BOWL ROUNDUP: Minnesota beats Bowling Green in Quick Lane Bowl
DETROIT — Freshman Darius Taylor returned from a leg injury to rush for a career-high 208 yards and Minnesota beat Bowling Green 30-24 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Tuesday.
Minnesota (6-7), which was selected for the bowl because it had the best Academic Progress Rate among five-win teams, won its seventh consecutive bowl game overall and fifth in a row under coach P.J. Fleck.
Taylor, who had missed the Gophers’ previous five games, had 35 carries, including a 17-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter that gave Minnesota a 30-17 lead. The 5-foot-11 running back, a Detroit native, averaged 176 yards during a three-game stretch in September, but had only played in one game since.
Taylor’s return was crucial for Minnesota, which had senior Cole Kramer making his first career start at quarterback after Athan Kaliakmanis entered the transfer portal. Kramer was set to leave the program after the regular season, but stuck around even though he is planning a wedding to fiancee Katie Miller, who was in the stands Tuesday and was shown frequently on the ESPN telecast.
Kramer went 8-of-16 passing for just 26 yards, but he came through in the red zone, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another. The Gophers ran the ball 44 times for 255 yards while holding Bowling Green to 82 yards rushing.
Conor Bazelak threw for two scores and ran for one for Bowling Green (7-6), which lost the Quick Lane Bowl for the second year in a row.
Bowling Green 7 3 0 14—24
Minnesota 6 3 14 7—30
First Quarter
BGSU: Hiliare 46 pass from Bazelak (Anaya kick), 13:47.
MIN: Spencer 4 pass from Kramer (run failed), 5:56.
Second Quarter
MIN: FG Kesich 31, 8:57.
BGSU: FG Anaya 33, 1:38.
Third Quarter
MIN: Kramer 1 run (Kesich kick), 9:20.
MIN: Geers 7 pass from Kramer (Kesich kick), 4:18.
Fourth Quarter
BGSU: Wimberly 18 run (Anaya kick), 11:10.
MIN: Taylor 17 run (Kesich kick), 8:03.
BGSU: Bazelak 2 run (Anaya kick), 2:33.
Attendance: 28,521.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bowling Green, Wimberly 3-63, J.Johnson 2-20, Fannin 3-7, Anderson 1-5, Patterson 1-5, Embry 1-5, Orth 3-4, (Team) 1-(minus 2), Bazelak 6-(minus 25). Minnesota, Taylor 35-208, Kramer 3-31, J.Nubin 3-24, (Team) 3-(minus 8).
PASSING: Bowling Green, Bazelak 21-37-0-221, Fannin 0-1-0-0. Minnesota, Kramer 8-16-1-26.
RECEIVING: Bowling Green, Hiliare 10-152, Fannin 5-50, Patterson 2-(minus 1), Osborne 1-8, Ibrahim 1-7, J.Johnson 1-3, Tillman 1-2. Minnesota, Taylor 2-11, Geers 2-10, Spencer 2-5, Jackson 2-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.
First Responder Bowl
Texas State, 45, Rice 21
DALLAS — Linebacker Brian Holloway returned two interceptions for touchdowns, Jahmyl Jeter ran for three scores and Texas State beat Rice 45-21 in the First Responder Bowl on Tuesday in the Bobcats’ first bowl appearance as an FBS program.
Holloway had a 36-yard pick-six early in the second quarter and returned his second interception 48 yards for a TD in the third that made it 38-21. Both picks came against AJ Padgett, who was intercepted three times overall. Shawqi Itraish relieved Padgett in the fourth quarter and threw two more picks as Texas State forced seven turnovers.
Jeter had a 29-yard touchdown run and two scores from 1 yard out. Nash Jones, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive tackle, scored on a 3-yard run for the Bobcats (8-5), who are in their 12th FBS season.
Dean Connors scored on runs of 3 and 28 yards for the Owls (6-7), who fell short of their first winning season and first bowl victory since 2014.
Ismail Mahdi rushed for 122 yards on 24 carries for the Bobcats.
Texas State led 14-7 when Holloway stepped in front of tight end Boden Green between the hash marks, and the senior ran in untouched.
Holloway’s second score occurred less than two minutes after Jones caught T.J. Finley’s lateral from the opposite side of the field and jogged in for a 31-21 lead. Holloway made the grab amid midfield traffic, ran toward the right sideline and raced in to become the first Texas State player with two interceptions for touchdowns in a game.
Finley was 15-of-29 for 152 yards.
Padgett was 10-of-21 for 81 yards and a touchdown in addition to the three picks.
Texas State 14 10 14 7—45
Rice 21 7 14 0 0—21
First Quarter
TXST: Jeter 29 run (Shipley kick), 13:25.
RICE: McCaffrey 7 pass from Padgett (Horn kick), 6:54.
TXST: Jeter 1 run (Shipley kick), 3:22.
Second Quarter
TXST: Holloway 36 interception return (Shipley kick), 14:36.
RICE: Connors 3 run (Horn kick), 6:07.
RICE: Connors 28 run (Horn kick), 3:40.
TXST: FG Shipley 31, :00.
Third Quarter
TXST: Jones 3 run (Shipley kick), 9:57.
TXST: Holloway 48 interception return (Shipley kick), 8:16.
Fourth Quarter
TXST: Jeter 1 run (Shipley kick), 2:01.
Attendance: 26,542.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Texas State, Mahdi 24-122, Jeter 8-36, Jones 1-3, (Team) 2-(minus 2), Finley 7-(minus 11). Rice, Connors 15-64, McCaffrey 2-16, Otoviano 7-14, Itraish 1-4, Jenkins 3-(minus 4), Padgett 3-(minus 9).
PASSING: Texas State, Finley 15-29-0-152. Rice, Padgett 10-21-3-85, Itraish 2-4-2-19, Jenkins 1-1-0-8.
RECEIVING: Texas State, Wilson 5-50, Hobert 5-48, Hawkins 3-55, Mahdi 2-(minus 1). Rice, Mojarro 3-35, McCaffrey 3-29, Ransom-Goelz 2-22, Groen 2-7, MacNeill 1-11, Connors 1-8, K.Campbell 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Kansas 49, UNLV 36
PHOENIX — Jason Bean threw for 449 yards and all six of his touchdown passes to two receivers, and penalty-plagued Kansas outlasted UNLV 49-36 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks (9-4), ranked 14th nationally for fewest penalties with 55 during the regular season, were flagged 18 times for 210 yards, including four personal fouls.
They made up for it with an explosive offense that produced 591 total yards at Chase Field, home of baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks.
Luke Grimm had four catches for 16 yards and three touchdowns. Lawrence Arnold added six catches for 132 yards and three more scores, giving Kansas two receivers with three touchdowns in a game for the first time in program history.
Bean finished 19-of-28 and overcame two interceptions in the third quarter to lead Kansas to its first postseason win since the 2008 Insight Bowl, also in Phoenix.
Jayden Maiava threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter to rally UNLV (9-5) nearly all the way back from a 21-point deficit early in the second, but the Rebels couldn’t stop Kansas.
Maiava added a 50-yard touchdown pass to Senika McKie and finished 24-of-35 for 291 yards with two interceptions.
UNLV got off to a fast start in its first bowl game since 2014, moving quickly down the field for Maiava’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Davis.
Bean took over from there, hitting Grimm on touchdowns of 6 and 60 yards, and a 15-yarder to Arnold. Devin Neal’s 1-yard run put Kansas up 28-10 at halftime.
Maiava rallied UNLV to 28-24 with a pair of TD passes, but Kansas kept scoring.
Bean hit Arnold on touchdown passes of 40 and 56 yards, then put the Jayhawks up 49-30 with a 43-yard TD to Grimm.
Kansas 7 21 0 21—49
UNLV 7 3 14 12—36
First Quarter
UNLV: V.Davis 3 run (Pizano kick), 11:07.
KU: Grimm 6 pass from Bean (Keller kick), 2:05.
Second Quarter
KU: Grimm 60 pass from Bean (Keller kick), 11:37.
KU: Arnold 15 pass from Bean (Keller kick), 7:57.
KU: Neal 1 run (Keller kick), 1:21.
UNLV: FG Pizano 40, :00.
Third Quarter
UNLV: Zeon 5 pass from Maiava (Pizano kick), 12:15.
UNLV: White 37 pass from Maiava (Pizano kick), 10:30.
Fourth Quarter
KU: Arnold 40 pass from Bean (Keller kick), 14:52.
UNLV: De Jesus 11 run (run failed), 12:06.
KU: Arnold 56 pass from Bean (Keller kick), 11:10.
KU: Grimm 43 pass from Bean (Keller kick), 8:16.
UNLV: McKie 50 pass from Maiava (run failed), 6:27.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Kansas, Neal 20-71, Hishaw 5-27, McDuffie 4-26, Bean 6-21, Skinner 1-6, (Team) 3-(minus 9). UNLV, De Jesus 6-40, Davis 13-38, Maiava 4-16, Irvin 1-1.
PASSING: Kansas, Bean 19-28-3-449. UNLV, Maiava 24-35-2-291.
RECEIVING: Kansas, Arnold 6-132, Grimm 4-160, Skinner 2-80, Fairchild 2-29, Casey 2-22, Wilson 1-23, Neal 1-3, Kardell 1-0. UNLV, De Jesus 8-95, White 7-97, McKie 4-78, Ballungay 2-17, Zeon 1-5, Davis 1-1, Irvin 1-(minus 2).
MISSED FIELD GOALS: UNLV, Pizano 52.
