HONOLULU — J’Mar Smith threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score in a big third quarter to lead Louisiana Tech to a 31-14 win over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (8-5) rallied from a 7-3 halftime deficit to secure their fifth bowl victory in as many seasons, a program first.
Smith threw for 285 yards on 19-of-31 passing with an interception. He tossed a 58-yard touchdown pass to Jaqwis Dancy and scored on a 4-yard run that was part of a 21-point third quarter.
Louisiana Tech took the lead for good on Israel Tucker’s 5-yard TD run with 10:27 left in the third.
Bulldogs defensive end Jaylon Ferguson became the NCAA’s career sacks leader when he dropped Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro for a 2-yard loss late in the third. Ferguson’s 45 sacks broke the previous mark set by Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs.
Hawaii played without wide receiver John Ursua, who leads the nation with 16 touchdown catches. Ursua, sidelined with an undisclosed injury, was ruled out just minutes before the start of the game.
The Bulldogs had a Hawaii Bowl-record nine sacks, four by Willie Baker. Amik Robertson had two of their three interceptions.
The Rainbow Warriors (8-6) were just 2 of 14 on third down and got penalized 12 times for 140 yards.
ARMED FORCES BOWL
NO. 22 ARMY 70, HOUSTON 14
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 70-14 on Saturday 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 getting into the AP Top 25 poll for a 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 in 1997.
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 1,000-yard 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 1-yard TD plunges. He also had a 2-yard TD run.
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.
BIRMINGHAM BOWL
WAKE FOREST 37, MEMPHIS 34
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Jamie Newman scored on a 1-yard run with 34 seconds left to help give Wake Forest a 37-34 victory over Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday.
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’ Tony Pollard scored on a 97-yard kickoff return to tie the NCAA career mark with seven.
DOLLAR GENERAL BOWL
TROY 42, BUFFALO 32
MOBILE, Ala. — Sawyer Smith threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns, B.J. Smith and Sidney Davis ran for touchdowns and Troy beat Buffalo in the Dollar General Bowl on Saturday night.
Troy (10-3) secured the hard-fought win on Davis’ 20-yard touchdown run with 3:09 remaining, a play after Buffalo’s Tyree Jackson fumbled to give the Trojans possession.
The entertaining game that had several big swings in momentum, especially during a strange third quarter that featured Buffalo scoring seven points despite not running an offensive play.
Troy took a 21-17 lead on Smith’s 2-yard touchdown run with 9:47 left in the third and then immediately recovered an onside kick. The Trojans were driving for another score before B.J. Smith’s fumble bounced into the hands of Buffalo’s Tyrone Hill, who ran 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulls a 24-21 lead. Troy jumped ahead 35-24 after two quick touchdowns in the fourth quarter and held off Buffalo’s final rally.
Jackson threw for 274 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Buffalo (10-4).