COLLEGE FOOTBALL Hawaii earns a bowl bid with rally over Spartans

California beat Southern Miss, but was passed by Texas in the BCS standings.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU -- Chad Owens caught four touchdown passes, including three in the second half, and Hawaii rallied to defeat Michigan State 41-38 Saturday night to earn a berth in the Hawaii Bowl.
Owens, who had five TDs in Hawaii's 49-41 win against Northwestern last weekend, finished with 13 catches for 283 yards.
In a thrilling showdown that featured 1,134 yards of offense, the Warriors (7-5) came back from a 28-14 halftime deficit behind the play of Timmy Chang.
The NCAA career passing leader was 29-of-49 for 416 yards. He also scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter as Hawaii became bowl eligible and will face Alabama-Birmingham in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.
On fourth-and-goal from a half-yard out, Chang took a big hit and dove for the touchdown to give Hawaii its first lead, 34-31 with 9:22 remaining.
On the ensuing kickoff, DeAndrea Cobb had a 98-yard touchdown return called back because of a block-in-the-back penalty. Earlier in the game, Cobb had a 75-yard TD run negated by a holding penalty.
Cobb ran for 128 yards on 16 carries against the nation's worst rushing defense.
But it was Owens' night to shine for Hawaii.
The 5-foot-7 playmaker, who had seven receptions for 143 yards in the first half, had touchdown receptions of 36, 51, 9 and 16 yards.
His third score of the night, a fade route to the left corner of the end zone, gave Hawaii the opportunity to tie Michigan State at 28. But the Warriors were called for a holding penalty on their extra-point attempt, moving the ball back and forcing them to kick again. A false start moved it back another five yards.
Kevin Vickerson blocked Justin Ayat's second try, preserving Michigan State's lead at 28-27.
Dave Rayner booted a 49-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give the Spartans a 31-27 advantage and set the stage for Hawaii.
Michigan State, which ended its season at 6-6, was led by quarterback Drew Stanton who finished 22-of-32 for 330 yards and a touchdown.
No. 4 California 26,Southern Miss. 16
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- J.J. Arrington ran for 261 yards, Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and No. 4 California scored on a bizarre special-teams play Saturday night.
Arrington, the nation's fourth-leading rusher, surpassed the 100-yard mark for the school-record 11th straight game for the Golden Bears (10-1), who learned Sunday their closer-than-expected victory had cost them their first Rose Bowl bid since 1959.
The Bears finished fifth in the final Bowl Championship Series standings, falling behind Texas, which earned a trip to Pasadena, Calif., to play Michigan.
Rodgers was 15-for-28 for 223 yards for Cal, which had 546 total yards and finished with 10 regular-season wins for the first time since 1949.
Southern Miss, a 24-point underdog, pulled to 17-16 on Dustin Almond's 1-yard touchdown run with 5:56 to play.
But Darren McCaleb's potential game-tying extra-point attempt was blocked by Thomas DeCoud. Wendell Hunter returned it 85 yards for two points, giving Cal a 19-16 lead.
Arrington then ran 56 yards up the middle to set up Marshawn Lynch's game-sealing 12-yard touchdown run with 4:51 left.
Almond threw for a career-high 304 yards on 17 of 37 passing for Southern Miss (6-5), which plays North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 14.