Fresno St. handles ASU in Las Vegas

MWC champs finish with a 12-2 record

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Ronnie Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns amd Anthoula “Tank” Kelly had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown as No. 19 Fresno State beat Arizona State 31-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday.

Marcus McMaryion rushed for a touchdown and was 15-of-29 passing for 176 yards to help the Mountain West Conference champion Bulldogs (12-2) set a school record for wins in a season. He also threw two interceptions.

Eno Benjamin rushed for 118 yards and 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.

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 Fresno State’s second win over a Pac-12 opponent this season.

CURE BOWL: In Orlando, Fla., Darius Bradwell rushed for a career-best 150 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tulane to its first postseason victory in 16 years, a 41-24 win over intrastate rival Louisiana-Lafayette.

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 (7-6), 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 (7-7) 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.

McMillan put the game away, leading a 75-yard drive Bradwell finished with his second TD and later scoring on a 16-yard run that put Tulane up 41-24.

CAMELLIA BOWL: In Montgomery, Ala., Tyler Bass kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift Georgia Southern past Eastern Michigan 23-21.

Shai Werts kept the winning drive alive with a 29-yard scramble on fourthand-10. Bass came on for his third field goal after Wesley Fields’ two runs pushed Georgia Southern (10-3) 7 yards closer.

Werts also made a 50-yarder on the final play of the first half.

Eastern Michigan (7-6) 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.

Georgia Southern took over at its own 25 with a triple-option offense that attempted fewer passes than every FBS team but Army. Werts completed a 15-yard pass to tight end Ellis Richardson, but Georgia Southern fittingly covered most of the 52 yards with runs.

NEW ORLEANS BOWL: In New Orleans, Appalachian State receiver Malik Williams passed for two touchdowns on trick plays, and quarterback Zac Thomas caught a scoring pass and threw for three more as the Mountaineers routed Middle Tennessee 45-13.

Camerun Peoples had a 63-yard touchdown run for the Mountaineers (11-2). Middle Tennessee finished 8-6.

CELEBRATION BOWL: In Atlanta, 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, which defeated Alcorn State 24-22.

The Mid-Eastern Athletic conference champion Aggies (10-2) won ther second straight HBCU national championship and third in four years.

NCAA DIVISION II: In McKinney, Texas, Rogan Wells tied the championship record with five touchdown passes as Valdosta State won its fourth national title with a 49-47 win over Ferris State.

Ferris State’s rally from an 11-point deficit fell short when Jevon Shaw’s two-point conversion pass sailed wide of Keyondre Craig at the back of the end zone with 40 seconds left.

FCS: In Cheney, Wash., Eric Barriere threw seven touchdown passes as Eastern Washington beat Maine 50-19 in the semifinals, to advance to the Jan. 5 national title game against powerhouse North Dakota State.