MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Blake Horvath threw a pair of touchdown passes and rushed for a score to lead No. 22 Navy to its 11th victory of the season, 35-13 over short-handed Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl on Friday.
Horvath scored on a 2-yard run and had scoring passes of 30 and 13 yards. The senior QB, who helped open up the passing game this season for the run-heavy Midshipmen (11-2), finished 9 of 15 for 108 yards.
Alex Tecza rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown for Navy, which finished the season on a four-game winning streak, includinga 17-16 victory over Armyin its most important game of the year. Eli Heidenreich ran for 62 yards and had five receptions for 64 yards.
Cincinnati (7-6) was missing several key players, including quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns this season, and its leading tackler, linebacker Jake Golday. The absences of Sorsby and running backs Tawee Walker and Evan Pryor left the Bearcats without their top three rushers.
ARMED FORCES BOWL
TEXAS STATE 41, RICE 10
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Quarterback Brad Jackson threw for 173 yards and three touchdowns, plus ran in another score on the ground for Texas State in a win over Rice.
Lincoln Pare rushed for 106 yards on 11 carries for one touchdown for the Bobcats (7-6), totalling 1,022 rushing yards in his final season. Chris Dawn Jr. caught two touchdown passes.
Jackson opened the scoring for Texas State off a 6-yard rush in the second quarter and the Bobcats went into halftime up 10-7. After the break, Jackson threw a 69-yard pass to Beau Sparks. Dawn Jr. caught passes from 12 and 14 yards out to score.
Pare broke away on a 63-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter.
Kicker Tyler Robles hit two field goals for Texas State, from 30 and 28 yards out.
Aaron Turner caught Rice's (5-8) only touchdown of the day, a 2-yard pass up the middle from quarterback Patrick Crayton Jr. Crayton Jr. finished the day completing four passes for 70 yards and one interception.
HOLIDAY BOWL
SMU 24, NO 17 ARIZONA 19
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw for 278 yards, highlighted by an 80-yard completion on a razzle-dazzle play on the second play from scrimmage, and SMU beat Arizona.
Jennings completed 21 of 32 passes, and set up two touchdown runs by T.J. Harden and one by Stone Eby for the Mustangs (9-4). They snapped a five-game postseason losing streak that included a 38-10 defeat to Penn State in the opening round of last season's College Football Playoff. Arizona also finished 9-4.
SMU was up 24-0 at halftime, a big enough lead to overcome three interceptions by Jennings in the second half and three touchdown passes by Arizona's Noah Fifita.
Fifita threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Barmore with 33 seconds left but SMU recovered the ensuing onside kick.
DUKE'S MAYO BOWL
WAKE FOREST 43, MISSISSIPPI STATE 29
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Robby Ashford threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and two scores, Koredell Bartley scored on a 100-yard kickoff return and Wake Forest beat Mississippi State, earning coach Jake Dickert a mayonnaise bath.
Ashford threw TD passes of 14 yards to Kamrean Johnson, 64 yards to Jack Foley and 62 yards to Ty Clark III and had scoring runs of 2 and 1 yards for the Demon Deacons (9-4). They won seven of their final nine games.
Clark finished with 153 yards from scrimmage after taking over the starting role after second-team All-ACC selection Demond Claiborne opted out of the game after declaring for the NFL draft.
Freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor, making his second college start, had a big second half for Mississippi State (5-8) and finished 13 of 22 for 241 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 60 yards and another score before suffering what appeared to be a significant leg injury with 1:46 left in the game. He was carted off the field and there was no immediate word on the extent of the injury.
