EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Steve Angeli passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns, guiding No. 15 Notre Dame to a 40-8 victory over No. 21 Oregon State in the Sun Bowl on Friday.
Angeli went 15 for 19 and tossed TD passes of 8 yards to Jayden Thomas, 13 yards to Jordan Faison and 13 yards to Jeremiyah Love. The sophomore was making his first start for the Irish (10-3) in place of Sam Hartman, one of many players who opted out of the game.
Jadarian Price of Notre Dame rushed for 106 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown.
Notre Dame had seven players – all starters – opt out of the game. That included Hartman and standout running back Audric Estime.
Oregon State (8-5), which finished the season on a three-game losing streak, had three starters opt out and four others enter the transfer portal — including starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and backup Aidan Chiles.
Jimmy Valsin III had the lone score for Oregon State, catching a 33-yard pass from Ben Gulbranson. Offensive lineman Tyler Voltin ran in the 2-point conversion from the wildcat formation. Gulbranson 16 for 27 for 180 yards and an interception.
GATOR BOWL
CLEMSON 38, KENTUCKY 35
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Phil Mafah ran for four touchdowns, including a 3-yarder with 17 seconds to play, and Clemson beat Kentucky to close the season on a five-game winning streak.
Mafah scored three times in a back-and-forth final quarter that saw five turnovers, four touchdowns and five lead changes. Clemson (9-4) outscored Kentucky (7-6) 28-14 over the last 15 minutes.
Cade Klubnik made the play of the game when he connected with Troy Stellato for 16 yards on third-and-18 to set up Mafah’s fourth-down run that moved the chains. Mafah scored three plays later to put the Tigers up for good.
Mafah finished with 71 yards on 11 carries. Klubnik completed 30 of 41 passes for 264 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.
Kentucky’s Barion Brown scored three TDs. He returned the second-half kickoff 100 yards, had a 60-yard scoring catch and a 22-yard TD run.
LIBERTY BOWL
MEMPHIS 36, IOWA STATE 26
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Seth Henigan threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns and the Memphis defense shut down Iowa State’s rushing game to win the Liberty Bowl.
Blake Watson rushed for 107 yards as Memphis (10-3) of the American Athletic Conference amassed 530 yards of total offense and finished with at least 10 wins for the fifth time in program history.
Henigan completed 24 of 34 passes and also rushed for 27 yards and a touchdown.
Redshirt freshman Rocco Becht led the Cyclone offense, going 22 for 38 for 446 yards and three touchdown passes. But Becht supplied nearly all the offence for Iowa State (7-6), which averages 130 yard rushing per game. This time, the Cyclones were held to zero net yards on the ground.
