With the Florida State’s BCS National Championship victory over Auburn the college football Bowl season was wrapped up for another year. Here are the top five Bowl games from 2013.
5. (12) Clemson Tigers – 40
(5) Ohio State Buckeyes – 35
The Orange Bowl turned out to be the high-scoring encounter we all hoped for. The big players turned up to the big game.
A one-yard touchdown run from Carlos Hyde in the third quarter gave the Buckeyes a 29-20 lead before Tajh Boyd unleashed his arm. The senior hooked up with Sammy Watkins for a 30-yard score when the explosive receiver rose up over the defensive traffic to come down with the catch in the endzone. Martavis Bryant then caught a spectacular touchdown off his own at the second attempt. Ohio State nudged themselves back in front with over ten minutes to go but they could not stop Boyd who found Stanton Seckinger from five yards away.
Boyd finished with over 500 yards of offence and six touchdowns while Watkins caught 16 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns for Clemson. Fellow dual-threat quarterback Braxton Miller had a quieter day than Boyd although his 33-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was a must-see highlight. Miller finished with 269 total yards and three touchdowns while Hyde ran the ball 25 times for 113 yards and a score.
4. (13) Oklahoma State Cowboys – 31
(8) Missouri Tigers – 41
Missouri scored two touchdowns inside the final four minutes to cap a brilliant season with an AT&T Cotton Bowl victory.
The two sides exchanged scores for most of the game as both sides combined for over a thousand yards of offence. With Missouri leading 17-14 going into the final quarter, both offences let loose as 41 points were scored in the final 13:32.
When Henry Josey rumbled in from 16 yards out it left Oklahoma State with five minutes to tie or win the matchup. With the game on a knife edge and the Cowboys driving, quarterback Clint Chelf was strip-sacked in Tigers territory. Shane Ray picked up the fumble and returned it 73 yards down the sideline in front of a stunned Oklahoma State bench.
Chelf finished the game completing 33 of 57 passes for 377 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while he ran in another score.
Tigers quarterback James Franklin struggled and only completed 15 of his 40 pass attempts with no touchdowns and an interception. Josey, meanwhile, carried the ball 12 times for 92 yards and three touchdowns.
3. (24) Duke Blue Devils – 48
(21) Texas A&M Aggies – 52
Johnny Manziel led a comeback win in his last game in college football as Duke cruelly missed out on a Chick-fil-A Bowl victory.
With a 38-17 lead at half time, Duke were outscored 35-10 in the second half as they went down fighting to a strong A&M offense.
Anthony Boone tossed two touchdowns and ran one in along with back-up quarterback Brandon Connette in the first half while Manziel found Travis Labhart twice.
The second half was almost an exact opposite of the first as Duke could only muster a 21-yard touchdown reception from David Reeves and a Ross Martin field goal. The Aggies, on the other hand, found their stride as Johnny Football took control of the game. A third touchdown to Labhart was followed by a 21-yard touchdown run from Tra Carson and a three-yard score from the legs of Manziel before Derel Walker hauled in a 44-yard score. Duke still maintained a slender lead but Boone found Tony Hurd instead of a Blue Devil receiver and the senior defensive back raced 55 yards the other way to leave David Cutcliffe’s men with a sour taste in their mouths.
Boone finished with over 400 yards passing while running back Josh Snead totalled 104 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Wide receiver Jamison Crowder caught 12 passes for 163 yards and a score. Manziel completed 30 of 38 passes for 382 yards and four touchdowns as well as carrying the ball 11 times for 73 yards.
2. (1) Florida State Seminoles – 34
(2) Auburn Tigers – 31
The National Championship game lands at number two on the list thanks to the hectic fourth quarter which saw the Florida State Seminoles prevail to lift their second BCS title.
Auburn looked to be pulling off one of the great upsets when they took a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter. However, the Tigers were outscored 28-10 over the remainder of the game as they missed out on their second gong in four years. Tre Mason scored on a 12-yard pass from Nick Marshall who ran one in himself as well as finding Melvin Ray from 50 yards to open up the lead. The Seminoles comeback began in the fourth quarter when Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston tossed a touchdown to Chad Abram. A Cody Parkey field goal extended Auburn’s lead but a 100-yard kick-off return from freshman Levonte Whitfield put the Seminoles in the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter. The drama was not over there, though, as Tre Mason burst into the open field and put the Tigers back in the lead with just over a minute to go. However, Winston showed his class and led his men down the field to complete the victory by throwing up a pass under pressure to Kelvin Benjamin who made no mistake with the catch over the defender.
Winston ended with 237 yards and two touchdowns while receiver Rashad Greene had 147 receiving yards. For the Tigers Tre Mason accumulated 237 all-purpose yards on 35 touches of the football.
1. Washington State – 45
Colorado State – 48
A barn-storming comeback from Colorado State in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl takes the number one spot on the list.
Washington State held a 35-13 lead during the second quarter and a 45-30 lead with three minutes to go but Colorado State displayed tremendous determination to pull off the unlikely win.
Connor Halliday threw touchdown passes to River Cracaft, Gabe Marks, Theron West, Vince Mayle and Rickey Galvin in the first half for the Cougars while the Rams saw Garrett Grayson find Charles Lovett with a 63-yard touchdown pass, Kapri Bibbs rumbles over from a yard out and Jared Roberts boom three kicks over. Washington State put three more points up after the break before Bibbs broke a 75-yard touchdown run to kick-start his team. Isiah Myers became Halliday’s sixth passing touchdown target before bedlam broke loose.
Down 12 points with a little over three minutes to go the Rams pulled themselves back into the game with a Jordon Vaden touchdown reception. With Washington still leading all they had to do was kill the clock. However, when Jeremiah Laufasa was stripped of the ball by Shaquil Barrett, Bibbs was able to put six points on the board a few plays later from a yard out. Colorado’s second miracle came a play later when Teondray Caldwell fumbled the kick-off to set up a Roberts field goal attempt. The junior kicker made no mistake from 41 yards out and the game was won as time expired.
Halliday, who was rather unlucky to be on the losing team, ended the game with 410 passing yards and six touchdown passes. Grayson had a solid game himself with a total of 369 passing yards and a touchdown. Bibbs was the Rams’ star player with 169 yards and three touchdowns.