Wisconsin picks off 4 passes to crush Wake in Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Graham Mertz accounted for three touchdowns and Wisconsin turned four second-half interceptions into 21 points to beat Wake Forest 42-28 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday afternoon at Charlotte, North Carolina.
Mertz, a redshirt freshman, threw for 130 yards and ran for two short touchdowns as Wisconsin (4-3) finished a rocky season on a high note.
“I’m truly proud of this group and what they have had to endure and how they did it together,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said.
With the game tied at 21 late in the third quarter, Noah Burks intercepted Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman on a pass in the flat when the intended receiver failed to turn his head around. Burks returned the ball 41 yards to set up a 14-yard scoring strike from Mertz to Mason Stokke on a wheel route, giving the Badgers their first lead.
Hartman, who had thrown only one interception all season, was picked off on the next three possessions as well.
Scott Nelson had a 60-yard interception return and Collin Wilder returned a pick 72 yards to set up short TD runs that gave the Badgers a 42-21 lead, resulting in Hartman getting benched. Jack Sanborn had 11 tackles and an interception and was named MVP of the game.
“We’ve been facing a lot of adversity this year … and to finish this thing out with this group, it means the world,” Sanborn said.
Hartman finished 20 of 37 passing for 318 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.
Wake Forest (4-5) outgained Wisconsin 518-266 on offense, but the Badgers had 176 return yards off interceptions.
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coach of the Year:
Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell is The Associated Press college football coach of the year after leading the Chanticleers to a surprising, near-perfect season.
Chadwell received 16 first-place votes and 88 points from the AP Top 25 panel to finish ahead of Indiana’s Tom Allen, who was second with 14 firstplace votes and 66 points. Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell was third (5, 44) and Alabama’s Nick Saban was fourth (8, 42).
Chadwell is the first Sun Belt Conference coach to win the AP award, which was established in 1988, and the third coach to earn it with a team from outside the Power Five leagues. UCF’s Scott Frost was AP coach of the year in 2017 and Gary Patterson won the first of his two AP awards with TCU in 2009 when the Horned Frogs were competing in the Mountain West.
San Jose State’s Brent Brennan finished fifth, meaning Group of Five teams had three of the top five coaches in this year’s voting.
The 43-year-old Chadwell directed a breakout season for No. 9 Coastal Carolina (11-1) in his third year leading the program.
The Chanticleers were picked last in the Sun Belt’s East Division after finishing 5-7 (2-6) last year.
“I knew we weren’t as bad as people were going to pick us to be,” Chadwell said. “I thought we were going to be pretty good. I knew we were going to be better.”
The Chanticleers made the Sun Belt championship game, though they did not get to play in it because of COVID-19 issues within the program. But they finished with a perfect regular season that included victories over Sun Belt West winner Louisiana-Lafayette and three-time conference champion Appalachian State.
The Chants’ perfect season came to an end last week when they lost in overtime to Liberty in the Cure Bowl.
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●Valero
Alamo Bowl— No. 20 Texas 55, Colorado 23: Texas has been tested all year, but losing senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger to a shoulder injury was an obstacle the Longhorns never anticipated.
The same spirit that pushed the team through this entire chaotic season helped the Longhorns thrive without him.
Sophomore signal-caller Casey Thompson came off the bench and passed for 170 yards and four touchdowns, and the Longhorns overcame Ehlinger’s injury to beat the Buffaloes (4-2) San Antonio.
Freshman running back Bijan Robinson had 183 yards on 10 carries with a TD for Texas (7-3). He was selected the bowl’s offensive MVP.
The Longhorns are undefeated in four bowl games under Tom Herman, unbeaten as a head coach in five bowls overall.
Ehlinger missed the second half after sustaining a shoulder injury in the second quarter. Herman said he was uncertain when the injury occurred, but Ehlinger returned to the field in the third quarter in warmups, with his right arm in a sling. There was no immediate word on the extent of his injury.
The NCAA is offering athletes an extra year of eligibility given the unusual circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unknown if Ehlinger will return.
He played the entire first half Tuesday, completing 10 of 16 passes for 160 yards and a score.