Another exciting college football regular season is in the books and bowl season is here.
The marquee playoff matches are still a few weeks away, but there are plenty of exciting bowl games to whet fans’ appetite.
Here’s a look at the bowl action from this past week.
Troy 50 North Texas 30
The Troy Trojans capped off their season perfectly with a strong bowl victory. Troy had the best season in program history, finishing 11-2. The 11 wins eclipsed last season’s 10-3 record, signaling Troy is a program on the rise. Not only did the Trojans post their best season in history, they also defeated LSU in Death Valley on the team’s Homecoming, and let them know about it afterwards.
Troy University on Twitter
Hey @LSU, thanks for having us down for homecoming! We really enjoyed it! 😁
Georgia St 27 Western Kentucky 17
The Panthers posted their first bowl win in program history. Georgia State first started competing in football in 2010 under the guidance of former Alabama head coach Bill Curry. After humble beginnings, the program is not a relevant program in the Sun Belt Conference. The win over Western Kentucky is particularly impressive because that program has been a hub for ascending coaches; Bobby Petrino, Jeff Brohm, and Willie Taggart have all led the Hilltoppers before taking on Power 5 head-coaching jobs. Congrats to Georgia State for making history.
GSU Football on Twitter
A moment we’ll be reliving forever. History was made in Orlando on Dec. 16, 2017. https://t.co/3WwFIENCr7
Marshall 31 Colorado St 28
It doesn’t seem that long ago when Randy Moss and Chad Pennington were putting the Thundering Herd on the map as the school rose to the D1-A ranks. Since then, Marshall has become a competitive program in the MAC, churning out plenty of NFL talent and winning bowl games. The win over the Rams marked Marshall’s 11th bowl win since 1997. One can’t mention Marshall without highlighting one of the most athletic plays in college football history:
Marshall Thundering Herd – Moss 90yd TD vs Army 1997
Randy Moss with a spectacular 90 yard TD catch and run in a win vs Army in 1997.
Middle Tennessee St 35 Arkansas St 30
The Blue Raiders held on to win their first bowl game since 2009. The win was a satisfying cap to the season after suffering through a spate of injuries; Middle Tennessee State lost a combined 125 games to injury. As for the Red Wolves, the team dropped to 7-5; they had a home game against Miami canceled due to Hurricane Irma. Even though Arkansas State lost, they scored a touchdown on what might be the most surreal play of the bowl season:
Deadspin on Twitter
Camellia Bowl things are… happening. https://t.co/O20k2VqpG4
Boise St 38 Oregon 28
The Oregon Ducks lost head coach Willie Taggart to Florida State after Jimbo Fisher chose to leave for Texas A&M. Assistant coach Mario Cristobal was named the full-time replacement, but his tenure got off to an inauspicious start. The Ducks fell behind to the Broncos 24-0, and couldn’t recover after digging themselves such a deep hole. Cristobal had middling success at FIU, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does at a bigger program in transition. In addition to the loss, Oregon suffered the humiliation of surrendering a touchdown immediately after this happened:
Sports Illustrated on Twitter
Kirk Herbstreit 💯 😂 😂 😂 https://t.co/HXmM0R2pr0