Rivers runs Fresno State to Las Vegas victory

Running back helps No. 19 Bulldogs edge Arizona St.; Tulane wins Cure Bowl

Ronnie Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, Anthoula “Tank” Kelly had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown and No. 19 Fresno State beat Arizona State 31-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday.

Marcus McMaryion rushed for a touchdown and was 15-of-29 passing for 176 yards to help the Bulldogs (12-2) set a school record for wins in a season. He also threw two interceptions.

Eno Benjamin rushed for 118 yards a one touchdown for the Sun Devils (7-6) in their third straight bowl loss. Manny Wilkins threw for 129 yards, with a 3-yard scoring pass to Kyle Williams and two interceptions.

Rivers put Fresno State back in front 24-20 with a 68-yard touchdown run up the middle in the third quarter and had a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal Fresno State's second win over a Pac-12 opponent this season.

Wilkins sustained an apparent knee injury on the final pass of his college career, which was intercepted by Juju Hughes.

Arizona State took a 20-17 lead on Brandon Ruiz's 44-yard field goal in the third quarter after Asashari Crosswell intercepted McMaryion at the Fresno State 39.

McMaryion’s pass was intercepted by Chase Lucas on his next throw, an ill-fated heave downfield after reversing field under pressure. The senior had thrown three interceptions in 398 pass attempts during the regular season and Mountain West title game.

With the teams tied at 17 after the first half, it looked as if Fresno State was going to go back in front on its first possession of the third quarter on a throwback screen from McMaryion to Dejonte O'Neal but video review showed the senior wide receiver lost possession of the ball diving for the pylon and Shannon Forman recovered in the end zone.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN 23, E. MICHIGAN 21: Tyler Bass kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift Georgia Southern. Shai Werts kept the winning drive alive with a 29-yard scramble on fourth-and-10. Bass came on for his third field goal after Wesley Fields' two runs pushed Georgia Southern (10-3) 7 yards closer.

Werts also made a 50-yarder on the final play of the first half.

Eastern Michigan (7-6) had delivered its own big fourth-down play to take the lead for the first time. Mike Glass threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Arthur Jackson with 3:33 left on fourth-and-4, followed by Chad Ryland's extra point.

Georgia Southern took over at its own 25 with a triple-option offense that attempted fewer passes than every FBS team but Army. Werts completed a 15-yard pass to tight end Ellis Richardson, but Georgia Southern fittingly covered most of the 52 yards with runs.

TULANE 41, LA.-LAFEYETTE 24: Darius Bradwell rushed for a career-best 150 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tulane to its first postseason victory in 16 years.

Justin McMillan improved to 5-1 as the Green Wave's starting quarterback, tossing a first-quarter TD pass to Terren Encalade and running for a late score while accounting for 217 yards total offense — 145 passing and 72 rushing.

Bradwell scored on runs of 15 and 4 yards while setting bowl records for rushing attempts (35) and yards for Tulane (7-6), which won a bowl game for the first time since the 2002 Hawaii Bowl.

The Green Wave also got a rushing TD from Amare Jones and outgained the Ragin' Cajuns 337 yards to 84 on the ground.

Lousiana-Lafayette (7-7) rallied from a 24-7 deficit to pull within three points on Jarrod Jackson's 15-yard TD reception with just over 10 minutes remaining.

EASTERN WASHINGTON 50, MAINE 19: Eric Barriere threw seven touchdown passes as Eastern Washington beat Maine in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs to advance to the national title game against powerhouse North Dakota State.

Nsimba Webster caught four touchdown passes for third-seeded Eastern Washington (12-2), which was playing in the national semifinals for the fifth time in nine years.

Barriere completed 21 of 30 passes for 352 yards and tied the school record for scoring passes in a game.

Chris Ferguson threw for 325 yards for Maine (10-4), which was making its first appearance in the semifinals. But he also committed some key turnovers early.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T 24, ALCORN STATE 22: Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns and Malik Wilson returned a kickoff for the gamesealing touchdown as the Aggies captured their second straight HBCU national championship and third in four years.

Raynard, a senior who finished his career with a 35-2 record as a starter, did most of his damage in the first half with touchdown passes of 17 yards to Zachary Leslie and 27 yards to Elijah Bell as North Carolina A&T (10-2) built a 17-3 lead in the second quarter.