Newman leads Wake Forest past Memphis
Jamie 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 in Birmingham, Ala.
The Demon Deacons (7-6) then 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.
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.
The second catch was reviewed and the spot was upheld at the 1-yard line after Bachman's right arm hit the pylon. Newman kept the ball for the go-ahead score.
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.
The Tigers went back- ward after that, including a false start penalty after Patterson lined up to attempt a game-tying kick.
In their 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, 88yard drive.
Tony Pollard scored on a 97-yard kickoff return to tie the NCAA career mark with seven.
ARMED FORCES BOWL
Army 70, Houston 14: At Fort Worth, Texas, Army quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. ran for 170 yards and an Armed Forces
Bowl-record five touchdowns and the No. 22 Black Knights overwhelmed Houston to reach 11 wins for the first time in program history.
The Black Knights (11-2) won their ninth consecutive game since an overtime loss at playoff team Oklahoma exactly three months earlier.
Hopkins had a nifty 77-yard TD run on the last play of the first quarter for a 14-0 lead. The junior quarterback initially ran right before cutting back the other way and alluding one tackler. He sent two other defenders sliding to the ground when he switched directions again back toward the middle of the field.
Houston (8-5) lost for the fourth time in five games since starting 7-1 and get- ting into the AP Top 25 poll for one week in late October. The Cougars suffered their most-lopsided loss in their 27 bowl games, and their biggest loss overall since a 66-10 loss at UCLA during the 1997 regular season.
Along with his 11 rushing attempts before coming out of the game midway through the third quarter when it was 49-7, Hopkins completed the first 1,000yard passing season for Army since 2007. He was 3-of-3 passing for 70 yards, including a 54-yarder that set up one of his three 1yard TD plunges. He also had a 2-yard TD run.
On the first play of the second quarter, Cameron Jones had a 23-yard fumble return for an Army touchdown after James Nachtigal forced the turnover when he sacked Clayton Tune.
Army got 507 of its 592 total yards on the ground in its highest-scoring game this season — and the most points in the program's nine bowl appearances. The Black Knights won a bowl for the third consecutive year, including last year's Armed Force Bowl over San Diego State.
Tune, the true freshman filling in for injured playmaker D'Eriq King, was 21-of-32 passing for 230 yards and was sacked 10 times. He was responsible for both Houston TDs, a 3-yard pass to Romello Brooker in the second quarter and a 6-yard run with 61⁄ minutes left. 2