EL PASO, Texas –Bryce Love took over for the absent Christian McCaffrey in the Stanford backfield, running for 119 yards and catching a 49-yard touchdown pass to help the No. 16 Cardinal beat North Carolina 25-23 on Friday in the Sun Bowl.
Stanford (10-3) held on after North Carolina (8-5) pulled within two with 25 seconds left on Mitch Trubisky’s 2-yard pass to Bug Howard, sacking Trubisky on the 2-point conversion try.
McCaffrey skipped the bowl game to focus on his NFL career.
Stanford took a 25-17 lead on Conrad Ukropina’s 27-yard field goal with 3:23 left. North Carolina was forced to punt on its next series, but used two timeouts to get the ball back.
After taking over at their own 3, the Tar Heels drove 97 yards in 10 plays and 1:11. After competing passes of 44 and 27 yards, Trubisky capped the drive with the 2-yard scoring pass to Howard.
Stanford then sacked Trubisky on the 2-point try, a rush led by Solomon Thomas forcing the quarterback to retreat before being taken down. Thomas was selected the game’s MVP.
Stanford safety Dallas Lloyd intercepted two of Trubisky’s passes, returning the second 19 yards for a touchdown to give Stanford a 22-17 lead early in the fourth quarter.
MUSIC CITY BOWL
MUSIC CITY BOWLNASHVILLE, Tenn. – Joshua Dobbs ran for three touchdowns and 118 yards and threw for 291 yards and another score in Tennessee’s victory over Nebraska.
The Volunteers (9-4) beat a Big Ten team in a bowl for the third straight year and notched their first win in three tries against the Cornhuskers. It’s the first time Tennessee has won three straight bowls since 1994-1996 when Peyton Manning was quarterback for the Vols.
Tennessee took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and outgained Nebraska 521-318 in total offens.
Nebraska (9-4) ended the season with two straight losses. The Cornhuskers lost four of their final six after rising as high as No. 7 in the rankings.
Ryker Fyfe, the fifth-year former walk-on started for injured quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. He pulled Nebraska within a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Fyfe threw two TD passes to Brandon Reilly and ran for a 9-yard TD with 10:02 left in the fourth to pull the Cornhuskers within 31-24.
Dobbs answered with a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Malone for the final margin.
LIBERTY BOWL
LIBERTY BOWLMEMPHIS, Tenn. – Nick Chubb ran for 142 yards and a touchdown, sending Georgia past TCU for the Bulldogs’ third bowl victory in three years.
Georgia (8-5) sent TCU (6-7) to its third losing year in Gary Patterson’s 16 full seasons as coach.
Rodrigo Blankenship put Georgia ahead for good with 13:27 left on a 30-yard field goal. Blankenship’s kick was set up by Chubb’s 48-yard burst on the final play of the third period.
Brandon Hatfield was wide right on a 47-yard field goal attempt that would have put TCU ahead with 7:57 remaining. He earlier missed a 41-yard field goal and an extra point.
Jacob Eason threw touchdown passes to Javon Wims and Sony Michel. Isaiah McKenzie had four catches for 103 yards, including a 77-yarder that set up a touchdown. Trenton Thompson recorded three sacks for Georgia and was named the game’s most valuable player.
TCU’s Kenny Hill threw two touchdown passes to John Diarse and ran for a score.
