Michigan ruins Big Ten’s perfect mark
Jake Bentley threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns Monday to help South Carolina overcome a 16-point second-half deficit to beat Michigan, 26-19, in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
The sophomore tossed scoring passes of 21 yards to Bryan Edwards and 53 yards to Shi Smith, the latter giving the Gamecocks (9-4) a 23-19 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Michigan (8-5) finished with its first three-game losing streak under coach Jim Harbaugh. The Wolverines turned the ball over five times, including an end zone interception that denied them an opportunity to regain the lead with just under eight minutes to go.
The loss also cost the Big Ten a clean sweep of bowl games involving conference members. The league entered, 7-0, looking to go unbeaten in postseason play for the first time since 1998 when it went 5-0.
“We kind of let them hang around and they took advantage of it,” Harbaugh said. “They got better as the game went on. We didn’t get the knockout punch when we needed it.”
Peach Bowl: McKenzie Milton threw two touchdown passes and ran for 116 yards with another touchdown, leading No. 10 Central Florida to a 34-27 Peach Bowl win over No. 7 Auburn on Monday in Atlanta that capped the Knights’ perfect season.
The Golden Knights (13-0) led, 3420, before having to stop a late comeback by the Tigers (10-4). Antwan Collier’s interception in the end zone with 24 seconds remaining clinched the win.
After Auburn took a 20-13 lead in the third quarter on a 4-yard run by Kerryon Johnson, Milton threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Otis Anderson to tie the game. Milton, under pressure, zipped an 8-yard scoring pass to Dredrick Snelson early in the fourth to give the Knights the lead.
Chequan Burkett’s 45-yard interception return for a touchdown pushed the lead to 14 points.
UCF won in its final game with coach Scott Frost, who stayed with the team through the bowl game after accepting an offer to become the new coach at Nebraska, his alma mater.
Citrus Bowl: Myles Boykin scored on a 55-yard touchdown pass with 1:28 remaining, and No. 14 Notre Dame got its first win in a New Year’s Day bowl since 1994 with a 21-17 win over No. 16 LSU on Monday in Orlando, Fla.
Three plays after Jack Gonsoulin’s 17-yard field goal gave LSU (9-4) a 17-14 lead with 2:03 remaining, Boykin caught a pass from Ian Book with his right hand at the LSU 33, managed to elude corner Donte Jackson and then broke a tackle attempt by John Battle up the right sideline for the game-winning score.
The Fighting Irish (10-3) trailed, 14-6, early in the fourth quarter but tied it on a 6-yard Michael Young reception and two-point conversion to Josh Adams. The win breaks a nine-game losing streak by Notre Dame in bowls either designated as a New Year’s Six or played on Jan. 1.