Sanders, OK State beat Miami in Cheez-It Bowl
ORLANDO, FLA. » Spencer Sanders threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns, and Oklahoma State held off No. 18 Miami for a 37- 34 victory in the Cheez-It Bowl on Tuesday.
Brennan Presley caught three of Sanders’ TD passes, finishing with six receptions for 118 yards. Sanders also led the Cowboys with 45 yards rushing.
Oklahoma State (8- 3) scored on its first three possessions while jumping out to a 21- 0 lead. Sanders threw TD passes of 30 and 32 yards to Presley, and LD Brown had a 2-yard touchdown run.
Miami (8- 3) got on the board in the second quarter when D’Eriq King threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brevin Jordan. But King left the game with a right knee injury with 4:06 remaining in the first half.
Backup quarterback N’Kosi Perry threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns for Miami. Perry’s 5-yard TD pass to Michael Harley helped the Hurricanes close to 37-34 with 5:39 left.
Perry misfired on six of his final nine passes and his 6-yard pass to Michael Redding III was not enough to convert a fourth-and-9 with under two minutes remaining.
iami outgained Oklahoma State 512- 418.
TIDE’S SMITH IS FIRST WR
TO BE AP PLAYER OF YEAR » DeVonta Smith of Alabama is The Associated Press college football player of the year and the first wide receiver to win the award since it was established in 1998.
In what could be a preview of the Heisman Trophy voting, Smith received 26 first-place votes and 114 points to finish comfortably ahead of his teammate and quarterback, Mac Jones.
Jones received nine firstplace votes and 67 points as he and Smith became the first teammates to finish 1-2 in the voting for AP player of the year.
Smith is also the first Alabama player to win the award.
“Probably one of the most selfless guys that I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach in terms of whatever he can do to help the team he wants to do,” Tide coach Nick Saban said. “The guy is one of the most popular guys on the team and also one of the leaders of the team that everybody looks up to because of the example that he sets every day and how he goes about his work.” STANFORD’S DALMAN TO ENTER DRAFT » Stanford senior center Drew Dalman announced that he will enter the 2021 NFL draft.
Dalman, from Salinas, is the son of former 49ers lineman Chris Dalman. He anchored an offensive line that allowed the Cardinal to average 420 yards per game in 2020.
Dalman earned firstteam All-Pac-12 honors in 2020 after earning second team recognition in 2019.
TEXAS BOWL CANCELED » The Texas Bowl has been canceled because of an increase of positive COVID-19 tests within TCU’s program, becoming the 19th bowl canceled this season. The Horned Frogs were supposed to play Arkansas on Thursday in Houston.
BUFFALO RB PATTERSON DECLARES FOR DRAFT » Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson is foregoing his senior year by declaring for the NFL draft following a season in which he matched several national records.