Rivers and Fresno State defeat Arizona State in Las Vegas Bowl
LAS VEGAS >> Running back Ronnie Rivers might be the embodiment of Fresno State’s turnaround.
It wasn’t guaranteed Rivers would be able to play this season after sustaining a foot injury in spring practice, and he was limited by a shoulder injury late in the year. But Rivers was there, leading the way as the Bulldogs completed their journey after going 1-11 two seasons ago.
Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns to help No. 19 Fresno State beat Arizona State 31-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday.
Anthoula Kelly had a 70yard interception return for a touchdown, and Marcus McMaryion rushed for a touchdown and was 15-of29 passing for 176 yards to help Fresno State (12-2) set a school record for wins in a season.
“It’s a group that persevered,” Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said. “This group can be remembered as the only team in NCAA history that went from a double-digit losing season to back-to-back doubledigit winning seasons.”
Rivers put Fresno State back in front 24-20 with a 68-yard touchdown run up the middle in the third quarter and had a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal it. The Bulldogs were 2-0 against Pac12 opponents this season, also beating UCLA 38-14 in September.
“We’ve been emphasizing on the word ‘finish’ this past week and just going out there and finishing the job, getting this 12th win,” said Rivers, who gained 156 yards on 15 carries in the second half and was honored as the game’s most valuable player.
Fresno State was able to overcome turnovers on three consecutive drives in the second half, including when McMaryion threw the first of two interceptions to set up Brandon Ruiz’s 44-yard field goal that gave Arizona State a 20-17 lead.
Dejonte O’Neal also fumbled off the pylon when reaching out to score on a throwback screen.
“But I think it says a lot about our team,” Tedford said. “Our team plays together, believe in one another. They don’t panic and they just keep playing.”
Eno Benjamin rushed for 118 yards a one touchdown for the Sun Devils (7-6) in their third straight bowl loss. Manny Wilkins threw for 129 yards, with a 3-yard scoring pass to Kyle Williams and two interceptions.
First-year coach Herm Edwards put the loss on the failure to score points off takeaways, getting three points following the three Fresno State turnovers. Arizona State had 63 yards of offense in the second half.
“We made it a game we wanted to play in. We made it uncomfortable for them,” Edwards said. “But then they got a score. We had to catch up a little bit and that’s where they can really come after you.”
Benjamin set the school single-season rushing record on a 13-yard run in the second quarter, finishing with 1,642 yards rushing to break Woody Green’s mark of 1,565 yards in 1972.
Wilkins said he did not sustain an injury despite taking a hit to the knee on the final pass of his college career, which was intercepted by Juju Hughes.
“I’m good. I left it all out there, so that’s all I needed to do,” Wilkins said.
New Mexico Bowl
UTAH STATE 52, NORTH TEXAS 13 >> Jordan Love threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns and Jalen Greene had six catches for 151 yards and a score to help Utah State (11-2) rout North Texas (9-4) in the New Mexico Bowl.
Interim coach Frank Maile directed the Aggies after Matt Wells left to take the Texas Tech job.
Love completed 21 of 43 passes with one interception. D.J. William had two interceptions, helping Utah State ground high-flying North Texas.
Aaren Vaughns caught two passes for 109 yards and two scores for the Aggies, Gerold Bright ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and Darwin Thompson added 93 yards on 21 carries.
North Texas quarterback Mason Fine was injured in the first quarter, and the Mean Green ended up using four quarterbacks. Jalen Guyton had four catches for 103 yards a score.
Cure Bowl
TULANE 41, LOUISIANALAFAYETTE 24 >> Darius Bradwell rushed for a career-best 150 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tulane (7-6) to its first postseason victory in 16 years, a win over intrastate rival Louisiana-Lafayette (7-7) in the Cure Bowl.
Justin McMillan improved to 5-1 as the Green Wave’s starting quarterback, tossing a first-quarter TD pass to Terren Encalade and running for a late score while accounting for 217 yards total offense — 145 passing and 72 rushing.
Bradwell scored on runs of 15 and 4 yards while setting bowl records for rushing attempts (35) and yards for Tulane, which won a bowl game for the first time since the 2002 Hawaii Bowl.
The Green Wave also got a rushing TD from Amare Jones and outgained the Ragin’ Cajuns 337 yards to 84 on the ground.
Lousiana-Lafayette rallied from a 24-7 deficit to pull within three points on Jarrod Jackson’s 15-yard TD reception with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Camellia Bowl
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 23, EASTERN MICHIGAN 21 >> Tyler Bass kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift Georgia Southern (10-3) past Eastern Michigan (7-6) in the Camellia Bowl.
Shai Werts kept the winning drive alive with a 29yard scramble on fourthand-10. Bass came on for his third field goal after Wesley Fields’ two runs pushed Georgia Southern 7 yards closer.
Werts also made a 50-yarder on the final play of the first half.
Eastern Michigan had delivered its own big fourth-down play to take the lead for the first time.
Mike Glass threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Arthur Jackson with 3:33 left on fourth-and-4, followed by Chad Ryland’s extra point.
Celebration Bowl
NORTH CAROLINA A&T 24, ALCORN STATE 22 >> Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns and Malik Wilson returned a kickoff for the game-sealing touchdown for North Carolina A&T in the Celebration Bowl.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic conference champion Aggies (10-2) won ther second straight HBCU national championship and third in four years. Alcorn State finished 9-4.