Buffalo, Kent State start bowl season with wins
Jaret Patterson ran for 173 yards and two touchdowns, Kyle Vantrease passed for a touchdown and ran for another, and Buffalo got the first bowl win in school history, beating Charlotte 31-9 on Friday in the Bahamas Bowl in Nassau.
Patterson had 32 carries for the Bulls (8-5), who were winless in three previous bowl appearances. He finished the year with a slew of school single-season records, including 330 carries, 1,799 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns.
Victor Tucker caught a 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from Chris Reynolds late in the third quarter for Charlotte (7-6), which saw its five-game winning streak snapped. Charlotte was in a bowl game for the first time.
KENT STATE BEATS UTAH STATE FOR 1ST BOWL VICTORY >> Dustin Crum passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 147 yards and the clinching score to help Kent State beat Utah State 51-41 night in the Frisco (Texas) Bowl for the Golden Flashes’ first bowl victory. Kent State (7-6) closed with four straight wins to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2012.
Jordan Love passed for 308 yards and three touchdowns in his final game for Utah State (7-6). The junior announced last week that he’ll enter the NFL draft.
STANFORD TIGHT END PARKINSON
DECLARES FOR NFL DRAFT >> Stanford tight end Colby Parkinson is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Parkinson had 48 catches for 589 yards and one TD this season. He had 87 catches for 1,171 yards and 12 TDs in 31 career games.
NAVY, ARMY PROBES FIND NO RACISM INTENT IN HAND GESTURES >> Hand gestures flashed by West Point cadets and Naval Academy midshipmen during the televised Army-Navy football game were not racist signals, military investigations have concluded.
A Navy probe of the event found that the students were participating in a “sophomoric game” on Saturday and had no racist intent. An Army statement Friday also rejected any racist overtones, saying the hand gestures were “not associated with ideologies or movements that are contrary to the Army values.”
The Navy said officials are, however, disappointed in the immature behavior of the students and “their actions will be appropriately addressed.” There were no details about their exact punishment, but a Navy report on the investigation said the two midshipmen should face “administrative action” for “failure to use good judgment.”
Clips of the hand gestures by the students went viral on social media and immediately raised questions about whether they were using a “white power” sign. But others suggested it was part of what’s called the “circle game,” in which someone flashes an upside-down OK sign below the waist and punches anyone who looks at it.
OHIO HIGH SCHOOL TO NAME STADIUM AFTER ALUM BURROW >> The school board in Athens, Ohio, decided the stadium at Athens High School will be renamed to honor Joe Burrow, a 2015 alumnus and the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner.
In his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech last Saturday night in New York, Burrow, the LSU quarterback, didn’t forget his hometown, which is located about 150 miles east of Cincinnati.
“It’s a very, very impoverished area,” Burrow said on Saturday. “The poverty rate is almost two times the national average. There are so many people there that don’t have a lot, and I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens County.”