Utah continues its bowl mastery, tops Indiana
Kansas State earns fourth straight postseason victory
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Joe Williams ran for 222 yards and a touchdown and Andy Phillips kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:24 to play to lead Utah to its 14th victory in its past 15 bowl games as the Utes beat Indiana 26-24 in the Foster Farms Bowl on Wednesday night.
Tyler Huntley ran for another score and the Utes (9-4) forced three turnovers to spoil Tom Allen’s coaching debut at Indiana and improve Utah coach Kyle Whittingham’s bowl record to 10-1. Allen took over the Hoosiers (6-7) after Kevin Wilson’s sudden resignation this month.
The Hoosiers rallied from 10 points down to take a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter on Devine Redding’s 3-yard run following a fumble by Utah’s Zach Moss.
Texas Bowl
KANSAS STATE 33, TEXAS A&M 28: In Houston, Jesse Ertz threw for 195 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores in Kansas State’s victory over Texas A&M.
Ertz had a 79-yard touchdown pass and scoring runs of 1 and 5 yards to help give KSU its fourth straight win and first bowl victory since the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
The Wildcats (9-4) led by five when Ertz bulled into the end zone on a 1-yard run that made it 33-21 with nine minutes left. Ertz set up the score with a 20-yard run two plays earlier.
The Aggies (8-5) cut it to 33-28 on Josh Reynolds’ 15-yard TD reception about a minute later.
Pinstripe Bowl
NORTHWESTERN 31, (22) PITT 24: In New York, Justin Jackson ran for 226 yards and three touchdowns in helping to power Northwestern past Pitt at Yankee Stadium.
Jackson was the straw that stirred Northwestern’s offense in the Bronx and helped etch this performance alongside the 1948 Rose Bowl and 2012 Gator Bowl victories in the program’s oft-futile history.
Jackson had TD runs of 8 and 16 yards in the second quarter, then had a 40-yard burst in the third.
Pitt RB James Conner, who capped a triumphant return from Hodgkin lymphoma, suffered a brutal helmet-to-helmet blow to the head late in the first half and did not return.
Russell Athletic Bowl
MIAMI 31, NO. 14 WEST VIRGINIA 14: In Orlando, Fla., Brad Kaaya tied a career best and Miami bowl record with four TD passes as the Hurricanes beat West Virginia (10-3) to snap a 10-year bowl drought.
Kaaya completed 24 of 34 passes for 282 yards for Miami (9-4), which had lost its last Cactus Bowl six bowl appearances.
BAYLOR 21, BOISE STATE 12: In Phoenix late Tuesday night, KD Cannon had 14 catches for a Cactus Bowl-record 226 yards and two touchdowns to help Baylor end a difficult season with a victory.
Baylor (7-6) went into a downward spiral the last half of the season after opening with six straight wins. QB Seth Russell suffered a season-ending ankle injury, the sexual assault scandal that cost coach Art Briles his job continued to linger and the losses piled up. Boise State finished 10-3.