VT cruises in Military Bowl; other bowls go down to the wire

J.C. Coleman ran for 157 yards and a touchdown as Virginia Tech Hokies injured Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel while rolling to a 33-17 victory over the Bearcats at the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Maryland. The Hokies (7-6) knocked Kiel out of the game in the 3rd quarter during a play that virtually assured the Hokies a 22nd consecutive winning season.




Kalen Ballage returned a kickoff 96 yards to set up the winning touchdown as the Arizona State Sun Devils pulled off a 36-31 victory over the Duke Blue Devils at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Duke missed a chance to make program history with consecutive 10-win seasons, while Arizona State (10-3) tied program history with a third consecutive 10-win season.




Dylan Thompson threw for 284 yards & two touchdowns and Pharoh Cooper caught nine passes for 170 yards & a touchdown as the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Miami Hurricanes, 24-21, at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. South Carolina (7-6) has won a school-record four straight bowl games while Miami (6-7) ended the season on a four-game losing streak and hasn't won in the postseason since 2006.




Sam Ficken kicked the extra point to give help give the Penn State Nittany Lions a 31-30 overtime win over the Boston College Eagles in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. The Nittany Lions (7-6) played in a bowl game for the first time since January of 2012 after the NCAA lifted the most severe sanctions levied against the program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.




After nearly blowing an 18-point 3rd-quarter lead, the USC Trojans survived long enough to defeat the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 45-42, at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Cody Kessler completed 23-of-39 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns for USC (9-4), who was playing Nebraska (9-4) in a bowl game for the first time in program history.