Mississippi St. tops Tulsa in Armed Forces Bowl
FORT WORTH, Texas — True freshman Will Rogers scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and had a 13-yard TD pass to lead Mississippi State past No. 22 Tulsa 28-26 on Thursday in the Armed Forces Bowl, which ended in a massive brawl.
Minutes after the game ended following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Mississippi State on a late onside kick as Tulsa tried to make a comeback, the teams became involved in a large melee on the field. Tulsa coach Greg Montgomery said sophomore safety Kendarin Ray, who was helped off the field after being at the bottom of a dogpile during a second scrum, was treated for “some sort of concussion.”
“I’m not sure what exactly caused that,” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said. “It was something before the game, too. We’ve never had any problem with that the entire season, so I can only guess without seeing the film.”
Jo’quavious Marks scored a rushing touchdown on the game’s first possession and Emmanuel Forbes returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown for the Bulldogs (4-7), who finished the season with a second straight win in a game played at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium in steady rain and temperatures in the upper 30s.
Forbes’ third-quarter touchdown was initially called back on an illegal blocking penalty, but the Big Ten Conference officiating crew reversed its ruling to a penalty on Tulsa.
Deneric Prince and Corey Taylor II scored rushing touchdowns, Zach Smith had a 15-yard TD pass to Keylon Stokes and
Zack Long kicked field goals of 27 and 33 yards for Tulsa (6-3, No. 24 CFP).
Tulsa pulled to within 21-19 with 12:30 left on Taylor’s 5-yard run, but Smith’s two-point conversion pass intended for Stokes was broken up in the end zone. Mississippi State answered with Rogers’ 13-yard throw to Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin to go ahead 28-19.
Smith’s 15-yard scoring pass to Stokes came with 1:23 to play. Long then attempted an onside kick, which was recovered by the Bulldogs at the Mississippi State 47 and Erroll Thompson was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
ARIZONA BOWL
TUCSON, Ariz. — Antonio Phillips returned an early interception 53 yards for a touchdown, Drew Plitt accounted for two scores and Ball State beat shorthanded No. 19 San Jose State 34-13 in the Arizona Bowl.
San Jose State (7-1, No. 22 CFP) had to play without its two coordinators and Mountain West Conference player of the year Cade Hall due to COVID-19 and other issues.
The Cardinals (7-1) took advantage, quick-hitting their way down the field on offense after Phillips’ interception for a 27-0 lead in the first quarter. The MidAmerican champions bogged down in the second half but had four interceptions to win their first bowl game in 10 tries.
LIBERTY BOWL
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Reserve quarterback Austin Kendall threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Simmons with 5:10 left and West Virginia held off Army 24-21 in the Liberty Bowl.
Army (9-3) had a chance to tie it with 1:50 left, but Quinn Maretzki’s 39-yard field goal was wide left. Josh Chandler ended Army’s final possession with an interception, and led the Mountaineers (9-3) with 13 tackles.
Simmons also scored on a 5-yard pass from starting quarterback Jarret Doege.
Army quarterback Tyhier Tyler had three rushing touchdowns — from 1, 6, and 2 yards — to tie a Liberty Bowl record.