Utah
(8-4) vs. Navy (8-4)
Dec. 20, 9 p.m. ESPN
Best Bowl Moments, History & More
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Poinsettia Bowl History
2006TCU 37 ... Northern Illinois 7
2005 Navy 51 ... Colorado State 30 |
By
Richard Cirminiello
Best Ute Bowl
Moment:
Three years ago, the Utes set the bowl bar pretty doggone high for
future teams to reach. Utah got four touchdown passes from Alex
Smith, adding an exclamation point to a perfect regular season by
completely obliterating Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. The win
more than justified the Utes’ selection as the first non-BCS program
to ever get invited to a BCS bowl game.
Best Middie Bowl Moment: Ben Fay will forever be a part of
Navy football lore. He was the backup quarterback, who came off the
bench in the fourth quarter of the 1996 Aloha Bowl to help upset
Cal, 42-38. The senior led the offense on touchdown drives of 80
and 84 yards over the final 10:38 as the Academy captured its first
bowl win in 18 years.
Utah's best win ...
Utah 27 ... TCU 20
Utah picked off TCU's Andy Dalton four times, with Martel
Bennett returning one 55 yards for a score, Darrell Mack ran for a one-yard
score, and Marquis Wilson caught a 24-yard touchdown pass, but had to hold on
late as TCU got a late field goal to pull within seven, then couldn't convert
the onside kick. TCU got a blocked punt return for a score and converted a trick
play into a one-yard Marcus Brock rushing touchdown, but the turnovers proved
too costly.
Player of the game:
Utah S Steve Tate made
12 tackles, picked off a pass, and made a sack
Stat Leaders: Utah - Passing: Brian Johnson, 13-20, 120 yds,
1 TD
Rushing: Darrell Mack, 32-100, 1 TD. Receiving: Marquis Wilson,
6-73, 1 TD
TCU - Passing: Andy Dalton, 20-45, 164 yds, 4 INT
Rushing: Aaron Brown, 11-59. Receiving: Aaron Brown, 5-21
Utah's worst loss ...
UNLV 27 ... Utah 0
Frank Summers scored on a 29-yard pass play, and ran for
fourth quarter touchdowns from four and 36 yards out as UNLV stunned
Utah. The defense forced four Ute turnovers and held the offense to
just 300 yards, while the offense was able to take advantage of the
opportunities, going less than 40 yards on three scoring drives.
Sergio Aguayo hit field goals from 28 and 20 yards out.
Player of the game:
UNLV RB Frank Summer ran 29 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns,
and caught a pass for a 29-yard score.
Stat Leaders: UNLV - Passing: Travis Dixon,
12-27, 144 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Frank Summers, 29-190 yds, 2 TD. Receiving:
Ryan Wolfe, 3-50
Utah - Passing: Tommy Grady, 11-21, 117 yds, 1
INT
Rushing: Darrell Mack, 21-89. Receiving: Brandon Godfrey,
6-62
Navy's best win ...
Navy 48 ... Pitt 45 2OT
Down three in the second overtime on the Navy two, Pitt chose
to go for it on fourth down, and missed, as Pat Bostick's throw on a
fade pattern got broken up. In a wild game, Navy had a chance to win
in regulation, but Joey Bullen's 49-yard kick fell way short as time
expired. Bostick ran for a one-yard score to put Pitt up in the
first overtime, and Navy responded on its first play with a Reggie
Campbell 25-yard touchdown catch. Bullen nailed a 29-yard field goal
in the second overtime. LeSean McCoy ran for three touchdowns for
the Panthers, while Navy got three Campbell scores, along with short
touchdown runs from Adam Ballard, Shun White and
Kaipo Noa
Kaheaku-Enhada in the see-saw battle. The two teams combined for 558 rushing
yards.
Player of the
game:
Navy QB Kaipo
Noa Kaheaku-Enhada ran 25 times for 122 yards and a touchdown, and completed
nine of 12 passes for 166 yards and two scores
Stat Leaders: Pitt - Passing: Pat Bostick, 20-28, 191 yds,
1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: LeSean McCoy, 32-165, 3 TD. Receiving: Oderick Turner,
6-74, 1 TD
Navy - Passing: Kaipo Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, 9-12, 166 yds, 2
TD
Rushing: Kaipo Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, 25-122, 1 TD. Receiving: Tyree
Barnes, 3-58
Navy's worst loss ...
Delaware 59 ... Navy 52
The two teams combined for 1,087 yards of total offense with Navy
running for 342 and Delaware throwing for 434. The two teams traded
huge shots all game long with Joe Flaco throwing four touchdown
passes for Delaware and Omar Cuff running for four scores. His
37-yard dash with 2:02 remaining put the Blue Hens up 59-49. Navy
was able to come up with a 29-yard field goal with 29 seconds
remaining, but failed toe get the onside kick. Navy ran for seven
scores with Adam Ballard tearing off a 55-yard dash and Eric Kettani
and
Kaipo Noa
Kaheaku-Enhada each scoring twice.
Player of the
game:
Delaware QB Joe
Flaco completed 30 of 41 passes for 434 yards and four touchdowns
Stat Leaders: Navy - Passing: Jarod Bryant,
8-11, 126 yds
Rushing: Adam Ballard, 9-94, 1 TD. Receiving: Zerbin
Singleton, 2-61
Delaware - Passing: Joe Flaco, 30-41, 434 yds,
4 TD
Rushing: Omar Cuff, 28-141, 4 TD. Receiving: Kervin
Michaud, 8-96, 2 TD
2006 Poinsettia Bowl
TCU 37 ... Northern Illinois 7
TCU dominated on both sides of the
ball as QB Jeff Ballard ran for three scores and threw for another,
while Northern Illinois was only able to get into the end zone on a
blocked punt return for a touchdown early in the fourth. Huskie star RB
Garrett Wolfe was held to 28 yards on 20 carries as the ground attack,
hurt by 14 tackles for loss and five sacks, finished with -20 yards. The
Horned Frogs used a short field for a four-yard touchdown to start the
scoring, and then Ballard went to work with scoring runs from ten, one
and six yards out. Ballard finished off with a six-yard touchdown pass
to Brent Hecht.
Player of the game ...
TCU QB Jeff
Ballard completed 19 of 29 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown and ran
11 times for 21 yards and three touchdowns
Stat Leaders: Northern Illinois - Passing: Dan Nicholson,
6-18, 80 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Garrett Wolfe, 20-28, Receiving: Jarrett
Carter, 2-12
TCU - Passing: Jeff Ballard, 19-29, 258 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Lonta Hobbs, 17-114, 1 TD Receiving: Quentily Harmon,
6-93
Utah Bowl History
(9-4)
|
2006 |
Armed Forces |
Utah 25, Tulsa 13 |
|
2005 |
Emerald |
Utah 38, Georgia Tech 10 |
|
2004 |
Fiesta |
Utah 35, Pitt 7 |
|
2003 |
Liberty |
Utah 17, Southern Miss 0 |
|
2001 |
Las Vegas |
Utah 10, USC 6 |
|
1999 |
Las Vegas |
Utah 17, Fresno State 16 |
|
1996 |
Copper |
Wisconsin 38, Utah 10 |
|
1994 |
Freedom |
Utah 16, Arizona 13 |
|
1993 |
Freedom |
USC 28, Utah 21 |
|
1992 |
Copper |
Washington St 31,
Utah 28 |
|
1964 |
Liberty |
Utah 32, West Virginia 6 |
|
1946 |
Pineapple |
Hawaii 19, Utah 16 |
|
1938 |
Sun |
Utah 26, New Mexico 0 |
|
Navy
Bowl History (6-6-1)
|
2006 |
Meineke |
Boston Coll 25, Navy 24 |
|
2005 |
Poinsettia |
Navy 51, Colorado St 30 |
|
2004 |
Emerald |
Navy 34, New Mexico 19 |
|
2003 |
Houston |
Texas Tech 38, Navy 14 |
|
1996 |
Aloha |
Navy 42, California 38 |
|
1981 |
Liberty |
Ohio State 31, Navy 28 |
|
1980 |
Garden State |
Houston 35, Navy 0 |
|
1978 |
Holiday |
Navy 23, BYU 16 |
|
1964 |
Cotton |
Texas 28, Navy 6 |
|
1961 |
Orange |
Missouri 21, Navy 14 |
|
1958 |
Cotton |
Navy 20, Rice 7 |
|
1955 |
Sugar |
Navy 21, Ole Miss 0 |
|
1924 |
Rose |
Navy 14, Washington 14
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