrow, the nation's third leading scorer at 25 points a game, was held to 18 points. The senior played all but three minutes over the Pirates three tournament games and scored 32 in a quarterfinal win over Gardner-Webb and 36 in the semifinal win over Radford.

Ben Stanley added 15 points for the Pirates. Stanley and Greg Heckstall, who had 16 rebounds, also played all 40 minutes for Hampton.

"I'll never second guess myself that I played my seniors and my main players the minutes that I did. It's about getting to this moment. If I didn't do it, we probably wouldn't be here," Hampton coach Ed Joyner said.

BIG PICTURE

Hampton: The Pirates needed a huge game from Marrow, who went 6 for 11 on 3-pointers in the semifinal win, and didn't quite get it. The senior was 5 of 19 from the field, 1 of 10 on 3-pointers. Still, it was a run like few have seen in the Big South for the Pirates in their second season in the league.

Winthrop: The Eagles needed balance and got it. Nine of the 10 players who got on the court scored and four ended up in double figures.

HAPPY TO BE THERE

Kelsey wouldn't say what seed he thought Winthrop should be in the NCAA Tournament. He just can't wait to get there.

"You walk in the gym and there are going to be (four) games that day so the air is frigid. There's blue carpet all over the back hallways. And everybody has a lanyard on like `Wayne's World," Kelsey said. "It's just awesome."

AGONY OF DEFEAT

Joyner and Marrow cried as they talked to reporters after the game. Marrow is from Newport News, Virginia, and his coach said he was told not to go to nearby Hampton.

Marrow leaves as the Pirates top all-time scorer (2,680) and second in school history in assists (633).

Talking through his tears, Joyner said Marrow was as close to him as his sons.

"I put everything in him to make sure this young man survived and made it out. This young man is 20 hours from graduating or less. He's going to have an opportunity to play basketball and do something for himself, his family, his son he just had," Joyner said.

Marrow buried his face in his hoodie. "This man gave me an opportunity He believed in me from day one. This school believed in me. I'll love him for that forever."

UP NEXT

Hampton: The season is likely over and the Pirates will need to figure out how to replace Marrow.

Winthrop: There's a Selection Sunday party in Rock Hill next Sunday, where the Eagles could sneak as high as a 15 seed.

LSU: 2019 NCAA Division I FBS National Champions

NEW ORLEANS — When it comes time to write the story of the 2019 college football season, we will not just start with Joe Burrow. We will ask Burrow to write it. He will be quick, he will be absurdly accurate, he will make sure a whole bunch of people get involved, he will explain what his coach actually said, and he will finish with a flourish.

LSU is your national champion, the best team playing its best football at the best time, thanks mostly to the nation’s best player. Burrow was great when his team wasn’t, then great when it was. How good was he? How good is LSU?

Well, college football history is dotted with champions that won with outrageous talent and champions that won because of a collective belief that they would never lose.

Once in a while, you find a team with both qualities.

A team like Clemson.

Burrow and LSU just eviscerated that team. Clemson had won 29 games in a row, and Burrow effectively beat the Tigers twice. The first time was late in the third quarter, with LSU leading 35-25. Burrow feathered a pass into the hands of star receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who dropped it. Chase had a wonderful night, so it feels wrong to say he should have caught it. But … he should have caught it. LSU had to settle for a field-goal attempt, which failed.

Burrow just did what he has done all season: Lead another touchdown drive, finishing with a—you’ll never believe this—perfect pass to Terrace Marshall Jr. LSU led by the final margin, 42-25, and LSU fans were ready to start partying in the streets of New Orleans, which they had conveniently begun doing like a week ago.

This is LSU’s championship, Ed Orgeron’s championship, all of their championship. But this will be Joe Burrow’s season, forever. Very few players in the sport’s 150-year history dominated from start to finish like Burrow did. He threw 48 touchdown passes in his team’s first 13 games, then got better. He threw 12 in two playoff games, including five in this one.

But this went beyond his stats. Burrow played like he knew he could complete every pass, avoid every blitz, run for any first down he needed. He took the entropy out of the game.

Clemson was the undefeated defending national champion with the best NFL prospect in the country (quarterback Trevor Lawrence), but there was no doubt, as midnight approached in the Crescent City, that LSU was the better team.

LSU gained 359 yards in the first half, which begged the question: What was wrong with LSU? We kid, sort of. But the Tigers started slow. They kept dropping passes. They punted four times. LSU’s offense was so good all year that when it stalls at all, you expect a CHECK ENGINE light to appear on the sideline.

The Tigers destroyed so many teams this year, including Oklahoma in the “semifinal” exhibition two weeks ago, that it was easy to wonder how they would respond when faced with an actual deficit. But if you have paid any attention to Burrow this year, you didn’t wonder. The presumptive No. 1 NFL draft pick is deadly serious, the adult in any room he enters.

Burrow did not come all this way, from Athens, Ohio to Columbus to Baton Rouge and finally to New Orleans, just to let a few failed drives ruin his night. He kept throwing darts over the middle and delicately placed deep balls along the sideline and figured his excellent receivers would start catching them, which they did.

At halftime, LSU led 28-17, and LSU got the ball first in the second half, and it was easy to wonder if Clemson was going to get knocked out. But if you have paid any attention to Clemson under Dabo Swinney, you didn’t wonder. Dabo says sit, the Tigers sit. Dabo says fight, they fight. Dabo says roll over, they know he is kidding, because Clemson never rolls over.

Clemson fought, the way you would expect a team playing for its third title in four years to fight. Lawrence led a touchdown drive that ended with a two-point conversion. Even down 35-25, having lost starting linebacker James Skalski to a targeting ejection, Clemson fought. Clemson always fights. But this season, Joe Burrow and LSU always won.

North Dakota State: 2019 NCAA Division I FCS National Champions

FRISCO, Texas — North Dakota State football is the FCS national champion for a record eighth time after defeating James Madison 28-20 to close out the 2019-20 season.

The Bison made history in Frisco, becoming the first modern-era DI college football program to go 16-0 in a single season. Only 1894 Yale shares that honor.

North Dakota State led 28-13 following a 44-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trey Lance to open the fourth quarter. But James Madison battled back with a Riley Stapleton touchdown catch (his second of the game) and a final drive to NDSU's 5-yard line.

But NDSU safety James Hendricks clinched the win with an interception on Ben DiNucci's pass to the end zone with seven seconds left. Hendricks finished with eight tackles, an interception and a first-half touchdown run on a fake field goal.

Lance finished the game with 166 rushing yards and a touchdown on 30 attempts. He was only asked to throw 10 times (6-of-10, 72 yards) on a blustery day in Frisco, Texas. Lance, the first freshman to win the Walter Payton Award, finished 2019-20 without a single interception.

Notable Stats

Trey Lance, QB, NDSU: 6-of-10 for 72 YDS; 30 CAR for 166 YDS and 1 TD

Adam Cofield, RB, NDSU: 7 CAR for 24 YDS and 1 TD

Phoenix Sproles, WR, NDSU: 1 CAR for 38 YDS and 1 TD; 1 REC for 13 YDS

Ben DiNucci, QB, JMU: 22-of-33 for 204 YDS, 2 TD and 1 INT

Percy Agyei-Obese, RB, JMU: 18 CAR for 73 YDS

Riley Stapleton, WR, JMU: 10 REC for 100 YDS and 2 TD

           

Lance Dazzles on National Stage as Bison Win 8th National Title

Despite NDSU's dominance for nearly a decade, James Madison entered Saturday's game as a slight favorite, and it was expected to be a tightly contested affair.

That is primarily because the Bison and Dukes boasted two of the best defenses in FCS this season, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The defensive excellence wasn't on full display in the early going, as JMU bled 7:33 off the clock on its first drive, which lasted 17 plays and 86 yards, and concluded with a five-yard touchdown pass from DiNucci to Riley Stapleton.

James Madison made a big-time statement on that drive, which meant the Bison needed to answer in impressive fashion.

They did precisely that, as Lance orchestrated a 70-yard drive in less than four minutes. After Lance set the Bison up on the 1-yard line with a 13-yard run, Adam Cofield punched it in from one yard out to tie the game.

North Dakota State struck again on its next drive after forcing James Madison to punt, and it didn't take the Bison long to assume the lead.

After a pass interference call and a 14-yard run by Lance set the Bison up in JMU territory, NDSU used some razzle dazzle, as wide receiver Phoenix Sproles scored on a 38-yard reverse that saw him fake the pitch.

James Madison did manage to answer with a field goal to cut the deficit to four, but it was the Bison who entered halftime with momentum on their side.

The Dukes thought they executed a huge third-down stop late in the half, but NDSU outsmarted James Madison again with a fake field goal that saw Hendricks rush for a 20-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 1.

While the total yardage numbers were comparable in the first half and the numbers didn't indicate that North Dakota State should have a two-score lead, first-year head coach Matt Entz's willingness to call some trick plays were the difference.

Lance's ability to do damage with his legs also played a big role in NDSU's early success, including this run, which saw him plow through the entire JMU defense and give his team a ton of energy.


As pointed out by Bob Grebe of WHSV, James Madison didn't have the defensive game plan it needed to keep Lance in check from a running perspective.

That seemingly began to change in the third quarter, as James Madison held North Dakota State scoreless and kicked a field goal to pull to within eight points.

Just when it looked like the Dukes were trending in the right direction, though, Lance made another highlight-reel play on a 44-yard touchdown run in the opening second of the fourth quarter to give NDSU a 15-point advantage.

It would have been easy for James Madison to pack it in against a top-flight defense at that point, but the Dukes continued to fight. They cut the lead back down to eight on another five-yard touchdown pass from DiNucci to Stapleton with 6:55 remaining.

The key play on that drive was conversion by DiNucci on a 4th-and-6 that saw him lower his head and bowl over a defender on a six-yard run.

North Dakota State had a chance to essentially put the game away on the ensuing drive, but the Dukes stopped the Bison on a 4th-and-2 and took control of the ball at their own 37 with 2:40 remaining.

JMU got the ball all the way down to the NDSU 3-yard line, but DiNucci was intercepted by Hendricks, who scored a rushing touchdown earlier in the game, which sealed the win for the Bison.

Lance wasn't asked to do much through the air, but he carries the NDSU offense with his legs and finished the season with no interceptions in 16 games, while the Bison defense came through in the clutch as well.

Texas: 2019 Alamo Bowl Champions

AUSTIN — Sam Ehlinger didn’t say those cursed words. Tom Herman didn’t mock an opposing player. Bevo didn’t attempt to maim another mascot.

This time, Texas took its bowl win in stride.

The Longhorns (8-5) reveled on New Year’s Eve, of course, after a stunning 38-10 demolition of 11th-ranked Utah (11-3) in the Alamo Bowl. But their words and reactions were more measured Tuesday night at an Alamodome brimming with burnt-orange gear.

“I think it taught a lot of the young guys that when you play together, you play mistake-free, you have fun, and then you lock in … that our talent can take us pretty far,” Ehlinger said Tuesday night. “Then once you add in mistake-free football, watch out.”

The junior quarterback added, with a self-aware smirk: “And so I think that it’s a great — I don’t know how to word this — but I’m not going to do this again. I’ll leave it at that.”

Is the way Texas won on the final day of 2019 the blueprint for the future? That’s yet to be determined with new offensive (Mike Yurcich) and defensive (Chris Ash) coordinators joining the staff and more changes likely to come.

Still, there’s reason to believe Texas won’t squander its bowl momentum — real or imagined — this time. It won’t have to deal with the same senior exodus, though losing offensive studs Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay and the respected voice and presence of defensive end Malcolm Roach will require an adjustment.

Texas will be flush with talent again in 2020, as it is every year. The material is always there on the Forty Acres, waiting to be shaped into a contender. But Herman admitted the coaches, himself included, failed in their duty to grow and develop these players in 2019, the main point cited in his staff shakeup.

Against Utah, many of those highly recruited players looked ready to move from “prospect” to “contributor.”

“You look at their guys, man for man, talent-wise,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said, “that’s got to be one of the best, if not the best, 7-5 — now 8-5 — teams in the country.”

Other Longhorns, like Alamo Bowl defensive MVP Joseph Ossai, seem poised to leap from “talented but inconsistent” to “certified game-changer.”

The sophomore linebacker could be a critical piece for Ash as a versatile pass-rushing menace who can play in the more traditional spot or attack off the edge. He was nigh unstoppable against Utah, swimming through and bowling over defenders to drag down quarterback Tyler Huntley three times to go with another three tackles for loss.

The defensive dominance of Ossai and his teammates was a welcome palette cleanser for Texas. The best news for Herman and Ash: 12 of the 14 players who recorded multiple tackles will return in 2020, barring any potential transfers. And that doesn’t include freshman corner Chris Adimora, who came up big with a first-down saving tackle and a breakup of a potential touchdown pass on Utah’s final first-half drive.

“What was going on out there was just us having fun, and us having confidence in the defense, the defensive scheme,” Ossai said. “We bought in 100 percent and went out there and executed. I think that was the key thing tonight, executing. We’ve done a poor job — I myself have done a poor job in the past of executing, and today I feel like we executed at a high level and the result was pleasing.”

Ehlinger never has operated at the college level without center Zach Shackelford, Duvernay and Johnson.

That means freshman slot receiver Jake Smith and 6-foot-4 sophomore Brennan Eagles will be thrust into more prominent roles, and that 6-6 converted tight end Malcolm Epps will need to grow more comfortable as a wideout. Junior tight end Cade Brewer, if healthy, could become Ehlinger’s new safety valve, and 6-2 freshman wideout Marcus Washington will have a chance to fight for more reps.

Ehlinger, now with three bowl wins and 33 starts under his belt, will have to nurture all of those players and aid in their growth. A backfield stocked with sophomore Keaontay Ingram, freshman Roschon Johnson and ballyhooed 2020 signee Bijan Robinson should alleviate some of the pressure, though the buck will stop with Ehlinger.

Texas again will have its mettle tested early with a Sept. 12 trip to Baton Rouge. Taking down possible defending national champion LSU in Week 2 would put not just the Big 12, but the entire country on notice.

That’s looking too deep into the future, though. Herman and his new coordinators have their work cut out for them, but what happened on New Year’s Eve in San Antonio at least served as a beacon of hope after a dispiriting regular season.

“Those guys, we had our ups and downs with that crew throughout the season,” Herman said. “But I think not just the four hours tonight, but throughout the bowl preparation, I think the light bulb went on as to what it takes to win at a championship level, and I’m excited to carry over those lessons into the offseason.”

Wyoming: 2019 Arizona Bowl Champions

Levi Williams has strong audition for next season

If the Arizona Bowl was any indication, Wyoming could have itself another quarterback competition looming.

This spring, it was Sean Chambers solidifying the job over Tyler Vander Waal. Vander Waal is almost certainly on his way out of the program after entering the NCAA’s transfer portal a few weeks back, but true freshman Levi Williams could enter the equation at the position given how he looked Tuesday.

Making his first career start, Williams shined against Georgia State. The 6-foot-5, 208-pounder wasn’t terribly efficient — he completed just 42 percent of his passes — but, as Wyoming coach Craig Bohl noted afterward, he looked composed. There was an interception he threw off his back foot late in the first half that you could chalk up to a freshman moment for a guy playing in his third career game, but he delivered big plays in the clutch more often than not.

He had touchdown passes of 18 and 51 yards and also delivered a 62-yard strike to Xazavian Valladay — the Cowboys’ longest pass of the season — to set up another touchdown. All three of his touchdown passes came on third down, helping Wyoming start 9 of 12 on third down and finish 11 of 17 on the money down. His 234 yards passing marked the most for Wyoming all season, and he added 53 more yards and a score on the ground.

Bohl has said in the past he’s never had a player lose his spot atop the depth chart because of an injury, and given how dynamic Chambers is in the running game, it’s hard to see Chambers not back as QB1 whenever his surgically repaired knee returns to full strength.

But should there be a competition heading into next season? Or at least a platoon? You have to think Williams, who accounted for 524 total yards in the three games he played this season, has at least made Bohl and offensive coordinator Brent Vigen start pondering those questions with the way he performed down the stretch.

Xazavian Valladay is an emerging star

Wyoming’s sophomore running back doesn’t like the limelight. Given the chance to talk about himself, he usually opts to thank his offensive line or a Wyoming defense that was really good about getting the ball back to the offense this season to give him more opportunities.

But Valladay better start getting used to all the attention.

Valladay put together another lunch-pail type of performance against GSU that doubled as his best of the season. The first-team all-Mountain West selection was bottled up for much of the first half but exploded as part of the Cowboys’ 218 second-half rushing yards. He finished with 204 yards on the ground and 91 receiving, surpassing the 280 all-purpose yards he had against Nevada earlier this season.

Valladay finished with six 100-yard games in the last seven games of the season. He ran for 1,385 yards on the season. And it’s not just the running game where Valladay can hurt you (211 receiving yards).

He’s quickly emerging as one of more well-rounded backs in the MW and could become a household name next season.

Wyoming takes momentum into the offseason

The excitement of a 6-2 start for Wyoming was dampened some after the Cowboys lost three of four games to end the regular season. Bohl and his players talked at length about wanting to get that bad taste out of their collective mouth in the bowl game, and Wyoming did that Tuesday.

It gives the Cowboys a wave of momentum heading into one of the more promising offseasons of Bohl’s tenure.

Losing Logan Wilson, Cassh Maluia, Alijah Halliburton and Tyler Hall from one of the MW’s top defenses will hurt, but the Cowboys were still a relatively young team this season. Wyoming is losing fewer than 20 seniors in all.

What’s coming back is significant. That includes the Cowboys’ leading rusher (Valladay), leading passer (Chambers), at least two quarterbacks with starting experience, five of their top 8 tacklers and all but two offensive and defensive linemen off their two-deep.

And Wyoming was in every game despite some of that youth. Their five losses came by a combined 28 points.

Wyoming has never won more than eight games in a season in Bohl’s six years at the helm, but there’s enough talent and experience returning that the Cowboys could make a serious run at changing that in 2020.

Navy: 2019 Liberty Bowl Champions

As usual, the spotlight was on quarterback Malcolm Perry and the Navy offense following the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Perry set a Navy bowl game record by rushing for 213 yards, while wide receiver Chance Warren was on the back end of a couple critical gadget plays as Navy’s offense did just enough to squeak out a 20-17 victory over Kansas State on Tuesday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Almost all the questions during the post-game press conference were about offense. Perry, the Liberty Bowl Most Valuable Player, was quite naturally the focal point following yet another spectacular performance.

How does it feel to set the Football Bowl Subdivision single season record for rushing yards by a quarterback? Perry finished his incredible 2019 campaign with 2,017 rushing yards, breaking the mark established by Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois (1,920 yards in 2013).

“My reaction to the rushing record is that I still can’t believe it,” Perry said. “At the same time, I know the guys up front — the offensive line, the slotbacks and the wide receivers — blocked their butts off all season. This is a testament to how hard they worked all season.”

Perry’s breakaway running ability was needed against a tough, physical defense that made the Midshipmen earn every yard. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound speedster set up an early field goal with a 25-yard run off an option keeper, put his team in position for its first touchdown with a 23-yard gain on fourth-and-one and jump-started the second touchdown drive by scrambling 29 yards into enemy territory.

Perry also made a terrific throw to slotback Keoni-Kordell Makekau on a seam route for a 27-yard touchdown. The senior standout later broke loose for a 59-yard run that gave Navy a chance to take a two-score lead midway through the fourth quarter, but kicker Bijan Nichols missed a 38-yard field goal.

Those plays, along with Warren’s 20-yard scoring scamper off a reverse and 41-yard reception off a slotback option, accounted for the bulk of Navy’s 421 total yards.

Take away the big plays and it was tough sledding against Kansas State, which switched back-and-forth between an eight-man front and the 46 defense that is commonly referred to as the “Bear” alignment. Middle linebacker Elijah Sullivan (11 tackles), weak-side linebacker Da’Quan Patton and free safety Denzel Goolsby (eight tackles apiece) spearheaded a hard-hitting outfit that was well-prepared for the triple-option by defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton.

“I’ll be honest with you, I thought our defense played really well. We had assignment-sound football,” Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman said. “If you were to ask Coach [Ken] Niumatalolo that two of the plays they would score on would be trick plays, I think he would be surprised, too.”

Navy (11-2) probably prepared for a 4-4 alignment with the safety following tail motion because that is what Hazelton employed against Air Force while at Wyoming. Niumatalolo said afterward the offensive staff had a plan for an eight-man front since Kansas State had shown that on tape.

“We weren’t ready for their odd front — the Bear look with the X stack similar to what Houston had done to us. It took us some time to see what they were doing and see how to attack it,” Niumatalolo said. “They’re a good team with a good staff and they had a good option plan.”

Defense stood tall
Here is the bottom line: When you score 20 points and win you should be thanking your defense. Especially when the opponent scored a special teams’ touchdown.

Inside linebacker Diego Fagot recorded seven solo tackles and two sacks to spearhead the Navy defense, which limited Kansas State to 170 yards of total offense. Inside linebacker Paul Carothers notched six tackles for the Midshipmen, who held the Wildcats to just 46 rushing yards — 143 below their season average.

Niumatalolo tried his best to give credit to the defense during the post-game press conference, interjecting comments about that unit into answers about Perry or the offense.

“I love the way our defense played. They kept us in the game,” Niumatalolo said. “To hold [Kansas State] to that amount of rushing yards is tremendous. Our defense played phenomenal the whole time.”

Navy’s defense was nothing short of lights out, throttling talented quarterback Skylar Thompson and an offense that came in averaging 30 points and 375 total yards. The Wildcats want to play smash-mouth football, using a power running game to set up play-action pass.

First-year defensive coordinator Brian Newberry knew Navy needed to stop the run, first and foremost.

“Absolutely. K-State has a big, physical offensive line. It’s an experienced group with 60 starts up front. Everything starts with run game for that offense,” Newberry told The Capital during a telephone interview on Wednesday morning. “I felt if we could stop the run and keep everything in front of us as far as the play-action pass we would have a chance.”

Kansas State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham looked to establish the run on the game’s opening possession and saw some success. Tailback James Gilbert gained eight yards up the middle on second down and two plays later ripped off a 14-yard run. A false start penalty was a setback, but Gilbert got the Wildcats back on schedule with a 9-yard run.

However, Navy bowed its neck after being pushed into its own territory. Fagot stopped tailback Harry Trotter for a 2-yard gain on third-and-six. Kansas State went for it on fourth-and-four and Navy dodged a bullet when wide receiver Phillip Brooks dropped what would have been a sure touchdown pass.

Kansas State would manage only two other sustained drives the rest of the way. It was a low-possession game as advertised and the Wildcats could not afford to come up empty so often when they only got six true possessions. (Two other possessions do not really count as K-State ran one play on the final series of the first half before time expired and one play on the final series of the game.)

An extremely methodical 13-play, 49-yard march that took almost six minutes off the clock ended with a 39-yard field goal by Blake Lynch that tied the score 10-10 with 2:27 remaining in the first half. Considering how long it was on the field, that was a win for the Navy defense.

Fagot sacked Thompson on third down, while rover safety Elan Nash pressured the quarterback into an errant throw on third down to force the field goal after Kansas State had reached the Navy 18-yard line.

Kansas State’s lone touchdown drive came late in the fourth quarter and tied the score 17-17 with 5:14 remaining. It was the only possession of the entire game in which Thompson got into any sort of throwing rhythm, completing three passes for 75 yards. Wykeen Gill got behind the defense on a post route and Thompson tossed a beautiful ball that hit the wide receiver in stride on his way into the end zone.

Take away that drive and Thompson completed 7 of 11 passes for 49 yards, repeatedly settling for underneath or check down routes.

“I knew we might have a chance if we made the quarterback go to his second and third reads,” Newberry said. “On third down, we showed some different looks and did some things to roll the coverage to try to confuse him.”

Those tactics clearly worked with Thompson saying as much following the game.

“It was different. They did have us out of rhythm,” Thompson admitted. “It’s hard. They did a great job. Hat’s off to them. They had a good game-plan for us. We knew they were a high-pressure team. They did a good job of mixing up their looks, showing from one way and coming from the other way and playing some different looks that I wasn’t really expecting. It just got us off rhythm.”

Klieman seconded that assessment: “Their defense did a nice job of keeping us out of rhythm a little bit,” he said.

Fagot, Pittman lead way
Fagot, who was deservedly voted Defensive Most Valuable Player for Navy, was not surprised when those comments were relayed to him during the post-game press conference.

“I think we played very well on defense. Coach Newberry and all the other defensive coaches prepared us really well for this game,” Fagot said. “We could tell we were confusing [the quarterback] a little bit with our dime packages and the way we were disguising some of our blitzes and coverages. I think we played very well and did our part to help the team win.”

Navy’s outstanding run defense started up front with nose guard Jackson Pittman, who followed a dominant performance against Army with another outstanding effort. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior could not be budged by center Adam Holtorf (6-4, 302) with help from guards Evan Curl (6-5, 295) and Tyler Mitchell (6-5, 317).

“Pittman has done a great job all year. He can take on a double-team and not get moved,” Newberry said. “He was doing a good job of holding the point of attack.”

Sophomore tackle J’arius Warren helped plug the middle and made three tackles, while end Jackson Perkins came through with a huge sack on third down.

“Warren holds his own at 260 pounds inside. Jackson was battling as well. All those guys up front did a good job,” Newberry said.

Newberry’s scheme is predicated on being unpredictable and designed to look complicated to the offense. Navy’s defensive players were constantly moving from one spot to another to make it difficult for Thompson to identify who was doing what on a given play.

“We had to stunt and shift as much as possible. We could not play static and take on double-teams. We moved a lot pre-snap and post-snap,” Newberry said. “I think we caused some problems. They had trouble executing.”

Fagot has been the centerpiece of the defense from the day Newberry arrived from Kennesaw State and proved up to the challenge. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound sophomore finished the season with 100 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 5 ½ sacks and seven quarterback hurries.

“I think Diego is a special player and he’s been good for us all year. We asked a lot of Diego and he responded,” Newberry said.

“Most people don’t realize that Diego has been banged up most of the season. He hasn’t been 100 percent for a while,” Newberry added. “He did not practice the first week for the bowl game because his ankle was so swollen from the Army game. It’s just a testament to character and toughness that he went and played so well against K-State.”

This year’s AutoZone Liberty Bowl was a rock ‘em, sock ‘em affair with both teams intent on being tough and physical. Kansas State thought it could intimidate Navy by delivering some punishing hits, especially early on. Slotback Myles Fells sent a strong message the Midshipmen would dish out plenty of punishment of their own by absolutely destroying strong safety Wayne Jones — lowering a shoulder and sending the defender flying.

“I thought we out-physicaled them on both sides of the football, to be honest,” Newberry said. “I wasn’t sure we could do that. K-State made a living in the Big 12 by being more physical than its opponents."

Newberry was asked if he could have ever imagined holding Kansas State to 10 offensive points and 170 total yards.

“I knew we had to play really, really well just to contain them. That’s a very good offensive football team that scored 48 points against Oklahoma,” Newberry said. “Obviously, our players rose to the occasion and gave a great, great effort.”

It was the latest defensive masterpiece designed by Newberry, whose hiring was instrumental in Navy bouncing back from a 3-10 record in 2018. Niumatalolo has stated numerous times that Malcolm Perry and Brian Newberry are the main reasons why the Midshipmen (11-2) put together one of the greatest turnaround seasons in FBS history.

Navy’s massive across-the-board improvement in every key statistical category was nothing short of remarkable. The Midshipmen finished the season ranked 16th nationally in total defense (314.2 total yards allowed) and No. 34 in scoring defense (average of 22.3 points given up).

“I was really happy that we finished strong. The way we played the last two weeks was impressive,” Newberry said. “We fell off a little bit in the second half against Tulane and against Notre Dame and SMU. It was good to see us bounce back against Army and Kansas State.”

Arizona State: 2019 Sun Bowl Champions

EL PASO — In a scene imagined by few if any before it actually happened and almost assuredly never preceded by anything quite like it, Arizona State players poured a cooler of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes on the head of their coach in celebration on Tuesday.

It was not the traditional Gatorade bath that invariably comes with the biggest of wins. There will be no lighting of victory cigars. There may be some champagne toasts in the aftermath but those will primarily be to ring in the New Year and only more obliquely related to the outcome of their football game played several hours earlier.

But, still, the Sun Devils ended their 2019 season the right way and so they bathed their second-year head coach Herm Edwards in breakfast cereal and he certainly didn't mind it.

"First time I've ever got a bucket full of Frosted Flakes, that's new," Edwards said. "That helps. That's not cold. All I needed was some milk and I would have been fine."

In the play-calling debut of its new defensive coordinator Tony White, ASU forced six turnovers — more than in any game since October of 2009 against Washington State — and perhaps needed every one in its 20-14 win over Florida State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in front of 42,412 fans in the 86th playing of the game. The win concluded ASU's season at 8-5 overall, better than their initial 7-6 season under Edwards. Florida State finished its season at 6-7 overall.

Though they have aspirations for more extravagant celebrations in the future, the Sun Devils are content with where they are currently at two years into the Edwards-experiment, which was initially widely panned but now has taken on an unmistakable aura of emerging success.

"It shows the potential for our defense and how strong we're going to become," freshman safety Willie Harts said after collecting one of four ASU interceptions on the afternoon. "We're very young and still experienced and we're going to learn so much over the years."

With both teams missing key players due to early-NFL declarations and undertaking significant staffing changes including a new coordinator on both sides of the ball for the Sun Devils, there was a lot of sloppy, forgettable play on Tuesday. But also, some very memorable moments.

The Sun Devils held a halftime 9-0 lead and appeared to have the Seminoles offense in a vice grip before a five-minute stretch late in the third quarter that flipped the game upside down.

With multiple deep reserves on the field for ASU's defense due to the absence of starting redshirt freshman safety Cameron Phillips and injuries to junior cornerbacks Chase Lucas and Jack Jones, Florida State marched 91 yards in 11 plays including a fourth-and-3 conversion to score its first points at 3:47 of the third quarter and make it a suddenly close 9-7 ASU edge.

After redshirt sophomore punter Michael Turk — excellent in the game with eight punts for a 45.8 yard average with four inside the 20 — ended ASU's third straight series of the quarter with a punt on its next possession, the Seminoles immediately struck again to take a 14-9 lead. With Lucas and Jones watching from the sidelines, sophomore cornerback Timarcus Davis gave up a 91-yard touchdown strike to sophomore wide receiver Tamorrion Terry, a one-play scoring drive.

It didn't dent ASU's confidence whatsoever. On their next possession, the Sun Devils marched 59 yards on 12 plays in a drive that included a highlight-reel 27-yard scramble by freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels on third-and-10 and ended with sophomore kicker Cristian Zendejas making his fourth field goal of the day to tie a Sun Bowl record and cut his team's deficit to 14-12. But it was the Sun Devils' fourth red zone trip and they only had 12 points to show for it and still trailed.

That's when Harts sprung into action on a miscommunication between Florida State sophomore quarterback James Blackman and a receiver that placed a ball directly in the arms of the safety who started in place of Phillips. With a clear path to the end zone, Harts pushed ASU's lead to 20-14 after a successful 2-point try. The interception was Blackman's third of four on the day, with the Sun Devils needing two more turnovers later in the fourth quarter to salt the game away.

On Florida State's next drive, sophomore ASU linebacker Darien Butler made a tackle-for-loss on a fourth-and-2 get his team the ball back. Blackman then threw his fourth interception of the day to ASU senior linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas on Florida State's next drive. And even with all of that, the Seminoles had one more chance in the game's final two minutes when Terry lost a fumble to ASU forced by sophomore linebacker Merlin Robertson and recovered by sophomore linebacker Tyler Johnson.

"Can't say enough about our kicker and our defense," Edwards said. "We get six turnovers we should probably win a game. That being said, these guys kept fighting back for us. They really did. I'm happy for our seniors. To end the season with a bowl victory for them is very important. We hit a slump during the season where we had lost four in a row. I reminded the players, when you get tired of losing, you're going to win again. We've won three in a row now. This is a good way to set the 2020 season off for us, with a bowl game (win). That's very important to us."

Kearse-Thomas, who early in the game was given a reprieve when a hit on Blackman was called targeting on the field but overturned on review, and Williams excelled in their final ASU outing. Kearse-Thomas had a team-high six solo tackles and nine total in addition to his interception and a quarterback hurry. Williams concluded his season without giving up a touchdown pass in coverage and was excellent throughout a game in which ASU's pass defense yielded just 155 yards excluding the 91-yard touchdown.

"I can't say enough about Khaylan and Kobe," Edwards said. "These guys are seniors. I take my hat off to them. When you get a coaching change and you put in your defense, that's hard. It's hard on seniors. It really is. They're looking at a new staff, saying, 'you're playing all these young guys, what about me?' Without these two guys we're not the defense we were this year.

"I'm glad for these guys because of what they've meant to me personally. I lean on them. They were always there, always energetic. They were the keys to the defense to be quite honest."

The Sun Devils won despite being out-gained in total offensive yards 470 to 282 because their defense held up well other than the flagging late third-quarter stretch and Blackman committing five turnovers on his own out of the six total by the Seminoles. Robertson had perhaps his best game of the season and forced both of Florida State's lost fumbles and recovered one of them on his own. Sophomore safety Aashari Crosswell and junior safety Evan Fields each had a first-half interception to contribute to the shutout pitched by ASU before intermission, the latter doing so after promising his mom he would get one for her on her birthday.

While Daniels — sacked three times on the day and under duress throughout — received the game's MVP honors for the Sun Devils despite a low-percentage 12 of 28 passing performance for just 195 yards in part because he led the team in rushing with 36 yards on 12 carries, it was the team's defensive playmaking that took center stage in the absence of senior receiver Brandon Aiyuk and junior running back Eno Benjamin.

Moreover, it was White's successful first attempt at calling plays after being promoted from cornerbacks coach to defensive coordinator, which resonated with Edwards and ASU players in the game's aftermath, particularly as it came in White's hometown in front of a large group of family and friends.

"One hundred tickets," Edwards said. "'One hundred tickets Tony White.' He has a fan base now. He grew up here. It was fun, we visited his brother's high school, worked out over there when we got here Thursday. He was excited. I'm happy for him. Gets to take over as the coordinator. I thought he did a great job. Had a shutout going in the first half."

Added Kearse-Thomas: "He got us prepared really well. I mean, we had all month to really prepare. We were very detailed in what we were doing and then he got the play call in for us and told us to go. [Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce] told us before the game, 'This could be a stat game if you want it to be.'"

Stats make players happy and especially so when it includes winning football games and having fun doing it. Under the team's previous coaching staff, that was not the case for some Sun Devils who now believe they are passing a torch to the next generation with a lot of fuel for what they see as an even brighter future.

"It's changed tremendously (under Edwards)," Kearse-Thomas said. "It's like (the movie) Coming to America. "Coming from a dictatorship ... just the freedom. Coach Herm, he allows us to be us. A couple years back we couldn't do that. It played a role in the success with ASU. I feel like him letting the kids be kids is a big step for the program."

Kentucky: 2019 Belk Bowl Champions

The University of Kentucky’s 2019 football season is in the books.

UK ended its latest campaign with a victory over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl, securing its 11th season with at least eight wins and building a four-game win streak as the calendar turns over.

The Wildcats open next season against Eastern Michigan at Kroger Field on Sept. 5. They’ll look to extend their run of postseason appearances to five straight years, a feat that the program has accomplished only one time before (from 2006-2010).

What else should Kentucky fans look forward to in 2020? Here are three big things.

TERRY WILSON’S RETURN
So much of the excitement around this year’s squad was sparked by the play of Lynn Bowden, whose move to quarterback midway through the season was precipitated by injuries to incumbent starter Terry Wilson and backup Sawyer Smith.

Smith was reportedly healthy enough to start UK’s last few games, and made some appearances down the stretch, but the staff opted to allow Bowden to carry them to the postseason. Their decision paid off, but he’ll be lost to the NFL Draft come April.

Mark Stoops said Monday that he expects Wilson, who suffered a tear of the patellar tendon in his left leg in Kentucky’s second game of the year, to be available at the start of next season. If Wilson is at full strength, he presumably would be the Wildcats’ starter once more.

That would be an ideal proposition: Wilson was the starter in every game of Kentucky’s historic 10-3 campaign and looked more comfortable as a passer before his junior season was cut short. He was 33-of-52 for 360 yards and two touchdown passes, and had run for 44 yards and a TD.

Wilson was one of the most efficient passers in the Southeastern Conference in his first go-around with the Wildcats. If his legs are underneath him once again and that level of efficiency persists, Kentucky’s offense could come out of the gate strong next fall.

EXPERIENCE EVERYWHERE
The team’s biggest area of concern entering 2019 was its secondary. That turned out to be overblown — in part because of the return of Cedrick Dort and the addition of junior-college transfer Brandin Echols, who blossomed into stars at cornerback.

Production at the running back position wasn’t as worrisome, as A.J. Rose had shown flashes of brilliance in relief of Benny Snell, and Chris Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke had seen the field as true freshmen, but none are the bullies that Snell was. Bowden stole the spotlight, but they shouldered much of the rushing burden as well and combined for nearly 2,000 yards.

If you count Wilson, Kentucky could have as many as 19 starters back next year. A couple of guys — nose guard Quinton Bohanna and offensive tackle Landon Young — could leave early for the NFL Draft — but theirs are positions where UK has groomed possible replacements. The return of Davonte Robinson, a defensive back who suffered a torn quad before fall camp, will help mitigate the graduation of safety Jordan Griffin.

Belk Bowl hero Josh Ali is one of three returning receivers who caught a touchdown in a season short on receptions (so did Bryce Oliver and Clevan Thomas, in addition to tight end Keaton Upshaw).

UK will miss departing seniors Calvin Taylor and T.J. Carter, even more so if Bohanna is out of the equation, but the same was said of Josh Allen last year and Kentucky’s staff managed to figure things out. The defensive line appears to be the early pick for “biggest area of worry,” but otherwise there should be several familiar faces around.

OPPORTUNITY
With the talent coming back and an offseason’s worth of work, there’s a path to 2020 being a season equivalent to 2018 — or better.

Florida and Georgia will be picked ahead of Kentucky in the preseason. Accept that for what it is, but don’t forget that — despite only having one win to show for it — Kentucky has closed the gap considerably with Florida, to whom they’ll travel for the second game of the season. The Bulldogs are another animal, but one that UK’s staff is well aware needs to be toppled for it to keep rising. They’ll come to Lexington next year, so that helps.

A rare trip to Auburn is on the docket, and that happens to be the site of UK’s last win in the series (21-14 in 2009). A scheduling quirk put the last two games — each a three-point win in the Tigers’ favor — in Lexington. It’s a chance for UK to earn a prestige win — and might be even spicier if former Auburn quarterback Joey Gatewood somehow gets ruled eligible next fall.

It’s a much tougher schedule, on paper, than this year, but one that Kentucky should be able to navigate with a much healthier situation at quarterback. And one that, if the dominoes fall in their favor, could yield impressive returns.

2020 UK FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Home games in all capital letters. Kickoff times to be announced later.

Sept. 5: EASTERN MICHIGAN

Sept. 12: at Florida

Sept. 19: KENT STATE

Sept. 26: SOUTH CAROLINA

Oct. 3: at Auburn

Oct. 10: EASTERN ILLINOIS

Oct. 17: VANDERBILT

Oct. 24: at Missouri

Oct. 31: Open

Nov. 7: at Tennessee

Nov. 14: MISSISSIPPI STATE

Nov. 21: GEORGIA

Nov. 28: at Louisville

Florida: 2019 Orange Bowl Champions

The Orange Bowl between No. 9 Florida and No. 24 Virginia may not have been the most anticipated New Year's Six game when it was announced. However, it turned into an entertaining game of back-and-forth momentum swings with a little Las Vegas drama at the end to boot. Ultimately, the Gators walked away winners with a 36-28 final score. The victory moves Florida to 4-0 in the Orange Bowl all-time and gives it an 11-win season for the first time since 2012.

Monday night was also the Gators' best bowl performance of the decade offensively. They finished 549 yards of offense, the most since the 2010 Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati -- Tim Tebow's final game. Additionally, it gives Florida consecutive BCS/New Year's Six bowl wins for the first time in a decade (2008-09), making coach Dan Mullen the first coach in history to accomplish that task in his first two years at a school.

It also puts the team at 21-5 in two seasons under coach Mullen. Only Urban Meyer had a better record in his initial back-to-back seasons in Gainesville, Florida.

"Just under a year ago, this team was born, and we talked about going from four wins to 10 wins was special, but to go from 10 wins to 11 is going to be a lot harder, and those guys bought into it," Mullen said after the game. "They started working last January, and they worked, they grinded all season long in everything that they did. ... A couple years ago, this senior class, a new coach got brought in and we told them, 'Hey, if you buy into what we're doing, just buy into what we're doing, believe we're going to be successful.' They've done that, they've bought in. Back-to-back 10-win seasons, back-to-back top-10 teams, back-to-back New Year's Six bowl victories. They've bought in, and they've restored that Gator standard, and they get to walk out the door knowing they've restored the Gator standard to what it is, building that foundation of a team."

Gators quarterback Kyle Trask, who was tremendous in place of Feleipe Franks this season, was a little shaky in the game, completing 24 of 39 passes for 305 yards, a touchdown to running back Lamical Perine and an interception; Trask also nearly fumbled the ball, but the play was not overturned on review. Trask's numbers weren't necessarily bad, but a lot of his downfield throws were erratic. It was a good thing for the Gators to have a more reliable weapon in Perine.

"I think this win is huge for this program, not only for the program but also this team and the seniors that bought in when Coach Mullen first got here from Day 1," Trask said. "They worked day in and day out, and as far as my season went, I couldn't be more happy the way that my teammates had my back when I won versus Kentucky, and we just continued to grind every single week and get better each and every single week and here we are winning the Orange Bowl. That's pretty incredible."

While the game was close at times, the only real drama of the night came at the end when the game was pretty much in hand. With under a minute remaining, the Wahoos attempted a trick play by passing to an offensive lineman for a score. The play was called back, though, as an illegal forward pass. Still, Virginia scored two plays later, and while it didn't get the win, it secured the cover.

Here's what else we learned from Monday's Orange Bowl.

1. The Gators decided to run, and Perine was unstoppable: Three of Florida's four touchdowns on the evening came from Perine, a valued senior who totaled 181 yards on 18 touches -- just about 10 yards per touch -- and three touchdowns to receive Most Valuable Player honors. Perine has long been one of the most underrated (and perhaps underutilized) parts of Florida's offense, and he was absolutely untouchable against the Hoos on Monday night running for a career-high 138 yards with 43 more in the passing game. Who knows where Perine will go during the NFL Draft weekend. He may not hear his name called for a while. But he's one of those players who probably meant more to his offense than the stats indicated. He accomplished all of this behind a Gators offensive line that struggled mightily throughout the season, unable to create holes for its rushers. It appeared to step up as well.

2. Florida's defense turned it on for a short while: The first 30 minutes of the Orange Bowl was like a tennis match. Each team was volleying points back and forth waiting to see who would blink first. For a vaunted Florida defense, that didn't seem ideal. However, credit the Gators for drawing up some good halftime adjustments and having a bigger impact in the second half. The pass rush was good most of the night but certainly more effective both on and off the stat sheet in the third and fourth quarters. Florida finished with three sacks, five tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. Virginia countered Florida's defensive front in the first half with quick passes and a moving pocket with successful results. UVA QB Bryce Perkins even made a few incredible individual plays in the face of that rush. But when it needed stops and negative plays, Florida came through and built a large enough lead that it was able to hang on to a lead late. However, it did ultimately give up 375 yards of total offense, including Perkins' best passing game.

"I'm looking at what they've got coming back. ... I'm excited. I mean, this is only just the beginning of it, honestly," said graduate transfer Jon Greenard, who showed out in his final game. "Last year was a little taste of it. We keep building. We got 11 wins, which is really difficult. So next year, a couple plays this year and we would've been right where we wanted. Next year, they are just going to capitalize off of that, understand where we were this past year, and national championship in my eyes. So we've got that in our eyes now."

3. Perkins will be missed at Virginia: The Hoos' signal caller will be an interesting late-round/undrafted prospect, but there's no denying what he's meant to this program. It took him all 60 minutes, but he broke the school's record for total offense career with 7,910 yards. The mark was previously held by quarterback Shawn Moore. That's pretty incredible in and of itself, but even more so when you consider all the problems Virginia had up front this season. For Perkins to be able to rack up yards running and throwing, usually in the face of pressure, says a lot about his playmaking ability. He didn't have a perfect night against Florida -- he missed a couple of surefire touchdowns that he'd love to have back -- but he also did things like this on his way to 323 yards passing with four touchdowns and an interception.

4. This is why conference tie-ins should be removed: Virginia played hard, gave Florida a game and has nothing to be ashamed about, but let's be honest: a four-loss team shouldn't be playing in a New Year's Six game. Conference tie-ins don't always produce bad matchups in these major bowl games, but in a year like this one when the ACC was average at best, you get this type of result. It wasn't bad, per se, but it could have been a lot better. So what's the solution? Ditch the tie-ins and use the College Football Playoff Rankings to help determine the games? It's interesting that there's so much disdain for the CFP Selection Committee in terms of their selection criteria for the field of four, because you could actually make an argument their process would be better suited for drumming up interesting matchups in these games without being held back by conference tie-ins.

California: 2019 Redbox Bowl Champions

Cal was two teams during the regular season. It was the team with quarterback Chase Garbers and the team without Chase Garbers. When Garbers started and finished a game, Cal went 6-0, picking up wins over Washington and Ole Miss, among others. The only two games Cal lost that Garbers started were games he didn't finish due to injury. In the four games he didn't play, the Golden Bears went 1-3.

Well, Garbers started for Cal in the Redbox Bowl against Illinois on Monday, finishing the game as well while leading the Bears to a 35-20 victory over the Illini. Garbers had one of the best games of his career, completing 22 of his 31 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns. The four touchdown passes tied his career-high against Ole Miss earlier this season. Garbers even got in the end zone with his legs, scoring on a QB sneak in the first half.

Garbers was not getting the work done alone, however. Running back Chris Brown rushed for 120 yards on 20 carries and caught three passes for 17 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Makai Polk caught five passes for 105 yards as he was Garbers' favorite target on the day. Cal finishes the season at 8-5, meaning the team's win total has improved in each of Justin Wilcox's last two seasons with the program, but the team is left to wonder what might have been had Garbers never gotten hurt.

As for Illinois, it was a disappointing end to a season that had a couple of high notes with wins over a then-undefeated Wisconsin, as well as a 25-point comeback against Michigan State, but the Illini limped the finish line. This loss is the team's third straight to finish the season as they were banged up down the stretch. While Illinois got Brandon Peters back at QB, it was without its three leading receivers as well as a couple of key starters on defense.

Louisville: 2019 Music City Bowl Champions

Louisville finished off a remarkable 2019 season on Monday night in the Music City Bowl with a 38-28 win over Mississippi State at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, and the youngsters were the stars of the show.

Sophomore quarterback Micale Cunningham threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 81 yards on 16 carries and the Cardinals racked up a whopping 511 total yards to finish off an 8-5 season in Scott Satterfield's first year at the helm. Freshman running back Javian Hawkins was the workhorse for the Cardinals, rushing for 105 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries. Sophomore Chatarius Atwell provided balance through the air with nine receptions for 147 yards.

The Louisville defense -- which entered the game next-to-last in the ACC in rushing defense -- held the stout Bulldogs rushing attack to just 145 yards after star Kylin Hill was knocked out of the game with an injury.

It was the culmination of a remarkable turnaround for Satterfield, who took over a broken program following a 2-10 season under former coach Bobby Petrino. In one short season, Louisville transformed itself from the punchline of a very bad ACC joke into a program that looks more like the one that was a threat to Clemson and Florida State in the ACC Atlantic when Petrino had things cooking with quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The college football world is begging another team in the ACC to become a threat to knock Clemson off of its pedestal. Why not Louisville? The Cardinals are the second team in conference history to go from 0-8 in conference play to 5-3, and Satterfield just orchestrated the biggest turnaround in Power Five football in 2019. The school has made a major investment in the football program since joining the ACC earlier this decade, is in a fertile recruiting ground and has momentum on its side.

Is Louisville the next Clemson? No. It's way too soon for that. But in the crowded mess that is the ACC, it has the best chance to become the primary threat in 2020 and beyond.

Western Kentucky: 2019 First Responder Bowl Champions

Western Kentucky freshman kicker Cory Munson ran onto the field, then off and then back on. All of that before kicking a career-long 52-yard field goal with no time left after a rules review moved him five yards closer to the goal posts.

And Munson, who’d sliced a 29-yarder wide right on the final play of the first half, closed the game with the kick that gave the Hilltoppers a 23-20 victory over Western Michigan in the First Responder Bowl on Monday.

“I was just breathing and saying to myself: ‘You got this. Don’t worry about the last kick. You got this one. Just stay calm,’ and I just swung through it,” Munson said. “Next thing I knew, it was up there.”

The Hilltoppers (9-4) drove 36 yards in 27 seconds before Munson kicked his third field goal in four tries. The game appeared headed to overtime when Ty Storey's desperation heave was knocked down by the Broncos. But the Broncos were hit with a five-yard defensive substitution penalty and Munson was awarded an untimed down after a video review determined that Western Michigan had 12 players on the field as it switched between its field-goal unit and regular defense.

“We knew we could make the kick when we saw they had 12 men on the field and might get penalized,” first-year Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton said. “I wanted our true freshman Cory Munson to get a chance to kick it, and he did. It was a great kick.”

Munson had tied the score at 20 on a 31-yarder with 1:36 to play. He also kicked a 26-yarder.

Thiago Kapps’ 20-yard field goal with 4:58 to play gave Western Michigan (7-6) a 20-17 lead.

“When they have their Hail Mary team and then the kickoff team and then the Hail Mary team out there, you have to stand over the ball and give us time to change,” Western Michigan coach Tim Lester said, “and it didn’t happen.”

Kapps’ field goal, his second of the game, capped a 62-yard drive that took 5:35 after Western Kentucky had tied the score on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Storey to Lucky Jackson with 10:40 to go. Jackson had 17 catches for 148 yards and was named the game’s most valuable player.

Western Michigan’s other touchdowns came on a 6-yard pass from Jon Wassink to DaShon Bussell midway through the third quarter and an 88-yard interception return by Kareem Ali in the first half’s closing minutes.

Storey, a graduate transfer from Arkansas, threw a 17-yard pass to Jahcour Pearson in the second quarter for the Hilltoppers’ other touchdown.

THE TAKEAWAY

Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers will lose only two defensive starters from a unit that went into the bowl season ranked 21st in FBS scoring defense. With Storey leaving, Steven Duncan figures to return to No. 1 after starting this season’s first three games as a junior before injuring his left foot and missing the rest of the year.

Western Michigan: The Broncos will lose five starters each on offense and defense, including their three-year starter at quarterback (Wassink) and the Mid-American Conference players of the year on offense (RB LeVante Bellamy) and defense (LB Treshaun Hayward).

PASSED ON FIELD GOAL

Western Michigan could have attempted a go-ahead field goal of about 47 yards with 31 seconds left but instead went for it on fourth-and-3 at the Western Kentucky 30. Wassink’s pass into the end zone intended for Giovanni Ricci was broken up by Ta’Corian Darden.

Lester said he passed on a field goal try because the kick would have been into the wind. Kapps’ long this season was 45 yards.

VIVA HILLTOPPER

Lucky Jackson shares the name of Elvis Presley’s lead character in “Viva Las Vegas.” The senior now also owns the school record for catches in a game, became the fourth Western Kentucky player to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season and moved into second place in career catches with 209, behind Taywan Taylor’s 253.

UP NEXT

Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers, who will open at home against Chattanooga on Sept. 5, will again play two Power Five programs (Louisville again and Indiana) next season. They play both defending Conference USA division winners on the road: Florida Atlantic and UAB.

Western Michigan: Next season the Broncos will return to Notre Dame, where they most recently played in 2010. Western Michigan will also welcome a Power Five team to Kalamazoo, Syracuse, a week after visiting South Bend.

FFXIV: I Wanna Be A Cowbae

#FFXIV

Japan X Bowl 33 (2019)

#JapanXBowl #XLeague

Kiss You All Over

When you get home babe, gonna light your fire

All day I've been thinking about you babe your my one desire

Gonna wrap my arms around you and hold you next to me

Oh, baby wanna taste your lips I wanna be your fantasy

Yeah

I don't know what I'd do without you babe don't know where I'd be

Your not just another lover no you're everything to me

Every time I'm with you baby can't believe it's true

When your laying in my arms and you do the things you do

You can see it in my eyes I can feel it in your touch

You don't have to say a thing just let me show how much

Love you

Need you

Yeah babe

I wanna kiss you all over, all over again

I wanna kiss you all over

Till the night closes in, till the night closes in

Stay with me, lay with me, holding me, loving me baby

Here with me, near with me, feeling you close to me baby

So show me, show me everything you do

'Cause baby no one does it quite like you

Love you

Need you

Yeah babe

I wanna kiss you all over, all over again

I wanna kiss you all over

Till the night closes in

Till the night closes in

Till the night closes in...

I've Got No Strings

La bailarin siente igual

Yo siento amor para vivir

Yo estoy felis aqui a tu lado

No se tan mal vivir

Perdonare vivir sin ti

Dejamos ya

Es todo igua

Queremos aqui

No pensara

Queremos el vivir

Se de que te estoy cantando

De la vida llorara

Caminandose para ya vivir

Ser feliz, ser feliz, y a junto a ti

Para vivir yo sere feliz

Tambien, tambien seras de mi

No tenga no perdonare

Ya otra vez igual

Te buscare, el premio amor

No diga na si la verdad

No diga na sera mi amor

No diga na de mi

Se que ya vive cantando

Y tan rica la alegria

Nunca de querer

La ablamos ya

Pensara, pensara y otra mas

I've got no strings, so i am free

I'm not make up to anyone

Who i love

My liberty,

There are no strings on me

Yo se mi amor

Te buscare para bailar

Muy, muy, muy bien

Que a ti sera

La cantare

Siente igual

bailara!