Davie, Lobos end bowl droughts

Coach nets first postseason win as host New Mexico prevails

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Coach Bob Davie waited a long time for this moment. It had been quite a while for his New Mexico Lobos, too.

Davie earned his first career bowl victory when the Lobos, boosted by two short touchdown runs from Richard McQuarley, beat Texas-San Antonio 23-20 Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl.

Davie had been 0-4 in bowls — three when he coached at Notre Dame and then last year with the Lobos in this event.

New Mexico (9-4) posted its second bowl victory in a half-century.

“You don’t experience this a whole lot of times,” Davie said. “It’s another building block.”

The Lobos’ previous postseason win came in the 2007 New Mexico Bowl over UNR. Before that, it was a victory in the 1961 Aviation Bowl.

In his fifth season at New Mexico, Davie completed the turnaround of a program that won three total games in the three seasons before his arrival.

Jarveon Williams ran for 125 yards for the Roadrunners (6-7), who lost in their first bowl appearance in the program’s six-year history.

New Mexico quarterback Lamar Jordan rushed for 81 yards and threw a 34-yard pass to Dameon Gamblin that set up McQuarley’s 1-yard burst for a 23-13 lead with 2:22 left.

Six Lobos combined for 219 yards rushing. New Mexico kept UTSA’s big-play receivers mostly in check amid windy conditions. CAMELLIA BOWL

Appalachian State 31, Toledo 28 — At Montgomery, Ala., Marcus Cox ran for 143 yards and a touchdown for the Mountaineers (10-3), who went ahead to stay on Michael Rubino’s 39-yard field goal with 5:14 left and edged the Rockets (9-4).

Cox became the ninth Football Bowl Subdivision player with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons and the 22nd to top 5,000 in his career.

CURE BOWL

Arkansas State 31, Central Florida 13— At Orlando, Fla., Justice Hansen threw touchdown passes of 12, 75 and 17 yards to Kendall Sanders to help the Red Wolves (8-5) cruise past the Knights (6-7).

Arkansas State scored on a blocked punt and produced two turnovers that led to touchdowns.

CELEBRATION BOWL

Grambling State 10, North Carolina Central 9 — At Atlanta, Joseph McWilliams blocked Brandon McLaren’s extra-point kick with 2:14 left to preserve a win by the Tigers (11-1) over the Eagles (9-3).

Quentin Atkinson was flagged for excessive celebration after catching a 39-yard touchdown pass for N.C. Central, making McLaren’s PAT try a 35-yarder.

Martez Carter had a 32-yard TD run to open the second half for Grambling State. FCS SEMIFINAL

Youngstown State 40, Eastern Washington 38 — At Cheney, Wash., Tevin McCaster ran for 154 yards and three touchdowns for the Penguins (12-3), who edged the Eagles (12-2) when Hunter Wells threw a 6-yard TD pass to Kevin Rader as time expired.

Cooper Kupp had 10 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns for Eastern Washington, which had won 11 straight.

Youngstown State, seeking its fifth national title, will face James Madison (13-1) in the Football Championship Subdivision final.

DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIP

Northwest Missouri State 29, North Alabama 3 — At Kansas City, Kan., Randy Schmidt ran for 96 yards, and Phil Jackson scored two touchdowns for the Bearcats (15-0), who overpowered the Lions (11-2) in snowglobe conditions for their second straight title and record sixth overall.

The temperature was 13 degrees with a wind chill of minus-4 at opening kickoff. To open the third quarter, it was 12 degrees with a minus-5 wind chill.

NAIA CHAMPIONSHIP

Saint Francis 38, Baker 17 — At Daytona Beach, Fla., Seth Coate caught nine passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Indiana-based Cougars (13-1) past the previously undefeated Kansas-based Wildcats (14-1). the greatest showings by a defensive player in Super Bowl history two weeks later, bringing home both the Lombardi and the Super Bowl 50 MVP trophies.

Brady limped out of Denver, his visions of playing well into his 40s nothing more than a pipe dream unless the Patriots could find a way to fix his porous protection.

They did. Brady’s jersey is hardly soiled anymore, and he has the Patriots (11-2) rolling again entering Sunday’s game (1:25 p.m., KLAS-8).

A victory Sunday would not only give the Patriots an NFL record eighth consecutive division title, it would deal a severe blow to Denver’s designs on defending its Super Bowl title.

Clinging to the sixth and final playoff spot, the Broncos (8-5) will have to get through New England, Kansas City and Oakland, who are a combined 31-8, for that chance.

Pittsburgh (8-5) at Cincinnati (5-7-1) 10 a.m., KLAS-8

The Bengals advertised tickets available for this one, so look for thousands of Terrible Towels to wave at Paul Brown Stadium. The Steelers feel comfortable there anyway, having taken the past three and six of seven, including that 18-16 wild-card playoff last January when penalties on Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict and CB Adam “Pacman” Jones set up Pittsburgh’s winning field goal in the final seconds.

Pittsburgh’s offense is in gear behind RB Le’Veon Bell, who set a club record with 236 yards rushing last week at Buffalo. WR Antonio Brown needs seven catches for a fourth straight season with 100.

Detroit (9-4) at New York Giants (9-4) 10 a.m., KVVU-5

Two more teams in the heart of the NFC chase, though the Lions are in a stronger spot. They lead the North and can secure a position if they win and the Packers don’t, or if they tie and the Packers and Vikings lose.

A playoff berth is within a long reach for the Giants. They must win and have Washington lose, Minnesota and Green Bay both lose or tie. They still can grab the NFC East if they stay hot and Dallas slumps.

If this one is close, as it figures to be — both teams rarely have lopsided contests, with Detroit winning eight times despite trailing in the fourth period — watch out for Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr.