Garrison Rippa kicked a 27-yard field goal in overtime as Jacksonville State rallied late to defeat Louisiana 34-31 in the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday in the Superdome.
The Gamecocks finished the season 9-4 after winning their first bowl game in their second season as an FBS program. Zion Webb threw a game-tying touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to help JSU overcome three defensive touchdowns by the Ragin’ Cajuns (6-7).
Louisiana’s Kenneth Almendares was wide left on a 43-yard field-goal attempt on the first possession of overtime, setting the stage for the game-winner.
Jalen Clark had fumble and interception returns for first-half touchdowns and Tyree Skipper added a tiebreaking pick-6 for Louisiana, which got 155 passing yards from Chandler Fields.
Webb passed for 156 yards with two interceptions and Ron Wiggins rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown. Webb’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Perry Carter on fourth-and-3 tied the score with 1:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Myrtle Beach Bowl: Ohio 41, Georgia Southern 21
Rickey Hunt rushed for four touchdowns and was on the receiving end of another as the Bobcats beat the Eagles in Conway, S.C.
Hunt entered the game with six carries for 19 yards on the season, but he broke out on Saturday with the Bobcats’ top two running backs inactive after entering the transfer portal. His five touchdowns set a single-game program record.
Ohio (10-3) received 133 total yards of offense (115 rushing, 18 receiving) from Hunt against Georgia Southern, which finished 6-7. Davis Brin threw for 350 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions on 32-for-42 passing for the Eagles.
Independence Bowl: Texas Tech 34, California 14
Behren Morton passed for 256 yards and three touchdowns to help the Red Raiders notch a victory over the Golden Bears at Shreveport, La.
Tahj Brooks rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and became the fifth player in Red Raiders history to rush for over 1,500 yards in a season. He finishes the campaign with 1,542 yards. Coy Eakin caught seven passes for 106 yards and a touchdown for Texas Tech (7-6), which scored the game’s final 27 points.
Fernando Mendoza completed 22 of 33 passes for 284 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for Cal (6-7). Star Jaydn Ott rushed for a score but had just 42 yards on 15 carries.
Cure Bowl: Appalachian State 13, Miami (Ohio) 9
The Mountaineers relied mostly on defense to defeat the RedHawks in a rainy mess in Orlando, Fla.
Joey Aguilar ran for Appalachian State’s only touchdown and threw for 211 yards with an interception as the Mountaineers (9-5) improved to 7-1 all-time in bowls.
Miami (11-3) moved into Appalachian State territory on its final possession, but Ronald Clarke recovered a fumble with 2:34 left to snuff that threat. The RedHawks were held to 227 yards of total offense.
New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State 37, New Mexico State 10
Mikey Keene threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs walloped the Aggies in Albuquerque, N.M.
Keene completed 31 of 39 passes with an interception. He also contributed a rushing touchdown for Fresno State (9-4), which looked more like the team that was ranked in the top 25 earlier in the season instead of the one that limped into the bowl with a three-game losing streak.
New Mexico State (10-5) won 10 games for just the second time in school history but couldn’t compete with its Mountain West Conference foe. Diego Pavia completed only 11 of 25 passes for just 58 yards, although he did rush for 74 yards and the team’s only touchdown.
LA Bowl: UCLA 35, Boise State 22
Ethan Garbers came on at quarterback and threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Bruins to 28 unanswered points en route to beating the Broncos in Inglewood, Calif.
Garbers replaced injured starter Collin Schlee, who went down after a 44-yard run on UCLA’s first possession of the second half. UCLA (8-5) scored three plays later when Garbers found Kyle Ford on a 5-yard touchdown strike.
Boise State (8-6) scored its only touchdown of the first half late in the second quarter. George Holani’s goal-line scoring run came after field goals of 33, 23 and 33 yards by Jonah Dalmas.
–Field Level Media
