Cowboy up: Oklahoma State gets past Virginia Tech
ORLANDO, Fla. — They started playing football at Oklahoma State 116 years ago, and never in that span had there been a run of three consecutive 10-win seasons.
Until now. Mason Rudolph threw for 351 yards and a pair of touchdowns on his way to winning game MVP honors, James Washington had a long touchdown grab and became Oklahoma State’s career receiving yards leader, and the 17thranked Cowboys beat No. 22 Virginia Tech 30-21 in the Camping World Bowl on Thursday night.
“It’s cool. It speaks a lot about the senior class, about the leadership on both sides of the ball,” Rudolph said. “It’s a great achievement for us.”
Washington caught five passes for 126 yards, giving him 4,472 for his career and passing Rashaun Woods for the school mark. Justice Hill ran for 120 yards and another score for the Cowboys (10-3).
“A really good win for our organization,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “Defensively, we gave up a lot of rushing yards but we were able to make some stops and force some turnovers. For Oklahoma State, really in the end, that’s what it comes down to.”
Josh Jackson ran for two scores and threw for another for the Hokies (9-4), including a rush that got Virginia Tech within 27-21 with 5:40 remaining. Deshawn McClease ran for 124 yards, a Virginia Tech season-best, but the Hokies were hurt by two turnovers in Oklahoma State territory.
“We had a plan and we executed well at times,” Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said. “I don’t really remember Oklahoma State making very many, if any, mistakes. And we made a handful, just enough to kind of keep us from pulling the thing off. That’s not to say that Oklahoma State doesn’t deserve credit for winning the game. They do.”
Hill came through with perhaps the play of the night. Facing a third-and-11 with 3:30 left, Hill took a handoff, went left, waited for a lane to open — and broke loose for a 31-yard gain down to the Hokies’ 18. Matt Ammendola’s 38-yard field goal with 2:34 left put the Cowboys up by nine, essentially sealing the outcome.
HOLIDAY BOWL MICHIGAN STATE 42, WASHINGTON STATE 17
In San Diego, Brian Lewerke threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns, and LJ Scott ran for 110 yards and two scores for No. 18 Michigan State, which took advantage of Luke Falk’s absence to rout No. 21 Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
Lewerke also rushed for 73 yards for Michigan State (10-3), which rebounded from a dismal 3-9 record last year to reach double digits in wins for the eighth time in program history.
Falk, who was photographed earlier in the week with a cast on his left wrist, went through warmups but came out in street clothes at game time.
He was replaced by redshirt sophomore Tyler Hilinksi, who made his first start and eighth appearance of the season. It’s unclear precisely when Falk injured the wrist on his non-throwing hand, but he had issues with it throughout the season. Coach Mike Leach refused to give specifics during the week.
Hilinski led WSU (9-4) to a 45-yard field goal by Erik Powell on the Cougars’ second drive, but the Cougars were overpowered by the Spartans.
Lewerke threw the first of two TD passes to Cody White, a 7-yarder midway through the second quarter, when he was flushed to the left but found the receiver in the back of the end zone.
On MSU’s next possession, Lewerke took the snap and glanced at his running back, which froze the secondary and allowed Felton Davis III to get wide open for a 49-yard scoring pass.
Scott scored on a 3-yard run to give the Spartans a 21-3 halftime lead.
Early in the third, Lewerke rolled left and had his pass tipped, but a sliding White caught it for a 7-yard touchdown.
Lewerke, who finished 13 of 21, was hit hard on a keeper in the third quarter and came out for a few plays. His backup, Damion Terry, scored on a 6-yard keeper to make it 35-3.
The Cougars closed the gap when Hilinski threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tay Martin late in the third quarter and a 15-yarder to Tay in the fourth quarter.
Scott scored on a 28-yard burst up the middle with about six minutes left to play.
Hilinski was 39 of 50 for 272 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.
MILITARY BOWL NAVY 49, VIRGINIA 7
In Annapolis, Md., backup quarterback Zach Abey scored five touchdowns, Malcolm Perry ran for 114 yards and two scores and Navy beat Virginia in a surprisingly lopsided Military Bowl.
After Virginia’s Joe Reed took the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, the Midshipmen (7-6) got two TDs apiece from quarterbacks Perry and Abey in taking a 28-7 halftime lead.
Perry left in the third quarter with a foot injury, leaving Abey to score on runs of 5 and 20 yards to make it 42-7 in a game Navy entered as a 1½-point favorite.
Abey added a 1-yard touchdown with 11:11 remaining, then sat for the remainder of the game.
The Midshipmen rolled up a Military Bowl-record 452 yards rushing, including 101 by Chris High and 88 by Abey, who began the season as the starter before losing the job.
Playing in their first bowl since 2011, the Cavaliers (6-7) could not contain Navy’s triple option and had no success moving the ball.