ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mississippi State’s sideline erupted in celebration, relieved to escape with a victory to end a challenging season.
Nick Fitzgerald rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns in another strong performance by the dual-threat quarterback; however, the heavily favored Bulldogs had to block a field goal in the closing seconds to hold off Miami (Ohio) 17-16 in the St. Petersburg Bowl on Monday.
“Great game. Not exactly how we drew it up,” coach Dan Mullen said after defensive tackle Nelson Adams got a hand on Nick Dowd’s potential game-winning kick that would have helped Miami finish a stunning turnaround from a 0-6 start to the season to a winning record.
Instead, both the Bulldogs (6-7) and the RedHawks (6-7), who won six straight games to become bowl eligible, finished with losing marks.
“You know what, it’s been an interesting year. We’ve battled. Throughout the year we’ve lost some tough games on the final play of the game,” Mullen said. “I told the guys in the locker room afterward, we’re here because we didn’t give up. We found a way to go make that final play. Even though we missed a lot of opportunities, we made the final play when it mattered.”
Fitzgerald, who led the Southeastern Conference in total offense, scored on runs of 2 and 44 yards on the way to his eighth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. The redshirt sophomore also completed 13 of 26 passes for 126 yards.
Gus Ragland threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns for Miami. He also threw his first interception of the season early in the fourth quarter, and Mississippi State turned the mistake into a 36-yard field goal that put the Bulldogs ahead with 12:03 remaining.
“We were one play ahead of them for most of the game, if not more than one, but they were one play ahead of us at the end,” Miami coach Chuck Martin said. “We had opportunities. When you look at it, it didn’t need to come down to that last kick, but it did. They made one more play than us. Tough way to end. That’s sports, and that’s competition.”
The RedHawks drove the ball deep into Bulldogs territory on their next two possessions, turning the ball over on downs at the Mississippi State 32 midway through the fourth quarter and reaching the 17 before Dowd had his kick blocked with 5 seconds left.
James Gardner and Ryan Smith caught TD passes for Miami, which also had an extra-point blocked in the opening half.
“We had noticed on film that the kicker kind of did line drives. All that was going through my head was get your hands up as quick as you can,” Adams said. “It’s been a tough year for us. The only thing going through my mind was make a play, make something happen, and that’s what I did.”
Quick Lane Bowl
BOSTON COLLEGE 36, MARYLAND 30
DETROIT — Boston College blew a fourth-quarter lead in a loss to Georgia Tech in its season opener in Ireland. In the Eagles’ finale, they showed they had learned how to hold on for a victory.
Patrick Towles threw two touchdown passes and caught a pass for a score in the first half, helping Boston College beat Maryland 36-30 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday.
The Eagles (7-6) led by 16 at halftime, 23 points early in the third quarter and then had to force Maryland to turn the ball over on downs late in the game to seal their first bowl victory since beating Michigan State at the 2007 Champs Sports Bowl.
“We started to really develop a resolve that you see in the players’ eyes,” Boston College coach Steve Addazio said. “The most critical thing in building your program is having that. And, I really believe we have finally set that platform forward and that’s the most exciting thing to me of all.”
Maryland (6-7) had the ball at its 35 with 1:48 left with a chance to drive for a go-ahead TD.
“That’s all you can ask for,” Maryland coach DJ Durkin said. “You’ll take that in any game.”
But the Terrapins didn’t gain a yard before Harold Landry helped finish them off with a possession-ending sack.
Maryland made some big plays on offense, but four turnovers, eight sacks allowed, 11 penalties and poor field position proved to be costly. In the first half, Perry Hills threw an interception, lost a fumble and was sacked four times. On the Terrapins’ first snap of the second half, Hills handed off to Ty Johnson and the running back’s fumble was recovered in the end zone by Boston College.
With 4:02 left, the Terrapins got to the Boston College 1 with a chance to cut into their nine-point deficit and Hills lost a fumble after bobbling a snap. They got the ball back less than a minute later when Boston College’s Jon Hilliman fumbled at his 6, and were forced to settle for a field goal.
“The program is headed in the right direction, but we have to learn to not beat ourselves,” Durkin said.
Independence Bowl
NC STATE 41, VANDERBILT 17
SHREVEPORT, La. — Jaylen Samuels caught three touchdown passes from Ryan Finley, Nyheim Hines returned a kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown and North Carolina State beat Vanderbilt 41-17 on Monday night in the Independence Bowl.
North Carolina State (7-6) won three of its final four games to finish with a winning record. The Wolfpack built a 28-3 lead by midway through the third quarter — largely thanks to Samuels’ touchdown catches of 9, 55 and 17 yards — and then held off a brief Vanderbilt rally.
Finley completed 19 of 30 passes for 235 yards. Samuels’ three touchdown catches were an Independence Bowl record.
Vanderbilt (6-7) had a lot of momentum going into the game thanks to surprising wins over Mississippi and Tennessee to end the regular season. But the Commodores’ offense — which scored a combined 83 points against the Rebels and Volunteers — struggled for most of the night.
Vanderbilt’s Kyle Shurmur completed just 19 of 46 passes for 158 yards and three interceptions. Even so, the Commodores briefly made things interesting, closing to 28-17 early in the fourth quarter.
But that’s when Hines responded his big kickoff return to put the game out of reach.