Auburn prevails by 3 in OT; Oregon romps in Sun Bowl

Kentucky defeated Florida State in the Music City Bowl.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA — Auburn freshman quarterback Kodi Burns threw for a touchdown and scored on a 7-yard run in overtime to lead Auburn to a 23-20 victory over Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl Monday night.

After Mark Buchholz kicked a 25-yard field goal on Clemson’s opening possession of overtime, Burns scored on a spinning run on a third-and-3 play.

Auburn’s starting quarterback, Brandon Cox, ran for a first down on a fourth-and-1 play from the 16 to keep Auburn’s overtime possession alive.

Cullen Harper was only 12-for-29 passing for 91 yards as Clemson was held to 11 first downs and 276 yards in regulation.

Burns played behind Cox as Auburn played its first game in the spread offense installed by new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who was hired after the regular season.

Sun Bowl

EL PASO, Texas — Jonathan Stewart set a Sun Bowl record with a career-high 253 yards rushing and Justin Roper threw four touchdown passes in his first start as Oregon beat South Florida, 56-21.

The Ducks (9-4) scored 28 straight points in the third quarter to snap a four-game postseason losing streak. Oregon made it look easy against the Bulls (9-4) in a matchup of teams that were ranked No. 2 during the season.

The Ducks won for the first time since losing quarterback Dennis Dixon to a knee injury in November, snapping a three-game losing streak even though they set a Sun Bowl record with 138 penalty yards.

Roper started the scoring avalanche with a 14-yard TD strike to Jaison Williams and added a 15-yard scoring pass to Ed Dickson.

On the next play from scrimmage, Walter Thurmond stepped in front of a pass by South Florida’s Matt Grothe and returned it 25 yards for another TD, giving the Ducks a 39-14 lead midway through the third.

Grothe had another interception on the ensuing possession, the first of two for Oregon’s Jairus Byrd, setting up Roper’s 8-yard TD pass to Stewart.

On that drive, Stewart got free on a 16-yard gain, breaking the previous Sun Bowl record of 197 yards rushing set in 1977 by LSU’s Charles Alexander in a 24-14 loss to Stanford.

Just like that, Oregon’s 18-14 halftime lead had swelled to 46-14.

Music City Bowl

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Andre Woodson threw four TD passes against a depleted Florida State defense, and Kentucky handed Bobby Bowden his first bowl loss in December, 35-28.

Kentucky hadn’t ended back-to-back seasons with bowl wins since 1951-52, but the Wildcats pulled off the feat in Nashville one year after surprising Clemson.

Florida State was playing three dozen players short due to injuries and suspensions stemming from an academic cheating scandal.

Humanitarian Bowl

BOISE, Idaho — Clifton Smith rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns, Tom Brandstater threw for a score and ran for another as Fresno State beat Georgia Tech, 40-28.

Fresno State’s offense was surprisingly unstoppable against a Yellow Jackets (7-6) defense that was among the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After punting on its opening possession, the Bulldogs (9-4) scored 27 straight points, taking a 34-14 lead midway through the third quarter.

Armed Forces Bowl

FORT WORTH, Texas — DeSean Jackson and Robert Jordan returned from their first-quarter benchings and caught touchdown passes to help California rally from a three-TD deficit to defeat Air Force, 42-36.

California (7-6), ranked No. 2 in the nation in October before losing six of seven games, managed to finish with its sixth straight winning season.

Helped by a botched kickoff, Air Force (9-4) led 21-0 after scoring twice in a 2-minute span early in the second quarter — before Jackson and Jordan even got on the field.

Independence Bowl

SHREVEPORT, La. — John Parker Wilson completed 13 of his first 15 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns and Alabama raced to a four-touchdown lead, then held off Colorado 30-24.

Colorado’s attempt at a multi-lateral play as time expired collapsed shy of midfield, ending the game.

Alabama (7-6) stopped a four-game losing streak and avoided consecutive losing seasons for the first time in 50 years. Colorado (6-7) finished below .500 for the second straight year.

Insight Bowl

TEMPE, Ariz. — Zac Robinson threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, leading Oklahoma State past Indiana. 49-33.

A sophomore making his 11th college start, Robinson completed 24 of 34 passes for 302 yards. He also threw an interception.