PASADENA, Calif. — Justin Herbert faked a handoff and went on the run of his life in the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl.
Oregon’s 6-foot-6 quarterback gracefully stiff-armed Wisconsin linebacker Jack Sanborn at the line of scrimmage. He surged downfield, found his blockers and sprinted to the green-painted end zone, even absorbing a very late hit from the frustrated Badgers as a reward.
The Eugene kid who took over his beloved hometown team during its worst season of this century had just scored the decisive touchdown of the biggest win of his career. A few minutes and a couple of big passes later, the Ducks all celebrated amid confetti and roses at midfield after Herbert’s final college game.
“I wish it wasn’t over,” Herbert said. “This has been the best four years of my life. I’ve been honored to be a part of this team.”
Herbert scored his third rushing touchdown of the 106th Rose Bowl on that thrilling 30-yard run with 7:41 to play Wednesday night, and No. 7 Oregon held off No. 11 Wisconsin 28-27 to win its third straight trip to the Granddaddy of Them All.
Herbert passed for just 138 yards without a touchdown, and Oregon (12-2) managed just 204 yards of offense — the fewest by any Rose Bowl team in 40 years. The Ducks still managed to win yet another frenetic edition of this venerated bowl game, surviving six lead changes and big special-teams mistakes by both schools.
While the offense sputtered, the Ducks scored 21 points off the Badgers’ four turnovers, including Brady Breeze’s early 31-yard fumble return for a TD off a botched punt.
And on the next snap after Breeze forced another fumble in the fourth quarter, Herbert rambled through the Wisconsin defense for that 30-yard score in what’s sure to be the signature moment of the four-year starter’s career.
“I’m going to be honest with you, we’ve been telling him to run all year,” Oregon linebacker La’Mar Winston Jr. said. “He runs in practice and torches, so I told him, ‘Man, pull that thing and get loose.’ Stiff-arming dudes. Juking dudes. Is he a running back or a quarterback? We don’t know.”
Winston’s praise aside, Herbert had only 10 rushing touchdowns in the first 41 starts of his career. He turned into a big-play ball-carrier on Arroyo Seco’s hallowed ground, and Oregon improbably relied on its quarterback’s long legs to grind out a landmark victory under second-year head coach Mario Cristobal, Herbert’s third coach in four years.
Herbert scored on runs of 4 and 5 yards in the first half, stiff-arming Wisconsin defenders on both runs. After his go-ahead TD, Herbert got back to what he normally does best: He made a key 12-yard throw to Mycah Pittman for a first down with 1:51 to play, and his 28-yard throw to Juwan Johnson with 1:03 left allowed the Ducks to run out the clock.
“We knew coming in that he was athletic,” Sanborn said. “We didn’t have good angles and miscommunications. Something we have to be better at in a game like this. It’s not the first game he ran with the ball.”
Three years after coach Mark Helfrich was fired when the Ducks went 4-8 in Herbert’s freshman season, Oregon held on to cap a Pac-12 championship campaign with its 12th win in 13 games and the fourth Rose Bowl victory in school history.
“To realize where we were, and where we are now, it’s been a great journey,” Herbert said. “For us to stick together through those tough times is just a testament to all the guys on the team, and all the hard work we’ve put in.”
Aron Cruickshank returned an early kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown for the Big Ten runner-up Badgers (10-4), but they lost in their fourth consecutive trip to Pasadena over the last 10 years, including two losses to Oregon.
Jonathan Taylor rushed for 94 yards and Quintez Cephus caught seven passes for 59 yards and a score, but Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan’s offense couldn’t capitalize on its whopping advantages in time of possession (38:03-21:57) and total yards (322-204).
“There’s a slim chance you could win, but it definitely puts you in a tough position when you have self-inflected penalties, special teams problems, turnovers,” said Taylor, who is likely headed to the NFL. “When you’re playing an elite team like Oregon, a great team like that, they’ll capitalize on those mistakes.”
SUGAR BOWL
NO. 5 GEORGIA 26,
NO. 8 BAYLOR 14
NEW ORLEANS — George Pickens caught 12 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, and No. 5 Georgia defeated eighth-ranked Baylor 26-14 in the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night.
Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer, coming back from a concussion in the Big 12 title game on Dec. 7, was sidelined again in the fourth quarter when the back of his head appeared to hit hard on the turf as he was taken down by two Georgia defenders along the sideline.
Travon Walker was penalized for a late hit, giving the Bears a first down, but the drive stalled on a sack of backup Jacob Zeno on fourth down with about five minutes to go and Baylor trailing by 12.
Jake Fromm completed 20 of 30 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns without an interception for Georgia (12-2), which was back in the Sugar Bowl for a second straight season, having lost to Texas last year.
Georgia was without about a dozen regulars, including three starting offensive linemen. Some players were hurt while others sat out to preserve their health for the NFL draft.
Meanwhile, top running back D’Andre Swift saw only limited action because of an ailing shoulder.
Zamir White, known for persevering through two major knee operations in recent years, carried 18 times for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Georgia defensive back Richard LeCounte intercepted two passes, the second sealing the victory in the final minutes.
Pickens, a freshman, was selected the game’s most outstanding player.
Brewer completed 21 of 41 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown to Denzel Mims. Brewer was intercepted once.
After Georgia led 19-0 at halftime, Baylor (11-3) showed signs of mounting a comeback on the opening series of the second half with a scoring drive dominated by Mims. He had catches of 40 and 8 yards before his 12-yard touchdown grab trimmed the Bulldogs’ lead to 19-7. Mims also surpassed 1,000 yards receiving for the season on the drive.
The Bears quickly forced a Georgia punt and moved back across midfield when momentum suddenly swung back to the Bulldogs. Linebacker Azeez Ojulari sacked and stripped Brewer on fourth-and-4 and Walker recovered on the Baylor 47.
The Bulldogs capitalized with a touchdown drive extended by fake field goal in which holder Jake Camarda ran off tackle for 6 yards on fourth-and-2. White finished the series off with a tackle-breaking 13-yard run to the pylon.
Brewer’s short, second-effort TD run made it 26-14.
Pickens’ 46-yard catch deep down the middle on a flea flicker set up the first points of the game on Rodrigo Blankenship’s 24-yard field goal.
The Bulldogs widened the lead on Fromm’s 27-yard fade pass to the Pickens in the left side of the end zone.
Georgia made it 19-0 when Fromm, with time to survey the field behind that makeshift offensive line, threw hard over the middle for a 16-yard score to Matt Landers, the receiver’s first career TD.
Baylor threatened on just one drive in the first half, its second possession of the game. It fizzled when LeCounte made his third interception of the season on a pass tipped straight up in the air by Bears running back Trestan Ebner at the Georgia 18.
CITRUS BOWL
NO. 9 ALABAMA 35,
NO. 17 MICHIGAN 16
ORLANDO, Fla. — Mac Jones threw three touchdown passes, Jerry Jeudy became the first Alabama player to top 200 receiving yards in a bowl game and the Crimson Tide beat Michigan 35-16 in the Citrus Bowl.
Jones connected with Jeudy for an 85-yard score on Alabama’s first snap, and DeVonta Smith and Miller Forristall added touchdown grabs in the second half for the Crimson Tide (11-2), which trailed 16-14 at the break.
Jeudy finished with six catches for 204 yards. His previous career high was 147 set last season against Missouri, and the Alabama bowl record had stood for more than a half-century — Ray Perkins had 178 yards against Nebraska in the 1967 Sugar Bowl.
Jones — who took over as Alabama’s starter when Tua Tagovailoa was lost for the season with an injury in November — completed 16 of 25 passes for 327 yards. Najee Harris ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns for Alabama.
Shea Patterson completed 17 of 37 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown for Michigan (9-4), which dropped its fourth consecutive bowl game. Quinn Nordin kicked three field goals for the Wolverines, including a school-record-tying 57-yarder to end the first half and give Michigan the lead.
OUTBACK BOWL
NO. 16 MINNESOTA 31,
NO. 9 AUBURN 9
TAMPA, Fla. — Tyler Johnson had 12 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns to become Minnesota’s career receiving leader and help the Gophers beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl.
Johnson broke Eric Decker’s school record for receiving yards on his second catch of the day and became Minnesota’s career leader for scoring receptions on a one-handed, 2-yard TD catch that put the Gophers (11-2) up 24-17 at halftime. His 73-yard catch-and-run put Minnesota head for good early in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota finished with more than 10 wins for the first time since 1904. Auburn (9-4) concluded a season in which all four of its losses came against opponents ranked in the Top 25.
Tanner Morgan completed 19 of 29 passes for 278 yards and the TDs to Johnson, who finished with 3,305 receiving yards and 33 TD catches in his career. Receiver Seth Green tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Witham on fourth-and-inches in the second quarter.
Noah Igbinoghene returned a kickoff 96 yards for Auburn’s first touchdown.
