Chelsea: 2021 FIFA Club World Cup Champions

 

With victory over Palmeiras tonight, Chelsea have etched yet another memorable chapter in the club’s long and illustrious history. We have our hands on the solitary major trophy that has eluded us, the FIFA Club World Cup, a prize only on offer to those who have climbed Europe’s highest peak.

In 2012, after the miracle of Munich, there was disappointment at the hands of Corinthians. Not so tonight, where an extra-time penalty from Kai Havertz – yes, him again! – secured a 2-1 success over their Sao Paolo rivals Palmeiras.

Havertz was the hero in Porto and he was the hero again tonight, crowning an enterprising performance in our attack with an ice-cold penalty five minutes from the end of extra-time.

We have now joined Bayern Munich and Manchester United as the only clubs to complete a clean sweep of major UEFA trophies and the Club World Cup, and as the 11th different winner of this competition the Blues are only the third to achieve that feat from England. We just keep rewriting the history books!

At full-time, one Chelsea legend sunk to his knees. Cesar Azpilicueta is the first Blue to do the lot, further cementing his status as one of the greatest of all time. And of course it was his shot that was blocked by a handball allowing Havertz to coolly convert from 12 yards. What a way for the skipper to mark a decade of service.

Next to him, Thiago Silva also collapsed in ecstasy, a victor in a competition that means so much in South America. First the Champions League, and now the Club World Cup in barely eight months for our Brazilian hero. He was deservedly named the tournament’s best player at full-time.

And how wonderful to see Thomas Tuchel able to celebrate masterminding his third trophy in person, having only arrived in Abu Dhabi yesterday. His tactical shuffling kept Palmeiras on the back foot throughout, and the victory, if hard fought, was thoroughly deserved.

As the players celebrated with the trophy in front of the loyal travelling support, one of our club anthems Blue Tomorrow rang around the stadium.

‘We’re gonna rule the universe because we’re Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea!’

We have done just that. It’s a Blue universe today. What a club.

Melbourne Victory: 2021 FFA Cup Champions

Australia's main men's national knockout football competition will undergo a name change, with Football Australia confirming the FFA Cup will become the Australia Cup.

"Through discussion with Australian football historians, and dialogue with fans and stakeholders of the competition, the consensus was that the name Australia Cup truly speaks to what this competition is and represents," Football Australia CEO James Johnson said in a statement.

"We are pleased that through this process pioneering players, clubs, and officials can feel recognised and connected to the competition.

"The research and consultation we have conducted regarding this name change indicates that people will be overwhelmingly happy with the shift to Australia Cup from 2022 onwards."

The competition will not be the first played with the name Australia Cup. For seven seasons in the 1960s, a competition with the same name was played between leading state league teams. The last side to win that Australia Cup was Sydney Hakoah.

The 2021 competition comes to a conclusion on Saturday night, with the final between Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners.

The new cup competition will begin almost immediately, with the preliminary rounds for 2022 beginning in coming weeks across the states and territories.

The knockout competition regularly attracts 700 teams to compete for the cup.

Johnson said the name change for the FFA Cup was part of "an exciting next step in this evolution [of the competition]".

===

Ten months after he was charged with lifting Melbourne Victory out of the doldrums, Tony Popovic's revolution has delivered its first trophy in a dramatic 2-1 FFA Cup final triumph over Central Coast.

ason Davidson's thunderous free-kick handed Victory the advantage in the 70th minute, with Chris Ikonomidis' 95th-minute volley proving the winner before Central Coast skipper Oliver Bozanic ensured a nervous finish to the match when he scored in the 97th minute.

The triumph, Victory's second FFA Cup title after 2015, came just eight months after their first wooden spoon.

As a result of their poor 2020-21, Victory had to win a play-off to reach the Cup round of 32 before going on a barnstorming run that culminated in Saturday night's triumph in front of 15,343 fans at AAMI Park.

Popovic's first domestic final win also earned Victory a shot at the AFC Champions League, with the competition winner receiving a play-off spot — an away game against Japanese side Vissel Kobe in March.

The game cracked open in the second half when Marco Rojas charged forward and was cut down by Harrison Steele.

Davidson had acted as a decoy on previous set pieces but stepped up and thundered a wonderful left-footed strike into the top corner as AAMI Park erupted.

Victory snared a second goal five minutes into injury time when Josh Brillante quickly took a free-kick and the ball ultimately ended up with Ikonomidis, who chested it to himself then smashed a sweet left-footed volley home.

Emotions spilled over for Victory's active supporters, with a large number going over the barriers and briefly stopping play.

Shortly after, Victory failed to clear a Mariners attacking foray and the ball spilled to Bozanic, who lofted home a left-footed strike.

Bozanic had previously scored in Victory's 2015 triumph but this time, his goal proved only a consolation  as the final whistle ensured any chances of a last gasp Mariners draw had run out.

AAP

FFXIV: All Saints' Wake 2021...In 2022!

#FFXIV #AllSaintsWake

Georgia: 2021 College Football Playoff National Champions

INDIANAPOLIS -- No. 3 Georgia exorcised myriad demons Monday night, overcoming No. 1 Alabama, coach Nick Saban and decades of close calls to win the 2022 College Football National Championship and claim its first crown since 1980. What started as a field goal fest opened up in the second half with the Bulldogs creating big plays on both sides of the ball and ultimately stemming the defending champion Crimson Tide, 33-18.

After being clearly rattled in the first half, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett played poised and confident over the final 30 minutes, throwing the final two offensive touchdowns of the game while completing 17 of 26 passes for 224 yards. Alabama QB Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, coughed up a deep interception -- his second turnover of the night -- that defensive back Kelee Ringo returned 79 yards for a touchdown to ice the game with less than a minute to play.

The Dawgs scored the game's final three touchdowns. Bennett found star freshman tight end Brock Bowers for a 15-yard score with 3:33 to play. On Georgia's prior possession, Bennett hooked up with Adoni Mitchell for an astounding 40-yard touchdown on a free play created by an offsides penalty on the Tide.

Alabama went with a pass-heavy attack despite leading most of the game as Young finished 35 of 57 for 369 yards with a touchdown and two picks. It's the first time in his career that Young finished a game with more interceptions thrown than touchdowns. However, Young was without his top two pass catchers for most of the game due to another significant injury suffered in this second Alabama-Georgia meeting of the season.

Bama booted field goals of 37, 45 and 37 yards in the first half. The Tide hit on two big plays with Young finding Jameson Williams for 40 yards and later Cameron Latu for 61 yards. However, Williams -- Bama's leading receiver -- suffered a non-contact knee injury on his catch, leaving the Tide shorthanded for the duration of the contest.

Georgia connected on kicks of 24 and 49 yards to trail 9-6 at halftime. Bennett linked up with George Pickens on a deep post for 52 yards to create their team's first field goal and its best play of the opening 20 minutes.

Young committed the game's first major miscue early in the third quarter as he sailed a pass intercepted by Georgia's Christopher Smith at the Bama 43. He responded by driving the Tide down the field on the next possession only for Georgia's defense to come up big again by blocking a 48-yard field goal attempt.

A 67-yard run by James Cook, the longest allowed by the Tide since 2015, put the Dawgs into the red zone. They found paydirt later for the first touchdown – and their first lead -- of the game as Zamir White rumbled into the end zone to give Georgia a 13-9 lead. On the next possession, Young found Agiye Hall, who dropped a key pass on the prior drive, for 28 yards down to the UGA 5; however, Alabama stalled again and kicked its fourth field goal of the game from 21 yards out.

Bennett gave the Tide the ball back a couple plays later in the fourth quarter as he fumbled while being sacked on third down. Defensive back Brian Branch, scooping up a ball he thought was an incomplete pass, lucked into a fumble recovery with Alabama taking over at the UGA 16. Young hooked up with Latu for a 3-yard TD reception, putting the Tide back on top 18-13 after a failed two-point conversion.

"I just knew there was going to be no way we were going to let a turnover like that stop us from winning a national championship," Bennett told ESPN after the game. "I wasn't going to be the reason we lost."

The Dawgs took off from there, responding with Mitchell's touchdown, extending their lead to eight points on the back of Bowers' score and then clinching their national championship win with the game-ending pick six.

Let's take a look at our five major takeaways from Georgia's national championship win.

1. Recruiting matters: At least, it does when you want to win national titles. Georgia winning its crown Monday didn't happen by accident. There's one thing Kirby Smart learned coaching under Saban that was more important than any schematic advantage: The most brilliant coach on the planet can't win a national title with good players. You need great ones. That's why recruiting has been a priority at Georgia since Smart took over.

Smart's first season at Georgia in 2016 saw him bring in a class ranked sixth nationally in the 247Sports Composite. He's never hauled in a group ranked lower than fourth in the five classes since. The depth of the Dawgs' talent was evident throughout the night as Georgia's defense flew all over the field and stopped an Alabama offense few teams could even slow. Georgia is a team that is so talented, it somehow managed to win a national title using a former walk-on at quarterback.

2. Georgia's pass rush was helped by its run defense: One of the reasons Georgia could get so much pressure on Young was that it could blitz from anywhere it wanted because it knew Alabama couldn't run the ball consistently. The Tide tried to do so in plenty of different ways but only had inconsistent success. Early in the game, Alabama tried to get Brian Robinson on the edge with tosses and sweeps. Those didn't work. Georgia loaded the box with defenders, playing only one high safety. Later in the game, the Tide tried to run at the heart of the Dawgs defense and outmuscle it. That didn't work then, either.

Alabama finished with only 30 yards rushing on 28 carries, but even if we take away sack yardage (Young finished with -43 yards), it managed only 73 yards on 24 carries (3.04 yards per touch). Robinson was held to 68 yards on 22 totes a week after tearing Cincinnati's defense apart for 204 yards and 7.85 yards per carry.

3. Stetson Bennett was Stetson Bennett, and for Georgia, that's enough: It wasn't a great game by Bennett. He was not overly efficient and held onto the ball for a second longer than he should have before releasing it across multiple plays. That includes the aforementioned fumble that occurred as he was sacked from behind, a mistake that led to Alabama's lone touchdown of the night. It was a moment that immediately brought to mind Bennett's turnovers in the SEC title game that ultimately led to Georgia's downfall.

They didn't this time. Instead, Bennett kept his cool and atoned for fumble with two touchdown drives. One ended with a beautiful throw to Mitchell, who made a spectacular grab to secure the six points, while the other was more methodical. Ironically, it was a drive reminiscent of the one Young led late in the Iron Bowl to lead Alabama to victory over Auburn and keep the Tide in the playoff race.

4. The Jameson Williams injury was massive: It's hard to say whether the outcome would've been different, but you can't ignore what Williams' loss meant to the Alabama offense. Latu stepped up to fill the void, catching five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, but he doesn't provide the kind of home-run threat Williams offers. Hall tried to play that role, but he caught only two of the eight passes thrown his way, and his third-quarter drop led to a series of events that turned the game around.

Williams' injury was the second straight suffered by one of Alabama's top two wide receivers against Georgia. John Metchie III, the team's second-leading pass catcher, tore his ACL in the SEC title game. Once Williams was hurt, Young was down his two best game breakers. Coupled with the absences of two key defensive backs on the other side of the ball, it's only fair to note that the Tide were hardly at full strength in the game.

5. Like it or not, you may see this game plenty more: This is already the second time we've seen Alabama and Georgia play in the CFP National Championship. I don't think it'll be the last. These are two teams built to win national titles, and they weren't even the best versions of themselves this season. While Alabama had a tremendous year, few will tell you that this was one of Saban's best teams. As for Georgia, while its defense is elite in every sense of the word, there are still holes on offense. Bennett played capably well, but he's not a five-star game-changer type, and the Dawgs hardly had elite receivers.

So not only are these two great teams, but they're two great teams that can get better. As I said, we're going to see them in this game again. At least in more SEC Championship Games. Probably in the CFP, too. It might even be next season. If that doesn't help speed up playoff expansion, nothing will.

North Dakota State: 2021 NCAA Division I FCS National Champions

North Dakota State made it look easy against Montana State.

The Bison won their ninth FCS title in 11 years on Saturday in a 38-10 win over the Bobcats in Frisco, Texas. North Dakota State scored the first 35 points of the game and had a 28-0 lead at halftime. 

NDSU (14-1) just ran all over Montana State's defense. The Bison averaged over seven yards a carry and rushed for over 300 yards as three different players ran for over 75 yards. Kobe Johnson had a 76-yard TD run and Hunter Luepke rushed for three first-half touchdowns as Montana State found itself helpless to mount a comeback attempt in the second half.

The Bobcats’ chances took a huge hit on the first drive of the game. QB Tommy Mellott injured his right ankle on the first drive and was unable to play the rest of the way. Mellott emerged as Montana State’s starter at the beginning of the playoffs and his rushing ability powered the Bobcats to the title game.

Mellott was replaced by Tucker Rovig, who ended up averaging more yards per rushing attempt than he did per passing attempt.

NDSU QB Cam Miller had to throw just 13 passes thanks to the excellence of the ground game. Miller was 9-of-13 passing for 126 yards and a TD.

North Dakota State played 24 games in 11 months

North Dakota State’s nine titles since the 2010 season have come in nine title games. The Bison are undefeated in Frisco — they were knocked out before the title game in 2020 and 2016.

That 2020 season was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many teams in the division pushed their seasons to the spring; North Dakota State went 7-3 in that 2020-21 season. The Bison played one game in the fall before playing a full season from February to early May. The 2020 season ended in May of 2021 with a loss to eventual champion Sam Houston State.

That spring season means that North Dakota state played 24 games from Feb. 21 to Saturday. Coach Matt Entz referenced the duration of that long season in his postgame interview as numerous players on the team played in all 24 of those games in a single calendar year.

The title is Entz’s second in three seasons with the school. He replaced Kansas State coach Chris Klieman ahead of the 2019 season. Klieman won four titles with North Dakota State after taking over for Wyoming coach Craig Bohl after the 2013 season. Bohl was in charge for the first three titles in school history.

Georgia: 2021 Orange Bowl Champions

We’ve got a rematch for the national championship.

No. 3 Georgia put No. 2 Michigan away in the first half of the Orange Bowl on the way to a 34-11 win Friday night. Georgia’s win sets up a game with No. 1 Alabama for the national title on Jan. 10.

Alabama beat Georgia, 41-24, to win the SEC title on Dec. 4 and take the top seed in the College Football Playoff. The rematch between the two teams is the first in the playoff era and just the second national title rematch since the BCS was put in place in 1998. The only other title game rematch in the BCS and playoff era came in January of 2012 when Alabama beat LSU for the national title after LSU beat the Crimson Tide in the regular season.

That Alabama win over LSU was the first all-SEC title game of the 2000s. The second came after the 2017 season when Alabama beat Georgia in overtime to win the national title. 

Michigan never led in College Football Playoff semifinal

It was clear from Georgia’s first two drives of the games that Michigan was overmatched. The Bulldogs (13-1) got the ball to start the game and went 80 yards in seven plays for a 7-0 lead. After Michigan (12-2) turned the ball over on downs in Georgia territory, Georgia then went 59 yards on six plays for a 14-0 lead with 4:41 to go in the first quarter after running back Kendall McIntosh threw a TD pass to Adonai Mitchell.

The game was over from there.

The lead was 27-3 at halftime after Jermaine Burton caught a 57-yard TD pass from Stetson Bennett with 1:38 to go in the half. The only low spot of the half for the Bulldogs came right after that TD; Georgia immediately got the ball back after an interception of Michigan’s Cade McNamara but an apparent miscommunication between coach Kirby Smart and Bennett led to Georgia running out the clock for the rest of the first half instead of trying to get more points.

Stetson Bennett’s great game

Bennett had his worst game of the season in the SEC title game as Georgia was unable to come back in the second half. The days between the title game and the Orange Bowl were filled with speculation from Georgia fans if Bennett was actually the team’s best quarterback or if J.T. Daniels — the USC transfer who supplanted him at the end of last season and opened this season as a starter before an oblique injury — should be the guy at QB for the Bulldogs against the Wolverines.

All Bennett did in the first half on Friday night was deal. He was 16-of-22 passing for 234 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs built that three-touchdown lead at the break. He also had a key 20-yard scramble.

Save for the snafu at the end of the first half, Bennett was in command of the offense as Georgia put the game away early. That was evident in the way that Georgia attacked the Michigan defense before the game got out of hand. The run-heavy Bulldogs rushed the ball just 13 times in the first half while Bennett and McIntosh combined to throw 23 passes.

Bennett finished the game 20-of-30 passing for three touchdowns after throwing a long TD pass to RB James Cook in the fourth quarter. 

Michigan’s line struggles with Georgia’s front

Michigan’s offensive line was one of the best in college football and won the Joe Moore Award for the best line performance of the season. The UM line dominated Ohio State in the final game of the regular season and bowled over Iowa in the Big Ten title game. It was going to hold its own against Georgia’s marauding front, right?

Not exactly. Georgia’s defense pushed around Michigan up front, bullied McNamara and Michigan’s powerful running game was stifled.

McNamara has been at his best in 2021 when he’s been able to play off of Hassan Haskins and one of the best rushing offenses in the country. But without a run game to scare the Georgia defense, Michigan’s offense was incapable of coming back. The Wolverines had a chance to get back into the game at the start of the third quarter, but McNamara miscommunicated with his receiver and was picked off by Derion Kendrick in the end zone.

Georgia and Alabama's recruiting domination pays off

Michigan’s loss also ensures that the national championship will be won by a team in the South. A team from either Louisiana, South Carolina or Alabama has won every year since Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff at the end of the 2014 season. And Ohio State is the only team outside of those three states and Georgia to even appear in a College Football Playoff title game since the Buckeyes beat Oregon in January of 2015.

The rematch between Georgia and Alabama is also another sign that recruiting rankings matter. Either Georgia (3) or Alabama (2) has finished with the No. 1 class in Rivals' recruiting rankings over the past five seasons and neither team has finished outside the top seven in that span. 

Another chance for Kirby Smart vs. Nick Saban

Alabama coach Nick Saban's famous unbeaten streak against his former assistants ended earlier in 2021 when Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher knocked off the Crimson Tide. Saban is 25-1 against his former assistants and four of those wins have come against Smart. 

The last two haven't been particularly close, either. After Georgia lost by a combined 10 points in Saban's first two wins over Smart, the Bulldogs have lost 41-24 in each of the last two seasons with Bennett starting both games. 

How will the rematch change things in 10 days? Georgia has now had plenty of time to see what went wrong in the SEC title game and Alabama will be without wide receiver John Metchie III after he suffered a season-ending knee injury in that game on Dec. 4. Alabama and Heisman winner Bryce Young hurt the Georgia defense with a quick passing game in the conference title game. Metchie's absence — and Georgia's ability to adjust — could affect how Alabama prepares this time around. 

Alabama: 2021 Cotton Bowl Champions

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Have no pity for Cincinnati. The Bearcats wanted to be in the big room with the big boys of college football, and on a big afternoon in Big D they were there, in a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with the biggest program of them all.

And what happened to the fourth-ranked Bearcats, the first non-Power 5 participant in the eight-year CFP era, was the same fate that has befallen nearly all those who came before them, a roster of brokenhearted teams not from the upstart AAC but hailing from the biggest brand-name, high-dollar conferences.

Yeah, UC, don't feel too bad. Alabama drubbed all of them too.

There will be those who will try to use Cincy's 27-6 loss in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic as a platform for their "No one but Power 5 teams from here on out!" arguments. But anyone who watched Friday's game without that preset attitude saw that Cincinnati, which will be a Big 12 member in the near future, laid enough hard licks and came within a few inches on enough close plays (that near recovery of a muffed Bama punt return late in the second quarter of an 11-point game, argh!) to show that the Bearcats deserved to be in Dallas this New Year's Eve.

"So many of those plays were just inches away," Cincinnati linebacker Joel Dublanko bemoaned after the game. "A couple of missed tackles here and there that really cost us. I think we absolutely belong in this game."

If the current and future members of the CFP selection committee were really watching, then they certainly saw cause to be more open-minded about other outlier teams in the future ... well, at least until the playoff finally expands to include them anyway. Then again, who knows? Before including the Bearcats this year, they seemed to work pretty hard to keep the outsiders, well, outside.

"We weren't carrying the flag for anyone but ourselves," Cincy quarterback Desmond Ridder said after being held to 144 yards passing and minus-6 yards rushing. "We wanted it to end differently, wish it could've ended differently. So I'm hoping there are other so-called Group of 5 teams or teams from any conference that can make it in the playoff and show they can compete with the best of the best."

To be clear, the best of the best is still Alabama, aka the defending national champion. Cincinnati competed with the Tide as well as anyone has, which is to say not so much at all.

This was the sixth time that Bama had opened the CFP as the No. 1 team and faced the No. 4 squad. The Tide are now 5-1 in those games, with the only loss coming to eventual national champ Ohio State in the inaugural 2014 CFP. The next four wins came by double digits, over Michigan State (38-0), Washington (24-7), Oklahoma (45-34) and Notre Dame (31-14). On Friday, Cincinnati became the fifth member of that college football blue-blooded but red-faced club.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban came to the 2021 Cotton Bowl with a 5-0 record at AT&T Stadium at the helm of the Tide, with an 8-3 overall CFP mark, a 64-7 record against non-SEC opponents and a 74-8 tally in nonconference plus postseason games. On Friday, Cincinnati added one more Bama win to each of those records.

So, no, Cincinnati, there is nothing fun about one's bandwagon blowing out all four tires and lurching into a ditch. But perhaps it won't sting so badly when you look around that ditch and realize that your fellow residents of the wreckage also include the likes of Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson.

What might hurt is when the Bearcats go back and look at the film of the biggest bowl appearance in the program's nearly 140-year history. They will see in high definition that Alabama's playbook for Cincy was right out of the Tide's typical nonconference playbook: pounding and punching early and often to wear down the legs and psyches of their opponent's thinner roster by the second half.

The Tide opened the game with 10 consecutive run plays. They ran it 47 times in all, nearly twice the number of pass attempts, and monster trucked their way to an Alabama bowl-record 301 yards rushing. By the second half, some wondered why Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young wasn't a larger part of the Bama game plan. His 17 completions, 28 attempts and 181 yards were his lowest outputs of the season. He also threw only his second interception of the year. But he also threw a trio of touchdown passes, the only three times Alabama reached the end zone all night.

Bama implemented its sleeper-hold offense, slowly choking out Cincinnati by methodically and physically moving the ball and letting Will Anderson Jr. take a highlighter pen to his "Why wasn't I on y'all's Heisman ballots?!" essay. The Tide's defense allowed only six points and 218 yards, only 74 of which came on the ground.

Those who will try to argue that Cincinnati didn't belong in the four-team CFP field will point to Bama's approach as the same one the Tide use to routinely drag down the likes of Southern Miss and Mercer. But it's also how they routinely wear down a lot of big-box SEC opponents, as well as every single one of those previous CFP semifinal foes.

An embarrassing night for Cincinnati? Not a chance. That 2015 Michigan State team would take the Bearcats' loss over its own anytime. For that matter, Georgia might even take it over its collapse against Bama in the SEC championship game one month ago.

The Dawgs will have plenty more chances for revenge against the Tide. So might the Spartans. Let's hope that Cincinnati's Cotton Bowl showing earns the Bearcats another shot somewhere down the road, and if not for them, for the next would-be CFP party-crasher.

"I told them I do not want to see them hang their heads," Cincy coach Luke Fickell said. "Because when you get beat like that, there's times you start to wonder why. We never pointed a finger and won't start to point a finger. Those guys deserve the very best."

On Friday they got it. The best team playing in the middle of the best era ever in the 152-year annals of the sport. No one worth their gridiron salt believes in moral victories. But they damn sure believe in losses that can be used to build toward more actual wins on the scoreboard.

"The only thing we can do is learn," preached Ridder, who in all likelihood has played his last game with the Bearcats. "These guys are going to take it in, watch the film and continue to get better and continue and grow and continue to be a greater Cincinnati team in years to come."

College football would be greater for it.

Central Michigan: 2021 Sun Bowl Champions

EL PASO, Texas -- — Central Michigan came to the desert southwest to play in one bowl game and ended up in another.

The Chippewas still found a way to end their five-game bowl losing streak.

Lew Nichols III ran for 130 yards and a touchdown, leading late replacement Central Michigan to a 24-21 victory over Washington State in the Sun Bowl on Friday.

When Boise State opted out of the Arizona Bowl because of COVID-19 issues, Central Michigan switched about 300 miles east from Tucson, Arizona, to the Texas border city of El Paso.

Miami skipped the Sun Bowl for COVID-19 reasons as well. Central Michigan stayed in Arizona before bussing to El Paso the day before the game.

The Chippewas (9-4) won their fifth consecutive game this season in their first bowl victory since beating Western Kentucky in the 2012 Little Caesars Bowl.

"They played their tails off," Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain said of a defense that held the Cougars to 53 yards before halftime to help the Chippewas to a 21-0 lead. "They might have been missing some guys, but let me tell you something else, we were missing guys. And you know what? We didn't care. We just went out and played."

The Cougars (7-6) were without starting tackles Liam Ryan and Abe Lucas for coach Jake Dickert's first game on the sideline since having the interim tagged removed. Running backs Max Borghi and Deon McIntosh also opted out.

"Their edge rushers were the biggest ones that kind of gave us some issues," Dickert said. "They chose their spots. They were aggressive. They blitzed. They were high up the field and they used their speed on our two new tackles."

Washington State, which dropped to 8-9 all-time in bowls, rallied in the second half behind backup quarterback Victor Gabalis, scoring three times to make it close. Gabalis was 12 of 23 passing for 180 yards and two TDs.

After a 13-yard scoring toss to Lincoln Victor pulled the Cougars within three points with 3:13 remaining, they had another chance starting at their 14-yard line with 2:41 remaining. Central Michigan stopped Joey Hobert a yard short on a catch on fourth-and-5.

Marshall Meeder kicked three field goals for Central Michigan, including a 52-yarder for a 6-0 lead and a 43-yarder for a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

Nichols, who entered the game leading the nation in rushing and finished the season with xx yards, scored the first touchdown on a 1-yard plunge for a 13-0 lead late in the first quarter.

"We came together as a team today," Nichols said. "We pounded up front and came up with the win."

THE TAKEAWAY

Central Michigan: It was the first victory in a bowl against a Power Five opponent for the Mid-American Conference team. The Chippewas were seven-point underdogs.

Washington State: The Cougars were facing the 117th-ranked pass defense nationally with freshman quarterback Jayden de Laura averaging 250 yards per game coming in. But de Laura didn't play after halftime because of an undisclosed lower-body injury. He was under heavy pressure in the first half.

KEY PERFORMER

Gabalis wasn't even listed as the backup on the Cougars' depth chart. He had seen spot duty in a few games before giving the Cougars a chance to win late.

BOWL NUMBERS

Central Michigan was playing in the Sun Bowl for the first time, while Washington State made its third appearance, losing for the first time. Washington State beat Purdue in 2001 and Miami in 2015.

UP NEXT

Central Michigan: The Chippewas will return 10 starters on offense and eight on defense next season. They open on Sept. 3 at Oklahoma State.

Washington State: The Cougars will return eight starters on offense and eight on defense. They open the 2022 season on Sept. 3 at home against Idaho.

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Wake Forest: 2021 Gator Bowl Champions

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Sam Hartman's big day capped Wake Forest's best season in 15 years.

Hartman tossed three touchdown passes, two of them to tight end Brandon Chapman, and the No. 17 Demon Deacons beat Rutgers 38-10 in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Friday to reach 11 wins for the second time in program history.

Hartman completed 23 of 39 passes for 304 yards. He added 21 more yards rushing and pushed his touchdown total to 50 this season -- 39 passing and 11 rushing. He was named the winning team's most valuable player.

"It's everything," Hartman said. "I'm just enjoying the moment."

The Demon Deacons (11-3) controlled the game from the start, scoring on their first three drives and opening a double-digit lead just before halftime. It played out about as expected given Rutgers (5-8) was a late replacement for No. 25 Texas A&M.

The Aggies pulled out because of a lack of available players due to injuries, opt-outs, transfers and COVID-19 issues. The NCAA gave Rutgers the first shot at filling the void because it had the highest Academic Progress Rate score of all the eligible 5-7 teams.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano hastily gathered his players from Christmas break and held two practices in a heated bubble before heading south. They got in two more in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach this week before taking the field.

They were ready, willing and probably overmatched against the one of the nation's best offenses. When it was over, Schiano raised his fist and saluted the Rutgers faithful who made the long trip to much warmer weather.

"What we did has never been done before," Schiano said. "This is the hardest week of work that I've ever done as a coach, and I've done it for 34 years. I'll remember everything it took and all the people who made it possible. ... But that was a little bit unhealthy."

The Demon Deacons finished with 452 yards, converted 8 of 15 third downs and their lone fourth-down try. The offensive show carried them to 11 wins for the first time since 2006, which was their only Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

"This was a historical season," Wake coach Dave Clawson said. "We're hopefully part of a debate of what the greatest team is. The 2006 team was an incredible team, but the 2021 was a really good team as well."

THE TAKEAWAY

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons should be among the preseason favorites in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season. They could lose as few as six of 22 starters.

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights turned the ball over twice, which was twice too many for an offensively challenged team with a small margin for error. Rutgers was 5-0 this season when playing turning-free football.

TURNING POINT

The key play came in the second quarter, when Wake Forest cornerback Gavin Holmes stepped in front of Noah Vedral's pass to Joshua Youngblood at the goal line and intercepted it. Wake led 17-10 at the time and ended up driving for a field goal and a 10-point lead at the break.

Vedral was one of five players who threw passes for Rutgers. He completed 8 of 13 passes for 87 yards and the interception.

DO IT ALL

Rutgers quarterback Johnny Langan was all over the field. He lined up at quarterback, running back, tight end and receiver. He completed both passes for 21 yards. He ran six times for 20 yards. And he caught six balls for 57 yards.

"I've been playing football my whole life and it just comes naturally," Langan said.

EJECTED AGAIN

Wake Forest linebacker Ryan Smenda, a junior who grew up in nearby Orange Park, was ejected for the third time this season for targeting. Smenda barely made contact, if at all, this time. He was penalized for intent because he led with his helmet while chasing Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt. Wimsatt slid late, and Smenda flew over the top of him.

Smenda also was ejected in regular-season games against Army (Oct. 23) and North Carolina State (Nov. 13). He will have to sit out the first half of Wake's 2022 season opener against Virginia Military Institute on Sept. 1.

KEY INJURIES

Wake Forest punter Ivan Mora was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with an air cast on his right ankle/foot. Mora got caught at the bottom of a pileup after kicking off.

UP NEXT

Wake Forest expects to get Hartman back for a fifth year. He's started 33 games over four seasons and accounted for 87 touchdowns, including 71 passing.

Rutgers says goodbye to nine sixth-year seniors, including seven defenders. The most notable departures are cornerback Tre Avery and defensive tackle Julius Turner.

Wisconsin: 2021 Las Vegas Bowl Champions

LAS VEGAS – When Graham Mertz led Wisconsin’s offense back onto the field with a little less than 10 minutes remaining in the Las Vegas Bowl, the members of UW’s defense were hoping for just about anything but another three and out.

“We were gassed,” senior linebacker Noah Burks said.

What the members of Jim Leonhard’s unit got Thursday night at Allegiant Stadium was the rest of the game off.

Eighteen plays.

Ninety yards.

Nine minutes and 57 seconds.

When fullback John Chenal got the final handoff from Mertz, wrapped both arms around the football and gained 3 yards to run out the clock, UW’s 20-13 victory over Arizona State was secure.

“It was a perfect Wisconsin drive to go end it,” Burks said. “Let’s run the football. Let’s eat the clock. And let’s go win this game.”

Mertz said the same in few words.

“That drive,” Mertz said, “that’s what this program is about.”

BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 20, Arizona State 13

The drive was needed because UW (9-4) began the game without four starters – right tackle Logan Bruss, center Joe Tippman, cornerback Faion Hicks and wide receiver Danny Davis – and kickoff returner Stephan Bracey.

They lost wide receiver Kendric Pryor, tailback Brady Schipper and tight end Joe Ferguson to injuries during the game. 

Freshman tailback Braelon Allen carried 10 times for 49 yards on the drive and finished with 159 yards on 29 carries and the MVP trophy.

Mertz completed 2 of 2 passes on the drive, both for first downs, for 40 yards.

“We were mentally prepared to go out there again and put it back on our shoulders,” said safety John Torchio, who had a first-quarter interception to set UW’s first touchdown. “But that was awesome what they did. We were cheering them on.”

Play after play, yard after yard and second after precious second.

“They’re scary,” said Arizona State coach Herm Edwards, whose team finished 8-5.  "Because when you watch them on tape, that's what they can do, they can chew up some drives. They can chew up a lot of time.

“I kept looking up at that clock, trust me. Every time they made a first down I kept looking at the clock, I said: ‘We’re running out of time.’ ”

The Badgers’ final possession began at their 3 after a 44-yard punt.

UW’s first three series of the second half generated a total of zero yards on 11 plays.

"The second half we struggled offensively,” UW coach Paul Chryst said, “but it was a heck of a drive to finish it out.”

Allen gave UW some breathing room on the final series with runs of 5, 4 and 3.

Then five plays later, on third and 12 from his 24, Mertz made his best throw of the night, arguably of the season.

Mertz was given good protection until Stanley Lambert executed a stunt and came free through the middle of the line. Mertz saw the 6-foot-4, 234-pound defensive end bearing down on him but didn’t flinch.

He knew Chimere Dike, who missed several series earlier after suffering a blow to his back on a reverse, was covered by single defender and trusted the sophomore would work open. Mertz delivered a strike just before being drilled in the midsection for a 30-yard gain to the Sun Devils’ 46 with 5:38 left.

“That play to Chim,” Torchio said, “once they hit that I (said): ‘Oh, my gosh. They might drive this thing all the way down.’”

Chenal picked up another first down two plays later with a 3-yard run on second and 1. Allen, whose 9-yard run set up the second and 1, then powered his way for 14 yards to the Sun Devils’ 20.

Allen gained 7 yards but appeared to be stopped. He stayed on his feet, though, and several UW players, led by wide receiver Jack Dunn, kept the pile moving.

“That was a lot of fun,” right tackle Tanor Bortolini said. “That might be one of my favorite plays of the game.”

Arizona State was penalized for being offside three plays later, with UW facing third and 4 from the Sun Devils’ 14.

With Arizona State out of timeouts, UW ran out the final 2:15.

“We came out with the mentality that we were going to own this drive, make it ours,” Bortolini said. “There was nothing they could do to stop us if we all clicked.

"It was just Wisconsin football.”

The drive conjured memories of the 2006 Capital One Bowl.

UW closed out that game, a 24-10 victory over Auburn, with a non-scoring drive that covered 98 yards in 15 plays and 8:58.

The drive Thursday was equally sweet to the current players.

"That drive is what I think of Wisconsin football," Ferguson said. "It is gritty. It’s hard. It’s going to be tough. You’re going to be hurting. …

"It is the mentality of the offense: We’re going to get this done. We’re going to finish this. It’s in our hands. It is in our control."

BoBA ISML 2021 Predictions: Diamond Match Day 3

ARENA 1 Yuzaki Tsukasa [[Shinomiya Kaguya]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 2 Hayasaka Ai [[Tokisaki Kurumi]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 3 [[Takanashi Rikka]] Kanna Kamui

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 4 [[Yuigahama Yui]] Fujiwara Chika

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 5 Shirai Kuroko [[Misaka Mikoto]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 6 [[Isshiki Iroha]] Schwi Dola

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 7 Tōru [[Tōsaka Rin]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 8 [[Saten Ruiko]] Aisaka Taiga

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 9 [[Sakurajima Mai]] Shokuhō Misaki

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 10 Shiina Mashiro [[Index L. Prohibitorum]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 11 [[Emilia]] Nishimiya Shōko

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 12 [[Tomori Nao]] Yūki Asuna

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 13 [[Elaina]] Tachibana Kanade

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 14 [[Shiro]] Shirogane Kei

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 15 [[Kasumigaoka Utaha]] Akiyama Mio

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 16 Makise Kurisu [[Megumin]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 17 Emiya Shirō [[Kirigaya Kazuto]]

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 18 [[Kamijō Tōma]] Itsuka Shidō

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 19 [[Natsuki Subaru]] Otonashi Yuzuru

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 20 [[Saitama]] Levi

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 21 Totsuka Saika [[Azusagawa Sakuta]]

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 22 Fukube Satoshi [[Okabe Rintarō]]

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 23 [[Shiota Nagisa]] Ishida Shōya

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 24 [[Okazaki Tomoya]] Edward Elric

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 25 Kanda Sorata [[Ishigami Yū]]

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 26 [[Tachibana Taki]] Yuzaki Nasa

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 27 [[Riku Dola]] Takasu Ryūji

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 28 [[Satō Kazuma]] Ayanokōji Kiyotaka

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 29 Otosaka Yū [[Togashi Yūta]]

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 30 Akasaka Ryūnosuke [[Arima Kōsei]]

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 31 [[Archer]] Lelouch Lamperouge

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 32 [[Rengoku Kyōjurō]] Kūjō Jōtarō

by <=500
Over/Under: 3300
Under

ARENA 33 [[Mōri Ran]] Dia Viekone

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 34 Ruti [[Yotsuya Miko]]

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 35 [[Shirakami Fubuki]] Kūjō Jolyne

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 36 [[Igarashi Futaba]] Komi Shōko

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 37 Dōki-chan [[Eris Boreas Greyrat]]

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 38 Misakino Kukuru [[Suzuki Sonoko]]

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 39 [[Sakagami Tomoyo]] Arashi Chisato

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 40 Yūki Yūna [[Unmei]]

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 41 Tarte [[Sakurai Tōko]]

by <=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 42 [[Red]] Bojji

by >=200
Over/Under: 2300
Over

ARENA 43 Mōri Kogorō [[Asahina Takt]]

by >=200
Over/Under: 2300
Over

ARENA 44 [[Lugh Tuatha Dé]] Tadano Hitohito

by >=200
Over/Under: 2300
Over

ARENA 45 [[Hikigaya Hachiman]] Aisaka Taiga [[Yukinoshita Yukino]] Takasu Ryūji

by <=1000
Over/Under: 2800
Over

ARENA 46 Hirasawa Yui [[Kanda Sorata]] Nakano Azusa [[Shiina Mashiro]]

by <=1000
Over/Under: 2800
Over

ARENA 47 [[Azusagawa Sakuta]] Hori Kyōko [[Sakurajima Mai]] Miyamura Izumi

by <=1000
Over/Under: 2800
Over

ARENA 48 Takanashi Rikka [[Otonashi Yuzuru]] Togashi Yūta [[Tachibana Kanade]]

by <=1000
Over/Under: 2800
Over

Voter Id: 39e5541c-8991-55eb-8de7-179a718fdd3c

Michigan State: 2021 Peach Bowl Champions

 

ATLANTA -- — Michigan State capped its turnaround from from a two-win season with a fourth-quarter comeback in the Peach Bowl.

Payton Thorne's 22-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed gave No. 11 Michigan State the lead with less than three minutes remaining and the Spartans overcame an 11-point deficit to beat No. 13 Pittsburgh 31-21 on Thursday night in the Peach Bowl.

Led by Thorne, the Spartans outscored the Panthers 21-0 in the final quarter.

"The whole game, my teammates just kept telling me to stay up and keep chopping like we talk about," Thorne said.

Linebacker Cal Haladay's 78-yard interception return for a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining ended Pitt fill-in quarterback Davis Beville's bid for a last-minute comeback in the game the Panthers played without star QB Kenny Pickett.

Thorne threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as Michigan State (11-2) rallied after trailing 21-10.

"We got stronger and stronger as the game went," second-year coach Mel Tucker said. "We ... were able to find a way to get it done."

Michigan State finished 2-5 in its pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Cam Bright returned a fumble recovery 26 yards for a touchdown only 20 seconds into the second half for Pittsburgh (11-3). The Panthers lost fill-in starting quarterback Nick Patti to a broken collarbone in the first quarter.

Defensive end John Morgan forced the fumble by Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne that was returned by Bright for a 21-10 lead.

It was the second big play by Pitt's defense. Brandon Hill's interception late in the first half set up an 87-yard touchdown drive for a 14-10 lead.

Thorne's 15-yard scoring pass to tight end Connor Heyward cut the Panthers' lead to 21-16 with 8:06 remaining. The Spartans were stopped on their 2-point play, with Heyward kept out of the end zone on another reception.

Thorne completed 29 of 50 passes for 354 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Thorne's scoring pass to Reed with 2:51 remaining gave the Spartans a 22-21 lead. A 2-point pass to Jalen Nailor pushed the lead to three points.

With Pickett, who opted out of the game after finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting, watching from a coach's box, the Panthers' transition at quarterback quickly took on added drama.

Making his first start since 2019, Patti was knocked out of the game in the first quarter.

On third down from the Michigan State 16 on the Panthers' second possession, Patti dropped back before taking off on a run and diving for the end zone, reaching out for the touchdown before landing hand on his left shoulder.

Patti grabbed his shoulder after rising to his feet and was escorted to the Pitt locker room. When he returned later in the first half, he was not wearing shoulder pads and his left arm was in a sling.

Beville took over for Patti and completed 14 of 18 passes for 149 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

"Davis did a great job, as good as you expect a third-team quarterback to do," said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi. "Wasn't good enough to win the football game."

Brandon Hill's interception of Thorne's pass for Maliq Carr gave Pitt the ball at its 13, setting up the 87-yard touchdown drive.

Beville completed passes of 10 and 52 yards to Jordan Addison, the Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation's top wide receiver, against Michigan State's pass defense, which ranked last in the nation. Beville's 5-yard touchdown pass to Jared Wayne gave the Panthers a 14-10 halftime lead.

Addison had seven catches for 114 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

Pitt: The game was expected to be a chance for Patti to make his case for the starting job next season. Former Southern Cal starter Kedon Slovis has announced he is transferring to Pitt and also will be part of the competition. Beville may have shown enough to be another contender.

Michigan State: Thorne showed poise in regrouping from a slow start. His two turnovers — one on an interception and one on a fumble — were costly, leading to two touchdowns. Thorne took advantage of his experience to take over the game in the final quarter.

NO WALKER

The Spartans were without running back Kenneth Walker, who opted out of the game after finishing sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Jordon Simmons led Michigan State with 16 carries for only 23 yards.

"Obviously, we're missing Ken but we felt we could get some stuff in the pass game," Thorne said. "In the fourth quarter we were able to string some stuff together and take advantage of the areas we thought we were going to be able to."

BLAME FOCUS, NOT FATIGUE

Pitt linebacker Phil Campbell said fatigue wasn't an issue in the final quarter.

"It was probably just lack of focus in certain areas," Campbell said. "We weren't more tired than they were."

RAINY DAY

Due to rain throughout the morning and most of the afternoon, the annual Peach Bowl parade in downtown Atlanta was canceled. The rain stopped in time for the retractable roof at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to be open for the game.

------

AP Sports Writer George Henry contributed to this report.

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Purdue: 2021 Music City Bowl Champions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- — Purdue came into the Music City Bowl short-handed and banged-up, particularly at wide receiver.

The Boilermakers are going home winners after a game that had people clicking over to catch an amazing finish.

Mitchell Fineran kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime and Purdue finished off its best season since 2003 by overcoming a 14-point deficit and beating Tennessee 48-45 on Thursday in a record-setting Music City Bowl.

Purdue's Aidan O'Connell threw for 534 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions. He couldn't explain the final five minutes of regulation as the teams combined to score four TDs — two apiece.

"It's why you love the game, it's why it keeps bringing you back," O'Connell said. "The fact it's unknown. No one knows what's going to happen. It's not a movie or TV show where the actors get retries. It seems like the world's watching and anything could happen."

Purdue (9-4) tied for the second-most wins in program history as only the 12th team in the Boilermakers' 134-year history to win nine games. They also won their fifth game away from home, something they hadn't done since 1943.

"We found a way to just barely win," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said.

Tennessee (7-6) missed a chance to make Josh Heupel the first Vols coach to cap his debut season with a bowl win since Bill Battle won the 1971 Sugar Bowl. The Vols also snapped a four-game bowl victory streak with a loss that dropped the Southeastern Conference to 1-5 this bowl season.

The teams combined for 1,293 yards of total offense — second-most in overall bowl history, trailing only the 1,397 yards Baylor and Washington had in the 2011 Alamo Bowl. Tennessee became the 10th team in bowl game history to run 100 or more plays, and the combined 185 plays rank seventh.

This high-scoring game featured a flurry of big plays and points in the final five minutes only to see Purdue's defense make the deciding play.

On the first possession of overtime, Jamar Brown and Kieren Douglas stopped Vols running back Jaylen Wright short on fourth-and-goal. The stop was upheld on review for Wright's forward progress being stopped despite Wright reaching the ball over the goal line before the whistle without a knee touching the ground while laying on top of Douglas.

"I love these guys," Heupel said. "They fight, they scratch, they claw and they compete. We came up a play short."

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker watched the replay on the large video board and was excited.

"I thought we scored, but you know it's a tough call," Hooker said. "Feels like me and my teammates gave it our all.

After Purdue ran three plays, Fineran sealed the victory with his fourth field goal of the game, sending the Boilermakers running down the field in celebration after what Brohm called a "a crazy game."

"It really picked up there at the end," Brohm said.

The Vols had a final chance to win in regulation, but Chase McGrath's 56 yard field goal fell well short.

Tennessee finished with 639 yards total offense and Purdue had 623 in regulation — both bowl records before overtime. O'Connell easily set the yards passing record, well above the 383 Mike Glennon had with N.C. State.

Purdue came in without a pair of All-Americans in defensive end George Karlaftis and wide receiver David Bell, both prepping for the NFL draft, with a receiving corps further thinned by injuries. Broc Thompson, who needs offseason surgery on both knees, filled in with seven catches for a game-high 217 yards and two TDs.

The Boilermakers had a chance to keep this finish from being quite so exciting. But they settled for three field goals in the second quarter and only led 23-21 at halftime. Tennessee led 31-30 after the third.

Hooker finished with 378 yards passing. Tillman had three touchdowns on seven receptions for 150 yards, and Jabari Small ran for 180 yards. Small wasn't available in overtime with Heupel saying he was fighting "some things" all through the game.

THE TAKEAWAYS

Tennessee: The Vols set a single-season record with 511 points, topping the 484 scored in 12 games in 1993. ... The Vols brought out a record crowd of 69,489 topping the previous mark of 69,143 set in 2010 when Tennessee also played in this bowl.

Purdue: Brohm said his Boilermakers had a lot of wide receivers, and they tapped that depth in this game. O'Connell spread the ball around connecting with nine receivers.

PENALTY ISSUES

The Vols were flagged 14 times for 128 yards.

"End of the day you can't control when they yellow hankies come out," Heupel said. "There's some things I don't agree with. Yeah, everyone knows that. But it's about what we can control."

UP NEXT

Tennessee is set up nicely for 2022. Tillman, who came into this season with eight career catches, finished with the Vols' first 1,000-yard season since 2012. He's already announced he's returning next season along with Hooker, tight ends Jacob Warren and Princeton Fant and a handful of other Vols.

Purdue has O'Connell coming back along for 2022, giving Brohm a chance to build on an offense that threw the ball more than any other team in school history.

------

South Carolina: 2021 Duke's Mayo Bowl Champions

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer had a big day on Thursday, and he concluded it by torching a reporter on social media.

CBS Sports college football writer Dennis Dodd sent a critical tweet Thursday in which he suggested that there were too many irrelevant bowl games, and the schedule needed to be scaled back. To back his assertion, Dodd cited Beamer getting a mayonnaise bath after his Gamecocks won the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Beamer took notice of Dodd’s take and responded by calling out the “miserable” reporter, complete with a reminder of how wrong Dodd had been about this year’s South Carolina team.

It is not common that you see a player or coach call out a media figure that brutally. Beamer has not gone as far as one athlete-media member rivalry has, but this is still pretty stinging.

Beamer has a point, by the way. The Gamecocks finished 7-6, and the bowl game victory seemed quite sweet to everyone involved.

ISML 2021: The Diamond Period Wages On

ISML 2021: The Diamond Period Wages On

By Jo-Ryan Salazar

The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue

December 29, 2021

In less than 72 hours, Yukino Yukinoshita will cease to become Saimoe Prime Minister and Miyuki Shirogane will cease to become Deputy Saimoe Prime Minister, with Mikoto Misaka and Sakuta Azusagawa taking over in the interim for at least the month of January. However, the 2021 International Saimoe League is not complete, as the Diamond Period is still going on, and Match Day 2 has concluded. 

In the Female Division, Mai Sakurajima took down Shiro 1374-1080, Mashiro Shiina smashed Megumin 1417-981, Emilia flew past Utaha Kasumigaoka 1373-1069, Index Prohibitorum scored the Upset of the Round, a 1347-1324 scalp of Asuna Yuuki, Nao Tomori defeated Shouki Nishimiya 1249-1155, Kanade Tachibana slayed Misaki Shokuhou 1366-1171, Elaina routed Mio Akiyama 1589-967 and Kei Shirogane eased past Kurisu Makise 1206-1120.

Wrapping up Female Division actiom, Kaguya Shinomiya thumped Iroha Isshiki 1495-955, Kurumi Tokisaki shot down Ruiko Saten 1562-1001, Rikka Takanashi rocked Tooru 1584-847, Chika Fujiwara defeated Ai Hayasaka 1157-1065, Yui Yuigahama hammered Kamui Kanna 1256-1165, Tsukasa Yuzaki rolled past Kuroko Shirai 1319-1190, Mikoto Misaka drilled Rin Tohsaka 1677-918 and Schwi Dola roared past Taiga Aisaka 1125-1069.

In the Male Division, Yuu Ishigami crushed Ryuunosuke Akasaka 1267-797, Taki Tachibana trounced Kyoujurou Rengoku 1267-797, Riku Dola rocked Archer 1335-856, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji prevailed over Nasa Yuzaki 1065-1012, Kazuma Satou roared past Ryuuji Takasu 1228-828, Sorata Kanda won a 1017-996 thriller over Yuu Otosaka, Yuuta Togashi pounded Joutarou Kuujou 1104-879 and Kazuto Kirigaya slashed past Rintarou Okabe 1201-1072.

Wrapping up Female Division action, Touma Kamijou broke Tomoya Okazaki 1300-953, Subaru Natsuki drove past Shouya Ishiga 1242-825, Shidou Itsuka leveled Levi 1080-1022, Yuzuru Otonashi punched Saitama 1043-1016, Shirou Emiya prevailed over Saika Totsuka 1068-1021, Sakuta Azusagawa stormed past Nagisa Shiota 1387-776 and Satoshi Fukube won a 969-956 snoozer over Edward Elric.

In Winter Seasonal action, Ran Mouri mowed down Jolyne Kuujou 1366-812, Miko Yotsuya thumped Fubuki Shirakami 1187-794, Dia Viekone routed Ruti 1186-683, Shouko Komi crushed Sonoko Suzuki 1368-772, Eris Boreas Greyrat flexed past Kukuru Misakino 1263-741, Futaba Igarashi defeated Doki-chan 1054-804, Tomoyo Sakagami defeated Touko Sakurai 1062-955, Unmei eased past Tarte 1149-856 anf Yuuna Yuuki whipped past Chisato Arashi 955-868. On the Male Side, Hitohito Tadano cruised past Bojji 1046-803, Lugh Tuatha De pummeled Kogorou Mori 1197-953 and Takt Asahina outmaneuvered Red 946-774.

Finally, in Couples Tournament action, Touma Kamijou and Mikoto Misaka destroyed Emilia and Subaru Natsuki 1497-999, Gilbert Bougainvillea and Violet Evergarden dominated Kazuto Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki 1268-1195, Eru Chitanda and Houtarou Oreki eased past Yuu Otosaka and Nao Tomori 1425-951 and Elaina and Saya bodied Mikoto Misaka and Kuruko Shirai in a 1290-1285 classic, the closest race of the round.

Match Day 3 of the 2021 International Saimoe League Diamond Period is scheduled for New Year's Eve, December 31, 2021. Vote for your favorite characters at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

Oklahoma: 2021 Alamo Bowl Champions

SAN ANTONIO — About an hour before the Alamo Bowl kicked off, Bob Stoops came strolling out of the tunnel and the ovation rose.

The cheers quickly evolved into a long, drawn-out “Stoooooooops” chant, and OU’s legendary coach acknowledged the ovation with a wave to all sides of the stadium.

The cheering from the Sooners’ side kept right on going through much of the first half before things tightened up after the break, as OU beat a depleted Ducks squad 47-32 in the Alamodome on Wednesday night.

Here are five takeaways from the Sooners’ win.

Father-son moment

The “Stoooooooops” chant returned in the second quarter, but this time it was for Bob’s son, redshirt junior receiver Drake Stoops.

On third-and-goal from the 6, Caleb Williams found Drake Stoops on a fade route, and he went up and hauled in the touchdown pass over Oregon cornerback Trikweze Bridges.

As Drake came off the field, he was met by his father, who gave him a bear hug and several pats on the helmet.

The touchdown, the first of three by the Sooners in the second quarter, put OU ahead 16-3.

It was Stoops’ second touchdown catch of the season. He also had one against Texas Tech on Oct. 30.

Defense: The good and the bad

The Sooners struggled to contain Oregon’s 5-foot-10 running back Travis Dye much in the first quarter.

Dye’s speed helped him gain 66 yards in the first quarter alone.

In the second quarter, though, OU’s defense bowed up. In the second quarter. Oregon had 102 yards — just one fewer than it had in the first quarter — but only 17 of those came on the ground. The Ducks didn’t have a drive longer than 39 yards in the second.

But Oregon opened things up, especially through the air, in the second half, scoring touchdowns on each of its first four second-half drives. 

Those included touchdown passes of 66, 34 and 30 yards.

Oregon finished with 497 yards, 306 through the air.

Dye finished with 153 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Brooks and done

It’s no surprise the Sooners leaned heavily on running back Kennedy Brooks in the Alamo Bowl.

Brooks has been the Sooners’ offensive workhorse and was again Wednesday, with 14 carries for 142 yards and three touchdowns.

At one point early in the game, Brooks touched the ball on six consecutive plays.

During that stretch, he picked up seven yards on a third-and-6 after Caleb Williams checked down to find his running back open. Then he had a 10-yard run on the next play, followed by a 16-yard touchdown run.

In the second quarter, Brooks had a 40-yard carry to set up Drake Stoops’ touchdown catch three plays later.

Brooks rushed for 127 yards in the first half, setting a first-half bowl record for the Sooners, breaking Rodney Anderson’s 125 yards in the first half against Georgia in the 2017 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl.

Brooks moved into ninth place on OU’s career rushing list, passing Stanley Wilson.

Williams’ TD wiped out 

Mario Williams broke free and the crowd roared.

Just moments after Jeremiah Hall converted a third-and-1 on a direct snap on the first play of the second quarter, Caleb Williams hit Williams for an apparent 51-yard touchdown.

But Ducks’ cornerback Avante Dickerson, trying to bring Williams down, instead ripped Williams’ helmet off his head with a facemask, immediately drawing a flag.

But it also drew a whistle.

The rules call for a stoppage of play once the ball carrier’s helmet comes off, regardless of the other circumstances of the play.

Williams wound up with an 18-yard gain and the Sooners ultimately settled for a 40-yard field goal by Gabe Brkic.

Turk comes up just short

Michael Turk had the record sealed up, it appeared.

But when OU’s fourth-quarter drive stalled, Turk was forced into action once again and his record chances came up just short.

Before the fourth-quarter punt, Turk’s season average was 51.29 yards, which would’ve broken an NCAA record set just recently when San Diego State’s Matt Araiza finished his season with a 51.19-yard average.

Turk needed a 48-yard punt to stay ahead of Araiza for the record, but his final punt went 47, pinning the Ducks at their own 7 but coming up just one yard short — not just on that punt but any this season — of breaking the mark.

Clemson: 2021 Cheez-It Bowl Champions

D.J. Uiagalelei threw for 187 yards, Mario Goodrich scored on an 18-yard interception return and No. 19 Clemson beat Iowa State 20-13 on Wednesday night in Orlando, Florida, in the Cheez-It Bowl for coach Dabo Swinney’s 150th victory.

Will Shipley had a 12-yard touchdown run and finished with 61 yards rushing and 53 yards receiving for Clemson (10-3). Dacari Collins caught six passes for 53 yards, and B.T. Potter made two field goals.

Clemson won its sixth straight game to reach 10 victories for an 11th consecutive season. Florida State (14 from 1987-00) and Alabama (14 from 2008-21) are the only programs with longer streaks.

The Tigers, who came in with the nation's second-ranked scoring defense, held the Cyclones (7-6) to three field goals over the first three quarters. Iowa State finished with 270 yards and 14 first downs.

Goodrich sealed Clemson’s victory with 33 seconds to play when he stripped the ball away from Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy on fourth-and-2.

Iowa State dropped four of its final six games of the season and lost in a bowl game for a fourth consecutive year.

Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10: Tarheeb Still returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown, Taulia Tagovailoa threw touchdown passes of 70 and 32 yards to Darryl Jones and Maryland routed Virginia Tech at Yankee Stadium in New York in the Pinstripe Bowl.

The game belonged to Tagovailoa, an Alabama transfer and younger brother of Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa. He threw for 265 yards and the two TD passes brought his season total to 26, which tied Maryland’s single-season record.

Coach Mike Locksley led the Terrapins (7-6) to his first bowl victory and winning record in three seasons at Maryland.

Jones, a senior wide receiver, had never caught a touchdown pass over his first 40 games. He had two and finished with 111 yards receiving against the Hokies (6-7).

Antwain Littleton II added a 4-yard rushing TD for Maryland and Joseph Petrino answered the Hokies’ lone touchdown with a 44-yard field goal with 59 seconds left in the first half for a 24-10 lead. Roman Hemby scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter.

Maryland: 2021 Pinstripe Bowl Champions

NEW YORK — Maryland head football coach Mike Locksley did not mince words when asked what redshirt sophomore quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa's MVP performance in Wednesday's New Era Pinstripe Bowl means entering 2022. Before 29,653 people at Yankee Stadium, Tagovailoa completed 20 of 24 passes (83.3%) for 265 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 42 yards on four rushes (10.5 average), as the Terrapins (7-6, 3-6 Big Ten) throttled Virginia Tech (6-7, 4-4 ACC) to put an exclamation point on 2021.

"I hope it quiets some of the critics and maybe he gets a little bit of the respect that I think he deserves as a quarterback," Locksley — who capped Year 3 in College Park, Maryland, by engineering UMD's first winning season since 2014 — said. "I feel like we've got one of the best quarterbacks in the league, if not the country. As I've said before, we wouldn't be in this situation that we're in with the winning season if it wasn't for Taulia.

"Obviously, he's not the finished product and I think you'll continue to see him get better as with all aspects of our program. But really proud of him and the way he's responded, the way he has a positive impact on others, his teammates. Very unselfish. ... Hopefully, this is the start of the '22 season and maybe we can get him a little bit of respect in terms of being one of the top quarterbacks in the country — which I really feel and believe he is."

Senior wide receiver Darryl Jones echoed his coach's sentiments. After he caught four passes for 111 yards (27.8 average) and two touchdowns — including a pivotal 70-yard score at the second quarter's 9:13 mark to put Maryland up 14-3 — Jones shared a strong perspective.

"I would definitely agree," said Jones, who later added a 32-yard touchdown that widened the Terps' advantage to 34-10 with 6:48 left in the third quarter. "You could see, from the start of the season till now, how 'Lia has progressed. People sometimes forget, with his name, that he's still a young kid learning and you can see that he can learn and he has progressed. And I think 'Lia's done a fantastic job from coming in, taking over, being a leader and showing people how he works and how to work. And he's just pushing and pulling guys along every day. So I definitely do think 'Lia's proved some critics wrong."

As Jones alluded to, Taulia Tagovailoa — Alabama legend and second-year Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's brother — brings the aura of being a former college football star's younger sibling. Still, following a second-year campaign as Maryland's starter in which he tied the program's single-season record for passing touchdowns at 26, Taulia Tagovailoa is making a name for himself with the Terps.

"I think, obviously, it gives us a lot of confidence going into the offseason and going into next season," said Tagovailoa — a four-star recruit in 2019 out of Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson and one-year Crimson Tide quarterback before transferring to UMD — who closes the season after going 328 for 474 (69.2%) with 3,860 yards and 26 touchdowns against 11 interceptions through all 13 games. "And for me, myself, I think it was good playing against an ACC team. And I don't know — I think I'm just ready, going into spring ball and offseason training with confidence. And I think it's more so just our team kind of building off of this going into our next season."

Minnesota: 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Champions

PHOENIX -- — While watching "Breaking Bad" for the first time last year, a particular scene caught P.J. Fleck's attention.

The Minnesota coach had used television shows and movies — "Elf," "Full House" and "Family Matters" among them — as motivation in the past and this one seemed a perfect fit for his defense.

In it, Walter White rises in anger during a discussion with his wife, Skyler, explaining no one was going to come knocking on their door and shoot them.

"I'm the one who knocks!" he shouts.

So does Minnesota's defense.

Ky Thomas ran for 144 yards and a touchdown, Mar'Kiese Irving added 129 yards rushing and Minnesota shut down West Virginia to win the Guaranteed Rate Bowl 18-6 on Tuesday night.

"We wanted to be the defense that knocks and I thought we did that," Fleck said. "It was just kind of a theme our guys rallied around."

Thomas and Irving became the Gophers' 1-2 punch after Mohamed Ibrahim and Trey Potts sustained season-ending injuries. The two running backs carried most of the load offensively against West Virginia (6-7), accounting for 273 of Minnesota's 358 total yards.

They were good, but Minnesota's defense was flat-out dominating.

Controlling the line of scrimmage, the Gophers (9-4) overwhelmed the Mountaineers, holding them to 206 total yards to win their fifth straight bowl game, third under Fleck.

"They kind of grinded out a win and a credit to them — that's how they did it all year," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. "We just weren't good enough today."

It wasn't much of a surprise. Minnesota finished fourth nationally in total defense, allowing 284.8 yards per game, and was ninth against the pass and run.

West Virginia played without leading rusher Leddie Brown, who opted to skip the bowl game to prepare for the NFL, and struggled to find much of an offensive rhythm early against the swarming Gophers.

The Mountaineers finally clicked a little in the second quarter, moving 75 yards in 12 plays. Jarret Doege capped the drive by diving for the pylon on 4th-and-goal from the 1. They were moving the ball again later in the second quarter before Doege threw an interception at Minnesota's 14-yard line.

West Virginia couldn't get anything going against Minnesota's defense in the second half, crossing midfield only once while being held to 79 yards.

"Everything that we've been doing all year, we wanted to up the emphasis," Gophers defensive back Tyler Nubin said. "We've been playing great defense and we wanted to do that one more time."

Minnesota's offense did a little pounding of its own.

The Gophers got in their own way after getting good field position on their first two drives, missing a 33-yard field goal and losing a fumble by Thomas at West Virginia's 6-yard line.

Then they turned to someone who could move everyone out of his way: Daniel Faalele.

The 6-foot-9, 380-pound offensive lineman lined up at fullback, took the handoff and bulled his way into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown. Minnesota threw in a fake extra point for good measure, going up 8-0 after converting the 2-point conversion.

"He's 400 pounds," Fleck said. "Once that thing gets moving forward, it's hard to stop that thing."

Thomas put the Gophers up 15-6 at halftime, scoring on a 5-yard run two plays after bursting up the middle for a 50-yard gain.

Minnesota reached West Virginia's 3-yard line in the final minutes, but opted to kneel out the clock instead of trying to score.

"Their offense is mainly run," said West Virginia's Charles Woods, who had an interception in the third quarter. "They depend on the run."

And their defense.

NO SCREENS HERE

West Virginia had a successful screen game most of the season. Minnesota took that away, particularly early, changing the way the Mountaineers ran their offense the rest of the night.

"They played a lot of cover 2 and really took away your easy-access throws," Brown said. "They mixed it up well, kept us off balance."

THE TAKEAWAY

West Virginia could have used Brown to perhaps spark its offense. Then again, the way Minnesota swarmed to the ball, it may not have mattered.

Minnesota's defense dominated most of the year and capped it with a smothering performance to finally win the Guaranteed Rate — previously Insight — Bowl for the first time in four tries.

UP NEXT

West Virginia will get Doege back and its two-deep offense is filled with underclassmen, though Brown will not be back. The defense also has plenty of players coming back, but will lose LB Josh Chandler-Semedo, S Sean Mahones and DT Dante Stills.

Minnesota has several key players returning for a sixth season, including Morgan, Ibrahim, WR Chris Autman-Bell and C John Michael Schmitz.

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