UCLA’s Rosen to sit out Bowl game as precaution
FORT WORTH, Texas — Army coach Jeff Monken was able to joke afterward.
“We had ’em all the way,” Monken deadpanned.
It wasn’t quite that easy for the Black Knights.
Darnell Woolfolk scored on a 1-yard run with 18 seconds left, Kell Walker converted a go-ahead 2-point run and Army added a last-play defensive touchdown for a 42-35 victory over San Diego State on Saturday in the Armed Forces Bowl.
After Rashaad Penny’s fourth touchdown run of the game gave San Diego State (10-3) a 35-28 lead with 5:47 to play, Army (10-3) drove 72 yards for the tying score and winning conversion.
“It was tough, but we were confident we’d move the ball,” Army quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw said.
On the Aztecs’ final play, they made multiple laterals from their 40. The final lateral was grabbed by Army’s Elijah Riley, who returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.
The Black Knights tied a school record for wins set by the 1996 team.
Penny ran for 221 yards, his fifth straight game of at least 200 yards. His scores came on runs of 81, on his first carry, 31, 49 and 4 yards.
SOUTH FLORIDA 38, TEXAS
Josh Rosen has likely played his last game at UCLA.
The junior quarterback will sit out the Cactus Bowl against Kansas State under doctor’s orders, according to multiple reports.
Rosen wanted to play, but the Bruins’ medical staff decided against it due to the risk of Rosen potentially suffering another concussion, according to Sports Illustrated.
The 6-foot-4 quarterback suffered a TECH 34: Tyre McCants caught a 26yard touchdown pass from Quinton Flowers with 16 seconds left to lift No. 23 South Florida to a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech in the Birmingham Bowl.
Flowers lifted the Bulls (10-2) to a second straight dramatic victory in the bowl game at Legion Field, throwing for a pair of touchdowns in the final 4:26.
The Red Raiders (6-7) had taken the lead back with Nic Shimonek’s 25-yard touchdown pass to a wideopen T.J. Vasher in the end zone with 1:31 remaining.
That left Flowers with plenty of time to work, it turns out. He ran 13 and 21 yards for first downs, the latter coming on a thirdand-10 play.
The Bulls had won last year’s Birmingham Bowl on Flowers’ 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime against South Carolina.
APPALACHIAN STATE 34, TOLEDO0 : Jalin Moore ran for 125 yards and a career-high three touchdowns and Appalachian State beat Toledo in the Dollar General Bowl. Appalachian State (9-4) won its third straight bowl game since making the complete transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2015. —AP concussion during UCLA’s loss to Washington on Oct. 28 causing him to miss the Bruins’ next game against Utah. Rosen was able to play the following two games before being banged up and forced to sit out the second half of UCLA’s regular season finale against California.
The Giants currently have the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft and will likely have the option of drafting Rosen if the Browns opt to pass on him in favor of USC quarterback Sam Darnold.
News of Rosen siting out the Cactus Bowl was first reported by Bruin Report Online.
While Rosen has yet to declare for the NFL Draft, it’s widely expected he’ll do so.
The highly-touted quarterback is projected to go in the top 5, and potentially even No. 1 overall.
Rosen threw for 3,670 yards and 23 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions this season.
Former Giants GM Jerry Reese and Jets GM Mike Maccagnan attended UCLA’s game against USC in November to scout both Rosen and Darnold. The Jets, who currently have the No. 10 pick in the draft, will likely need to trade up to have a shot at either Darnold or Rosen. Both the Giants and Jets are expected to take a top quarterback in the upcoming draft.