Stanford showed why they finished just outside the final four in the College Football Playoff as they romped to a 45-16 victory over Iowa in the Rose Bowl on Friday.
Christian McCaffrey caught a 75-yard touchdown pass on the opening snap and later returned a punt 66 yards for another score, while setting the Rose Bowl record with 368 all-purpose yards, propelling the Cardinal to their second Rose Bowl win in three trips over the past four years.
In Friday’s other bowl games, Ezekiel Elliott’s four touchdowns led Ohio State to victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, Mississippi dominated early in beating Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl, Michigan’s defense was outstanding against Florida to take out the Citrus Bowl, and Tennessee swept past Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.
Photo: AFP
Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns in his final game for the Cardinal, but it was McCaffrey who led the team to victory.
The running back, who finished second behind Alabama’s Derrick Henry in the Heisman voting for college football’s player of the season, left no doubt about his brilliance, staging one of the most dynamic performances in the 102-game history of the Rose Bowl. He had 172 yards rushing, 105 yards receiving and 91 on kick returns, putting an appropriate cap on the season in which he set the National Collegiate Athletic Association record for all-purpose yards. McCaffrey also became the first player ever to rack up more than 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in a Rose Bowl.
It was the first trip in 25 years for the Hawkeyes (12-2), who followed up their 12-0 regular season with two postseason losses.
Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott ran for 149 yards and matched a Fiesta Bowl record with four touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes past Notre Dame 44-28.
Ohio State (12-1) rolled past the Fighting Irish (10-3), quick-hitting their way to one scoring drive after another and 496 total yards.
Elliott was Ohio State’s drive capper in the first half, scoring on three short runs. He turned into the show stopper in the second, leaving Notre Dame defenders flailing as he raced for a 47-yard score.
The Fighting Irish had some good offensive moments behind DeShone Kizer, but could not keep up.
Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns — three to Laquon Treadwell — to lead Ole Miss to a 48-20 win against Oklahoma State.
Ole Miss (10-3) jumped out to a 34-6 lead by half-time. The highlight of that onslaught came late in the second quarter when left tackle ran in for a touchdown after a lateral pass from Kelly to a teammate, who then threw downfield.
Oklahoma State (10-3) lost their final three games after 10 straight wins. The Cowboys fell into a 41-6 hole midway through the third quarter and never mounted a legitimate challenge.
Kelly’s four touchdown passes and Treadwell’s three touchdown catches tied Sugar Bowl records.
Michigan beat Florida 41-7 in a Citrus Bowl that was billed as a clash of two strong defenses, but only one showed up.
Jake Rudock threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns, but it was the defense of the Wolverines (10-3) that earned most credit, holding the Gators (10-4) to 28 total yards in the second half.
Michigan (10-3) had three touchdown drives of at least 70 yards and finished with 503 yards of offense against a Florida defense that entered the game ranked sixth nationally. Leading by 10 at the half, Michigan scored on each of their first two possessions in the third quarter to take a 31-7 lead.
Tennessee capped a strong season by beating Northwestern 45-6.
Joshua Dobbs threw for 166 yards and ran for two touchdowns, while Jalen Hurd ran for 130 yards and one touchdown for the Volunteers (9-4). They finished with at least nine wins for the first time since 2007.
Northwestern (10-3) failed in a bid to finish with a school-record 11 victories.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB