Louie Sakoda made four field goals, defensive star Eric Weddle ran for a score and Utah won a sixth straight US college football bowl, beating Tulsa 25-13 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Saturday.
The Utes (8-5) have won all of their bowl games since 1999, including two years ago when they were the first non-BCS team to play in the Bowl Championship Series.
That year, they defeated Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl to cap an undefeated season.
PHOTO: AP
Brett Ratliff was 23-of-34 passing for 240 yards and was credited with a 10-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter for the Utes, though it was actually a designed catch-and-pitch similar to a score in their Fiesta Bowl romp.
Brian Hernandez caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage and pitched to Brent Casteel, who ran around the left end and leaped into the end zone.
Paul Smith scored on a pair of 1-yard keepers for Tulsa (8-5), which finished a once-promising season with its fourth loss in five games.
Boston College also has won six straight bowls.
The Eagles have a chance to extend their streak next Saturday against Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Weddle, the two-time Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year who also plays several snaps a game on offense, ran 10 times for 56 yards.
His 4-yard score with 1:05 left in the game was his fifth rushing touchdown this season.
He also intercepted a pass on the final play of the game.
S Florida 24, E Carolina 7
At Birmingham, Alabama, Benjamin Williams led the South Florida Bulls to their first bowl victory, running for two first-half touchdowns against East Carolina in the inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl.
The Bulls (9-4) played the scoreless second half without quarterback Matt Grothe, who was kicked in the right shin in the second quarter.
The decade-old program's only previous bowl appearance was a shutout loss last year that came in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
South Florida also tied its season high for wins.
Struggling to make a comeback, East Carolina (7-6) drove inside the South Florida 30 yard line five times in the second half only to fall short.
Williams finished with 67 yards on 17 carries and Grothe threw a long TD pass to Amarri Jackson.
East Carolina's James Pinkney threw a 48-yard scoring pass to Bobby Good.
San Jose St. 20, New Mexico 12
At Albuquerque, New Mexico, Adam Tafralis threw three touchdown passes for San Jose State in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl.
The game extended New Mexico's postseason streak without a win to 45 years.
New Mexico (6-7) hasn't won a bowl game since it beat Western Michigan in the 1961 Aviation Bowl and is 0-5 since 1997.
For the Spartans (9-4), the win provided a final highlight in a year in which they had more wins than the three previous seasons.
Tafralis, who was 11-of-18 for 209 yards, threw scoring passes of 36 and 24 yards to James Jones and 76 yards to John Broussard.
New Mexico's only touchdown came with 15 seconds left in the game on a 15-yard pass from Chris Nelson to Marcus Smith.
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool