By MARK LONG ADVERTISING By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Facing third-and-14 at the 1, Nebraska had a choice: Sneak the ball in hopes of getting a little extra room to punt or take a shot deep.
By MARK LONG
By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Facing third-and-14 at the 1, Nebraska had a choice: Sneak the ball in hopes of getting a little extra room to punt or take a shot deep.
The Cornhuskers chose to throw — and boy did they wing it.
Tommy Armstrong Jr. connected with Quincy Enunwa for a 99-yard touchdown strike— the longest play in school history — and Nebraska held on to beat No. 23 Georgia 24-19 in the rain-soaked Gator Bowl on Wednesday.
“I know one thing: There will never be a longer play in the history of college football than that one,” Cornhuskers coach Bo Pelini said. “That was a big play for us.”
Equally big were Georgia’s failures down the stretch. The Bulldogs (8-5) dropped two fourth-down passes in the closing minutes, helping Nebraska (9-4) close out its first bowl victory since 2009.
Nebraska, playing in its 50th bowl, also ended a four-game losing streak against teams from the Southeastern Conference. The streak included a 45-31 loss to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl last season.
The rematch was much different.
Nebraska did a solid job against running back Todd Gurley, who ran for 125 yards and a touchdown last year. Gurley finished with 86 yards on the ground.
Gurley was more effective in the passing game, catching seven passes for 97 yards. His 25-yard scoring reception to open the fourth quarter cut Nebraska’s lead to 24-19.
The Bulldogs had two really good chances to take the lead, but Rantavious Wooten and Arthur Lynch dropped fourth-down passes in the red zone.
“I think I turned my head at the last second and was thinking end zone,” Lynch said. “It’s one of those situations. It’s not so much I dropped the pass. It’s that I let my team down. At the end of the day, it’s one of those things that you can never forget, brush off your shoulders.
“It’s a win or a loss, and we lost. But I will never able to forget this one. If I run that play 49 more times, I make the catch.”
The drops capped Georgia’s woes. The Bulldogs moved inside the 21 seven times, but settled for four field goals.
The final two were costly.
Wooten dropped a fourth-and-2 pass around the 10 with 4:42 remaining. Georgia got the ball back with 3:18 to play and marched toward the end zone. But Lynch couldn’t haul in a fourth-and-3 pass that would have moved the chains with about 25 seconds remaining.
“That (stinks),” Gurley said. “To go all the way down there like that and on fourth down you just give it to them, that’s a bad feeling right there.”
Nebraska ran out the clock from there and then celebrated wildly all over the field.
Enunwa was named the game’s Most Valuable Player — and for good reason.
He recorded the longest play in Nebraska and Gator Bowl history.
After a timeout to discuss options on third and long, Armstrong dropped back and heaved the ball as far as he could to Enunwa, who was streaking wide open down the left sideline. Georgia cornerback Shaq Wiggins let Enunwa go, but got no safety help. Quincy Mauger had a chance to tackle Enunwa, but bounced off him just past midfield.
Enunwa coasted the rest of the way.
“It was kind of just one of those calls where you don’t have too many options out there, stuck on your own 1-yard line,” Enunwa said. “Luckily our coaches trust in us as playmakers.”
Enunwa finished with four receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 5-yard TD reception in the second quarter. The second was his 12th scoring catch of the season, breaking the school record of 11 set by Johnny Rodgers in 1971.
Armstrong, filling in for injured starter Taylor Martinez, completed 6 of 14 passes for 163 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.
Ameer Abdullah ran 27 times for 122 yards and a score. It was his 11th 100-yard game of the season.
CAPITAL ONE BOWL
NO. 8 SOUTH CAROLINA 34
NO. 19 WISCONSIN 24
ORLANDO, Fla. — Connor Shaw was responsible for five touchdowns, including three passing, and South Carolina outlasted Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl.
The senior was selected the game MVP after picking apart the Badgers’ defense, completing 22 of 25 passes for 312 yards. Shaw also had rushing and receiving scores.
The game also turned out to be the final college contest for South Carolina star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who said afterward that he would forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
South Carolina (11-2) won its third straight bowl game to cap its third straight 11-win season.
Bruce Ellington caught six passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The Badgers (9-4) lost their fourth straight bowl game, failing to capitalize on 100-yard rushing games from both Melvin Gordon and James White, and struggling after quarterback Joel Stave left in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Backup Curt Phillips threw two interceptions.
OUTBACK BOWL
NO. 14 LSU 21, IOWA 14
TAMPA, Fla. — Jeremy Hill ran for 216 yards and two touchdowns, helping LSU and inexperienced quarterback Anthony Jennings hold off Iowa in the Outback Bowl.
Craig Loston’s fourth-quarter interception stopped a potential tying drive, giving Hill a chance to put the game out of reach by carrying four times for 87 yards on a 92-yard march that gave LSU (10-3) a 21-7 lead.
Iowa (8-5) pulled within a touchdown after Jordan Cotton returned the ensuing kickoff to the Tigers 4.
Jennings rushed for one touchdown, but the freshman threw for only 82 yards and was intercepted once and sacked four times while standing in for the injured Zach Mettenberger in his first college start.
C.J. Beathard replaced Jake Rudock at quarterback for Iowa on the first play of the fourth quarter. His fourth-down interception stopped one promising drive, but he also tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Kevonte Martin-Manley that cut it 21-14 with 1:42 remaining.
Safety John Lowdermilk set up Iowa’s other TD — Mark Weisman’s 2-yard run in the third quarter — with an interception and 71-yard return to the 1. Officials initially ruled Lowdermilk, who was untouched on the return, scored. But the TD was reversed when a replay review determined the Iowa defender dropped the ball before crossing the goal line.
HEART OF DALLAS BOWL
NORTH TEXAS 36, UNLV 14
DALLAS — Derek Thompson threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, Brelan Chancellor scored twice and North Texas dominated the second half to beat UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
Both of Chancellor’s touchdown runs came in the fourth quarter after he keyed the go-ahead scoring drive in the third with some nifty footwork on a first-down catch. He had 121 yards combined rushing and receiving.
The Mean Green (9-4) were making their first postseason appearance since a 2004 New Orleans Bowl loss to Southern Miss and won a bowl for the first sice New Orleans in 2002.
UNLV (7-6) drove 95 yards for a touchdown on its opening possession but didn’t score again until the Mean Green were up 28-7 in the fourth quarter.
