Fresno St., Rivers run through Arizona State
Ronnie Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, Anthoula “Tank” Kelly had a 70yard interception return for a touchdown and No. 19 Fresno State beat Arizona State 31-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday.
Marcus McMaryion rushed for a touchdown and was 15of-29 passing for 176 yards to help the Bulldogs (12-2) set a school record for wins in a season. He also threw two interceptions.
“It's a group that persevered,” Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said. “This group can be remembered as the only team in NCAA history that went a double-digit losing season to back-to-back double-digit winning seasons.
Eno Benjamin rushed for 118 yards a one touchdown for the Sun Devils (7-6) in their third straight bowl loss. Manny Wilkins threw for 129 yards, with a 3-yard scoring pass to Kyle Williams and two interceptions.
Rivers put Fresno State back in front 24-20 with a 68-yard touchdown run up the middle in the third quarter and had a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal Fresno State's second win over a Pac-12 opponent this season.
Wilkins said he did not sustain an injury despite taking a hit to the knee on the final pass of his college career, which was intercepted by Juju Hughes.
Arizona State took a 20-17 lead on Brandon Ruiz's 44-yard field goal in the third quarter after Aashari Crosswell intercepted McMaryion's pass at the Fresno State 39.
McMaryion's pass was intercepted by Chase Lucas on his next throw, an ill-fated heave downfield after reversing field under pressure. The senior had thrown three interceptions in 398 pass attempts during the regular season and Mountain West title game.
With the teams tied at 17 after the first half, it looked as if Fresno State was going to go back in front on its first possession of the third quarter on a throwback screen from McMaryion to Dejonte O'Neal but video review showed the senior wide receiver lost possession of the ball diving for the pylon and Shannon Forman recovered in the end zone.
Benjamin set the record with a 13-yard run in the second quarter, passing Woody Green's mark of 1,565 yards rushing in 1972. Benjamin scored his 16th rushing touchdown of the season on the following play from scrimmage, giving Arizona State its first lead at 14-10.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils will be disappointed to finish with the exact same record as last season, but signs of progress under Edwards are evident. The defense found several young playmakers and mostly played well without freshman linebacker Merlin Robertson. The offense, which played without star wide receiver N'Keal Harry after he declared for the NFL draft, will have to be upgraded to contend in the Pac-12.
Fresno State: It wasn't pretty, but the Bulldogs used a strong second half to secure its best season in school history. The senior-heavy offensive line led the way for Rivers, who will be the focal point of the offense in 2019 considering the upcoming turnover in the passing game. With a 22-6 record in two seasons at Fresno State, Tedford has reminded everyone why he is one of the best coaches in college football.
NEW MEXICO BOWL
Utah State 52, North Texas 13: Jordan Love threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns and Jalen Greene had six catches for 151 yards and a score to help Utah State rout North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.
Interim coach Frank Maile directed the Aggies (11-2) after Matt Wells left to take the Texas Tech job.
Love completed 21 of 43 passes with one interception. D.J. William had two interceptions, helping Utah State ground high-flying North Texas (9-4).
Aaren Vaughns caught two passes for 109 yards and two scores for the Aggies, Gerold Bright ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and Darwin Thompson added 93 yards on 21 carries.
North Texas quarterback Mason Fine was injured in the first quarter, and the Mean Green ended up using four quarterbacks. Jalen Guyton had four catches for 103 yards a score.
CURE BOWL
Tulane 41, Louisiana-lafayette 24: Darius Bradwell rushed for a career-best 150 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tulane to its first postseason victory in 16 years, a 41-24 win over intrastate rival Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cure Bowl.
Justin McMillan improved to 5-1 as the Green Wave's starting quarterback, tossing a first-quarter TD pass to Terren Encalade and running for a late score while accounting for 217 yards total offense — 145 passing and 72 rushing.
Bradwell scored on runs of 15 and 4 yards while setting bowl records for rushing attempts (35) and yards for Tulane (7-6), which won a bowl game for the first time since the 2002 Hawaii Bowl.
The Green Wave also got a rushing TD from Amare Jones and outgained the Ragin' Cajuns 337 yards to 84 on the ground.
Lousiana-Lafayette (7-7) rallied from a 24-7 deficit to pull within three points on Jarrod Jackson's 15-yard TD reception with just over 10 minutes remaining.
McMillan put the game away, leading a 75-yard drive Bradwell finished with his second TD and later scoring himself on a 16-yard run that put Tulane up 41-24.
CAMELLIA BOWL
Georgia Southern 23, Eastern Michigan 21: Tyler Bass kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift Georgia Southern past Eastern Michigan in the Camellia Bowl.
Shai Werts kept the winning drive alive with a 29-yard scramble on fourth-and-10. Bass came on for his third field goal after Wesley Fields' two runs pushed Georgia Southern (10-3) 7 yards closer.
Werts also made a 50-yarder on the final play of the first half.
Eastern Michigan (7-6) had delivered its own big fourthdown play to take the lead for the first time.
Mike Glass threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Arthur Jackson with 3:33 left on fourthand-4, followed by Chad Ryland's extra point.
Georgia Southern took over at its own 25 with a triple-option offense that attempted fewer passes than every FBS team but Army. Werts completed a 15yard pass to tight end Ellis Richardson, but Georgia Southern fittingly covered most of the 52 yards with runs.
CELEBRATION BOWL
North Carolina A&T 24, Alcorn State 22: Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns and Malik Wilson returned a kickoff for the game-sealing touchdown for North Carolina A&T in the Celebration Bowl.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic conference champion Aggies (10-2) won ther second straight HBCU national championship and third in four years. Alcorn State finished 9-4.