Defense dominates in Senior Bowl
MOBILE, ALA. >> Washington State cornerback Chau Smith-wade returned an interception 83 yards in the final two minutes to set up a decisive score and secure the National’s 16-7 victory over the American team in the Senior Bowl on Saturday.
In a game dominated by the defenses, Smith-wade sprawled out to pick off a deep ball from Tennessee’s Joe Milton III. He hesitated momentarily before realizing he wasn’t officially down under NFL rules.
Then he shook
off one tackle attempt on the right sideline and cut back across the field before TCU running back Emani Bailey stopped him at the 1 with 1:38 left.
“I got up and it’s not college anymore where you’re down,” said Smith-wade, who was named the National’s player of the game. “You’ve got to be down by contact now. So I got up, I started to celebrate a little bit and my teammates were like, ‘Go, go, go.’”
The offense couldn’t punch it in, but Joshua Karty of Stanford made his third field goal, scoring on kicks of 19, 37 and 52 yards.
Smith-wade got his second pick on a Hail Mary pass into the end zone by Tulane’s Michael Pratt.
It wasn’t a big game for the quarterbacks, with the top-rated passers seeing only limited action in the game for NFL prospects.
Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. opted not to play. The Heisman Trophy runnerup did participate in practices this week after leading the Huskies to the national championship game.
Fellow Pac-12 Conference star Oregon’s Bo Nix, who was third in the Heisman voting, played only two series. So did South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler for the American team.
Nix, who started his career a few hours away at Auburn, completed 4 of 5 passes for 21 yards in two series. His final play was a 2-yard touchdown to Minnesota tight end Brevyn Spann-ford when he rolled out before firing up the middle. It was the team’s only TD.
Rattler completed all four of his attempts for 65 yards and earned Game MVP honors in the loss. He capped his first drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Georgia’s Marcusrosemy-jacksaint