Horse power: Cowboys up
Oklahoma State was a step slow in the first half, appearing to be stuck in the desert sand while Notre Dame raced around the field.
A quick scoring drive just before halftime gave the No. 9 Cowboys a spark and they rode it one of the biggest victories in school history.
Led by Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State pulled off the biggest comeback in Fiesta Bowl history, overcoming a 21-point deficit to beat No. 5 Notre Dame 37-35 on Saturday.
Sanders accounted for 496 yards and threw three of his four touchdown passes to Tay Martin, including a 9-yarder to cap a four-play, 75-yard drive just before halftime.
“Us going down and scoring quickly just before the half, that gave us hope,” Oklahoma State Mike Gundy said. “That gave us a chance as coaches to say, ‘Guys, we’re fine.’”
Oklahoma State (12-2) came up inches short of securing a College Football Playoff spot in a loss to No. 7 Baylor at the Big 12 title game and fell into 21-point, first-half hole against Notre Dame (11-2).
Jack Coan led ND’s early charge while throwing for a Fiesta Bowl-record 509 yards and five touchdowns.
Sanders and Martin brought the Cowboys back.
Sanders, who had a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Bray in the first quarter, cut Notre Dame’s lead to 28-14 with a 9-yard scoring pass to Martin with 37 seconds left in the first half. The pair connected for two more touchdowns, from 5 and 8 yards, to tie the game, and the Cowboys went up 34-28 on three field goals by Tanner Brown.
Sanders threw for 371 yards on 34-of-51 passing and ran for 125 yards after throwing four interceptions in the Big 12 title.
Jefferson leads Arkansas past Penn State: Arkansas football is on the rise.
KJ Jefferson picked up 104 of his 110 rushing yards in the second half and threw for 90 more to lead No. 21 Arkansas past Penn State 24-10 in the Outback Bowl on Saturday. Raheim Sanders had 79 yards and two touchdowns on 13 rushing attempts and Dominique Johnson added 85 yards on 11 carries as the Razorbacks finished with 361 yards on the ground.
“We’ve come a long way,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said.
Arkansas (9-4), coming off four consecutive seasons of four or fewer wins, got its first nine-win year since going 11-2 in 2011.
Kentucky rallies by Iowa:
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz knew from experience that his vaunted defense would be challenged trying to contain dynamic Kentucky receiver Wan’Dale Robinson in the Citrus Bowl.
With the game on the line, Ferentz could only look on in horror as Robinson made the most spectacular play of the day to help No. 22 Kentucky rally past No. 15 Iowa 20-17 on Saturday.
Robinson made three defenders miss on a 52-yard catch-and-run, setting up Chris Rodriguez’s 6-yard touchdown run that put the Wildcats back ahead with 1:48 to play. Kentucky (10-3) rallied after squandering a 13-3 halftime lead. Robinson finished with 10 receptions for 170 yards, his second time burning Iowa. He had nine catches for 75 yards in 2020 when he played for Nebraska.