No. 21 Houston routs Auburn in Birmingham Bowl, finishes 12-2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec 29, (AP): Jake Herslow caught a 26-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass from Clayton Tune with 3:27 left, and No. 21 Houston beat Auburn 17-13 in the Birmingham Bowl.
The Cougars (12-2) marched 80 yards on eight plays to cap the third season in program history with at least 12 wins. They snapped a four-game bowl losing streak and won 12 of their final 13 games, the only loss coming to No. 4 Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
The Tigers (6-7) went in the opposite direction in coach Bryan Harsin’s first season. They ended a season with five straight losses for the first time in 71 years
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and dropped their third bowl game in a row.
Tune completed 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns with an interception while also rushing for 43 yards to earn game MVP honors. Nathaniel Dell caught 10 passes for 150 yards, while Alton McCaskill ran for 66 yards and caught a touchdown pass.
First Responder Bowl Air Force 31, Louisville 28
In Dallas, Haaziq Daniels threw for two touchdowns and ran for two others as Air Force beat Louisville.
Daniels completed 9 of 10 passes for a season-high 252 yards, leading a tripleoption offense that came into the game averaging an FBS-best 340.8 rushing yards and the second-fewest passing yards at 82.5 per game.
Brandon Lewis had touchdown catches of 64 and 61 yards for the Falcons (10-3), finishing with five receptions for a careerhigh 172 yards. That’s the most receiving yardage for an Air Force player this season and the most ever in the Falcons’ 28 bowl games.
Liberty Bowl Texas Tech 34, Miss. State 7
In Memphis, Tenn.,Donovan Smith threw for 252 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score, and Texas Tech beat Mississippi State.
Tahj Brooks rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown and SaRodorick Thompson ran for 80 yards and a score for the Red Raiders (7-6), who finished with a winning record for the first time since 2015. They were appearing in their first bowl game since 2017.
Mississippi State (7-6) fell short in coach Mike Leach’s first game against a former program of his. Leach, who went 84-43 at Texas Tech from 2000-09, fell short in his bid to become the first Bulldogs coach to end each of his first two seasons with a bowl victory.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6
In Phoenix, Ky Thomas ran for 144 yards and a touchdown, Mar’Kiese Irving added 129 yards rushing and Minnesota shut down West Virginia.
Thomas and Irving became the Gophers’ 1-2 punch after Mohamed Ibrahim and Trey Potts sustained season-ending injuries. The two running backs carried most of the load offensively against West Virginia (6-7), accounting for 273 of Minnesota’s 358 total yards.
The Gophers (9-4) overwhelmed the Mountaineers defensively, holding them to 206 total yards to win their fifth straight bowl game, third under coach P.J. Fleck.