Winners and Losers from 2023 Bowl Season Part I
The big boys are yet to play, but there have been plenty of bowl games already to make our day.
As the last remaining days of college football season wane away toward the College Football Playoff, most eyes have been on the transfer portal, the coaching carousel and the early signing period. But there have been enough good bowl matchups to keep our attention.
Drama ensued, of course, in true college football fashion.
Even if some of the best teams weren't in play, several of the top mid-major programs and quality Power Five teams were in action.
There were monsoons in Central Florida to deal with and ice-cold temperatures elsewhere. Fun times were had by all, and if you're a college football lover, the games already whet our appetites for the main course coming up this week.
Here are the winners and losers from Part I of bowl season, through the December 26 slate of games. Check Bleacher Report toward the end of the postseason for Part II.
Winner: Garbers' Grit
1 of 13
UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers wasn't sick for the December 16 LA Bowl game against Boise State, but he wasn't healthy, either, prompting Chip Kelly to start Collin Schlee.
Schlee—the Kent State transfer who was lost in the shuffle for most of the year in the Bruins' quarterback race—went 11-of-16 for 78 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 127 yards on seven carries.
But he took a big hit in the third quarter and got knocked out of the game. Enter Garbers, who rose to the occasion in his own mini version of Michael Jordan's "flu game" (1997 NBA Finals Game 5 for you youngsters).
He was simply brilliant against the Broncos, putting the game away by going 9-of-12 for 152 yards and two touchdowns.
He added 38 rushing yards, won offensive MVP and put the game away for the Bruins in an eventual 35-22 win. He also announced he was returning to UCLA for the future.
This was huge news for a team that had lost three of its final four games, saw star freshman Dante Moore transfer to Oregon and staved off whispers of Kelly's questionable future in Westwood.
Now at least there are some positive vibes heading into the final offseason before UCLA heads to the Big Ten.
Loser: Old Dominion Toasted in the Fourth Quarter to Lose Famous Toastery Bowl
2 of 13
Old Dominion had the Famous Toastery Bowl won, and Western Kentucky was toasted. Then, the high-powered Hilltoppers woke up in resounding fashion, leaving the Monarchs to deal with an epic postseason collapse.
ODU led by four touchdowns in the first half, and entering the third quarter, the advantage was 35-14. But coach Tyson Helton's team mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally to tie the game and send it into overtime, where they ultimately won 38-35.
The Toppers celebrated the victory by doing "Toast Angels" on the field. Yes, it was bizarre, but so was the comeback.
Star WKU quarterback Austin Reed opted out, and Malachi Corley didn't play in the second half when the Hilltoppers made their comeback. After Caden Veltkamp replaced starting quarterback Turner Helton, the son of the strength coach and hometown boy from Bowling Green, Kentucky, had a memorable evening.
He looked very Reed-esque, completing 40-of-52 passes for 383 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. Old Dominion allowed 29 first downs to its 12 and mounted little resistance, allowing 471 total yards.
Turnovers are the only thing, really, that kept the Monarchs out front. They also missed a field goal and had two others blocked.
Most importantly, though, they couldn't stop Veltkamp. The signal-caller distributed the ball to all his weapons, applying fourth-quarter offensive pressure with a trio of touchdowns to send into overtime. There, WKU forced Old Dominion into a field goal attempt, which was blocked.
They made their own and began the celebration.
Winner: Northwestern's Dominant Defense Caps Surprising Season
3 of 13
Way back when Northwestern started the season amid a hazing scandal that saw head coach Pat Fitzgerald let go, nobody would have expected this.
Truthfully, the Wildcats weren't expected to be anywhere near the top of the Big Ten standings regardless of that plight, so when it happened, few gave them any real chance of making any noise on the field with all the distractions off it.
But with David Braun at the helm and ultimately getting the "interim" ripped off the front of his head coaching title, Northwestern took on the rugged personification of a Big Ten West program with nothing to lose. Though they middled around through the first part of the season, things ultimately took off.
They won five of their final six games, capping the season with a 14-7 win in the Las Vegas Bowl over two-time Pac-12 champion Utah, which was depleted by injuries. Even so, Northwestern's defense dominated a team that was struggling to find weaponry.
Quarterback Ben Bryant completed 22-of-34 passes for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns to close out a career that saw him play two stints at Cincinnati, sandwiched around a season at Eastern Michigan, only to finish with the Wildcats.
Bryant was a steady force, but the defense carried the team, just like it had all season. Northwestern allowed just 221 yards and had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes—playing in his final game as a Ute before entering the transfer portal—couldn't muster anything against the stingy Wildcats defense.
In that run to close the season, Northwestern beat Maryland, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois and the Utes, coming from nowhere to win eight games. Now, Braun will make some assistant coaching changes and build his program amid the ongoing legal battles swirling among Fitzgerald and Northwestern.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Loser: James Madison's Surprise Bowl Trip
4 of 13
In fairness to James Madison, the Dukes that competed against Air Force in December 23's Armed Forces Bowl weren't exactly the same powder keg that won 11 games in the regular season and saw ESPN College Football's GameDay come to Harrisonburg, Virginia.
After head coach Curt Cignetti left for Indiana and took seven assistants with him, offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski took over as acting head coach and hired five temporary coaches just to give the Dukes a full staff for the bowl game. Former Holy Cross head coach Bob Chesney will come in to take over now.
Additionally, while star quarterback and Sun Belt Player of the Year Jordan McCloud (257 passing yards, three touchdowns) played in the game, he's officially in the transfer portal and will look for a new home.
So, when you are facing all that adversity and run into a well-disciplined, strong team like the Air Force Falcons in the postseason, you get what you get. JMU's storybook season ended with an 11-2 record after dropping a 31-21 game to Air Force.
Truthfully, any postseason was a reward for JMU. The Dukes were ineligible for a bowl thanks to an archaic NCAA rule that keeps teams transitioning to FCS out of the postseason for the first two years. After there weren't enough teams qualify, however, the Dukes got in.
Air Force made sure their trip wasn't what they wanted. The Dukes entered the game leading the nation by allowing 61.5 rushing yards per game. But the Falcons piled up 351 rushing yards on a 5.6 average. JMU couldn't stop the dive all day, leading to Air Force senior Emmanuel Michel's career day, gaining 203 yards on 35 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns.
The victory was Air Force's ninth of the season, and while the Dukes were the story of the game, coach Troy Calhoun's Falcons stole the show with a dominant run game, thrashing the nation's top rush defense.
Winner: Cole Kramer Making the Most of One More Opportunity
5 of 13
Cole Kramer wasn't even sure if he was going to play in the Quick Lane Bowl in his final outing as a Minnesota Golden Gopher.
The lifelong fan of the program had never started a game. He is set to get married in a little more than a month to a lady named Katie Miller who got a lot of screen time during Minnesota's 30-24 win over Bowling Green on Tuesday.
Regardless, it was a fantastic story. Rather than pack up and move across the country to Arizona for a wedding, Kramer decided to stay onboard and play for the Gophers following Athan Kaliakmanis' decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal and bypass the bowl game.
Kramer led a storybook showing, despite not having gaudy statistics. He threw for 26 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and he added 31 rushing yards and another score. Those numbers aren't going to make him some hot football commodity, but it's still a memory-maker.
The 6'1" dual-threat quarterback pulled for Minnesota throughout his childhood, and when he got the chance to manage the game and lead the Gophers to a bowl win, his performance did that. He allowed them to get the ball to their playmaker and pull out a victory over a MAC opponent.
The star of the show was freshman running back Darius Taylor, making his way back to his Detroit home following an impressive but injury-plagued first year under coach P.J. Fleck. Finally healthy, Taylor had 35 carries for 208 yards and scored a touchdown in the Gophers' win.
Between Kramer and Taylor, there were a couple of storylines for the ESPN crew to harp on the whole game.
Loser: Gus Bus Loses Battle with the Ramblin' Wreck
6 of 13
The way the Gasparilla Bowl started, you'd never have thought Georgia Tech would have a chance to hang with UCF.
The Knights supposedly had better, faster athletes, and in building a two-touchdown advantage against the Yellow Jackets, they looked like the best team on the field. It had been an uneven year for Gus Malzahn's program as it transitioned to its first year in the Big 12, but a bowl win would have been a nice ending to propel them over .500.
Coach Brent Key's Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech had other ideas, responding by outscoring UCF 30-3 on its way to a 30-17 win.
A team that has taken on the hard-nosed persona of its coach for the past two seasons rebounded in a big way.
One of the college football stars you haven't heard much about this year is Tech quarterback and Texas A&M transfer Haynes King, who led the Yellow Jackets and was one of just two quarterbacks nationally who had more than 2,700 passing yards, 600 rushing yards, 25 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns.
The only other signal-caller in the country who did that was Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
King didn't post huge numbers (87 passing yards and a score, 89 rushing yards and a score), but it was enough, particularly when combined with running back Jamal Haynes' 128 rushing yards.
"It was pretty much everybody," King told the Associated Press via ESPN about the team's mindset down 14-0. "We all came up in that huddle and we looked at each other. It was like we've been here before. We're not going to press. Stick to the game plan. Trust each other. Everything else is going to take care of itself."
It did, and Tech wound up with a 7-6 record.
Winner: Alex Golesh's Year 1 at South Florida
7 of 13
When South Florida began looking for a coach to replace Jeff Scott following his firing in the midst of a 1-11 2022 season, nobody in Tampa was expecting a quick-turn rebuild.
The Bulls got one anyway.
Their focus quickly centered on Alex Golesh, the Josh Heupel disciple who had helped cultivate Tennessee's meteoric turnaround with Hendon Hooker at the helm in Rocky Top. Golesh was the offensive coordinator who was such a big part of that.
Now, he's working his own magic at South Florida.
The Bulls dismantled a short-handed, impotent Syracuse Orange team in a battle of .500 programs with a 45-0 thumping in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Byrum Brown—a 6'3", 209-pound freshman quarterback who has been the team's catalyst all season—was an unstoppable force against the Orange, completing 19-of-26 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns and running 14 times for 64 more yards.
But that wasn't it. South Florida's defense allowed just nine first downs, 1-of-17 on third-down conversions and 159 total yards. To give you an idea of how dominant the Bulls were on that side of the ball, Syracuse running back LeQuint Allen ran 20 times for 2 yards.
With a lot more support than you'd expect for a Group of Five program, some NIL money and recruiting booming, Golesh is on his way to building back a mid-major power.
There are a lot of resources in South Florida, and Golesh is destined for big things. This 7-6 season was just the first step; if he hangs around the Bulls for a while, he can bring them back up to the powerhouse they were during the Willie Taggart era.
Loser: Cure Bowl Butterfingers in a Deluge
8 of 13
The winning team (Appalachian State) of the rain-drenched Cure Bowl back on December 16 finished with 13 points.
That just so happens to be the same number of total fumbles in a game that became a novelty and must-see TV because of torrential downpours in Orlando that rendered the game essentially unplayable and gloriously watchable.
Ultimately, the Mountaineers found a way to hang onto the ball long enough to beat Miami (Ohio) 13-9, but nobody really will remember the final score.
"Ball security is at a premium, and it didn't seem like either team managed to do it," Miami (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin told the Associated Press' Philip Rossman-Reich. "Just kind of have to plod through it and make the last play."
According to that same story, Cure Bowl officials said there was more than an inch of rain that fell before the game and about the same amount between the opening kickoff and the final whistle.
It was absolute shenanigans, and even though the teams combined to lose just five of the fumbles, it routinely hit the ground as conditions went from bad to worse.
Appalachian State quarterback Joey Aguilar made the most plays to lead the Mountaineers to the win, finishing 19-of-33 for 211 yards and an interception, and he added a rushing score that was the only App touchdown of the game.
It was a mess.
Winner: Ohio's Righteous Reserves Kick off Bowl Season in Style
9 of 13
In this day and age of college football, it's going to be the era for kids getting their resounding shots on the used-to-be big stage of college football's bowl season.
In a way, for a lot of programs not playing for anything other than bragging rights and a sweet offseason taste, the bowls are going to be about auditions for the future, especially with opt-outs and players entering the transfer portal.
That was the case for the Ohio Bobcats, who broke in a new quarterback (Parker Navarro) after Kurtis Rourke transferred to Indiana, and a new running back in Rickey Hunt, after Sieh Bangura and O'Shaan Allison weren't available.
None of that mattered in a 41-21 annihilation of Georgia Southern in the Myrtle Beach Bowl to kick off the bowl season back on December 16. Hunt and Navarro were the stars.
Hunt, especially, had a breakout game. The true freshman torched the Eagles with five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving) and finished with 115 rushing yards after entering the game with 19 total on the year.
Navarro accounted for 191 all-purpose yards and led Ohio to its 10th win (10-2) by cashing in on the defense's big plays. They forced Davis Brin into four turnovers (five total) in building the huge lead and never relinquishing it.
The audition for the new Bobcats went well, and the MAC power looks like it's in strong hands for the future at the offensive skill positions.
Loser: New Mexico State Against a Fired-Up Fresno Without Coach Tedford
10 of 13
For a large part of the season, the New Mexico State Aggies were one of the unsung, sneaky-great stories.
Not only did they win 10 games and prove to be a covering machine for college football gamblers everywhere, but they also took on the gritty persona of veteran coach Jerry Kill and the underdog mentality of quarterback Diego Pavia.
A domination of the SEC's Auburn Tigers was the biggest nationally recognized headline, but as the year waned, the Aggies' Cinderella story fizzled. Liberty proved to be the much faster, better team in the Conference USA title game.
Like Liberty, Fresno State proved to be too much for Kill's team in the New Mexico Bowl.
It meant a lot for Fresno in a 37-10 domination of New Mexico State, because they were playing for coach Jeff Tedford, who took a leave of absence from the team because of illness.
"This game is definitely big for us to get a win for him," Fresno State quarterback Mikey Keene told Yahoo!'s Andrew Marden before the game.
"That's a very big motivating factor for us. We are conscious of that, that he's not here. We wish that he was here with us. At the same time, our staff has done an excellent job getting us prepared for this game."
It showed, and Keene was the catalyst. The sophomore quarterback seemingly couldn't miss, completing 31-of-39 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns, including one apiece to Jaelen Gill, Jalen Moss and Josiah Freeman. Do-it-all running back Malik Sherrod added 171 all-purpose yards in the runaway victory.
Winner: Duke Wins on the Field and Off It
11 of 13
It's exciting to think just how much former coach Mike Elko changed the trajectory of the Duke football program that had fallen on hard times in the final few years of David Cutcliffe's tenure.
Duke capped the season with a 17-10 win over Troy in the Birmingham Bowl on December 23, beating a Trojans team that had won 11 games. The Blue Devils finished 8-5, and freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis threw for 183 yards to help Duke earn the win.
Despite being down several playmakers on defense, the Blue Devils limited star Troy running back Kimani Vidal to 79 rushing yards, and quarterback Gunnar Watson failed to throw a touchdown pass.
Perhaps even more importantly, though, Duke got big transfer portal news on the day of its win. Texas backup quarterback Maalik Murphy elected to leave Austin and not hang around for the College Football Playoff, putting the Longhorns in a precarious position if Quinn Ewers gets banged up in the playoffs.
He announced he is going to continue his career with the Blue Devils, giving new head coach Manny Diaz an exciting quarterback with a big arm and a ton of talent with three years of remaining eligibility. This is a program catalyst for Duke, which looks like it will remain on firm footing in the post-Elko era.
Loser: The End of the Frank Harris Era at UTSA
12 of 13
This wasn't how it was supposed to end for a Texas gunslinging legend in his final rodeo for UT San Antonio's Roadrunners.
Quarterback Frank Harris stuck around at his hometown team for his seventh season, and it cannot be overstated how big of a hero and legend he is in San Antonio. He's simply one of the biggest stars of the city, right up there with Victor Wembanyama.
But Harris was unable to participate in his college football finale in the Frisco Bowl because of a shoulder injury suffered in the season finale against Tulane. The team announced it just before the game.
"I'd do anything to be out there with my teammates, but unfortunately I cannot," Harris said in UTSA's release.
He went on to say he hoped the team would get its first-ever bowl victory, and the Roadrunners went out and did that in a 35-17 victory over the Thundering Herd.
What was a sad day for Harris play turned into a pretty neat showdown between two former NFL quarterbacks' sons.
Owen McCown—son of longtime NFL quarterback Josh—played in relief of Harris, and though he made some mistakes, he also made some big plays in the win, completing 22 of 31 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns.
The freshman outplayed Herd signal-caller and fellow freshman Cole Pennington, who followed in his father Chad's footsteps to lead Marshall. The younger Pennington finished 15 of 33 for 258 yards but couldn't get any second-half magic going.
So, while Harris not playing was a bummer, the future was fun to behold.
Winner: Texas State in Its First Bowl Appearance
13 of 13
Texas State redshirt senior linebacker Brian Holloway's college career has taken several twists and turns along the way, which is not uncommon in the transfer-portal era.
But the Bobcats veteran's journey hasn't been one of glamour. After starting at tiny Kilgore College, a JUCO, he went to SMU before ultimately winding up at Texas State. On Tuesday night, he was anchoring the center of the defense for a team making its first bowl appearance.
Holloway saved his best performance for the biggest game in the school's history, returning two interceptions for touchdowns to help Texas State pull away from Rice and win the First Responder Bowl 38-21.
In the program's first-ever bowl trip, it came away with a win.
Quarterback TJ Finley—who has made collegiate stops at LSU and Auburn—may be the most well-known Bobcat, but this rugged team pulled together and found several stars on its biggest stage.
A defense that had allowed 415 yards and 34 points per game during the regular season found its way into two massive plays. Holloway stepped in front of a pair of AJ Padgett passes and sprinted 36 yards for the first pick-six and 48 for the next, extending leads to 21-7 and 38-21.
Texas State kept Rice at arm's length and earned the biggest win in school history for first-year coach G.J. Kinne.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
