UNDATED (AP) — Jake Herslow caught a 26-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass from Clayton Tune with 3:27 left to help lift No. 21 Houston to a 17-13 victory over Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl.
The Cougars marched 80 yards on eight plays to cap the third season in program history with at least 12 wins. They snapped a four-game bowl losing streak.
The Tigers ended coach Bryan Harsin’s first season with five straight losses for the first time in 71 years. Game MVP Tune completed 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, while also rushing for 43 yards.
In other college bowl action:
— Ky Thomas ran for 144 yards and a touchdown, Mar’Kiese Irving added 129 yards rushing and Minnesota shut down West Virginia to win the Guaranteed Rate Bowl 18-6. Thomas and Irving became the Gophers’ 1-2 punch after Mohamed Ibrahim and Trey Potts sustained season-ending injuries. The two running backs carried most of the load offensively against West Virginia, accounting for 273 of Minnesota’s 358 total yards. The Gophers overwhelmed the Mountaineers defensively, holding them to 206 total yards to win their fifth straight bowl game, third under coach P.J. Fleck.
— Haaziq Daniels passed for two touchdowns and ran for two others as Air Force beat Louisville 31-28 in the First Responder Bowl at SMU’s home field in Dallas. Daniels completed 9 of 10 passes for a season-high 252 yards leading a triple-option offense that came into the game averaging an FBS-best 340.8 rushing yards and the second-fewest passing yards at 82.5 per game.
— Donovan Smith threw for 252 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score, and Texas Tech beat Mississippi State 34-7 in the Liberty Bowl. Tahj Brooks rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown and SaRodorick Thompson ran for 80 yards and a score for the Red Raiders, who finished with a winning record for the first time since 2015. They were appearing in their first bowl game since 2017. Mississippi State fell short in coach Mike Leach’s first game against a former program of his. Leach went 84-43 at Texas Tech from 2000-09.
Holiday Bowl scrapped as virus issues hit UCLA before kickoff
UNDATED (AP) — The Holiday Bowl has become the fifth postseason college football game to be canceled. UCLA was forced to pull out just hours before kickoff because of COVID-19 issues with the team. The Bruins were scheduled to face No. 18 North Carolina State at Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres.
The Hawaii, Military, Fenway and Arizona bowls have already been canceled with virus issues leaving teams without enough available players. The Sun and Gator bowls have had to scramble to find replacement teams.
Wake Forest is set to play in the Gator Bowl, but will face Rutgers instead of Texas A&M as originally scheduled.
North Carolina State is the fifth Atlantic Coast Conference team to have its bowl disrupted.
Numerous college programs have coronavirus issues coming out of the Christmas break. No. 2 Duke is one of several basketball programs with COVID-19 issues, postponing games against Clemson and Notre Dame this week. And UConn’s game against No. 23 Xavier scheduled for Tuesday was scrapped because of COVID-19 issues involving the Huskies.
In other college sports news:
— Georgia wide receiver George Pickens will be available Friday for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl against No. 2 Michigan. The junior was expected to be third-ranked Georgia’s go-to receiver before he tore the ACL in his right knee during spring practice.
