Young Seminoles show promise in bowl victory
SHREVEPORT, La. — Cam Akers was gaining big chunks of yardage on the ground. Another freshman, James Blackman, was throwing the touchdown passes.
Florida State might still be a little melancholy after a season that started with national championship hopes ended Wednesday at the Independence Bowl. But the performances from young players such as Akers and Blackman in the 42-13 victory over Southern Mississippi strongly hint the Seminoles could be a powerhouse again in a hurry.
Blackman threw for 233 yards and an Independence Bowl-record four touchdowns, including three to junior Auden Tate. Akers led the Seminoles (7-6) with 94 rushing yards on 13 carries and also caught a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Blackman started the year’s final 12 games after sophomore Deondre Francois incurred a season-ending knee injury in the opener. Blackman has had some ups and downs since the promotion, but he saved his best for last against Southern Miss (8-5).
“It’s pretty impressive; he had to grow up really fast,” Florida State interim coach Odell Haggins said. “He had to take the diapers off and go to work.”
Florida State ended the season on a four-game winning streak and avoided its first losing season since 1976. Now new coach Willie Taggart takes over fully, and he appears to have plenty of talent to work with going forward.
Akers finished the season with 1,024 rushing yards, breaking Dalvin Cook’s program record for single-season rushing yardage by a freshman. Cook had 1,008 yards in 2014.
Southern Miss took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter with a 63-yard touchdown drive aided by two 15-yard penalties against Florida State, one for unsportsmanlike conduct and the other for roughing the kicker. But the Golden Eagles couldn’t keep the momentum, mainly because of their own mistakes, including four defensive offside penalties on Florida State’s opening drive.
“If you can get a little momentum going, you’ve got a chance to get this thing into the third quarter or the fourth quarter, and we’ll see what happens,” Southern Miss coach Jay Hopson said. “But give (Florida State) credit — they deserved to win. They made plays, but I thought we fought hard. Just a tough loss today.”
Blackman matched an Independence Bowl record with three touchdown passes in the first half to help Florida State take a 23-6 lead. The Seminoles pushed the advantage to 33-6 late in the third quarter before Southern Miss finally responded with a touchdown.
The Golden Eagles were led by Ito Smith’s 92 rushing yards. Kwadra Griggs completed 13 of 25 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.
› Iowa 27,
Boston College 20
NEW YORK — Drake Kulick fought for a 1-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter on his only carry of the game as the Hawkeyes won a frigid Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium to snap a five-game bowl losing streak.
The Hawkeyes (8-5) had been the only team in the nation to lose a bowl game each of the past four seasons. Iowa had last won a bowl game in 2010 and started its losing streak the next season.
The Hawkeyes used their first sack of the game late in the fourth to spark the winning drive. Iowa defensive end Anthony Nelson hit Darius Wade, and Parker Hesse recovered a fumble at the Boston College 45.
Nate Stanley’s pass to Nate Wieting on a rollout was ruled a touchdown until a review showed the tight end was down at the 1-yard line. No worries. Kulick got the call over 1,000yard rusher Akrum Wadley and barged through for the go-ahead score. The smattering of Iowa fans went wild, and Josh Jackson gave them reason to stay on their feet when he sealed the win with an interception.
Boston College (7-6) had nothing on its final drive, and that ended an otherwise miserable day at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees’ postseason games in October seemed downright balmy compared to the kickoff temperature of 23 degrees and a wind chill that made it feel like 12. The frozen stadium turf forced players to change from cleats to sneakers to get some grip, and the most common huddle was the one around the sideline heaters.
Boston College’s AJ Dillon found the field just to his liking. He ripped off a 66-yard run in the second quarter and had 126 rushing yards in the first half, including a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. His monster half helped the Eagles hold a 281-56 edge in total yards, a staggering discrepancy that made little impact on the scoreboard.
The Hawkeyes had two clutch plays that kept it close: Iowa safety Jake Gervase intercepted a pass on the third play of the game and returned it to the Boston College 6. The Hawkeyes got a field goal. And Wadley returned a kickoff 72 yards that led to a touchdown on Stanley’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Noah Fant. With a short field, Iowa was stout and kept it at 17-10 at halftime.
Wadley scored on a 5-yard run in the third, and Miguel Recinos and Colton Lichtenberg swapped field goals in the fourth to make it 20-all with 8:09 left in the game.