BYU whips W. Michigan in Potato Bowl
At the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl pregame press conference Thursday, BYU coach Kalani Sitake set high expectations when asked about how he thought quarterback Zach Wilson would play.
“Perfectly,” Sitake said jokingly. “That’s what I’m praying for, perfect play from everyone.”
Sitake didn’t get it from everyone, but he did from Wilson.
The BYU freshman was 18-of-18 passing for 317 yards and four touchdowns and the Cougars beat Western Michigan 49-18 on Friday.
Selected the game MVP, Wilson tied the NCAA bowl record for completion percentage set by Riley Skinner at 11 for 11 for Wake Forest in the 2008 EagleBank Bowl.
Wilson’s 18 straight completions are second-most in an NCAA bowl game behind Georgia’s Mike Bobo, who had 19 straight against Wisconsin in the 1998 Outback Bowl.
“I’ve been trying to let Zach loose for a long time now,” Sitake said as he patted Wilson on the back. “I think an aggressive style of offense is what we need. This was really good for us to see that we could win a game when a team commits to stopping the run against us.”
In the first half, BYU (7-6) struggled to sustain momentum offensively and had just 115 yards, despite Wilson completing all eight of his attempts, mostly on short routes. The ground game had a total of 20 yards on 17 carries.
But with BYU down 10-7 at halftime, Sitake unleashed Wilson in the second half.
The Cougars’ 28-point third quarter started with an 8-yard pass from Wilson to Dylan Collie. Then, after a 37-yard TD run by Riley Burt, Wilson hit Aleva Hifo on a 70-yard scoring strike.
“I think the bar is set a little too high for the next bowl game,” Wilson said. “But I think we proved what we can do as a team and found our offensive identity and discovered what we’re good at.”
Despite the record-setting performance, Wilson admitted afterward that he had no idea his day was going so well statistically.
“The game flashes by so quick, and I thought I had at least six or seven incompletions,” Wilson said. “That’s when you realize the success for a quarterback is based on the team around you.”
Western Michigan (7-6), which was without starting quarterback Jon Wassink due to a foot injury, rolled up 192 yards of offense in the first half with freshman Kaleb Eleby. But the Broncos managed only 41 yards on 18 plays in the decisive third quarter.
“I thought our defense did a great job of keeping us in it,” Western Michigan coach Tim Lester said. “Once they got a lead on us, they got after our secondary pretty good. We knew this game was going to be about which quarterback could get into a rhythm, we said that all week, and [Wilson] got comfortable.”
BIRMINGHAM BOWL Wake Forest 37, Memphis 34
Jamie Newman’s season started on a sour note and finished on a sweet one.
Newman ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to cap a big performance and Wake Forest’s comeback in a 37-34 victory over Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday. The quarterback who lost the competition for the starting job in fall camp, then replaced an injured Sam Hartman, delivered big play after big play in a storybook ending to the season.
“When Sam got hurt and Jamie became the starter, it wasn’t like, ‘Woe is us,’ and ‘we’re in trouble,’ ” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. “Jamie and Sam were going back and forth all of camp and then Jamie got hurt [bruised quad] in the last scrimmage.”
Even after Saturday’s go-ahead score, the Demon Deacons (7-6) had to wait to celebrate until Riley Patterson’s 43-yard field goal attempt went wide right as time expired.
Both teams scored touchdowns over the final 1:15. Memphis (8-6) lost a big lead for the second straight game after jumping ahead by 18 points in the first half.
Voted the game MVP, Newman ran for three touchdowns and passed for a fourth to lead Wake Forest, throwing for 328 yards and rushing 23 times for 91 more.
He led the Demon Deacons on a 75-yard drive starting at the 1:15 mark, covering most of it with completions of 49 and 20 yards to Alex Bachman.
“Alex Bachman made some great plays down there, a lot of one-on-one balls, 50-50 balls, and he won,” Newman said.
He rebounded from an early sack on that last scoring drive, and from a pick-six in the first half, too.
“We practice this every Wednesday throughout the week,” Newman said of the two-minute drill. “This was just another day at the office out there.”
Bachman’s second catch was reviewed and the spot was upheld at the 1-yard line after his right arm hit the pylon. Newman kept the ball for the go-ahead score.
Bachman finished with seven catches for 171 yards.
Memphis swiftly moved into position to at least tie the game. Brady White found an open Joey Magnifico on the right sideline for a 44-yard gain, with the tight end battling for extra yards down to the 17.
“I fully expected us to win that game,” Tigers coach Mike Norvell said.
The Tigers went backward after that, though, including a false start penalty after Patterson lined up to attempt a game-tying kick.
Wake Forest safety Cameron Glenn said it felt “kind of like an out-of-body experience” when the kick went right.
“I felt like my soul just lifted out of my body or something,” Glenn said. “It’s crazy.”
In the Tigers’ last outing, they had led by 17 points against No. 7 UCF in the American Athletic Conference championship game, only to lose 58-41.
Subbing for All-America running back Darrell Henderson, Patrick Taylor Jr. had given Memphis the lead with a 9-yard touchdown to cap a 14-play, 88-yard drive. Before that, the Tigers had come up empty on nine consecutive drives.
Tony Pollard scored on a 97-yard kickoff return to tie the NCAA career mark with seven. Memphis also scored on a 37-yard interception return by Chris Claybrooks.