College footbal bowl games

Even though Notre Dame would get the ball right back with a forced fumble at the goal line, the loss of field position and the impact it had on Oklahoma State's confidence set the tone for the fourth quarter.

The previous record for the biggest comeback in Oklahoma State history was 20 points -- in against Colorado. Kentucky nearly blew a point halftime lead but Wan'Dale Robinson and Chris Rodriguez helped lead a game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes to secure the Citrus Bowl victory against Iowa.

Robinson was the star of the game, pulling 10 catches for yards including some incredible grabs on the game-winning drive. More than half of Will Levis' pass completions went to Robinson, and his performance against a very good Iowa pass defense made up nearly two quarters of scoreless football from the Kentucky offense in the second half. Iowa had the opposite game flow offensively, stuck in the mud in the first half and then finally putting things together for two touchdown drives near the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter.

But ultimately three Iowa turnovers kept the Hawkeyes from being able to claim the win, as the Wildcats picked off Spencer Petras in the final minute to seal the win. This is Kentucky's fourth straight bowl win under Mark Stoops, who has gotten the Wildcats to the postseason every years since Box Score.

Penn State, which was missing a number of starters -- particularly on the defensive side of the ball -- came out strong to start but seemed to run out of gas in the second half.

The Nittany Lions were up at halftime, but the Razorbacks took control with a point third quarter and it was all she wrote. The Razorbacks struggled early a bit themselves, as the offense seemed unsure of itself with star receiver Treylon Burks opting out of the game.

The Hogs then began to lean on their ground game with quarterback K. Jefferson and a host of backs, and it was effective against a thin Penn State defense. Jefferson finished with yards rushing and only threw for 90 yards, while Dominique Johnson, Raheim Sanders and Malik Hornsby combined for yards rushing as the Razorbacks rushed for yards as a team. In there like swimwear pic. As for Penn State, it was its own worst enemy at times.

The Nittany Lions managed only three points out of three red-zone trips, and failed to take advantage of two Arkansas red-zone turnovers.

Box score. The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will meet in the title game for the second time in the last five years. Georgia marched 80 yards on its first possession of the game and never stopped in the opening 30 minutes, becoming the first team in CFP history to score points on its first five possessions. While that didn't make for an exciting game, it at least allowed any neutral parties to get on with their holiday plans. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, a pass from Cade McNamara to Erick All on fourth down was off All's fingertips and resulted in a turnover on downs.

A few plays later, Georgia's Kenny McIntosh took a hand-off on a sweep and surprised nearly everyone in Hard Rock Stadium when he pulled up and tossed an easy touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell. From there, the rout was on. Michigan had its moments, but it turned the ball over on four straight possessions two interceptions, a fumble and once on downs in the second and third quarters to immediately destroy any momentum it was attempting to build.

Georgia was not nearly as wasteful with its opportunities and looked a lot more like the team we saw during the regular season than the one that lost to Alabama in the SEC title game a few weeks ago.

The redshirt senior rushed for an Alabama bowl record yards on 26 carries to deliver the Crimson Tide the Cotton Bowl and their sixth appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young threw for just yards against Cincinnati's elite pass defense, but he tossed three touchdown passes to as many different receivers. Young broke program records for both single-season yards passing and passing touchdowns in his first game since winning the Heisman.

The Tide put together an play scoring drive -- featuring 10 rushes -- on their first possession to set the tone for the game. The Bearcats managed to get into the red zone three times, but they settled for field goals twice against the most vaunted dynasty in college football history. Cincinnati managed to compile just 72 yards in the first half, the fewest in any half in College Football Playoff history. Cincy played better in the second half but still averaged just 3. Quarterback Desmond Ridder struggled mightily, completing just of passes for yards.

Running back Jerome Ford had 77 yards but only got 15 rushes in the game. Alabama has now won all six matchups against Cincinnati in their combined history, though the teams had not played since The Tide await either No. Central Michigan accepted a late bid to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, but showed no signs of being off-schedule with its fast start and eventual win against Washington State. When the game started, Washington State showed no signs of an advantage from being slated to play in the game all month.

CMU jumped to a halftime lead and defended that advantage throughout the second half, holding on with a few key defensive stops in the fourth quarter for the victory. Washington State's offense was entirely ineffective early, but caught a spark when Victor Gabalis came came on at quarterback and led three touchdown drives in the final 20 minutes of the game.

For Central Michigan, the win is the program's first in a bowl game since and snaps a five-game bowl losing streak. Wake Forest has won 11 games for the second time in program history after an impressive effort to put away Rutgers in the second half of a unique edition of the Gator Bowl.

Early on in the game it looked like the heavy underdogs were poised to put a scare in the Demon Deacons, but the Wake Forest defense pulled in a couple of interceptions and came up big on third down en route to a second half shutout.

Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman had a phenomenal game, totaling yards and three touchdowns through the air leading an offense that moved the ball well most of the game.

The point margin could have been even larger if not for some red zone stands by the Rutgers defense that prompted field goals instead of touchdowns. Wake Forest kicker Nick Sciba was a perfect three-for-three on his field goal attempts, connecting from 23, 29 and 37 yards to extend the team's lead.

In addition to getting Wake Forest to 11 wins for just the second time in school history, the victory improves the Demon Deacons to in bowl games under Dave Clawson. Wisconsin knocked off Arizona State in a Las Vegas Bowl that was every bit as exciting as the final score suggested. While it finished as a one-score game, there was never a moment in the game when Arizona State -- which was down a host of starters on both sides of the ball -- felt like a real threat to take the lead.

Jayden Daniels threw an interception on the game's first possession, which Wisconsin quickly turned into a touchdown. Not long after, it was Wisconsin, and the Badgers never looked back. Wisconsin's year old running back we are legally required to tell you he's only 17 Braelon Allen led the way for the Badgers offense, rushing for yards on 29 carries.

Wisconsin's passing attack was nonexistent for the most part, and Jake Ferguson led the team with three catches for 33 yards despite missing most of the game due to an injury. Jayden Daniels did everything he could to keep the Sun Devils in the game, but his one-man show was one of many to fail in Las Vegas.

Still, he threw for yards and rushed for 40, accounting for of the yards the Sun Devils finished with. Michigan State used a point fourth quarter to come back from a deficit and beat Pitt in the Peach Bowl. The Panthers began the game without star quarterback Kenny Pickett and were quickly reduced to their third-string QB when backup Nick Patti injured his shoulder in the first quarter.

Michigan State overcame some shaky play of its own on offense as it was without star running back Kenneth Walker III, but the Spartans got things together just in time. Payton Thorne threw for yards and three touchdowns, while Jalen Nailor and Jayden Reed combined for 12 catches, yards and two scores. Michigan State finishes the season , which is the most wins it's had in a season since going in Pitt finishes the season at , its most wins since Even with the loss, it's hard to argue that any season that includes an ACC title is anything but a rousing success for the Panthers.

A wild Music City Bowl ended Thursday with Purdue winning a thriller over Tennessee, thanks in part to a controversial overtime officiating decision. Mitchell Fineran won it for the Boilermakers on a yard field goal after the Volunteers failed to score in overtime.

However, there was debate over whether Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright scored or was stopped short of the goal-line on a fourth-down attempt during the Volunteers' possession in overtime. The ruling on the field was that Wright was stopped short. However, a video review appeared to show that he was never down and reached the ball over the goal-line while on top of a Purdue defender. Tennessee was denied a TD after this play was ruled a turnover on downs: pic.

But after a review, the officiating crew upheld the call on the field, which gave the Boilermakers the football needing only a field goal to win it.

Fineran's make then brought an end to a game that featured nearly 1, yards of total offense between the two teams. It was the highest scoring Music City Bowl ever due to a frenetic finish to regulation. The teams combined for 28 points in a span of less than three and a half minutes late in the fourth quarter. Tennessee kicker Chase McGrath came up short on a potential game-winning yard field goal attempt as time expired, and the controversial overtime period ensued. With the win, Purdue finishes the season , while Tennessee finished In some ways, the loss for the Volunteers mirrored their loss to Ole Miss in October when Tennessee fans littered the field with trash amid displeasure with the officiating.

The Volunteers were penalized a whopping 15 times for yards in the Music City Bowl, which only served to heighten the frustration with the overtime spot for a pro-Tennessee crowd at the game in Nashville, Tennessee.

South Carolina was a double-digit underdog by kickoff, but the Gamecocks got off to a roaring start with two splash-play touchdowns and start to the game.

South Carolina used two quarterbacks as both Dakereon Joyner and Zeb Noland had success running an offense that leaned on the ground game once the Gamecocks established their advantage in the game.

North Carolina's inability to stop the run proved to be the fatal flaw in their performance, as South Carolina rolled up rushing yards on 51 attempts and only punted twice across nine offensive possessions. The win is absolutely massive for Shane Beamer as an emphatic finish to a first year on the job that had already exceeded preseason expectations. Beating Auburn, Florida and making it to the postseason was plenty to celebrate, but adding a dominant win against a border war rival in front of plenty of fans and alumni in the Charlotte area is a great way to head into the offseason.

Oklahoma scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter of the Alamo Bowl to blast the Ducks in a matchup that was not as close as the final score. As is the case every postseason, some bowls were amazing and made you wish there were more being played. Then some made you question the purpose of the bowl system existing at all. In the end, it was an average year. The good news is that while not every game was a thriller, there weren't a lot of blowouts.

Of the 37 games played, 14 finished as one-score affairs while 11 finished with margins of at least three scores.

The average margin of victory was Of course, these are all just numbers, and numbers aren't as fun as opinions. So let's get to the opinions. I ranked all 42 of the bowl games before they were played, so now I will rank the 37 that were played. It's college football , after all, and in college football, we rank things.

Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10 : The game that spawned a tweet that sailed 1, takes. Yes, when my Cover 3 Podcast co-host Danny Kanell tweeted out there were "too many bowls" and set off a firestorm, it happened during this game. I can't blame Danny for feeling that way watching this, nor can I blame anybody else for preferring to get into an argument than watch any more of this game. Virginia Tech showed up with a skeleton coaching staff and a very thin roster, and it showed Maryland was also missing plenty of player, but it looked like a team actually interested in playing football.

Pregame ranking: 37 E. This was the worst of the duo. Still, I maintain this game was close to going in a different direction. After Georgia marched down the field and scored on its first possession, Michigan drove right back down the field against that vaunted Bulldogs defense. Then, facing a fourth-and-4 inside Georgia territory, Cade McNamara's pass to Erick All was just out of reach, resulting in a turnover on downs. Georgia got the ball back and scored as things snowballed. If Michigan gets that first down, I think it scores.

I don't think the game's result would've changed, but I think it would've been a lot more entertaining to watch. Pregame ranking: 1 Liberty 56, Eastern Michigan 20 : This was a rout in the purest sense of the word. Malik Willis and Liberty led by 10 at the end of the first quarter, 23 at halftime and 39 after three. At no point did Eastern Michigan look like it would make a game of it, and it didn't. The Eagles scored 10 points in the final 5 minutes of action to make things look a little better.

Pregame ranking: 35 E. The Red Raiders jumped out to an early lead against the Bulldogs and never relented after figuring out quickly that they'd be able to run the ball on the Bulldogs. By the time the game was over, the Raiders had rushed for yards and three touchdowns while averaging 6 yards per carry.

Mississippi State could never get out of its way on offense, turning the ball over three times and helping make sure you didn't have to watch any more than you wanted. Pregame ranking: 30 He did pretty well, all things considered, but Kansas State was simply too good for the Tigers.

Skyler Thompson finished his Kansas State career with yards passing and three touchdowns while Deuce Vaughn rushed for yards and accounted for four total touchdowns. Still, while the game stunk, I have to give LSU credit. Other teams in similar situations couldn't play a bowl this season, and the Tigers had every reasonable excuse in the book to back out of the Texas Bowl but didn't.

Pregame ranking: 27 Well, at least one of the guys wanted to get into a fight. He had been slightly over-served, and for whatever reason, decided that this other person had a problem with him.

So the drunk guy swung at the other, unprovoked, but this other guy was much larger than the drunk one. So after evading the punch, the large, docile man quickly wrestled the drunk man onto the ground and then just laid on top of him. Seriously, he just sat on top of him, let the drunk guy wear himself out, and waited for security to show up to escort the drunk man off the premises.

I had not thought about that night and how hard I laughed about it until I watched Alabama beat Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl. I'm not saying Cincinnati was drunk or picked a fight it shouldn't have.

I'm just saying it felt like Alabama was sitting on top of Cincinnati for a few hours, waiting for the clock to run out. Pregame ranking: 2 Unfortunately, as you'd expect in a bowl game between a team that nearly won its conference against a team that didn't win enough games to go bowling during the season and accepted the invitation on short notice, it wasn't worth watching for long. Rutgers hung tough early, but Wake was the much better team and put things on cruise control in the second half.

Wake's Sam Hartman finished his career with yards passing and three touchdowns as A. Perry caught 10 passes for yards. Rutgers only had yards as a team.

Pregame ranking: 9 Western Michigan 52, Nevada 24 : There was never any drama in this one. Nevada was without most of its coaching staff, while stud QB Carson Strong and leading receiver Romeo Doubs opted out. It should not come as a shock to anybody that Nevada can't afford to lose its NFL -caliber QB and still play as well as it did during the regular season. The Broncos led after the first quarter and just kept building their lead from there as running backs Sean Tyler and Jaxson Kincaide balled out.

The duo combined for yards rushing on only 31 carries, as WMU averaged nearly 7 yards per carry as a team. Pregame ranking: 26 Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6 : Did you stay up late for this one?

Did you regret doing so? I know I stayed up late, but I didn't regret it because even ugly games need love, too. And this one was quite ugly. Minnesota won by 12 points, but it was never that close, in reality. The Gophers missed a field goal on their first possession and fumbled the ball away inside the red zone on the next.

Meanwhile, West Virginia had 11 possessions, and only three of them lasted more than five plays. One was their lone touchdown drive, one ended in an interception and the third in a turnover on downs.

The Mountaineers finished the night with only yards of offense, 43 yards fewer than Minnesota had rushing -- including this 2-yard bulldoze from offensive tackle Daniel Faalele. Pregame ranking: 24 Georgia State 51, Ball State 20 : Every Christmas gathering had that one relative who kept making their way near a television to watch a college football game nobody cared about, and that game was the Camellia Bowl. At my Christmas gathering, I was that person.

If you were the person at yours doing the same, high-five! I suppose these teams did us a favor by not playing a competitive game and forcing us not to continue ignoring our friends and family. Grainger threw for yards, led the Panthers in rushing with yards and had four total touchdowns. You see, it was played on a Monday morning and was the only bowl game featured that day.

It gave me something to watch during a time when I usually wouldn't have had anything to watch, and that's the kind of value that can't be adequately quantified. So if you think this is too high, that's fine; you just don't have an appreciation for a football game being there in somebody's time of need. That need being "something to do besides what I probably should be doing. While the first half was close, Tulsa scored 16 unanswered points between the very end of the first half and the early fourth quarter to put things out of reach.

There was a whole lot of defense and very little offense. Every yard felt like a struggle. On the one hand, it made the game feel a lot more exciting than it really was because neither team could pull away from the other. On the other hand, the game felt over once Clemson went up late in the third quarter. When Mario Goodrich picked off Brock Purdy for a pick-six less than a minute later, it definitely was.

Of course, even if the game wasn't that exciting, it did give us an all-time bowl sponsor mascot. Pregame ranking: 10 The most royal coin toss of them all. While it never did, at least the Ducks made the second half more fun to watch as both teams traded touchdowns. The problem is Oregon didn't do anything in the first half. Oklahoma jumped out to a lead at halftime. That point deficit was the largest halftime deficit of any bowl game this season. Still, 79 points and over 1, yards of offense isn't the worst way to spend a few hours on a Wednesday evening, so I can't knock the game too much.

But I'm not going to put it any higher than this since Oklahoma led by at least two scores for 50 minutes. OK, so I might've bumped it up a few more spots if this touchdown counted. Pregame ranking: 21 As called on Oklahoma radio: pic. Wisconsin 20, Arizona State 13 : Nobody will blame you if you admit to falling asleep during this one. Sure it was close, and that's worth something. But hardly anything happened during it. Wisconsin won with 20 points and only yards of offense.

Arizona State had only And while the final score suggests it was close, Wisconsin sucked up the entire fourth quarter. Seriously, the Badgers finished the game with an play, yard drive that took 10 minutes off the clock. Arizona State punted the ball away with 10 minutes left, thinking it could trust its defense to get the ball back, and Wisconsin just laughed at it.

The Badgers slowly salted the game away, 3 yards at a time. Click or tap here for a live scoreboard. TV: Here's the upcoming TV information for college football.

New Orleans Bowl No. Frisco Bowl No. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Hawai'i Bowl Memphis vs. Birmingham Bowl No. Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Holiday Bowl No.

Cheez-It Bowl No.