ATLANTA — TCU played like it had a point to make in a resounding 42-3 rout of Mississippi on Wednesday in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in the Georgia Dome.
Quarterback Trevone Boykin sliced up the Rebels’ SEC defense and the Horned Frogs held Ole Miss to 129 yards in a performance that will have fans wondering if the best four teams really were picked by the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Horned Frogs were ranked No. 3 in the playoff rankings. They blew out Iowa State 55-3 but were still jumped by conference champions Florida State and Ohio State for the final spots in the four-team playoff. TCU is No. 6 and Ole Miss No. 9 in the CFP rankings.
TCU certainly looked playoff worthy on Wednesday. The Frogs rolled from the outset and, with a bevy of returning talent, made an impressive case to be one of next season’s top-tier contenders.
“We wanted to be able to make a statement,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “We wanted to play like we’re capable of playing. We didn’t feel like that we’ve done that in a couple of games at the end of the season. We’re just happy to be Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl champions and, with a lot of guys coming back, to be the team we want to be next season.”
The bulk of the TCU offense is underclassmen, including Boykin, leading rusher Aaron Green, standout receivers Josh Doctson and Kolby Listenbee and four of five linemen.
Green scored the Frogs’ first two touchdowns, the first coming on a double-pass from Listenbee, and the second on a 15-yard run that put TCU up 14-0 with 6:23 left.
It was 28-0 after TCU defensive end James McFarland intercepted Mississippi quarterback Bo Wallace in the end zone with two minutes left in the second quarter. It was Wallace’s third interception in a nightmare first half that ended with the Rebels senior quarterback limping off the field after being sacked for a fifth time.
“They had a good scheme for us and won a bunch of one-on-ones,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze. “I felt like they knew when we were passing and when we weren’t.”
The Frogs opened the second half with a 65-yard kickoff return by Ranthony Texada and delivered an early dagger with Boykin’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Listenbee. Thirty seconds later, after another Ole Miss turnover, Boykin tossed another touchdown, this one a 27-yarder to Doctson. TCU led 42-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
For the game, Boykin, a junior, completed 22 of 31 passes for 188 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He was named offensive MVP of the game.
Mississippi defensive back Senquez Golson’s interception of Boykin led to the Rebels’ only score, a 27-yard field goal by Gary Wunderlich late in the fourth quarter.
Wallace finished 10 of 23 for 109 yards and three interceptions, a dreadful ending to an up-and-down — but overall successful — career.
“I didn’t want to go out this way and didn’t want the seniors to go out this way,” said Wallace, who led the Rebels to three winning seasons and two bowl victories during his career.
Ole Miss (9-4), the only team to beat Alabama in the regular season, was in the thick of the playoff hunt through October before back-to-back losses to LSU and Auburn derailed the Rebels’ hopes.
TCU’s only loss this season came at Baylor in a game the Frogs (12-1) led by 24 in the fourth quarter. Many thought TCU deserved to be in playoff, but Ohio State got the nod instead. Patterson’s team was not deflated by missing out, though, and instead delivered a whipping to the mighty SEC.
Georgia Tech 49, Mississippi State 34
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Georgia Tech and Mississippi State put on an offensive show, combining for more than 1,100 yards in total offense, but it was the Yellow Jackets’ ability to convert turnovers into points and come up with key stops that led to a 49-34 victory Wednesday night in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas and running back Synjyn Days rushed for three touchdowns each as the Jackets (11-3) scored following a deflected interception in the first quarter and a Bulldogs fumble in the third.
The Yellow Jackets’ defense secured the victory by forcing the Bulldogs (10-3) to turn the ball over on downs three times, the last in the fourth quarter to squelch any comeback hopes.
“We had chances tonight, especially at the end of the first half when we lost momentum and they hit a big play,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. “But it was kind of the story all year with these guys.
“We came back out in the second half and Synjyn made a great individual run to score a touchdown and kind of get momentum back. Offensively, we just put the pedal down, and we weren’t going to not score.”
Days scored on runs of 3, 69, and 4 yards on his way to a game-high 171 yards rushing on 21 carries.
Thomas scored on runs of 13, 32 and 15 yards in rushing for 121 yards on 14 carries. He also threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darren Waller. Thomas completed seven of 12 passes for 125 yards with one interception en route to earning game Most Valuable Player honors.
Boise State 38, Arizona 30
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Boise State junior halfback Jay Ajayi scored three touchdowns and quarterback Grant Hedrick passed for 309 yards and a touchdown to lead the No. 20 Broncos to a 38-30 victory over the No. 10 Arizona Wildcats in the Fiesta Bowl at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Wednesday.
Ajayi, who had 134 yards on 22 carries, scored three touchdowns in the first 19 minutes to help Boise State (12-2) to a 28-7 lead. Ajayi, who had 1,689 yards rushing in the regular season, declared for the NFL draft two weeks ago.
Hedrick completed his first 14 passes, including a 57-yarder to wide receiver Chaz Anderson in the first quarter, and was 24-for-34 as the Broncos extended their winning streak to nine games, the third-longest current streak in the FBS behind Florida State and Ohio State.
Quarterback Anu Solomon completed 28-of-49 passes for 335 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.
Solomon completed a 43-yard pass to wide receiver Cayleb Jones to move the ball to the Boise State 8-yard line with 28 seconds remaining. After spiking the ball, Solomon threw an incomplete pass and then was sacked by linebacker Kamalei Correa, and Arizona could not get another play off.
Ajayi has 32 touchdowns, breaking a tie with Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon for the most in FBS. Ajayi’s 28 rushing touchdowns also lead the FBS, two more than Gordon.
Cornerback Donte Deayon scored on a 16-yard interception return to give the Broncos a 38-20 lead with 1:57 left in the third quarter.
Solomon countered with a 51-yard touchdown pass to Samajie Grant with 41 seconds left in the period, and Casey Skowron’s 32-yard field goal it to 38-30. The Wildcats were never was closer than eight points after the first 6 1/2 minutes.
Boise State wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck had a career-high 12 receptions for 199 yards.
Halfback Nick Wilson led Arizona with 86 yards and a touchdown, but he did not play in the second half after being slammed to the ground on a tackle in the final minute of the first half.