FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Quarterback Brad Jackson threw for 173 yards and three touchdowns, plus ran in another score on the ground for Texas State in a 41-10 win over Rice in the Armed Forces Bowl on Friday.
Showing posts with label armed forces bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label armed forces bowl. Show all posts
Navy: 2024 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas -- — Blake Horvath set a Navy record with a 95-yard touchdown run and then scored a go-ahead 6-yarder with 4:34 left as the Midshipmen overcame an early two-touchdown deficit and stopped a late 2-point conversion attempt to beat Oklahoma 21-20 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Friday.
The Sooners (6-7) got a 10-yard touchdown pass from Michael Hawkins Jr. to Jake Roberts with six seconds left. They then went for the win, but Hawkins was sacked by Justin Reed on the conversion try.
“It was a great play that I was able to make,” Reed said, quickly crediting the rest of the defense. “We just made sure that we stayed composed after them just getting that touchdown.”
Just two weeks after a dominating win over Army for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, the Midshipmen (10-3) reached 10 wins for the sixth time. The last 10-win season had been in 2019, which had been their last winning season.
“Well, it’s the perfect ending,” second-year Navy head coach Brian Newberry said. “You’re down 14-0, I think it kind of symbolizes everything that these guys have been through, especially the seniors, symbolizes how things started. Things looked bleak, things weren’t going great, adversity and they kept scratching and clawing and fighting.”
Horvath's record run on a sprint down the middle of the field tied the game at 14 late in third quarter. He then put Navy ahead for the first time on his 6-yard TD run, one play after he converted a fourth-and-3 with a 16-yard pass to Eli Heidenrich.
“I thought if we go score right there, that might be the difference in the game. And it was,” Newberry said of going for it on fourth down in that 12-play, 66-yard drive that took 7 1/2 minutes.
Horvath ran 18 times for 155 yards, and completed 7 of 12 passes for 92 yards. Alex Tecza had an 11-yard TD run for the Midshipmen.
Oklahoma went up after Gavin Sawchuk’s 21-yard TD on the opening drive, when he had 37 yards after only 61 in his other eight games this season. It was 14-0 with 5:56 left in the first quarter after Hawkins rolled left, reversed field and got almost to the other side of the field before throwing to Zion Kearney for a 56-yard catch-and-run TD.
“Came out pretty strong, but second quarter I think we got a little relaxed ... we weren't together as a team,” Hawkins said. “We got back on track after that, but going into a game like this, you have to stay on track the whole game.”
Oklahoma wrapped up its first season in the Southeastern Conference with their second 6-7 record in coach Brent Venables' three seasons.
The Sooners had a much different-looking roster than the regular season. More than two dozen players went into the transfer portal, and the Sooners were also without standout linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman, who bypassed playing to begin preparation for the NFL draft.
“Obviously not the year we wanted to have, but although there’s a lot of disappointment, there’s been a ton of growth,” Sooners hometown tight end Jake Roberts said. “You learn how to fight through adversity.”
The takeaway
Oklahoma: While the Sooners played in a bowl for the 26th consecutive season, they had 23 winning seasons in a row before Venables took over as head coach. ... Hawkins was hampered by at least six dropped passes while throwing to a group whose only scholarship receivers were freshmen.
Navy: The Midshipmen are 2-0 against Oklahoma, the only other meeting a 10-0 win at Norman in 1965. They beat an SEC team for the first time since a 21-0 win over Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day 1955.
Up next
Oklahoma opens Venables’ fourth season at home Aug. 30 against FCS team Illinois State. Venables has a 22-17 record.
Navy returns Horvath and all of its offensive skill starters next season, which begins Aug. 30 at home against VMI.
Air Force: 2023 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
James Madison's magical season came to an end in a not so magical way on Saturday.
The Dukes faced a 31-21 loss to Air Force in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl under interim head coach Damian Wroblewski, who took over after Curt Cignetti went to Indiana following the conclusion of the regular season.
Following the loss, college football fans called JMU fraud for going 11-1 in the regular season just to get blown out in its bowl game.
The lack of a run defense was ultimately what hurt the Dukes. James Madison gave up a whopping 340 yards on the ground, and it was more than enough for Air Force to control the game.
Now James Madison is gearing up for its third year in FBS with a new coach, Bob Chesney, at the helm. The Dukes had a positive season, but faced the reality of the challenges of FBS in their bowl game.
Air Force: 2022 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
Air Force football (10-3) capped the 2022 season with a resounding 30-15 win over Baylor (6-7) at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Thursday night at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The Falcons reached double-figures in wins for the third-straight full season.
After a close 9-7 lead at the half, the Falcons out-scored the Bears 21-8 in the second half to roll to the win.
The Falcons racked up 276 yards rushing on the ground, led by senior quarterback Haaziq Daniels and senior running back Brad Roberts. Daniels threw for two touchdowns and 103 yards passing. In addition, Daniels ran for 81 yards and one touchdown. For his efforts, Daniels took home bowl game MVP honors for the second straight season.
Roberts capped a standout season and career with his 11th 100-yard rushing game for the season, with 116 yards on 37 carries, including two touchdowns. Roberts finished the season with a school-record 1,728 yards rushing and his 17 rushing TDs tied for eighth. His 3,541 career rushing yards is third all-time at Air Force and the most by a fullback. His 35 career rushing touchdowns is third at Air Force and the most by a fullback.
After forcing a Baylor punt to start the game, Air Force scored on its first possession, grinding out a 15-play, 55-yard drive that took 8:44 off the clock to take a 6-0 lead after the extra point was blocked. Roberts capped the drive with a two-yard plunge off the right side for the touchdown.
The Falcons forced another Baylor punt and drove right back down the field to score on a 37-yard field goal by Matt Dapore to go ahead 9-0 with 1:13 to play in the first quarter.
Baylor pulled to within two points right before the half with a touchdown. The Bears drove 47 yards on six plays, capped by an eight yard touchdown pass by quarterback Blake Shapen to wide receiver Hal Presley with five seconds to play before the half to make it a 9-7 game.
Air Force re-took the momentum in the second half, opening with a touchdown on just five plays to go ahead 16-7. The Falcons went 83 yards, capped by a two-yard run by Daniels. Setting up the touchdown score was a 68-yard pass from Daniels to wide receiver Amari Terry.
The Falcons extended the lead with a touchdown after stopping Baylor on downs. Air Force went 64 yards on six plays, capped by a 15 yard touchdown pass by Daniels to tight end Caleb Rillos, to make the score 23-7.
Air Force made it 30-7 on another Roberts touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. The drive went for 42 yards on seven plays.
Baylor scored a late touchdown and converted the two-point attempt to make it 30-15. The Bears went 85 yards on four plays, capped by a 14 touchdown reception by receiver Gavin Holmes.
The Falcons recovered the onside kick with 3:34 to play and took the clock down to 22 seconds to essentially run out the clock.
Air Force held Baylor to 230 yards of offense and just 42 yards rushing. The Falcons held the ball for 40 minutes and three seconds and limited Baylor to just 19:57 with the ball.
Army: 2021 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas -- — Cole Talley kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired and Army rallied to beat Missouri 24-22 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Wednesday night.
After the Tigers took a 22-21 lead on a touchdown with 1:11 to play, third-string quarterback Jabari Laws led Army (9-4) downfield to the Missouri 24-yard line, setting up Talley's game-winner.
Talley, who went to high school about 60 miles east of Fort Worth in Rockwall, Texas, said he was thinking about the brotherhood of Army football players when he went out for the final kick.
"I'd do anything for them, and they'd do anything for me," said Talley, who missed his only two previous attempts this season from beyond 40 yards — including a 43-yard try in the first quarter.
"We trust Cole," Army coach Jeff Monken said. "What a great way for the team to end the season and these seniors to end their careers."
One of those seniors was Laws, who was the Black Knights' starting quarterback in 2019 before a knee injury sidelined him. He didn't play at all last season following a second surgery.
"I feel like I'm in a movie right now," said Laws, who was 2-of-4 passing on the final drive.
Army backup quarterback Tyhier Tyler came on after starter Christian Anderson injured an ankle late in the third quarter and threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Walters to give the Black Knights their first lead, 21-16. Anderson and JaKobi Buchanan scored on TD runs of 22 and 10 yards, respectively, for Army.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Brady Cook threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Keke Chism with 71 seconds left to put the Tigers (6-7) ahead, but his two-point conversion pass sailed over the head of an open Dawson Downing in the end zone. Cook also ran for a 30-yard score in his first collegiate start.
"I did some good things," Cook said. "Missed the throw when it mattered most."
Missouri played without second-team All-America running back Tyler Badie, who was held out by coach Eliah Drinkwitz in advance of the NFL draft. Starting quarterback Connor Bazelak was sidelined because of a leg injury.
Cook completed 27 of 34 passes for 238 yards and ran for 53 more.
Buchanan led Army in rushing with 68 yards on 21 carries. Elijah Young was the Tigers' top rusher with 75 yards on 13 carries.
In the second half, Missouri was stopped on downs at the Army 43 and lost a fumble by Downing at Army's 48.
"Obviously in the second half the turnover was huge," Drinkwitz said. "Disappointed for our team, especially our seniors. Just a difficult way to lose the game."
THE TAKEAWAY
Missouri: The Tigers were hampered going in by a short-handed secondary that then lost multiple players in the first half. Army threw one pass in the first half, good for 42 yards, and was 5 for 8 in the second half for 53 yards. The Black Knights entered 128th out of 130 FBS teams, averaging 94.8 yards passing per game.
Army: The Black Knights snapped a seven-game losing streak to Power Five teams with their first win since 2017. There were some close calls during the streak, including to Oklahoma (28-21) and Michigan (24-21).
FIVE-TOOL PLAYER?
Army senior linebacker Arik Smith was selected the game's most valuable player with 12 tackles, 2½ for loss, and two sacks. Monken was impressed by Smith's maturity as a recruit, learning on a home visit that Smith finished the family basement.
"Plumbing. Electrical. Finish work. All of it," Monken recalled. "I mean, who does that?"
UP NEXT
Missouri: After the Tigers open at Middle Tennessee State next season, they'll host former conference rival Kansas State. The season finale against Arkansas will also be at Faurot Field.
Army: The Black Knights won't face any Power Five teams next season for the first time since 2004 (except for the reworked 2020 schedule). The first two games will be against Group of Five heavyweights Coastal Carolina and UTSA, and the Army-Navy game will return to Philadelphia.
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Mississippi State: 2020 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
While Mississippi State defeated No. 24 Tulsa, 28–26, on Thursday afternoon, the final seconds of the Armed Forces Bowl saw a violent brawl take place between the two teams.
The teams met on the field following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Mississippi State, which came during a late onside kick from Tulsa. Players from both teams congregated on two distinct sides when a Mississippi State player punched a Tulsa player.
That punch led to a spiral of players from both sides scrapping with each other, and Bulldogs wide receiver Malik Heath kicked Tulsa senior safety Tieneal Martin.
Tyler Horka of The Clarion Ledger reported that Heath posted an Instagram video praising himself for the act and joked about it with his teammates in the locker room.
Then, according to a tweet posted by Heath, he felt like he was defending himself during the brawl.
As the brawl continued down the field, players continued to punch and hit each other.
Tulsa sophomore safety Kendarin Ray was helped off the field after being injured during the postgame brawl. It is not certain what started the brawl.
Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach said in a postgame interview on ESPN that he was not exactly sure what caused the brawl.
"There was something before the game, too," Leach said.
When asked what Leach would say to his players following the brawl, Leach said, "don't do it anymore".
"It is dumb and the root of it's dumb no matter what the root of it is," Leach said. "The root of it is dumb and the continuation of it is dumb. Now where the dumb started, I'm not entirely sure. It was some of that going back and forth in the game. This is a football game, we are not going to tear cloth and I am not going to lose my mind over it."
Tulsa and its conference, the AAC, later said they would review the incident.
"We take this incident very seriously and will respond appropriately after the review is complete," Tulsa said in a statement.
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco added: "We will work with the University of Tulsa to conduct a thorough review of the altercation pursuant to our Conference Code of Sportsmanship process and expect that the university will respond accordingly."
The incident marks the biggest postgame bowl fight since the infamous Miami Beach Bowl brawl that took place in 2014 when Memphis and BYU played against each other.
With the victory, Mississippi State (4-7) earned its fourth win of the 2020 season and its 14th bowl win in school history.
Tulane: 2020 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas — Justin McMillan threw three touchdown passes in the second half when Tulane rallied for a 30-13 win while renewing a rivalry against Southern Mississippi in the Armed Forces Bowl on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles (7-6) took a 13-0 lead after Jack Abraham threw a touchdown and ran for a score on their first drives, but the quarterback took a hard shot on his last snap before halftime and didn't play again. They also lost top running back De'Michael Harris to a hamstring injury in the first half.
Tulane (7-6) tied the game at 13-all on its first possession after halftime, when McMillan threw a 52-yard TD pass to Jalen McCleskey.
McMillan had a high-stepping 18-yard run to set up Merek Glover's third field goal, a tiebreaking 36-yarder, before TD passes to Jacob Robertson (7 yards) and a wide-open Amare Jones (20 yards) on the next two drives.
"A lot of bad words. We got after them," Tulane coach Willie Fritz said, describing his halftime speech to the team. "We don't want to go out like this. I'm tough on these kids sometimes, and they responded."
McMillan had only 22 yards passing at halftime, but was 9-of-10 for 193 yards after that in his final game. The former transfer from LSU won two Texas state championships playing at Cedar Hill High School, which is about 35 miles from the TCU campus where the bowl was played.
Abraham, only the third Golden Eagles quarterback with a 3,000-yard passing season, threw 44-yard touchdown to Quez Watkins and ran 3 yards for another score for the 13-0 lead.
But Abraham took a shot on a blitz by linebacker Lawrence Graham and fell hard on his shoulder on a third-down incompletion in the final minute of the first half. Abraham never returned, though he was still in uniform on the sideline after halftime.
THE TAKEAWAY
Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles had 164 total yards after their first two drives, and only 35 more the rest of the first half. Thad Whatley, the sophomore quarterback who took over for Abraham, had attempted only seven passes while appearing in two games during the regular season. He was 9-of-22 passing for 134 yards with two interceptions. Watkins finished with eight catches for 121 yards.
Tulane: A positive finish for the Green Wave after losing their last three games in the regular season. They had gotten off to a 5-1 start before back-to-back road losses in late October to Memphis and Navy.
UP NEXT
Southern Miss will open coach Jay Hopson's fifth season, after four consecutive winning seasons, Sept. 5 at home against South Alabama. Abraham, the former junior college transfer who has started 22 games the past two seasons, is expected back and could have his top three receivers: Watkins, Jaylond Adams and Tim Jones.
Tulane will have a new quarterback, possibly former Southern Miss transfer Keon Howard. The Green Wave this season went to consecutive bowls for the first time since 1979-80, but has never gone to bowl games in three consecutive seasons. They start the season with a Thursday night game at home on Sept. 3 against Southeastern Louisiana.
Army: 2018 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Army quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. initially ran right before cutting back the other way and eluding a tackler. He sent two other defenders sliding to the ground when he switched directions again and took off toward the end zone.
That nifty 77-yard run was one of his Armed Forces Bowl-record five rushing touchdowns as the No. 22 Black Knights overwhelmed Houston 70-14 on Saturday to reach 11 wins for the first time in program history.
"Just trying to get back to the line of scrimmage," Hopkins said. "There was this huge convoy of guys right there when I was running in. ... I just felt like people were on me. I thought it was Houston, and I realized it was gray jerseys. It was a really good team win."
The Black Knights' (11-2) 56-point win tied the FBS record for largest margin of victory in a bowl game, set by Tulsa in its 63-7 win over Bowling Green in the 2008 GMAC Bowl.
Army scored 70 points in a game for the first time since 1955, when it scored 81 against Furman, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The win was its ninth straight since an overtime loss at playoff team Oklahoma exactly three months earlier.
"Great, great finish to a terrific season," coach Jeff Monken said.
Houston (8-5) lost for the fourth time in five games since starting 7-1 and getting into the AP Top 25 poll for one week in late October. The injury-plagued Cougars suffered their most-lopsided loss in their 27 bowl games, and their biggest loss overall since a 66-10 loss at UCLA during the 1997 regular season.
"That's the hardest part to swallow, you're 7-1," second-year coach Major Applewhite said. "I'm proud of the way our kids fought. I'm not proud of losing the games at the end of the season the way we lost them."
Hopkins ran 11 times for 170 yards before coming out of the game midway through the third quarter when it was 49-7. He also completed the first 1,000-yard passing season for Army since 2007. He was 3-of-3 passing for 70 yards, including a 54-yarder that set up one of his three 1-yard TD plunges. He also had a 2-yard TD run.
Army got 507 of its 592 total yards on the ground in its highest-scoring game this season -- and the most points in the program's nine bowl appearances. The Black Knights won a bowl for the third consecutive year, including last year's Armed Force Bowl over San Diego State.
On the first play of the second quarter, on Houston's first snap after Hopkins' long TD run, Cameron Jones had a 23-yard fumble return for a score after James Nachtigal forced the turnover when he sacked Clayton Tune.
While Hopkins had his left arm in a sling after the game, he said he was "a little banged up" and that it was just a precaution. The junior quarterback's 77-yarder on the last play of the first quarter made it 14-0.
"He did a really good job of finding an initial opening because it was almost a busted play," Monken said. "It was not designed to go back that direction and he kind of skipped out of the way of a guy."
Tune, the true freshman filling in for injured playmaker D'Eriq King, was 21-of-32 passing for 230 yards and was sacked 10 times. He was responsible for both Houston TDs, a 3-yard pass to Romello Brooker in the second quarter and a 6-yard run with 6 1/2 minutes left.
THE TAKEAWAY
Houston: The Cougars didn't have King or NFL-bound defensive tackle Ed Oliver. King, who will be back next season, was responsible for 50 touchdowns in 11 games before knee surgery. Oliver missed four games because of a bruised right knee, then skipped the bowl game to focus on preparing for the NFL draft.
"I love Ed to death, but there were more issues than missing Ed," Applewhite said. "Give credit to Army."
Army: After a 10-loss season as freshmen, the Black Knights senior class won 29 games the past three seasons. They finished with back-to-back seasons of at least 10 wins. Army is an AP Top 25 team for the first time since 1996, the academy's only other 10-win season.
"I knew we had something special going on in our program," Monken said.
UP NEXT
Houston plays its 2019 season opener Aug. 31 at Oklahoma.
Army opens the 2019 season at home against Rice on Aug. 30.
Army: 2017 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Army coach Jeff Monken was able to joke afterward.
"We had `em all the way," Monken deadpanned.
It wasn't quite that easy for the Black Knights.
Darnell Woolfolk scored on a 1-yard run with 18 seconds left, Kell Walker converted a go-ahead 2-point run and Army added a last-play defensive touchdown for a 42-35 victory over San Diego State on Saturday in the Armed Forces Bowl.
After Rashaad Penny's fourth touchdown run of the game gave San Diego State (10-3) a 35-28 lead with 5:47 to play, Army (10-3) drove 72 yards for the tying score and winning conversion.
"It was tough, but we were confident we'd move the ball," Army quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw said.
On the Aztecs' final play, they made multiple laterals from their 40. The final lateral was grabbed by Army's Elijah Riley, who returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.
The Black Knights tied a school record for wins set by the 1996 team.
Penny ran for 221 yards, his fifth straight game of at least 200 yards. His scores came on runs of 81, on his first carry, 31, 49 and 4 yards.
Juwan Washington added the Aztecs' other touchdown on a 78-yard kickoff return in the first half's closing seconds.
"Obviously, Rashaad and Juwan had a great night," Aztecs coach Rocky Long said. "Our defense played really, really poorly. And that's coaching. So, that's my fault."
Army dominated the time of possession. The Black Knights ran 91 plays to the Aztecs' 30 and held the ball for 46:00 to San Diego State's 13:53.
"That's our brand of football," Monken said. "We don't have anybody like they have -- when you break through the line, it's six points."
Woolfolk ran for two touchdowns, and Bradshaw and Andy Davidson ran for one each.
Monken said there was no doubt the Black Knights would go for two points if they pulled within one in the closing minutes with a touchdown.
"That No. 20, Rashaad Penny -- if we went into overtime, he's going to get the ball in his hands again," Monken said. "There's no way I wanted to watch that anymore."
Walker took the pitch and raced toward the right corner of the end zone.
"Our O-line did a tremendous job," Walker said. "All I had to do was catch it and run."
THE TAKEAWAY
San Diego State: The Aztecs went into the game ranked ninth in FBS rush defense, allowing 110.4 yards per game. Army ran for 120 in the first quarter and 440 overall.
Army: The Black Knights went into the game ranked last in the FBS averaging 29.6 passing yards per game. They went 1-for-4 passing for 6 yards, including receiver Kjetil Cline throwing an interception.
RUNNING RECORDS FALL
Penny finished with a school-record 2,248 rushing yards this season, breaking the mark set last season by Donnel Pumphrey. He said afterward the record doesn't mean anything since the Aztecs finished with a loss. Penny also became the fourth FBS player ever to run for 200 yards in five straight games.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Army's seniors progressed from records of 4-8 and 2-10 during their first two seasons to 8-5 and 10-3, with two straight wins over Navy and the school's first Commander-in-Chief's Trophy since 1996.
"We flipped the script last year and built the foundation that we're still building to where 10-win seasons are now the expectation," linebacker Alex Aukerman said.
UP NEXT
San Diego State: Having produced 2,000-yard rushers each of the past two seasons, the Aztecs will look to Washington as their primary ball carrier in 2018. The 5-foot-7, 190-pounder ran for 759 yards this season as a sophomore. The Aztecs, with seven starters each returning on offense and defense, will open at Stanford on Sept. 1.
Army: While the academy's public affairs office stated two weeks ago that senior Bradshaw would spend an additional year at West Point, he said following Saturday's play: "This is my last game." The Black Knights will open at Duke on Sept. 1.
Louisiana Tech: 2016 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Louisiana Tech senior quarterback Ryan Higgins was bawling like a baby even before Jonathan Barnes' game-ending kick went through the uprights to win the Armed Forces Bowl.
"As soon as (the holder) put the ball down, I felt like the kick was money," Higgins said. "Each person that I hugged after that, it was just getting worse and worse. .... I just couldn't be happier to send my class and this team out on a high note."
Higgins threw for 409 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson, and Barnes' 32-yard field goal broke the game's fourth tie as the Bulldogs beat Navy 48-45 on Friday.
"Excellent win would be an understatement," coach Skip Holtz said.
"If you want to be a kicker, you live for that," Barnes said. "I'm lucky to be able to share it with a bunch of guys that are like my brothers."
The Bulldogs (9-5) drove for the winning score after Navy freshman quarterback Malcolm Perry ran 30 yards for a touchdown on his only play. Higgins was then 4 -for 4 for 58 yards on the final drive.
Navy (9-5), which was trying for its first consecutive 10-win seasons, instead ended with its third straight loss. The Midshipmen lost the American Athletic Conference title game before its first loss to Army since 2001.
"They made a few more plays than we did," coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
Taylor, the 5-foot-8 senior, set an Armed Forces Bowl record with his 12 catches for 233 yards, including a 51-yard TD just before halftime for a 31-24 lead, and joined Troy Edwards as the only Bulldogs with more than 4,000 career receiving yards. Henderson, a junior had 10 catches for 129 yards and finished this season with 19 TDs.
Perry, whose TD with 3:46 left tied the game at 45-45, came in after Zach Abey took a shot to the ribs on a play that led to a targeting ejection by Tech defensive tackle Jordan Bradford.
Abey, who made only his second start, ran for 114 yards and two scores and threw for 159 yards and another touchdown.
TAKEAWAY
Louisiana Tech: The Conference USA runner-up Bulldogs won their third straight bowl and reached nine wins for the third consecutive season, the first time as a Division I team to do that. After falling behind 21-17 early in the second quarter, the Bulldogs regained the lead on Henderson's 3-yard TD and never trailed again.
Navy: After being held to 270 yards rushing in the previous two losses, this was more like the Midshipmen triple-option offense. They had 459 total yards, 300 on the ground. Even so, it was a bitter end for Navy, which had won three straight bowl games -- a streak that started with an Armed Forces Bowl victory three years ago.
PENALIZED NAVY
The Midshipmen's 70 yards on penalties (seven) were their most under Niumatalolo. "We've been coaching nine years and we led the country in the least amount of penalties. I told those (officials) after this game we would be leading the country," he said. "I thought there were a lot of bad calls." Jarid Ryan had an apparent third-down interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter that was instead called pass interference.
HENDERSON HIGHLIGHTS
Both of Henderson's TDs were short (3 and 4 yards) and impressive. On his 3-yarder in the first half, he made a two-handed grab over the defender and got both feet in bounds. With just over 4 minutes left in the game, he had a leaping 4-yard catch when he reached around with his right hand for the catch in the back corner of the end zone.
HIGH MARKS
The 93 combined points made for the highest-scoring Armed Forces Bowl, surpassing California's 55-36 win over Air Force last year. ... Navy's Chris High twice had tying TD runs (24 yards and 9 yards ) on long Navy drives in the second half.
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech: After Higgins became the third senior Bulldogs QB in as many seasons to throw for more than 3,000 yards, sophomore J'Mar Smith could be starting when the Bulldogs open next season against Northwestern State. WR Taylor will be gone, but Henderson has another season of eligibility and could be a prime target.
Navy: The Midshipmen go into the offseason with their first losing streak since they had a three-game slide in the 2014 season. They have a long wait before their first chance to snap that streak, in the 2017 opener at Florida Atlantic on Sept. 2.
California Golden Bears: 2015 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas - Faced with an opportunity to craft the final chapter in a season filled with positive progress as a program, the Cal football team didn't have to look hard for a game plan when it lined up against Air Force in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Instead, a 55-36 victory over the Falcons at Amon G. Carter Stadium followed a familiar script for a Cal program that took serious strides in 2015. Yet another tremendous performance from quarterback Jared Goff paved the way and the Bears followed his lead, rolling to their eighth win of the season for the first time since 2009.
As was often the case for the Bears this year, Goff was the main character in Cal's story of success, completing 25 of 37 passes for 467 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions to earn game MVP honors. Along the way, he set Pac-12 single season records for passing touchdowns (43) and yards (4,719) while setting a Cal bowl record and tying his career high for touchdowns in a single game. His touchdown total also tied for second-most in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl history.
Goff's focus wasn't confined to one or two main targets. Kenny Lawler found the end zone three times, hauling in five passes for 75 yards while senior Bryce Treggs made his final collegiate game a memorable one with four catches for 143 yards and a touchdown. Fellow senior Darius Powe caught two touchdown passes and nine different Bears caught a pass and Cal (8-5) racked up 586 yards of total offense while breaking the school record for points in a bowl game of 52 (2003 Insight Bowl vs. Virginia Tech).
"I thought the way we played today was really indicative of the way we practiced leading up to the game," Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. "I was really pleased with the way we focused. We started practicing the week after the Arizona State game. And it's a long way away when you start thinking about practicing. You have about a month between that game and this game. And we've got to give our guys a lot of credit, because they had the right mentality. They came out and practiced hard every day. They were real focused, and I thought we played that way as a result. So, again, it was nice to see them prepare the way they did."
Air Force (8-6) kept pace with the Bears into the second quarter, trading scores with Cal to keep the score a manageable 14-all with a few minutes gone in the period. But, as the Falcons tried to grind out yards with their triple-option attack, Cal countered with its full arsenal of big play threats.
A 5-yard touchdown pass from Goff to Powe, followed by an over the shoulder dime to Lawler for a 24-yard score put Cal up 28-14. After a long drive by Air Force resulted in a 1-yard touchdown sneak by quarterback Karson Roberts, Goff fired a 55-yard strike to Treggs that set up a 14-yard pitch and catch to Lawler that made it 35-21 Bears at intermission.
Cal's attack kept rolling without much resistance in the third quarter. Goff connected with Powe again for a 12-yard touchdown pass, Matt Anderson added a 29-yard field goal and Lawler snagged a 25-yard pass for his third touchdown of the day to push the score to 52-29. In the process, Lawler also continued to move upward in the Cal career record book, tying for second in career touchdown receptions with 27 as well as single-season touchdown receptions with 13.
"The guys got open and made it a lot easier for me," Goff said. "The O‑line started to protect really well. And I'm just sitting back there, like you said, playing pitch and catch. And, when they're that open, I don't want to say it's easy. But it's not as hard as it would be if you had to fit one in there."
Anderson finished the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 30-yard field goal, capping a 14-play drive that took almost eight minutes off the clock to seal the victory. The bowl win is Cal's first since a 24-17 win over Miami in the 2008 Emerald Bowl and is the Bears' second over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, joining a 42-36 win over the Falcons in 2007. It also gave Cal eight wins in a season for just the 11th time since 1952.
"Credit to these coaches for really just instilling a belief and holding everyone accountable," said safety Stefan McClure. "And it showed with the improvements over the each of the past two seasons. So just a great honor to really be a part of this team and just show how much hard work really pays off. And now we're sitting here with eight wins, and the program is in great hands and looking forward to see what these guys are going to do next year."
Houston: 2015 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
Down by 25 in the fourth quarter, with nothing to play for except school pride and a better showing for their interim head coach, Houston staged a memorable rally in Friday’s Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Deontay Greenberry’s 2-point conversion catch with 59 seconds left gave the Cougars a 35-34 victory against Pittsburgh on a soggy and chilly day before an announced crowd of 37,888 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The 25-point comeback is largest ever in a bowl game that did not go to overtime.
“Holy cow, I tell you what, these guys, they continue to fight,” said Houston interim coach David Gibbs, who was a place-holder coach Friday as was Pitt’s Joe Rudolph. “And it’s amazing because we’ve, obviously both teams, had some adversity, coaching changes and all that. And these guys kept plugging.”
Trailing 31-6 early in the fourth quarter, Houston began its comeback, scoring 29 points in the final quarter.
Down 34-20 with 3:41 left, Houston recovered back-to-back onside kicks that led to their final two scores. Cougars running back Kenneth Farrow, from Hurst L.D. Bell, recovered the second one.
“We had to get it, man, we had to get it,” said Farrow, who was named the Houston MVP for the game. “We knew it wasn’t over until it was over. We just kept grinding it out. We got it, man. It was just hard work.”
Farrow rushed for 103 yards on 22 carries, and scored twice, including early in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been in a lot of games like that where we had to come back,” Farrow said. “We’ve been in three games where we lost on the last play of the game. We needed this one. We came out here and we got it.”
Farrow’s recovery of the onside kick led to a 25-yard touchdown pass from Greg Ward Jr. to Greenberry, and the Cougars wideout followed that with the 2-point catch.
“We’ve been through a lot of games where we were coming from behind and we got close, but we just couldn’t finish it,” Greenberry said. “Just like coach Gibbs said. It’s all about just never quitting.”
Gibbs, the Cougars’ defensive coordinator until Tony Levine was fired last month, said a PAT kick was never an option.
“We made a decision that day at practice that if it came down to the end of the game, we were going for two, no matter what,” Gibbs said. “There was no decision. They knew three weeks ago.”
Houston’s spread offense struggled, until the fourth quarter when the Cougars reeled off 292 yards on 26 plays, including the game-ending kneel-down.
“They’re a big, physical football team,” Gibbs said. “I don’t think they’re accustomed to playing that kind of spread offense with our speed and our skill.”
The Panthers had one last shot to win it, but four incomplete passes from midfield ended the threat. Houston defensive end Eric Eiland pressured Pitt quarterback and team MVP Chad Voytik into a poor attempt on fourth down.
“It’s been a bowl season where you’ve seen some comebacks,” Rudolph said. “And, obviously, this isn’t the side of it you want to be on. We need to make a play there in the end.
“You’ve got to respond by making a play, and we just weren’t able to do it.”
Navy: 2013 Armed Forces Bowl Champions
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Keenan Reynolds ran for 86 yards with two more touchdowns and Navy won for only the second time its last seven bowl games, beating Middle Tennessee State 24-6 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Monday.
Reynolds had a 3-yard score to cap the opening drive for Navy (9-4) and added a 1-yarder in the fourth quarter. Already with the NCAA record for touchdowns rushing by a quarterback, Reynolds upped his total to 31 to match Colorado State running back Kapri Bibbs, also a sophomore, for the national lead this season.
Middle Tennessee (8-5) was held to a season low in points. The Blue Raidersfinished the regular season with a five-game winning streak, averaging nearly 43 points a game in that stretch -- since a 34-7 loss on Oct. 12 at North Texas, about 40 miles away from the TCU campus where the bowl was played.
The Midshipmen overcame two fumbles by Reynolds, their first turnovers in six games. Both came after Navy got inside the 20 and were recovered by T.T. Barber, though the Blue Raiders failed to convert either into points.
Barber knocked loose one ball after tackling Reynolds, jumping over the quarterback to pounce on it late in the first half. The other came late in the third quarter when the Midshipmen drove from their own 6 to the MTSU 14 after stopping Middle Tennessee short on a fourth-and-2.
Reynolds, who finished the season with 1,346 yards rushing leading the triple option offense, had lost only two fumbles during the regular season.
Navy won its fifth straight.
Down 10-6 at halftime, the Blue Raiders drove to the Navy 7 on the opening drive of the second half. They opted to go for it on fourth down instead of trying a short field goal. But fullback Corey Carmichael managed only a yard before getting taken down by Travis Bridges and George Jamison, who also had an interception.
The Midshipmen never trailed after 10 rushing plays on their opening drive, capped by Reynolds' first touchdown. Nick Sloan made a 32-yard field goal, and DeBrandon Sanders added a 41-yard TD run for Navy, which had 366 yards rushing.
Cody Clark kicked a 43-yard field goal on Middle Tennessee's first drive. He later made a 24-yarder.
There was a scary moment in the final minute before halftime when Middle Tennessee receiver Marcus Henry and Navy cornerback Lonnie Richardson each crumpled to the ground after a hard tackle. Players from both teams quickly motioned to the sideline, and trainers sprinted to the players.
Henry and Richardson were side-by-side on the ground surrounded by their respective teammates and medical personnel. Both eventually sat up, then got up and walked gingerly off the field with help.
Richardson was a second-teamer pressed into extra duty after the ejection of senior safety Wave Ryder for a borderline targeting penalty midway through the second quarter. Ryder appeared to make shoulder-to-shoulder contact on the hit of receiver Tavarres Jefferson at the end of a 22-yard gain, but officials upheld Ryder's ejection after the automatic review of the play.
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