GLENDALE, Arizona — Ezekiel Elliott punctuated his final college game with a record-tying four touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl, adding another chapter to Ohio State’s rich running back tradition.
Elliott rushed for 149 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in the No. 7 Buckeyes’ 44-28 victory over No. 8 Notre Dame on Friday at University of Phoenix Stadium.
“All I can say is I’m honored to be a part of this history,” Elliott said. “I’m honored to continue the running back pedigree at Ohio State. I’m honored to be thought of as one of the best running backs to come through.
“You think about the great running backs who came through here — Archie Griffin, Eddie George, Beanie Wells. To be mentioned with those names is a dream come true.”
Elliott, a junior, scored on 2-, 1- and 1-yard runs in the first half, and his 47-yard dash on a counter play gave the Buckeyes (12-1) a 35-21 lead with 6:37 left in the third quarter. He has declared for the NFL Draft.
The Buckeyes looked very much like a team that could repeat as the national champion but for a 17-14 walkoff loss to Michigan State on Nov. 21 that snapped their 10-game winning streak and kept them out of the Final Four.
Quarterback J.T. Barrett passed for 211 yards and a touchdown with an interception and rushed for 96 yards as Ohio State opened a 28-7 lead in the second quarter, the largest deficit Notre Dame faced this season.
“I always feel feel like we are one of the top teams in the country,” said Barrett, named the offensive player of the game.
“But like I said after Michigan State, that was something that we could have controlled. Losing kind of put our destiny in somebody else’s hands. With that, we live and we learn.”
Quarterback DeShone Kizer passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and rushed for a score as Notre Dame (10-3) suffered its second straight loss. The Irish’s other losses were to Clemson and Stanford, both by two points.
Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller had six catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, and his 81-yard score brought the Irish within 10 at 38-28 with 11:27 remaining. Running back Josh Adams rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown while starting in place of C.J. Prosise, out with an ankle injury.
Ohio State had a 496-405 yardage edge in total offense.
“Schematically, they do a great job of creating challenging situations with changing numbers and unique plays,” Notre Dame linebacker Joe Schmidt said.
“You combine that with Ezekiel Elliott and J.T. Barnett’s ability to run the football, and their offensive line doing a great job all day. Their back (Elliott) is very talented, but they did a great job of scheming.”
Sean Nuremberger kicked three fourth-quarter field goals for the Buckeyes, his last with 2:42 remaining.
Ohio State scored on its first two possessions with drives of 80 and 43 yards for a 14-0 lead less than halfway through the first quarter.
Elliott scored his first touchdown on a 2-yard run, and after a Notre Dame three-and-out, Barrett completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Thomas with 7:41 left in the quarter.
Notre Dame, shut out in the first quarter for the first time this season, scored on Adams’ 3-yard touchdown run halfway through the second quarter.
Elliott scored on 1-yard runs on the Buckeyes’ next two possessions for a 28-7 lead.
Kizer scored on a 1-yard keeper with 29 seconds left in the half to make it 28-14. Kizer has 10 rushing touchdowns this season, a school record for a quarterback.
Kizer’s 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Brown after Barnett’s lone interception made it 28-21, but Elliott scored seven plays later to answer.
“He’s a physical back,” Notre Dame defensive lineman Sheldon Day said. “He makes his presence known. He did some special things with his feet today.”
Outback Bowl
Tennessee 45, Northwestern 6
TAMPA, Florida — The Volunteers turned to sophomore running back Jalen Hurd to seal an easy victory over the Wildcats in the Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.
Tennessee (9-4) used a stout defense and their powerful rushing attack, which was second-best in the Southeastern Conference, to close out the season with a sixth straight victory in front of a crowd of 53,202 fans, most of them wearing Volunteers colors.
Northwestern had its winning streak snapped at five game to finish 10-3, which ties the school record for most wins in a season.
Hurd, voted the Outback Bowl MVP, had a big second half on his way to 130 yards on 24 carries and scored a touchdown.
Citrus Bowl
Michigan 41, Florida 7
ORLANDO, Florida — Jake Rudock threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns and the Wolverines’ defense dominated throughout in the rout of the Gators in the Citrus Bowl.
Michigan (10-3) completed its one-season turnaround under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh.The Wolverines wiped out the stinging memory of the 42-13 loss to Ohio State in the 2015 regular-season finale. More importantly, the program distanced itself from three seasons (2012-2014) in which former coach Brady Hoke went 20-18.
Running back De’Veon Smith had 111 yards on 25 carries for Michigan.
The Gators (10-4) head back into the repair shop to fix some problems that many of their followers thought were solved in coach Jim McElwain’s first season. Florida was routed for the third straight time and all phases of the game contributed.
Rose Bowl
Stanford 45, Iowa 16
PASADENA, Calif. — Kevin Hogan threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth and Christian McCaffrey contributed two touchdowns to lead sixth-ranked Stanford to a 45-16 rout of No. 5 Iowa in the 102nd Rose Bowl on Friday night in front of 94,268.
McCaffrey, the son of former NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, set a Rose Bowl record with 368 all-purpose yards. The sophomore from Castle Rock, Colo., ran 18 times for 172 yards, caught four passes for 105, returned one punt for 63 yards and a kickoff for 28 yards. McCaffrey became the first player in Rose Bowl history to compile at least 100 yards rushing and receiving.
Hogan completed 12 of 21 passes for 223 yards and one interception. Defensively, the Cardinal held the Hawkeyes to 48 rushing yards while sacking Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard seven times and returning an interception for a touchdown.
Despite seven sacks, Beathard completed 21 of 33 passes for 239 yards. Wide receiver Matt VandeBerg and running back Derrick Mitchell each caught four passes, with VandeBerg amassing a team-high 64 yards in receptions.
Stanford (12-2) began its dominance on the first play from scrimmage. After McCaffrey lined up as a slot back in the shotgun formation, Hogan found the sophomore on a slant route for a 75-yard touchdown pass 11 seconds after the opening kickoff.
McCaffrey played an equally pivotal role in the Cardinal’s next series when he gained all but one of Stanford’s 65 yards on a drive that moved the ball from the Cardinal 26-yard line to the Iowa 8. Then on second-and-3, Hogan faked a handoff to McCaffrey before running in the opposite direction toward the left sideline for an 8-yard scoring run just 2:47 into the game.
Stanford relied on its defense to extend its lead to 21-0. Cornerback Quenton Meeks stepped in front of VandeBerg for an interception that he returned 66 yards for a touchdown with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
The 21 points were the most scored by any team in the first quarter of a Rose Bowl.
Beathard threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, one for 36 yards to VandeBerg with 13:12 to play and another to running back LeShun Daniels for 31 yards with 2:46 left. Hogan’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Rector ended the scoring with 1:54 to go.
Sugar Bowl
Ole Miss 48, Oklahoma State 20
NEW ORLEANS — Chad Kelly three three of his four touchdown passes to Laquon Treadwell and No. 12 Mississippi rolled to a 48-20 victory over No. 16 Oklahoma State on Friday night in its first Sugar Bowl appearance since 1970.
Treadwell also completed a 45-yard pass on a trick play to continue a scoring drive and left tackle Laremy Tunsil scored a 2-yard touchdown at the end of the first half.
Kelly’s four touchdown passes tied a Sugar Bowl record held by three other quarterbacks. Treadwell joined Ike Hilliard as the only other player to catch three touchdown passes in a Sugar Bowl game.
Ole Miss set a school bowl record with 554 yards of offense and its defense was also dominant with 10 pass breakups and 12 tackles for loss.
The Bulldogs’ record-shattering first half began nastily. On Kelly’s second pass of the game, he heaved an ill-advised deep ball into double coverage that Oklahoma State cornerback Ashton Lampkin intercepted.
Then, with as much ease, Kelly threw three touchdowns — two to Treadwell — to help Ole Miss build a 34-6 halftime lead and tie a Sugar Bowl record for most points in the first half.
Kelly’s second touchdown — a fade to Treadwell that was caught despite pass interference — gave Treadwell the school season record for receiving yards previously held by Shay Hodge.
Complemented by a defense that held Oklahoma State to 156 first-half yards, Kelly connected with six different receivers throughout a sparkling first half that left him with a 204.7 rating.
Cowboys quarterback Mason Rudolph, who had foot surgery last month, played all but one snap in the first half. It was a crucial one to miss.
Facing third-and-1 on the Ole Miss 8-yard line in a scoreless game, Rudolph was lifted for senior J.W. Walsh, who was stuffed on a sneak that forced Oklahoma State to take a field goal instead of driving in for an opening touchdown. The Rebels scored touchdowns on three of their next four drives.