RECAPS OF SATURDAY’S BOWL GAMES

LAS VEGAS BOWL

No. 19 Fresno State 31, Arizona State 20

LAS VEGAS

Ronnie Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, Anthoula “Tank” Kelly had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown and No. 19 Fresno State beat Arizona State. Marcus McMaryion rushed for a touchdown and was 15-of-29 passing for 176 yards to help the Bulldogs (12-2) set a school record for wins in a season. He also threw two interceptions. Eno Benjamin rushed for 118 yards a one touchdown for the Sun Devils (7-6) in their third straight bowl loss. Manny Wilkins threw for 129 yards, with a 3-yard scoring pass to Kyle Williams and two interceptions. Rivers put Fresno State back in front 24-20 with a 68-yard touchdown run up the middle in the third quarter and had a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal Fresno State’s second win over a Pac-12 opponent this season. Wilkins sustained an apparent knee injury on the final pass of his college career, which was intercepted by Juju Hughes. Benjamin set the record with a 13-yard run in the second quarter, passing Woody Green’s mark of 1,565 yards rushing in 1972.

CAMELLIA BOWL

Georgia Southern 23, Eastern Michigan 21

MONTGOMERY, ALA.

Tyler Bass kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Georgia Southern a victory over Eastern Michigan. Shai Werts kept the winning drive alive with a 29-yard scramble on fourth-and-10. Bass came on for his third field goal after Wesley Fields’ two runs pushed Georgia Southern (10-3) 7 yards closer. Bass also made a 50-yarder on the final play of the first half. Eastern Michigan (7-6) had delivered its own big fourth-down play to take the lead for the first time. Mike Glass threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Arthur Jackson with 3:33 left on fourth-and-4, followed by Chad Ryland’s extra point. Georgia Southern took over at its own 25 with a triple-option offense that attempted fewer passes than every FBS team but Army. Werts completed a 15-yard pass to tight end Ellis Richardson, but Georgia Southern fittingly covered most of the 52 yards with runs. Werts ran for 79 yards and two first-half touchdowns while completing 4 of 7 passes for 33 yards to receive Most Valuable Player honors. Wesley Kennedy III gained 107 yards on nine carries. Eastern Michigan’s Glass completed 17 of 25 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yarder to Jackson on the opening play of the second half. He had missed the final two games of the regular season with a right leg injury and had only two previous starts. Glass found Jackson in the back of the end zone to cap a 16-play, 75-yard drive that consumed more than six minutes. As it turns out, it left too much time on the clock.

CURE BOWL

Tulane 41, Louisiana-Lafayette 24

ORLANDO, FLA.

Darius Bradwell rushed for a career-best 150 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tulane to its first postseason victory in 16 years, a win over intrastate rival Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cure Bowl. Justin McMillan improved to 5-1 as the Green Wave’s starting quarterback, tossing a first-quarter TD pass to Terren Encalade and running for a late score while accounting for 217 yards total offense — 145 passing and 72 rushing. Bradwell scored on runs of 15 and 4 yards while setting bowl records for rushing attempts (35) and yards for Tulane (7-6), which won a bowl game for the first time since the 2002 Hawaii Bowl. The Green Wave also got a rushing TD from Amare Jones and outgained the Ragin’ Cajuns 337 yards to 84 on the ground. Lousiana-Lafayette (7-7) rallied from a 24-7 deficit to pull within three points on Jarrod Jackson’s 15-yard TD reception with just over 10 minutes remaining. McMillan put the game away, leading a 75-yard drive Bradwell finished with his second TD and later scoring himself on a 16-yard run that put Tulane up 41-24. Andre Nunez completed 8 of 17 passes for 136 yards and one TD, however Louisiana-Lafayette’s productive running tandem of Trey Ragas and Elijah Mitchell were not a factor after falling behind early. Tulane won four of five down the stretch in the regular season to not only qualify for its first bowl berth in five years, but also finished with a winning record (5-3) in conference play for the first time since 2014. McMillan was one of the keys, providing consistent quarterback play while throwing for more than 1,100 yards and accounting for 13 touchdowns — nine passing and four rushing. The graduate transfer from LSU, where he appeared on only two games from 2015-17, was 11 of 18 passing with one interception Saturday.

NEW MEXICO BOWL

Utah State 52, North Texas 13

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Jordan Love threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns and Jalen Greene had six catches for 151 yards and a score to help Utah State rout North Texas. Interim coach Frank Maile directed the Aggies (11-2) after Matt Wells left to take the Texas Tech job. Love completed 21 of 43 passes with one interception. D.J. William had two interceptions, helping Utah State ground high-flying North Texas (9-4). Aaren Vaughns caught two passes for 109 yards and two scores for the Aggies, Gerold Bright ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and Darwin Thompson added 93 yards on 21 carries. North Texas quarterback Mason Fine was injured in the first quarter, and the Mean Green ended up using four quarterbacks. Jalen Guyton had four catches for 103 yards a score.

CELEBRATION BOWL

North Carolina A&T 24, Alcorn State 22

ATLANTA

Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns and Malik Wilson returned a kickoff for the game-sealing touchdown as North Carolina A&T held off Alcorn State, and the Aggies captured their second straight HBCU national championship and third in four years. Raynard did most of his damage in the first half with touchdown passes of 17 yards to Zachary Leslie and 27 yards to Elijah Bell as North Carolina A&T (10-2) built a 17-3 lead in the second quarter. Alcorn State (9-4) stormed back in the third quarter. De’Shawn Waller tallied 116 of his 167 rushing yards on just four carries in the period while playing about six miles east of where he grew up. The Braves pulled within 17-16 on a 30-yard touchdown run by quarterback Noah Johnson, the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, and a 29-yard field goal with 51 seconds left in the quarter. Johnson rushed for 120 yards and passed for 128. Wilson countered immediately, fielding the short kickoff on the left side of the field. He took off diagonally toward the middle and then cut up the right sideline for a 79-yard score. It was the senior’s school-record fourth kickoff return for a touchdown this season alongside scores of 98, 99 and 100 yards.

Associated Press