Pettway to sit out Peach Bowl
Injured Auburn running back Kamryn Pettway didn't travel with the team and won't play in the Peach Bowl.
Coach Gus Malzahn said Wednesday that Pettway “stayed back [in Alabama] with his family.”
The No. 7 Tigers face No. 12 UCF on Monday.
Pettway, who is married and has a daughter, hasn't played in the last five games with a fractured shoulder blade. The junior has only played in five games this season because of injury or suspension. He has run for 305 yards.
Last season, Pettway led the Southeastern Conference with a 124.8-yard per game rushing average. He was the first Auburn runner to gain 150-plus yards in four consecutive games since Bo Jackson in 1985, when Jackson won the Heisman Trophy. Whittingham, who matched Alabama's Nick Saban for the most bowl wins by an active coach.
“He knows how to coach the team and he always caps the year off right,” Utah sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley said.
Huntley scored twice on 2-yard keepers , but the Utes led for good in their fifth straight bowl victory after Moss broke free early on a drizzly and chilly day in Cotton Bowl Stadium.
“It was very important for us to come out of the gates with a big play early on and set the tone,” said Moss, who like Huntley still has two seasons left with the Utes (7-6).
West Virginia (7-6) finished the season with its third straight loss. The Mountaineers had only 153 total yards without junior quarterback Will Grier, who broke a finger Nov. 18, and 1,000-yard rusher Justin Crawford, a senior who bypassed the bowl game in advance of the NFL draft.
“It was a pretty disappointing loss to end a pretty disappointing season,” Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen said. “You never hear me use it as an excuse. If you lose guys, you need guys to step in and play at a high level and that is the bottom line.” of a baseball stadium with a roof, a sparkling trophy at his side depicting a football sailing through cactus uprights.
If this was the end of his storied coaching career at Kansas State, it sure was a great way to go out.
Alex Delton ran for 158 yards and accounted for four touchdowns, leading the Wildcats to a 35-17 Cactus Bowl victory over UCLA late Tuesday night in what could be Snyder's final game.
“We've got so many people to be proud of at Kansas State University and it starts with our players, quite obviously,” Snyder said.
Delton replaced Skylar Thompson late in the first quarter and scored on runs of 68 yards, 3 yards and 1 yard. Alex Barnes added 117 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats, who rushed for 345 yards.
Kansas State (8-5) struggled in the first half against UCLA's potent offense, but shut down the Bruins in the second to give Snyder his 210th — and possibly last — win with the Wildcats.
UCLA (6-7) played without top NFL prospect Josh Rosen, who's recovering from a concussion, and built a 10-point halftime lead without its star quarterback.
The Bruins' offensive success didn't carry over into the second half and their defense had a hard time containing Delton, saddling interim coach Jedd Fisch with a loss in his last game before Chip Kelly takes over the program.
“We handled a ton of adversity this year and a ton of change,” Fisch said. “After the (USC) week, they continued to play as hard as possible.”
Snyder turned around one of the nation's worst programs after taking over in 1989, leading the Wildcats to eight straight bowl appearances after un-retiring in 2008.
He says he has not decided whether he will return for a 27th season or retire again to spend time with his family.
The 78-year-old coach made a quarterback change in the first quarter of the Cactus Bowl after Thompson threw an interception. Delton had an immediate impact, bursting up the middle for a 68-yard touchdown run.