Tag: AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Arkansas 55, Kansas 53 3OT Liberty Bowl What Happened, What It All Means

Arkansas 55, Kansas 53 3OT: AutoZone Liberty Bowl what happened, player of the game, and what it all means

Arkansas beat Kansas 55-53 in 3 OTs to win the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. What happened, who was the player of the game, and what does it all mean?

Arkansas 55, Kansas 53 3OT AutoZone Liberty Bowl What Happened, Player of the Game, What It All Means

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AutoZone Liberty Bowl What Happened

– One of the wildest bowl games ever ended in a misfire. In the third overtime – it goes to two-point conversions after two OTs – Kansas backup QB Jason Bean threw a bad pass on a perfectly designed play, and Arkansas survived.

The Hogs got two touchdown runs in their first two overtime possessions – including a 20-yarder from KJ Jefferson – and connected on its two-point tries both in the second and third overtimes.

They thought they had it won in the second OT when Kansas QB Jalon Daniels – who ran for a touchdown to pull within two – was stopped just short of the goal line on the two-point conversion, but Arkansas’ Quincey McAdoo was called for targeting, KU converted, and it sent the game into that third OT. Before all of THAT …

– Arkansas was rolling. It was up 31-7 in the first half helped by two Jefferson touchdown passes and a scoring run, and it was up 38-13 in the third. Kansas cranked up a few scoring drives to make it interesting, but instead of playing it conservative late – the Jayhawks didn’t have any timeouts left – Arkansas kept cranking up the offense, lost a very, very questionable fumble, and then it all broke loose from there …

– Daniels left the Jayhawks on a quick touchdown drive to pull within 8 with just over a minute to play. They recovered a perfectly executed onside kick, went 50 yards in four plays with Daniels finding Luke Grimm for a 21-yard touchdown and Lawrence Arnold for two, and the wild comeback was complete to force overtime.

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AutoZone Liberty Bowl Player of the Game

KJ Jefferson, QB Arkansas & Jalon Daniels, QB Kansas

Jefferson completed 19-of-29 passes for 287 yards and two touchdown with a pick, and led the game with 139 rushing yards and two scores. Daniels completed 47-of-55 passes for 544 yards and five touchdowns with two picks, and ran for 21 yards and a score.

CFN Experts Picks CFP NY6, Dec 28-Jan 2

AutoZone Liberty Bowl Fun Stats

– Total Yards: Arkansas 681 – Kansas 603

– Kansas TE Luke Grimm caught ten passes for 167 yards and a score

– Arkansas ran for 395 yards. Kansas threw for 544 yards.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl What It All Means

Arkansas came entirely too close to one of the all-time biggest gags. It got the win, but the defense was nowhere to be found over the last 20 minutes, the pass rush died, and the failed execution on the onside kick and on Kansas drive after Kansas drive was epically awful. With that said …

Give Arkansas all the credit in the world for pulling this off. Kansas could’ve given up early, and didn’t and Arkansas could’ve folded under the weight of the collapse, and didn’t.

All that matters now is a winning season, a positive victory to go into 2023, and a second bowl win in a row for Sam Pittman. Now the program is 4-1 in the last five bowl appearances and 6-2 in the last eight going back to 2008.

It’s little solace at the moment, but imagine what a Jayhawk football fan would’ve said if four months ago you said Kansas would be in a bowl game and mount one of the greatest comebacks in college football history.

Yeah, the team came up just short – did Jason Bean think it was first down in the third overtime? – but all anyone will remember is the heart of this team to do what it did, and the talent of Jalon Daniels and that offense for rolling late.

Okay, so it was 15th straight losing season, but it sure as shoot doesn’t feel like it. It was the first bowl appearance since 2008, the first season with more than five wins since 2009, and head coach Lance Leipold has made Kansas one of the cool teams going into next year. It’s totally a corny cliché, but really, there were no losers in this game.

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An Arkansas fan in a hog costume ruined ESPN’s shot of Kansas’ first OT touchdown

Kansas got a pivotal touchdown in overtime. We think. We didn’t see it.

The AutoZone Liberty Bowl turned out to be an absolute barnburner between Arkansas and Kansas on Wednesday evening. The Jayhawks trailed by 25  points midway through the third quarter after falling behind 38-13 with 8:43 to play.

Then Kansas turned it on, scoring 25 straight — including two touchdowns in the final 1:05 of the game — to knot things at 38 and send things to overtime. In the first extra period, the Jayhawks got off to a quick start as Jalon Daniels kept the play alive and found a wide-open Jared Casey in the end zone.

Or at least that is what we think happened. Viewers didn’t see it in real time thanks to an Arkansas fan in what looks like a plush hog costume standing in front of the ESPN camera.

College football is the best.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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Kansas vs Arkansas AutoZone Liberty Bowl Prediction Game Preview

Kansas vs Arkansas game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Wednesday, December 28

Kansas vs Arkansas prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Wednesday, December 28

Kansas vs Arkansas AutoZone Liberty Bowl Prediction Game Preview

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Kansas vs Arkansas How To Watch

Date: Wednesday, December 28
Game Time: 5:30 ET
Venue: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis, TN
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Kansas (6-6), Arkansas (6-6)
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Kansas vs Arkansas AutoZone Liberty Bowl 5 Things To Know

AutoZone Liberty Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

– Whatever happens in this, Kansas has already won. Lance Leipold took the woeful football program to its best season in a long, long time, with the six wins the most in a season in the last 14 years. Win, and it’ll be the first winning season and first bowl win since taking the Insight in 2008.

It hasn’t always been a smooth campaign, but it was the story of the first half of the year. The offense is fun, the defense is … the offense is fun, and the coaching is as good as any in the bowl season.

– Arkansas knows what it’s like to have to fight back from a rough run. Last season was the first winning season since 2016, and head coach Sam Pittman followed it up with a good 6-6 campaign, but an unfulfilling one. There were too many close, tough losses, but it’s here with a chance for back-to-back winning seasons.

The Hogs are missing a whole lot, including defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who’s off to live the life as new the head coach at UNLV. QB KJ Jefferson is back, but there are a slew of key starters transferring or sitting out. The depth is about to be challenged.

– There haven’t been a ton of bowls for Arkansas. over the last ten years, but it’s good when it gets there. The Hogs have won four of their last five – including the Outback last year against Penn State – and five of the last seven.

– Kansas beat Minnesota in the 2008 Insight. That was a long time ago, but the program comes in this on a three-game winning streak and winning five of its last six after dropping the 1981 Hall of Fame to Mississippi State.

– One of the longest running bowls before the big ones, the Liberty has been rolling since 1959. It was on a run of fantastic games with four straight by five points or fewer, and six in seven by eight points or fewer. And then Texas Tech blew past the late Mike Leach’s Mississippi State team – it was missing a few key offensive linemen – 34-7 in last year’s clunker.

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Why Kansas Will Win The AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Like all Power Five programs, Kansas is missing a few of its players who made the season solid, but again, it’s nothing compared to what the Hogs lost.

The biggest killers missing are in the defensive back seven. Star linebacker Drew Sanders and Bumper Pool were the team’s top two tacklers, and the secondary is undergoing a few major changes. Kansas should be able to take advantage of all the new guys.

The Jayhawks led the Big 12 in third down conversions – Arkansas, even with all its parts and despite being amazing at getting to the quarterback, was awful defensively on third downs. They can hit the deep shots, and QB Jalon Daniels and company will keep the offensive pressure on.

Daniels and the ground game should get moving, too. The Hogs were 1-4 when giving up 190 rushing yards or more, the Jayhawks were 5-1 when getting that many or more and …

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Why Arkansas Will Win The AutoZone Liberty Bowl

The Jayhawks were 1-5 when they didn’t get to 190 rushing yards, but that’s not their problem.

Arkansas might not be anything special defensively other than generate sacks, but the Kansas D really doesn’t stop anyone’s ground game and can’t come up with enough third down stops. The effort is there, and sometimes there are enough takeaways to survive, but there aren’t any tackles for loss.

Arkansas might have lost a ton, but other than C Ricky Stromberg – sort of a big one – the line is intact and the backfield is as solid as any in the bowls. The Kansas D can’t generate the pressure needed to bother KJ Jefferson or slow down star RB Raheim Sanders.

The Jayhawks are 0-5 when allowing 230 rushing yards or more – that shouldn’t be a problem for the Hogs.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Kansas vs Arkansas Prediction, AutoZone Liberty Bowl History

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Texas Tech Wins Liberty Bowl Over Mississippi State 34-7: Reaction, Analysis, 5 Thoughts

Texas Tech Wins AutoZone Liberty Bowl Over Mississippi State 34-7: Reaction, Analysis, 5 Thoughts

Texas Tech beat Mississippi State to win the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Five thoughts and analysis of the game, and what it all means.

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Texas Tech beat Mississippi State 34-7: AutoZone Liberty Bowl 5 Things That Matter

Final Score: Texas Tech 34, Mississippi State 7
CFN Prediction: Mississippi State 41, Texas Tech 20
Line: Mississippi State -10, o/u: 58.5

Liberty Bowl 5 Thoughts
4. The Texas Tech D got the job done
3. Where was the Mississippi State defense?
2. How about giving a little love to Texas Tech?
1. Mike Leach could use a good Year 3

5. Texas Tech was … physical?

No, this wasn’t the Mississippi State of the regular season, and it certainly wasn’t the Mississippi State that everyone was hoping to see in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl – a ton more on that in a moment – but Texas Tech did its part by taking advantage of the situation.

It’s Texas Tech under Sonny Cumbie – he’s off to Louisiana Tech as the head man after this. It’s supposed to bomb away, throw deep, and do what Mississippi State is supposed to do under Mike Leach.

Instead, the ground game took over.

Texas Tech was able to throw well enough to get by, but it was the running game that took over with 260 yards to go along with the 252 through the air.
Mississippi State was tenth in the nation against the run, allowing 101 yards per game on the year.

Tajh Brooks took off for 107 yards and a score, SaRodrorick Thompson added 80 yards and a score, and the team averaged close to six yards per carry.

Mississippi State netted 54 rushing yards and averages few than three yards per run.

Liberty Bowl 5 Thoughts
4. The Texas Tech D got the job done
3. Where was the Mississippi State defense?
2. How about giving a little love to Texas Tech?
1. Mike Leach could use a good Year 3

NEXT: The Texas Tech D got the job done

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Mississippi State vs Texas Tech: AutoZone Liberty Bowl Prediction, Game Preview

Mississippi State vs Texas Tech: AutoZone Liberty Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might or might not win.

Mississippi State vs Texas Tech: AutoZone Liberty Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch 

Mississippi State vs Texas Tech: AutoZone Liberty Bowl How To Watch

Date: Tuesday, December 28
Game Time: 6:45 ET
Venue: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, TN
How To Watch: ESPN, Live stream on ESPN+
Record: Mississippi State (7-5), Texas Tech (6-6)
CFN Predictions | Bowl Schedule

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Mississippi State vs Texas Tech AutoZone Liberty Bowl Preview

– Mike Leach going against his old team will be the narrative, but that will quickly go away once this starts and the high-octane passing attacks get going.

Now the former Red Raider head man has settled into the Mississippi State job with his all-pass-all-the-time offense doing what it’s supposed to. The Bulldogs are last in the nation in rushing, but that’s because it’s third in passing averaging 386 yards per game.

– There’s nothing happening down the field – the offense has the second-lowest yard-per-completion rate in college football. It’s a ball control attack that dominates the time of possession battle, and unlike Leach’s former stops at Washington State along with Texas Tech, he has the defensive talent now to hold up on the other side.

– Texas Tech is in a transitional period as the Joey McGuire era starts right after this. But before that, former Leach quarterback Sonny Cumbie will stay on before taking over the Louisiana Tech head coaching job.

– The Red Raiders will run a wee bit, but this is a high-powered passing team that will try keeping up with Mississippi State throw for throw. On the flip side, though, Texas Tech will push the ball down the field more, and time of possession is meaningless.

Why Mississippi State, Texas Tech Will Win
Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
AutoZone Liberty Bowl Top Players To Know

NEXT: Why Mississippi State Will Win, Why Texas Tech Will Win, AutoZone Liberty Bowl Prediction

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Bowl Projections: LSU to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl?

Let’s go bowling folks…

Are the Bayou Bengals a team that could be bowl-bound following the season finale on Saturday?

According to the latest projections from Erick Smith of USA TODAY Sports still projects the LSU Tigers to compete in bowl season. In the bowl projections released on Tuesday, the Tigers could face another team in purple.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

LSU vs Kansas State

Clearly, Smith feels confident that the Tigers football team can get bowl eligible this week against the Texas A&M Aggies. Or it could be that LSU gets selected due to not having enough teams to fill the bowl allotment.

The complete postseason picture appears to be clarifying, too. There are 72 teams already with the requisite six wins needed to qualify for a bowl game. Four games this weekend will match 5-6 teams. That means six other 5-6 teams need to win before we get to the point of losing teams getting selected.

This would be a matchup with a very small sample size in the series history between the two teams. LSU and Kansas State played in Baton Rouge during the 1980 season. The Tigers won 21-0.

The Wildcats are the complete opposite of the Tigers with how they have performed over the last month-plus. Kansas State has won four of their last five games to improve to 7-4. LSU has lost five of their last seven games since the calendar turned to October.

Former Oklahoma QB Austin Kendall leads second half comeback off bench for West Virginia in Liberty Bowl

Former Oklahoma quarterback Austin Kendall came off the bench to lead a second half comeback for West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl.

Former Oklahoma quarterback Austin Kendall has had a winding road of a collegiate career.

After losing out on the starting job with the Sooners to Kyler Murry in 2018, Kendall elected to enter the transfer portal where he eventually landed in Morgantown with West Virginia.

He had a bit of a good and bad first year with the Mountaineers, appearing in nine games and going 187/304 passing for 1989 yards and 12 touchdowns. Despite the good things he did, he once again lost a quarterback competition entering the 2020 season to Jarrett Doege.

On Thursday, after throwing only six passes all season long, Kendall entered the game in the second half of West Virginia’s game against Army in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Down 21-10, he proceeded to toss two touchdown passes and lead the Mountaineers to a come-from-behind 24-21 win to cap off their season. Time will tell what this means for Kendall’s future going forward, but his up-and-down career certainly had a big up on Thursday afternoon,

West Virginia concludes their season at 6-4 with the win in the second year under head coach Neal Brown.

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Tennessee football program gets mocked for bowl game disaster

The Tennessee football program gets mocked for bowl game disaster

Sunday, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl announced that it would be taking 3-7 Tennessee and West Virginia for its annual contest this year.

The Volunteers were torn to pieces on Twitter by both their own fans and fans of rival teams for accepting a bid at 3-7, but nonetheless, it won’t even end up mattering.

Just one day after accepting the bid, the Volunteers had to opt out of the game after contact tracing for COVID-19 within the program.

Athletic director Phil Fulmer just recently updated the status of head coach Jeremy Pruitt, though the Volunteers could be working behind the scenes on Pruitt’s future.

Now, it is possible the Army Black Knights will replace the Volunteers in the game against the Mountaineers.

Take a look at how Twitter reacted to the news:

Send in Army baby!

ESPN Bowl Projections: Texas to take on the ‘U’

After the win over Oklahoma State, where do the experts project the Texas Longhorns could be headed this bowl season?

Following the upset win over Oklahoma State, we checked in on the latest bowl game projections from ESPN. Despite the Texas Longhorns pulling off the win, their bowl outlook hasn’t seen them rise much in the hierarchy. Tom Herman and company are still looking at a lower tier bowl, but one matchup could pit two of the bigger names in college football against one another.

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Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Florida

A matchup of the Miami Hurricanes and Texas Longhorns would put two storied college programs head-to-head. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach is projecting they would meet. Both teams at one point this year were top-10 teams but losses dropped them down the pecking order. The Hurricanes are within the top 15, but the Longhorns find themselves on the outside looking in.

The schools have met four times dating to 1972. Texas won the initial matchup 23-10 in Austin. They met the following year in Miami with the Hurricanes coming out on top. They didn’t play again until 1981 in Austin once again. The Longhorns defended their home turf. The last matchup came in the Cotton Bowl during the 1991 season. Miami blasted Texas 46-3 in that game.

With the series tied 2-2, this could break the tie in this matchup of historic programs.

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AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee

Kyle Bonagura still has the Longhorns in the Liberty Bowl, but, unlike the previous projection of facing Tennessee, they would draw the Kentucky Wildcats. Their head coach Mark Stoops would probably sound familiar to many Longhorns fans. He is the brother of former Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops.

These two schools have met one time in their history. That game happened in 1951 when the Longhorns won 7-6. Kentucky plays really good defense and it would definitely a challenge for the Longhorns offense.

Big 12 Bowl Projections

Team Bonagura Schlabach
Iowa State Alamo Bowl Texas Bowl
Kansas State Cheez-It Bowl Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Oklahoma Texas Bowl Cotton Bowl
Oklahoma State Cotton Bowl Alamo Bowl
Texas  Liberty Bowl Cheez-It Bowl

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