Backup’s 5 TDs lead Navy
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Two quarterbacks put on one heck of a show for Navy in the Military Bowl.
Backup Zach Abey scored 5 touchdowns, starter Malcolm Perry ran for 114 yards and 2 scores, and the Midshipmen rolled to a surprisingly easy 49-7 victory over Virginia on Thursday.
After Virginia’s Joe Reed took the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, the Midshipmen (7-6) got 2 TDs apiece from Perry and Abey in taking a 28-7 halftime lead.
Perry left in the third quarter with a foot injury, leaving Abey to score on runs of 5 and 20 yards to make it 42-7 in a game Navy entered as a 1½-point favorite.
“Malcolm did a masterful job. The kid’s phenomenal, man,” Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “He brings another dimension to our offense. To Zach’s credit, he came in there and played really, really well.”
The Midshipmen rolled up a Military Bowl-record 452 yards rushing, including 101 by Chris High and 88 by Abey, who began the season as the starter before losing the job.
“That’s the best we’ve played all year,” Niumatalolo said. “We put it together on both sides of the ball.”
Going back and forth with Perry and Abey might be the way to go in 2018.
“They’re both really good football players. I’ve got to find a way to use them both,” Niumatalolo said. “Just what you saw today is probably what you’re going to see next year.”
After scoring on a 1-yard run with 11:11 remaining, Abey sat down after becoming the fifth player in FBS history to rush for five TDs in a bowl game.
“We did what we were supposed to do,” Perry said. “It all starts up front. The guys were really physical. We played Navy football today.”
Playing in their first bowl since 2011, the Cavaliers (67) could not contain Navy’s triple option and had no success moving the ball.
“I think Coach Niumatalolo had his team very well prepared,” Virginia Coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “Clearly, I didn’t have our team prepared to perform to their true potential, offensively, defensively or special teams.”
Seeking its first winning season in six years, Virginia instead absorbed its sixth loss in seven games.
“The team worked really hard to get to this point, and that’s an accomplishment,” Mendenhall said. “I don’t think it takes the edge off (the season), but it certainly takes some off because it’s never fun to not play well and to lose the game. But it’s also reflective of exactly where we are.”
They’re currently in the second tier of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and at least on this day not nearly as good as Navy.
“They just outplayed us,” Virginia free safety Quin Blanding said. “That’s the bottom line. They came ready to play and we didn’t.”
Virginia senior Kurt Benkert came in with a school-record 3,062 yards passing this season, along with 25 touchdown passes.
In this one, he went 15 for 34 for 133 yards and an interception, and the Cavaliers finished with a season-low 175 yards in offense.
“It was windy and it was cold,” Benkert said. “It was hard to get into a rhythm, and we never really found our stride.”
After Reed went the distance with the opening kickoff, Navy responded with a 69-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard run by Abey. The Midshipmen then forced a three-and-out, and Perry finished an eight-play drive with a 22-yard touchdown run for a 14-7 lead.
ALAMO BOWL
TCU beats Stanford SAN ANTONIO — Kenny Hill passed for two touchdowns, ran for another and even caught one as No. 15 TCU rallied from a big early deficit to beat No. 13 Stanford 39-37 in the Alamo Bowl on Thursday night.
Cole Bunce’s 33-yard field goal with just over 3 minutes to play won it for the Horned Frogs (11-3), who trailed 21-3 before storming back behind big plays from Hill and a 76-yard punt return from Desmon White. TCU rallied from 31 down to beat Oregon in the 2015 Alamo Bowl.
Stanford (9-5) running back Bryce Love, a Heisman Trophy finalist, rushed for 145 yards and had a 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. K.J. Costello had three touchdown passes to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, the last one giving Stanford a 37-36 lead.
Hill then drove TCU to Bunce’s game winner. The Horned Frogs defense sealed it with an interception by Innis Gaines with 2:01 left. Hill finished with 314 yards passing, a team-high 60 yards rushing and caught a 27-yard TD pass from White in his final game.
Love finished the season with 2,118 yards rushing, the school’s single-season record.
HOLIDAY BOWL Spartans win in a rout SAN DIEGO — Brian Lewerke threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns, and LJ Scott ran for 110 yards and two scores for No. 16 Michigan State, which took advantage of Luke Falk’s absence to rout No. 18 Washington State 42-17 in the Holiday Bowl on Thursday night.
Lewerke also rushed for 73 yards for Michigan State (10-3), which rebounded from a dismal 3-9 record last year to reach double digits in wins for the eighth time in program history.
Falk, who was photographed earlier in the week with a cast on his left wrist, went through warmups but came out in street clothes at game time. He was replaced by redshirt sophomore Tyler Hilinksi, who made his first start and eighth appearance of the season.
It’s unclear precisely when Falk injured the wrist on his non-throwing hand, but he had issues with it throughout the season. Coach Mike Leach refused to give specifics during the week.