The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
» Penn St. beats Memphis in high-flying Cotton Bowl,
Journey Brown ran for 202 yards with two long touchdowns, Garrett Taylor returned an interception 15 yards for a score after another big play by All-America linebacker Micah Parsons, and No. 10 Penn State beat No. 17 Memphis 53-39 on Saturday in the highest-scoring Cotton Bowl.
While Penn State (11-2) gave up its most points and yards all season against the bigplay Group of Five Tigers, Parsons was pulling down quarterback Brady White, who flipped the ball right into the hands of Taylor. That put the Nittany Lions up 45-36 in the final minute of the third quarter.
American Athletic Conference champion Memphis (122) played its first game under coach Ryan Silverfield. The offensive line coach was promoted when Mike Norvell left after four seasons to become Florida State’s coach earlier this month.
White was 32-of-51 passing for 454 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. Patrick Taylor Jr. and Kenneth Gainwell both had rushing touchdowns for the Tigers, but the rest of their points came on a Cotton Bowl-record six field goals by Riley Patterson, including a record-long 51-yarder.
The Tigers finished with 542 total yards, but White was sacked a season-high six times and didn’t throw a touchdown for the first time since the season opener. Two of those sacks were by Parsons, who finished with 14 tackles.
Freshman running back Noah Cain added 92 yards and two touchdowns rushing for Penn State, which won for the 30th time in its 50 bowl appearances.
The Nittany Lions had 529 total yards. Brown got his 202 rushing yards on 16 carries, including a tackle-shredding 32-yard touchdown early and a 56-yard score when he went up the middle virtually untouched.
Camping World Bowl
No. 15 Notre Dame 33, Iowa State 9: Ian Book threw for 247 yards and one touchdown and Tony Jones Jr. scored on an 84-yard run, helping Notre Dame dominate Iowa State 33-9 on Saturday in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
Book completed 20 of 28 passes without an interception, including a 27-yard TD throw to Chase Claypool as the Fighting Irish (11-2) wrapped up another double-digit win year on a sixgame winning streak. Claypool had seven receptions for 146 yards and was named game MVP, while Jones finished with 135 yards rushing.
Brock Purdy was 17 of 30 for 222 yards and no interceptions for Iowa State (7-6). However, the sophomore quarterback was unable to get his team into the end zone after throwing for a Cyclones’ single-season record 27 TDs during the regular season.
Notre Dame’s defense was superb, forcing two first-quarter fumbles that helped the Irish build a 20-6 halftime lead.
Late Friday
■ Texas Bowl: At Houston, Kellen Mond ran for a career-high 117 yards and threw a touchdown pass as Texas A&M scored 24 straight points to overcome an early deficit and beat No. 25 Oklahoma State 24-21.
Mond ran 67 yards to give the Aggies (8-5) a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys (8-5) went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Texas A&M 34 on their next possession, but Spencer Sanders was stopped for no gain.
The Aggies added a 24-yard field goal to make it 24-14 with about three minutes to go. Oklahoma State cut the lead to three on a touchdown reception by Braydon Johnson with about a minute left. The Cowboys attempted an onside kick, but A&M recovered it to secure the victory.
Chuba Hubbard, who finished the regular season as the nation’s leading rusher, ran for 158 yards, and Johnson had 124 yards receiving and two touchdowns for the Cowboys.
■ Holiday Bowl: At San Diego, Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored on a 6-yard run, a 98-yard kickoff return and a 12-yard reception — all in the second quarter — in No. 16 Iowa’s 49-24 victory over No. 22 Southern California.
Senior Nate Stanley threw two touchdown passes and the Hawkeyes (10-3) won their fourth straight game for their sixth 10-win season in coach Kirk Ferentz’s 21 years.
USC freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis, who threw two touchdown passes, was knocked out of the game with an apparent arm injury early in the third quarter.
The Trojans (8-5) had their three-game winning streak snapped.
■ Cheez-It Bowl: At Phoenix, Air Force clung to a three-point lead, the clock showing plenty of time left for one of the nation’s most prolific offenses. A field goal was not going to be good enough. The Falcons needed a touchdown to leave Washington State no chance.
Going for it on fourth down was the only option — and it worked. Kadin Remsberg ran for 178 yards and stretched to the pylon for a 3-yard touchdown on a late fourth down, lifting Air Force to a 31-21 victory over Washington State.