Baylor’s ‘identity’ on display in win

A Sugar Bowl showdown against Mississippi and coach Lane Kiffin’s explosive, Southeastern Conference-leading offense provided a high-profile platform for Baylor to validate its old-school formula of ball control and aggressive defense.

Al Walcott set a Sugar Bowl record with a 96-yard interception return, Monaray Baldwin raced 48 yards for the go-ahead score on an end around, and Baylor beat Mississippi 21-7 on Saturday night as injured Rebels quarterback Matt Corral watched from the sideline on crutches.

The Bears were ranked seventh and the Rebels eighth in the final College Football Playoff rankings.

Abram Smith rushed for 172 yards to finish with a single-season record 1,601 for Big 12 champion Baylor (12-2), which won 12 games in a season for the first time. The defense did the rest, finishing with 10 sacks — two by game MVP Terrel Bernard — and three interceptions.

“I would not put it as necessarily as a point to prove,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said when summing up the significance of the victory. “I would say it as more of an identity to show . ... Just to take the stage and to take the lights and the crowd and all of that and to, like, be us — all the way, man.

“You want other people to see it. I’m appreciative that we had the opportunity, and we took advantage of it.”

Corral’s day ended on the Rebels’ third series, when he was sacked from behind by Cole Maxwell amid a cluster of players. When he was helped up and off the field, Corral didn’t put weight on his right foot.

“We were devastated,” running back Jerrion Ealy said. “But we still had a game to play.”

Corral was carted to the locker room before returning to the sideline wearing his red undershirt and using two black crutches.

On Sunday, Corral’s father said the QB suffered only a sprained ankle.

Freshman QB Luke Altmyer took over for Ole Miss (10-3) and led the Rebels to the Baylor 12-yard line on his first series, only to have his pass to the left flat tipped and then intercepted by Walcott, who raced down the right sideline for the only points of the first half.

The interception return was the longest in the Sugar Bowl’s 88-game history.

Utes’ 1st Rose Bowl memorable, disappointing: Utah made sure its first trip to the Rose Bowl was memorable. Unfortunately for the Utes, they ran out of time to rally.

The 11th-ranked Utes led most of the way Saturday, but an injury to QB Cam Rising during the fourth quarter and an undermanned secondary proved too much to overcome as No. 6 Ohio State rallied for a 48-45 victory in the 108th edition of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Despite squandering a 14-point halftime lead, coach Kyle Whittingham said his team had nothing to be ashamed of.

“They fought the entire 60 minutes and came up short,” Whittingham said. “They’ve got nothing to hang their heads about. It’s been a terrific season. Yeah, we’re all disappointed that we didn’t win the game this afternoon, but that’s how life goes.”

Utah (10-4) started 1-2 but won nine of its next 10 games to capture its first Pac-12 title and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. All while players and staff mourned the deaths of teammates Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, who were killed nine months apart.

Utah faced plenty of adversity on the field Saturday. With three of its top cornerbacks out due to injuries, freshman Micah Bernard ended up playing both running back and cornerback. Bernard led the Utes with 10 tackles and had a 12-yard TD catch in the left corner of the end zone to give Utah a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

However, Bernard and the rest of the Utah defense had a hard time stopping Ohio State’s passing attack as C.J. Stroud threw for 573 yards and six TDs while Jaxon Smith-Nijgba had 15 receptions for an FBS bowls-record 347 yards as well as three scores.

Bryson Barnes came in midway through the fourth quarter after Rising hit his head hard on the turf while trying to elude a sack. The Utes went three-and-out on Barnes’ first series, but the freshman QB directed a 57-yard TD drive in six plays on the next series, culminating in a 15-yard pass to Dalton Kincaid to tie it at 45 with 1:54 remaining.

Whittingham elected to kick the extra point instead of attempting a 2-point conversion because of Barnes’ inexperience and the time left on the clock. Ohio State drove down the field and won it on a 19-yard field goal by Noah Ruggles with nine seconds remaining.

Britain Covey had two TDs, including a 97-yard kickoff return.

While Utah will be losing standouts Covey and linebacker Devin Lloyd, it returns most of its roster next season and will likely be favored to repeat as Pac-12 champion.

The Utes reached their goal of getting to the Rose Bowl, but winning it will be at the top of the list going into next season.

“We’re optimistic about the future. Can we repeat? I think it’s too early to talk about any of that right now,” Whittingham said. “We do like the level of talent, particularly the young talent on this football team. Looking forward to working with them starting this winter.”*