LSU ends UCF’s win streak
Central Florida had 25 victories in a row heading into Fiesta Bowl
Joe Burrow watched the ball land in an opposing player’s hands and immediately gave chase. Locked in on preventing a pick six, LSU’s quarterback didn’t see Joey Connors, Central Florida’s 313pound defensive lineman, bearing down on him.
With a thunderous, blindside collision, Burrow found himself flat on his back, woozy and wondering what happened.
Minutes later, after being helped to his feet, Burrow was back on the field, hitting receivers all over the field.
The nation’s longest winning streak was over. So was a second self-proclaimed national championship.
The LSU Tigers were Fiesta Bowl champions, thanks to their gritty junior quarterback.
Burrow shook off the big early hit to throw for 394 yards and four touchdowns, helping No. 11 LSU end No. 7 UCF’s 25-game winning streak with a 40-32 victory in the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday.
“I didn’t really think about the hit too much after it happened,” said Burrow, who had a cut on his neck from the hit.
“It hurt for a second, I got right up and went on to the next play.”
LSU (10-3, No. 11) started its first Fiesta Bowl without several key players on defence and fell into an early 11-point hole against the high-scoring Knights (12-1, No. 8).
The Tigers clawed back behind Burrow and a defensive front that made life difficult for UCF quarterback Darriel Mack Jr.
Burrow returned from the early blindside hit to pick apart UCF’s secondary, hitting 21 of 34 of passes, including two touchdowns to Justin Jefferson.
“It looked like the passing game we wanted,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “Joe was on the money.”
LSU sacked Mack five times and made him rush numerous throws, holding the nation’s third-best offence to 250 total yards — 295 below its average — while spoiling the Knights’ bid for a second straight self-proclaimed national title.
UCF declared itself national champions after finishing as the only undefeated FBS team a year ago. The Knights earned another shot at an undefeated season by staging a massive rally to beat Memphis in the American Athletic Conference title game.
But just like last year, UCF was on the outside looking in when the College Football Playoff final four was announced, adding to the boulder-sized chip on its shoulder and only a self-awarded national title in its reach. Buckeyes 28, Huskies 23: Dwayne Haskins passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and Urban Meyer finished his coaching career at Ohio State with a 28-23 victory after the Buckeyes held off Washington’s thrilling fourth-quarter comeback in the 105th Rose Bowl.
Parris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon and Rashod Berry caught TD passes in the first half for the fifth-ranked Buckeyes (13-1), who took a 25-point lead into the fourth.
But Myles Gaskin threw a touchdown pass and rushed for two more scores for the No. 9 Huskies (10-4), scoring from two yards out with 42 seconds left. Wildcats 27, Nittany Lions 24: Benny Snell Jr. ran for144 yards and two touchdowns to become Kentucky’s career rushing leader and help the 16th-ranked Wildcats wrap up their best season in more than four decades with a 27-24 victory over No. 13 Penn State in the Citrus Bowl.
Snell scored on runs of two and 12 yards in the second half, then carried for a couple of crucial first downs to help Kentucky (10-3) run out the clock after Penn State’s Trace McSorley trimmed a 27-7 deficit to three points despite playing with a foot injury.
McSorley threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns, and the Nittany Lions’ career passing and wins leader also rushed for a team-high 75 yards on 19 attempts.