Syracuse, Rice, Arizona State, Texas, Michigan State victorious in bowl games

12/30/2012

ASSOCIATED PRESS

From New York to San Francisco, college football bowl season continued across the country Saturday with five games on the schedule.

At the Pinstripe Bowl, Sycracuse plowed through West Virginia 38-14 in a snow farewell to the Big East Conference. In a bowl game played in a baseball stadium with weather better suited for a playoff game in Green Bay, the team that plays in a dome ended up being better equipped to handle the elements.

At the Armed Forces Bowl, Rice University, which won four straight games to even become bowl eligible, made it five in a row with a 33-14 win over Air Force. "This football team has overcome a lot of adversity and really played well down the stretch," said Rice coach David Bailiff. "We had a very motivational talk with our team just before the winning streak, and our coaching staff and players worked hard and kept improving every game."

At the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Taylor Kelly threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score to lead Arizona State to its first bowl win in seven years, a 62-28 victory over Navy. The Midshipmen (8-5) have lost five of their last six bowl games. Among the few highlights for Navy were Keenan Reynolds' 3-yard TD pass to Matt Aiken in the first half and a 95-yard kickoff return for a score by Gee Gee Greene in the third quarter.

At the Valero Alamo Bowl, two fourth-quarter touchdowns helped Texas to a 31-27 comeback victory over No. 15 Oregon State. The victory was a dose of much-needed good news for Texas after coming into the game under a cloud of questions following the suspensions of two players.

At the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Dan Conroy kicked a 47-yard field goal with 1:01 left, Le'Veon Bell ran for 145 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown, and Michigan State rallied to beat Texas Christian 17-16