Holloway returns 2 picks for TDs in First Responder Bowl

DALLAS — Linebacker Brian Holloway returned two interceptions for touchdowns, Jahmyl Jeter ran for three scores, and Texas State beat Rice 45-21 in the First Responder Bowl on Tuesday in the Bobcats’ first bowl appearance as an FBS program.

Holloway had a 36-yard pick-6 early in the second quarter and returned his second interception 48 yards for a TD in the third that made it 38-21. Both picks came against AJ Padgett, who was intercepted three times overall.

Shawqi Itraish relieved Padgett in the fourth quarter and threw two more picks as Texas State (8-5) forced seven turnovers.

“Going to a bowl game, that’s great. But winning a bowl game, that’s what matters,” first-year Texas State coach G.J. Kinne said. “Everything’s better. Your ring’s bigger. You remember it forever.

“I feel like when I took the job everyone talked about the sleeping giant. Well, I think it’s getting ... it’s awake.”

Holloway, one of 56 transfers on Texas State’s roster, played his final two seasons for the Bobcats after three for SMU. The game was played at SMU’s home venue, Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

“It’s crazy,” Holloway said. “It’s just the ultimate full circle.”

Jeter had a 29-yard touchdown run and two scores from 1 yard out. Nash Jones, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive tackle, scored on a 3-yard run for the Bobcats, who are in their 12th FBS season.

Dean Connors scored on runs of 3 and 28 yards for the Owls (6-7), who fell short of their first winning season and first bowl victory since 2014.

“If you take away the seven turnovers, you probably have a pretty close football game and a chance to win it,” Rice coach Mike Bloomgren said. “You can’t take those away.”

Ismail Mahdi rushed for 122 yards on 24 carries for the Bobcats.

Texas State led 14-7 when Holloway stepped in front of tight end Boden Green between the hash marks, and the senior ran in untouched.

Early in the third quarter, Jones caught T.J. Finley’s lateral from the opposite side of the field and jogged in for a 31-21 lead.

“I’ve been waiting forever (for the call),” said Jones, one of nine Texas State players who followed Kinne from Incarnate Word in San Antonio. “It was high tempo, so we didn’t have time to think. Honestly, that was the best thing.”

Holloway’s second score occurred less than two minutes later. He made the grab amid midfield traffic, ran toward the right sideline and raced in to become the first Texas State player with two interceptions for touchdowns in a game. Finley was 15 of 29 for 152 yards. Padgett was 10 of 21 for 81 yards and a touchdown in addition to the three picks.

J.T. Daniels’ six-year college football career ended with him helping the Rice offensive coaching staff. He medically retired after suffering his latest concussion during the Owls’ ninth game in early November.

Daniels played for USC from 2018-19 and started his first game as a true freshman. At Georgia (2020-21), he started three games when the Bulldogs won the ’21 national title. He started nine games last season for West Virginia before joining Rice.

He played in 41 games, starting 36, and passed for 9,390 yards. This season, his 271.4 yards per game ranked 21st in the FBS.

DETROIT – Darius Taylor was back in his hometown of Detroit, the true freshman running back putting on a show for roughly 100 family members and friends for whom he had to secure tickets.

Cole Kramer was making his one and only collegiate start, the former Eden Prairie prep star coming back for one last game before he moves to Arizona, gets married and embarks on his post-football life.

Together, Taylor and Kramer put their stamp on the Gophers’ 30-24 victory over Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl on Tuesday afternoon at Ford Field. One player gave a glimpse of what Minnesota has in the future, and the other played the role of the quarterback who saved Christmas for the Gophers.

“Just proud of our football team for the resolve and their stick-to-it-iveness to get us to where we are,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. “It was good enough to be 1-0 tonight.”

Thanks in large part to Taylor and from a big supporting role from Kramer, the Gophers became the first three-time winner of the Quick Lane Bowl, ran their bowl winning streak to seven games and stayed unbeaten in five bowl games under Fleck.

The Gophers (6-7) were playing in the game because they had the top Academic Progress Rating score of the five-win teams in FBS, and there was one bowl spot to fill.

“Academics got us eligible,” Fleck said. “… We’re not going to apologize for that.”

Taylor, the former Walled Lake (Mich.) Western High School star, had career highs of 35 carries and 208 yards with a touchdown, setting the tone for a Gophers ground game that amassed 255 yards on 44 attempts in front of an announced crowd of 28,521. He was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

“It was a great opportunity to just play with my guys again,” said Taylor, who missed the previous five games because of a leg injury. “So, I was willing to do whatever it took to win this game.”

While Taylor set the physical tone, Kramer was solid at the right times. Though his passing stats — 8-for-16 for 26 yards — don’t scream quantity, he threw two touchdown passes and did not make catastrophic mistakes. He also played despite a shin injury.

Kramer originally was done with football on Nov. 25, but when starter Athan Kaliakmanis and third-stringer Drew Viotto entered the transfer portal, the Gophers would have been left with only true freshman walk-on Max Shikenjanski at quarterback.

Soon, Kramer told his fiancée, Katie Miller, that he had one more game to play before their February wedding.

“You talk about being a great husband and a great father,” Fleck said. “One day, he’s gonna be an exceptional one because he’s willing to put his own needs aside for somebody else’s, and it happened to be our team.”

Bowling Green (7-6) took a 7-0 lead on its first drive as quarterback Connor Bazelak (21-for-36, 221 yards, one TD) found wideopen receiver Odieu Hiliare for a 46-yard TD pass on the game’s third play from scrimmage.

The Gophers cut it to 7-6 with 5:56 left in the first quarter on Kramer’s 4-yard TD pass to Elijah Spencer. That capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive in which Taylor had 10 touches for 54 yards.

Minnesota attempted a two-point conversion after that TD, with kicker Dragan Kesich rolling to his left and looking for tight end Nick Kallerup in the end zone. Kesich faked the pass and lunged toward the end zone but came up just short.

The Taylor and Kramer Show took over in the third quarter when the Gophers built a 23-10 lead. First, Kramer scored on a 1-yard sneak. Then the QB, after lining up with a “Brotherly Shove” look, ran a play-action pass on third-and-2 from the Bowling Green 7, connecting with tight end Jameson Geers for a TD with 4:18 left in the quarter.

All the while, Taylor racked up 82 yards on 14 carries in the quarter, keeping the chains moving.

“We planned all week to just run the ball and be physical,” Taylor said. “I just knew it would happen eventually.”