Air Force beats Baylor in chilly Armed Forces Bowl
FORT WORTH, TEXAS » Haaziq Daniels had a short scoring run and threw a touchdown pass in Air Force’s 30-15 victory over Baylor on Thursday night in cold conditions in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The game kicked off with a temperature of 13 degrees and a wind chill of minus 4 at Amon G. Carter Stadium, the home of TCU, Baylor’s Big 12 rival. Baylor officials announced it was the coldest kickoff temperature in the history of the program based about 100 miles south of Dallas-Fort Worth in Waco.
Daniels had a 2-yard touchdown run and a 15-yard scored pass out of Air Force’s run-oriented triple-option offense.
Brad Roberts rushed for two touchdowns, and Matthew Dapore had a 37-yard field goal for the Falcons (103). Roberts, a senior, ran for 116 yards, his school-record 20th career game with tripledigit rushing yardage.
Blake Shapen threw touchdown passes of 8 yards to Hal Presley in the second quarter and 14 yards to Gavin Holmes in the closing minutes for Baylor (6-7).
With Air Force last in the FBS averaging 67.8 passing yards and 6.7 passes per game, Daniels was 4 for 7 for 103 yards and his fourth touchdown pass of the season to Caleb Rillos. He set up his touchdown run with a 68-yard first-down pass to Amari Terry thrown deep down the left sideline.
After flip, 5-star signs with Oklahoma
Peyton Bowen, the highly rated defensive back who backed off a verbal commitment to Notre Dame and said he was going to attend Oregon, ended up signing with Oklahoma.
Bowen’s flip from the Fighting Irish to the Ducks during a ceremony at his high school in Denton, Texas, was one of the biggest stories as college football’s three-day early signing period began. He was one of several highprofile recruits to make a last-minute pivot to Oregon.
But the five-star safety was never officially announced as part of Oregon’s top-10 class.
Bowen posted a statement on social media Thursday, saying he regretted some of his
actions and apologizing to the fans of the schools he jilted.
“Navigating this process has been a rollercoaster . ... Oregon and Notre Dame faithful, I am sorry for how I handled this process. Changing my decision on signing day, the hat pump fake, all of it could have been handled better. I can’t change what I did but this experience is something I will learn from,” Bowen posted.
The other notable signing of the second day of the early period was by Alabama.
The Crimson Tide, which has already locked up the No. 1 class in the nation, got a commitment from a seventh recruit with a five-star rating, according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings.
Cornerback Desmond Rick, who is from Virginia but played at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, was
originally set to be a member of the 2024 recruiting class but reclassified to 2023.
Georgia adds transfer WRs Lovett, Thomas
ATHENS, GA. » No. 1 Georgia bolstered its depth at wide receiver for the 2023 season Thursday when two wide receiver transfers from SEC teams committed to play for the Bulldogs.
Missouri’s Dominic Lovett and Mississippi State’s Rara Thomas announced their decisions on their Twitter accounts. Each ranked among the SEC’s top 15 in yards receiving in 2022.
Lovett, a sophomore, ranked fourth in the league with 846 receiving yards on 56 catches.
Thomas, also a sophomore, was 14th with 610 yards on 38 catches.