TCU football pulled off the upset over No. 16 USC, 30-27 in an overtime shootout, in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 30 inside the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Showing posts with label alamo bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alamo bowl. Show all posts
BYU: 2024 Alamo Bowl Champions
BYU jumped all over Colorado in a Big 12-on-Big 12 bout in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday night. The Cougars held CU scoreless in the first half, picked off quarterback Shedeur Sanders twice, and walked away with a resounding 36-14 victory.
The win was BYU’s 11th of the season and gave coach Kalani Sitake his fifth bowl win in 7 tries.
For Colorado, it brought about a disappointing end to the collegiate careers of Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. Sanders completed 16 of his 23 passes for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he was picked off twice in the game and ended the evening with a towel draped over his head on the sidelines. Sanders appeared to pick up a lower-leg injury in the second half but stayed in the game until the closing minutes. Hunter broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown in the third quarter and he caught a 58-yard pass in the second quarter, but that was it for him in terms of impact plays on the evening.
BYU held Colorado without a point on its first 6 drives. The Buffs turned it over on downs to begin the game, missed a second-quarter field goal, and watched helplessly as BYU built a 20-0 halftime lead. The Cougars’ offense didn’t necessarily light up the box score, but BYU completely dominated field position.
Four of BYU’s 11 drives began on Colorado’s side of the 50. The average starting point for every drive was the BYU 45. The Cougars’ first scoring drive of the game started from their 48. The next drive gained just 8 yards in 7 plays, but it began at the CU 41 and ended with a field goal. BYU only produced 3 offensive touchdowns in the game, and none of those possessions needed to go more than 55 yards to reach paydirt.
Special teams swung decidedly in BYU’s favor. The Cougars punted only once all night, but got 44 yards from that boot. Kicker Will Ferrin made all 3 of his field goal tries. With the Cougs holding just a 10-point lead late in the second quarter, Parker Kingston returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown to ensure BYU would take all the momentum into the locker room at the half.
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff finished the game with 151 yards on 12-of-21 passing. He threw 2 picks and didn’t register a touchdown through the air. All 3 offensive touchdowns came from the rushing attack, which was led by 93 yards from LJ Martin.
The Cougars limited Colorado to 210 yards of offense. Sanders was sacked 4 times and the ground game finished with just 2 net yards on 19 carries. Remove the yardage lost to sacks and Colorado still only produced 53 rushing yards on 3.5 per carry in the game.
Hunter also made 4 tackles on defense.
Colorado (9-4) won its final game of the regular season 52-0 but was shut out of the Big 12 Championship Game because of a tiebreaker. The desire to end the season the right way certainly served as motivation for both Hunter and Sanders during bowl prep. Even though the NFL beckons, the Buffs’ 2 stars were looking to end their collegiate careers with a bit more oomph.
Instead, Colorado’s best season since 2016 ended with a bit of a dud. Now, the 2 stars will turn their attention to the 2025 NFL Draft, where they are both expected to be top-10 selections.
Arizona: 2023 Alamo Bowl Champions
Oklahoma was by several measures the superior team at the Alamo Bowl. Except for one critical category.
The 12th-ranked Sooners turned the ball over six times Thursday night, allowing 14th-ranked Arizona to rally from an 11-point third quarter deficit for a 38-24 win.
A tip drill on a third-quarter Jackson Arnold pass turned into a fumble recovery for Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado, who returned the ball 87 yards for touchdown that shifted the course of the game. Originally ruled an interception, officials changed the call to a catch and fumble by wide receiver Jalil Farooq forced by a Dalton Johnson hit.
Whatever it was, it was the fourth forced turnover of the day for Arizona and the third involving Maldonado, who recorded two fumble recoveries and an interception.
It also allowed the Wildcats to add another football to the turnover sword. Which is a real thing. Arizona used it to stab footballs with Oklahoma logos for each of its forced turnovers. It eventually ran out of room for more footballs.
Oklahoma held a 24-13 lead while driving inside the Arizona at the time of the turnover. Instead of extending a double-digit lead, the Sooners allowed the Wildcats to close within 24-21 after a two-point conversion.
Two plays later, Arnold threw his third interception of the night, this one to defensive back Martell Irby. This turnover set up Arizona to tie the game at 24-24 with a field goal. After a forced Oklahoma punt, Arizona's offense drove 95 yards on eight plays capped by a 57-yard go-ahead touchdown from Noah Fifita to Jacob Cowing.
Oklahoma's next drive ended with — you guessed it — another turnover. Isaiah Ward sacked Arnold, forcing Oklahoma's sixth turnover of the day.
This inspired yet another appearance by the turnover sword.
The Wildcats converted the turnover into another touchdown for a 38-24 lead with 2:56 remaining, and the game was all but over.
Arizona overcomes otherwise big offensive night by Oklahoma
Oklahoma held a 562-to-383 edge in total offense. It outrushed Arizona 201 yards to 29. But Arizona claimed a 6-to-1 edge in forced turnovers, an advantage that was too much for Oklahoma to overcome.
Arnold completed 26 of 45 passes for 361 yards with two touchdowns. He accounted for two-thirds of Oklahoma's turnovers with three interceptions and a lost fumble. Farooq fumbled twice.
Arizona was efficient when it had the ball. Quarterback Noah Fifita completed 24 of 38 passes for 354 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Tetairoa McMillan caught 10 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, while Cowing tallied seven receptions for 152 yards and a score. The Wildcats averaged 9.3 yards per play.
Arizona caps its season with a seven-game winning streak to finish 10-3. Oklahoma fell to 10-3 with the loss.
Washington: 2022 Alamo Bowl Champions
No. 12 Washington knocked off No. 20 Texas 27-20 in the Alamo Bowl to get its first 11-win season since 2016.
The Huskies weren’t troubled by the Longhorns for much of the game. UW took a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter thanks to a TD pass from Michael Penix Jr. to Jalen McMillan. Texas cut the lead to seven with 1:40 to go, and got the ball back with a chance for a potential game-winning TD and two-point conversion with 31 seconds left. But the last-ditch drive with no timeouts remaining didn't get a first down.
The win means Washington finishes the season at 11-2 in Kalen DeBoer’s first season as head coach. Washington fired Jimmy Lake nine games into a tumultuous 2021 season and finished the season at 4-8. It hired DeBoer from Fresno State and the former Indiana offensive coordinator quickly landed the former Indiana QB Penix as a transfer.
That move paid off as Penix was one of the nation’s most productive passers in 2022 and the Huskies won seven more games than they did a season ago. Washington made one of the biggest improvements of any team at the top level of college football in 2022 and is well-positioned to be a contender in the Pac-12 again next season.
Penix will be back in 2023 as the Pac-12 will boast one of the strongest quarterback groups in college football. Heisman winner Caleb Williams is returning for USC while Oregon’s Bo Nix is coming back along with Washington State’s Cam Ward. Oregon State landed Clemson QB D.J. Uiagalelei, former Notre Dame QB Drew Pyne is transferring to Arizona State and Kent State QB Collin Schlee is transferring to UCLA.
Texas, meanwhile, finishes the season 8-5. The Longhorns entered the game without running backs Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson among other transfers and NFL draft opt outs. That allowed players like freshman Jonathan Brooks to get playing time and Brooks scored two TDs.
The Alamo Bowl might have also been the last game of the pre-Arch Manning era at Texas. QB Quinn Ewers didn’t have a terrible game by any means — his stats would look a lot better if it wasn’t for drops on back-to-back plays in the third quarter by star receiver Xavier Worthy — but the Longhorns will have the highest-profile QB competition in college football over the spring and summer thanks to Manning’s presence.
Manning signed with Texas earlier in December and plans to be an early enrollee. That will allow him to practice this spring and potentially get the chance to start as a true freshman. Or if Ewers plays well like he has flashed at times in 2022, it’s very possible that he could keep the starting job for his second season with the Longhorns.
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.
Texas: 2020 Alamo Bowl Champions
The latest tumultuous season for Texas ended on a positive note.
To cap off a season full of underwhelming performances, disappointing losses and coaching rumors, the No. 20 Longhorns knocked off Colorado in the Alamo Bowl 55-23 to finish the year with a 7-3 record.
The game could prove to be somewhat of a passing of the torch for Tom Herman’s program. Sam Ehlinger has started at quarterback for nearly every game of Herman’s four years at Texas. Though he has the option to return in 2021, Tuesday night’s game was the final outing of Ehlinger’s senior year. Unfortunately, it ended prematurely.
Ehlinger completed 10-of-16 throws for 160 yards and a touchdown, helping the Longhorns take a 17-10 lead at halftime. But he didn’t come back out from the locker room for the third quarter and was ruled out with a shoulder injury. He later returned to the sideline with his right arm in a sling. And if this was indeed his final game in a UT uniform, Ehlinger finishes No. 2 in program history in passing yards (11,336), touchdowns (94) and completions (923).
With Ehlinger sidelined, backup Casey Thompson filled in admirably. Thompson, a sophomore, completed eight of his 10 throws for 170 yards and four touchdowns. But it wasn’t Thompson who shined the brightest among Texas’ young core. It was freshman running back Bijan Robinson.
Robinson, on the heels of 223 all-purpose yards in the regular season finale vs. Kansas State, was the best player on the field against Colorado. In the first quarter alone, Robinson reeled off runs of 27 and 50 yards, scored on an eight-yard run and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass.
On the first play of the second half, Robinson exploded through the line for a 66-yard gain to set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Joshua Moore. Robinson later scored his third touchdown on a throwback screen from Thompson that went for 23 yards and increased Texas’ lead to 41-16.
In the end, Robinson finished with 183 yards and a touchdown on just 10 rushes along with two catches for 37 yards and two more scores. Moore, another underclassman, led the receiving group with five catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Fourth straight bowl win under Tom Herman
With the win, Texas is now 4-0 in bowl games under Herman. The Longhorns beat Missouri in the Texas Bowl in 2017, infamously beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in 2018, and beat Utah in last year’s Alamo Bowl.
Each time, the bowl win generated a level of hype entering the offseason and the subsequent season. Herman’s teams have never quite lived up to that hype, though.
After the Sugar Bowl win (you know, the one where Ehlinger said Texas is “back”), UT followed it up by going 8-5 in 2019. It was a disappointing year, but the blowout bowl win over Utah played a part in getting people’s hopes up for the program entering 2020.
Again, UT fell short of expectations. The Longhorns started the year 2-2, including another loss to Oklahoma in the Red River game. Later in the year, the Longhorns’ Big 12 title game hopes were still alive — until they blew a late lead in a loss to Iowa State.
That was a game that turned the intensity up on Herman’s hot seat. The school’s pursuit of Urban Meyer was no secret, but Meyer wasn’t interested and UT athletic director Chris Del Conte eventually issued a half-hearted vote of confidence in which he said simply that Herman “is our coach.”
So the show will roll on into 2021 with Herman at the head. The hot seat talk won’t subside, either. And with the way guys like Robinson and Thompson performed against Colorado, the usual Texas hype machine should be alive and well once again throughout the offseason. Will it be warranted? If past seasons are any indication, it’s unlikely.
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.”
Washington State: 2018 Alamo Bowl Champions
Gardner Minshew II and that glorious mustache conjured up a final bit of magic in a grand finale for Washington State.
Minshew, a graduate transfer quarterback whose whiskered upper lip was loved and mimicked by Cougars fans all season, threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in sending No. 13 Washington State (No. 12 AP) to a 28-26 win over No. 24 Iowa State (No. 25 AP) in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Friday night.
Minshew's passing and scrambling earned the Cougars (11-2) a school record for wins in a season. He also finished with 4,779 passing yards this season, breaking the Pac-12 single-season record previously held by California's Jared Goff (4,719).
Minshew passed for 299 yards Friday, none of them bigger than a play made out of desperation when Iowa State had all the momentum.
After watching a 21-10 lead dwindle to 21-20 by early in the fourth quarter, the Cougars stripped the ball from Iowa State running back David Montgomery at the Cyclones' 30. Minshew, who had been held in check in the third quarter, escaped a third-down pass rush to flip a last-second shovel pass to Tay Martin that went for 20 yards.
The play stunned the Cyclones, and Max Borghi scored on a 10-yard run the next play.
It was just another big fourth-quarter moment for the transfer from East Carolina whom coach Mike Leach had lured out West with the promise he could lead the nation in passing.
Minshew was the nation's leading passer in yards per game this season and won the Johnny Unitas Award as the nation's top senior quarterback in a season the Cougars fell one game short of playing for the Pac-12 championship.
Nearly all of his completions this season were more orthodox than the flip to Martin. None were bigger than this one for the season and the legacy it left for the program.
"I want to say thank you to these coaches, this university and these fans for taking me in," Minshew said.
"So glad to be a part of this," he added. "One thing I've always been told is to leave a place better than we found it. This place could be really special."
The Cyclones did a good job in bottling Minshew up for much of the game. Iowa State's defense held Washington State to 10 points and 135 yards below its season averages, and two of the Cougars' touchdowns came on short drives after turnovers.
But after Minshew found a way to get Washington State in the end zone, the Cougars' defense made the one play it had to at the end.
Iowa State's last chance came after quarterback Brock Purdy scored from a yard out with 4:02 left. The Cyclones went for two, but a pass to Montgomery was stopped well short of the goal line after a false-start penalty pushed the line of scrimmage back to the 8.
Iowa State had seven false-start penalties and had two players ejected for targeting hits on Minshew.
Purdy passed for 315 yards, and Cyclones wide receiver Hakeem Butler caught nine passes for 192 yards, 6 yards shy of the Alamo Bowl record. Montgomery rushed for 124 yards.
The Cyclones (8-5) had rallied from a 1-3 start to finish third in the Big 12, the program's best conference finish in 40 years.
"This team never quits, plays with elite attitude and elite effort. The missing piece for us right now is in the detail," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. "Now, to take the next step in this program is detail. It's what got us tonight. Silly mistakes."
THE TAKEAWAY
Washington State: Minshew survived several tough hits in the first half and was excellent when it was time to kill the clock. He completed 9 of 13 passes in the fourth quarter for 78 yards. After Iowa State's final touchdown, he completed three passes, two of them converting third downs, as the Cougars ran out the clock.
Iowa State: Turnovers and targeting calls were critical. Purdy threw two first-quarter interceptions, and Montgomery's fumble was a game-changer. Iowa State had two key defenders ejected in the second quarter for targeting hits to Minshew. Senior linebacker Willie Harvey was ejected after smashing Minshew in the face mask on a scramble. Defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike was booted after a sack knocked Minshew's helmet off.
TOUCHDOWN TAUNTING
Washington State cornerback Marcus Strong had a long touchdown interception return wiped out in the first quarter when he was flagged for taunting on his way into the end zone. Strong stepped in front of a pass intended for Butler and had a clear path to the goal line. He was penalized because he held the ball out and looked back as Purdy made a futile dive for his feet. Instead of the score, the Cougars got the ball on the Iowa State 20 and scored two plays later when Minshew connected with Renard Bell.
UP NEXT
Washington State: Leach has to find another big-armed quarterback to be among the nation's passing leaders in 2019. If he does that, the Cougars should be among the Pac-12 favorites as they return 14 starters on offense and defense, plus their kicking specialists.
Iowa State: The Cyclones were in the mix for a Big 12 title game berth late in the season and will expect to be in contention again in 2019, with Purdy leading an experienced lineup that loses only five senior starters. The key will be the NFL draft options for 1,000-yard rusher Montgomery and 1,000-yard receiver Butler.
TCU: 2017 Alamo Bowl Champions
SAN ANTONIO -- There is something about TCU and big comebacks in the Alamo Bowl. Never count out the Horned Frogs.
In 2015, they stormed back from down 31-0 to win. They did it again Thursday night, rallying from 21-3 down to beat No. 15 Stanford 39-37 behind Kenny Hill, who passed for two touchdowns, ran for another, and even caught one. Cole Bunce kicked the winning 33-yard field goal with just over 3 minutes left after Stanford had retaken the lead.
"The bottom line is we need to start faster," TCU coach Gary Patterson joked after the game. "We fought back tonight."
Hill landed the biggest punches. He scored the Horned Frogs' first touchdown on a 6-yard scramble. His 27-yard TD catch on a throw from receiver Desmon White capped No. 13 TCU's first drive of the second half.
And Hill's 93-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Reagor in the fourth quarter sent a charge through an Alamodome crowd that was dominated by TCU fans.
It was the second time this season Hill had a rushing, passing and receiving touchdown, providing a memorable finale to his college career. Hill began his career at Texas A&M, where he succeeded Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel in 2014, but transferred to TCU (11-3) after a rocky first season with the Aggies.
"To come back to win (tonight) with this group of guys who accepted me from the minute I came in, means everything to me," said Hill, who had 314 yards passing and a team-high 60 yard rushing.
Bryce Love, a Heisman Trophy finalist, rushed for 145 yards for Stanford (9-5), including a 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. K.J. Costello threw three touchdown passes to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, the last one giving Stanford a 37-36 lead.
Hill completed three passes on TCU's winning drive. The Horned Frogs sealed the victory with an interception by Innis Gaines with 2:01 left.
Love finished with the season with 2,118 yards rushing, setting a Stanford single-season record.
THE TAKEAWAY
TCU: The Horned Frogs defended Love about as well as anyone this season despite the long touchdown run. Most important, they didn't let him take over in the second half, which let Hill and the offense rally. When the Stanford running game wasn't working, the TCU defense could get after Costello, who struggled under pressure after his quick start.
Stanford: The Cardinal were doomed by the big play just when they had a chance to put the game away. After pinning TCU deep, Hill found Reagor for the long TD pass early in the fourth quarter. White, who earlier had a costly fumble, then gave TCU its first lead with a punt return touchdown.
"He outkicked his coverage. I saw green and took off running," White said.
"We really want a lot of those plays back. Those long drives and a couple big plays, they caught back up really quick," Stanford defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said.
ON TO NEXT YEAR
TCU: Coach Gary Patterson has his program humming with 40 wins over the last four seasons, and the Horned Frogs expect to remain Big 12 title contenders even as Hill moves on after his final game. The Horned Frogs will have to find a new quarterback, but Patterson's teams always play some of the best defense in the league.
Stanford: Love will have to decide his future and whether that will mean another year of school for the biology major and aspiring pediatrician with an interest in stem cell research, or a jump to the NFL. The trend has seen top players leave early, but Love already bucked the latest fad by choosing to play in his team's bowl game as he ponders his decision.
Coach David Shaw said this week he hopes Love will return next season. If he does, pencil in the Cardinal as a Pac-12 favorite again.
"A lot of guys have some decisions to make, whether they will leave or not. But I'm so excited about what we have coming back on this football team," Shaw said. "I think we'll make a huge jump."
UP NEXT
Stanford hosts San Diego State on Sept. 1, 2018.
TCU hosts Southern in its 2018 opener.
Oklahoma State: 2016 Alamo Bowl Champions
SAN ANTONIO -- Mason Rudolph passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns and No. 13 Oklahoma State's defense smothered No. 11 Colorado in a 38-8 Alamo Bowl victory Thursday night that gave the Cowboys their fifth 10-win season in seven years.
James Washington caught nine passes for 171 yards and a touchdown before leaving in the third quarter with an apparent hand injury. Rudolph and Washington have already announced they will return for their senior seasons, putting the Cowboys (10-3) among the favorites to win the Big 12.
Rudolph even set up Oklahoma State's first touchdown when he caught a throw-back pass for 24 yards. His 5-yard TD pass to Washington made it 17-0 in the second quarter. Rudolph had scoring throws to Blake Jarwin and Jhajuan Seales in the third to make it 31-0.
Colorado's best season in more than a decade -dubbed "The Rise" -- ended with a thud: consecutive losses in the Pac-12 title game and the program's first bowl appearance since 2007.
Sefo Liufau passed for 195 yards and ran for a touchdown for the Buffaloes (10-4), but was sidelined for part of the second and third quarters after limping off after a sack.
THE TAKEAWAY
Colorado: Thrust into the play-calling role for the bowl game, Colorado's safeties coach Joe Tumpkin had a tall order in trying to keep up with Oklahoma State's head coach and offensive guru Mike Gundy. The Buffaloes were solid in the first half but had no answer for Washington, who easily beat all-Pac-12 cornerback Chidobe Awuzie on several catches. The defense eventually gave out in the second as the Cowboys piled on the points.
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys delivered one of the best defensive performances from a Big 12 team all season. The Cowboys play in a league where the touchdowns seem to fly by the minute. Against Colorado, the Cowboys beat up the Buffaloes quarterbacks and gave up a few big plays but didn't break near the goal line.
UP NEXT
Colorado: The Buffaloes won't be a surprise story in 2017 and will have to follow their big season without their senior quarterback Liufau and eight senior starters on defense. Colorado opens 2017 against Colorado State in Denver on Sept. 2.
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys expect to be a big factor in the Big 12 in 2017 with Rudolph and Washington leading the way. Their season opener is Sept. 2 at home against Tulsa.
TCU Horned Frogs: 2016 Alamo Bowl Champions
After trailing Oregon 31–0 at halftime of the Alamo Bowl, the TCU Horned Frogs staged an incredible rally, scoring 31 unanswered points of their own to match the largest comeback in bowl-game history, force overtime, and eventually go on to win a 47–41 thriller.
Trailing by three late in the fourth and looking to cap off an incredible second half performance, the Horned Frogs drove the field effectively but were stopped at Oregon’s five yard-line and forced to kick a field goal. The kick tied the game at 31, and more chaos ensued.
TCU’s Bram Kohlhausen found Emanuel Porter in the back of the end zone on the first drive of overtime, followed by an extra point for a 37–31 lead. The Ducks responded on the following drive, with Jeff Lockie finding Royce Freeman on a critical fourth-and-four for a first down. The play set up Freeman’s third rushing touchdown and tied the game.
Oregon received the ball next, but was unable to gain positive yardage on their first set of downs. Aidan Schneider kicked a 44-yard field goal for the 41–38 lead, positioning TCU to win it with a touchdown. Two incomplete passes and a big stop by the Ducks forced a 46-yard attempt by TCU’s Jaden Oberkrom to tie things at 41.
In the third overtime, TCU ran the ball successfully with Aaron Green on its first two plays and scored a touchdown on an option-style run by Kohlhausen along the right side of the field to take a 47–41 lead. But the Horned Frogs could not convert the two-point try that followed, leaving the door open for Oregon.
And that was where it ended, with the Ducks coming up incomplete on fourth-and-eight, following a muffed snap on third down by Lockie.
Kohlhausen, quarterbacking the Horned Frogs in place of suspended Trevone Boykin, completed 28 of 45 passes for 351 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for two scores and added 45 yards on the ground. Aaron Green led TCU with 101 rushing yards and a touchdown.
After a strong start, Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams was injured in the second quarter and replaced by Lockie, who completed 7 of 16 passes for 36 yards. Freeman carried 26 times for 130 yards and three scores for the Ducks.
The Horned Frogs at one point scored 37 unanswered points, and with the win completed the largest comeback in FBS play this season, surpassing Rutgers’ 25-point comeback win over Indiana. It was the first triple-overtime bowl game since Penn State’s 26–23 win over Florida State in the 2006 Orange Bowl.
- Jeremy Woo
UCLA: 2015 Alamo Bowl Champions
SAN ANTONIO -- Even with a 31-6 halftime lead, UCLA coach Jim Mora knew the Bruins had a lot of work to do to finish off Kansas State in the Valero Alamo Bowl.
"We're playing the 11th-ranked team in the country, and it's not going to be easy," Mora said. "You know they're going to fight back. If they don't fight back, they don't deserve to be No. 11."
The No. 14 Bruins held on, beating the Wildcats 40-35 on Friday night.
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder bristled at the thought that TV broadcasters might say the same thing about his Wildcats that they did about Florida State in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.
"We had a TV announcer indicate in another ballgame that a football team had quit, and that's the last thing in the world anybody wants to hear on national TV, I assure you," Snyder said. "I reminded our youngsters of it, that we weren't about to let somebody say that about us. And they didn't."
Kansas State (9-4) scored 22 of the first 25 points in the second half, cutting it to 34-28 on quarterback Jake Waters' 1-yard run with 4:54 left.
Paul Perkins countered for UCLA (10-3) with a 67-yard run with 2:20 to go.
"That hole was huge. Anybody could have run through it," said Perkins, who ran for 194 yards on 20 carries. "And on the kick, I just wanted to secure the ball and get us out of here with the win."
The Wildcats weren't finished.
Waters threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett with 1:21 left, but Perkins recovered the onside kick for UCLA and the Bruins ran out the clock.
"Our players didn't give in," Snyder said. "Fought back. It wasn't enough."
Mora and Snyder had an awkward exchange on the field after the game. Apparently upset that Kansas State took a timeout and hit Bruins quarterback Brett Hundley as he kneeled to down the ball on the final play, Mora quickly turned away from Snyder after barely shaking hands, then went back and got into an animated chat.
It has been a week of big comebacks at bowl games. Michigan State trailed Baylor by 20 in the fourth quarter at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and won 42-41. Earlier Friday, Houston scored 29 points in the fourth quarter to beat Pittsburgh 35-34 in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Waters was 31-of-48 for 338 yards but was sacked seven times -- twice by Butkus Award winnerEric Kendricks -- and threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
Lockett had 13 catches for 164 yards for Kansas State.
Hundley ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, and passed for 136 yards. Mora has said Hundley is forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
UCLA raced to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, with Hundley scoring on runs of 10 and 28 yards. The Bruins outgained Kansas State 218-4 and had a 9-1 edge in first downs in the quarter.
In the second quarter, Perkins had a 32-yard touchdown run and Hundley threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Devin Lucien. The Bruins sacked Waters five times in the half.
"By my count, we left 28 points on the field in the first half," Snyder said. "That's our fault."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Oregon: 2013 Alamo Bowl Champions
SAN ANTONIO — Mack Brown's finish at Texas was somehow fitting. The end came mercifully, with his overmatched Texas team beaten soundly – but not embarrassed – by Oregon, 30-7 Alamo Bowl.
A 16-year tenure fizzled in the last few years in large part because of a dearth of good quarterback play. Monday night, it was more of the same – right from the start. On the third play, Case McCoy's pass bounced off a receiver's hands, was intercepted by safety Avery Patterson, who returned it 37 yards for a touchdown.
And although Oregon didn't quite steamroll the Longhorns. the Ducks were in control most of the way from that point. Midway through the fourth quarter, another McCoy interception was returned for a touchdown, stretching the Ducks' lead to 30-7.
Fans wore burnt orange shirts with the message "THANKS MACK." As it played "One Day More" from Les Miserables, the Texas marching band spelled out "MACK BROWN." Even Bevo, the mascot, wore "MACK" on his halter.
New Texas athletic director Steve Patterson, while deflecting questions about his search for Brown's replacement – except to say he wanted a hire by the time recruiting reopens Jan. 15 – praised Brown and said he hoped for a nice ending.
"Mack's had a great 16-year career here," Patterson said before the game. "He brought a national championship. He's operated with class – no issues in terms of recruiting or academics or ethics. We'd all love to see him go out with a win."
None of it mattered. As 65,918 watched at the Alamodome, Texas fell to 8-5. Since losing to Alabama in the 2010 BCS national championship game, the Longhorns' cumulative record is 30-21 in the last four seasons. Texas is 4-16 in its past 20 games against Top 25 opponents.
Oregon (11-2) wasn't as smooth as it can be. But sophomore quarterback Marcus Mariota appeared to have recovered from a knee injury that hampered him and the Ducks' offense in November. He rushed for 134 yards on 15 carries and was 18 of 26 for 253 yards and a touchdown. In the first half, he accounted for 262 of Oregon's 296 total yards; the Ducks led 20-7.
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