Associated Press
Wednesday’s bowl results …
EL PASO, Texas ó In the lowest-scoring major bowl game in a half-century, No. 24 Oregon State beat No. 18 Pittsburgh 3-0 in the Sun Bowl on Justin Kahut’s 44-yard field goal late in the first half Wednesday.
The defensive struggle included 20 punts and 10 sacks. Pitt kicker Connor Lee tried a 58-yard field goal in the closing minutes but the ball, helped by a steady wind, dropped just short of the crossbar.
Not since Air Force and TCU played to 0-0 standoff in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1959, had a bowl produced so few points.
The Beavers (9-4) improved to 5-0 in bowls since coach Mike Riley began his second stint as their coach in 2003. Pitt (9-4) managed just 178 total yards.
It was the lowest-scoring Sun Bowl since a scoreless tie in 1940 between Catholic and Arizona State.
CHICK-fIL-A
ATLANTA ó Charles Scott ran for three touchdowns and LSU took advantage of Georgia Tech’s special teams mistakes in a surprisingly easy victory.
LSU outscored the No. 14 Yellow Jackets 28-0 in the second quarter and led 35-3 at halftime. Scott, who had 65 yards rushing, had two touchdowns in the decisive quarter.
A year after winning the national championship, LSU (8-5) lost three of its last four regular-season games but regrouped for its dominant bowl victory.
The biggest special teams plays all fell in LSU’s favor. LSU recovered an onside kick and a Georgia Tech fumbled punt return and made a fourth-down stop on the Yellow Jackets’ surprising fake punt from Tech’s 22.
LSU turned the fumbled punt and stop on the fake punt into quick touchdowns while outscoring Georgia Tech 28-0 in the second quarter.
As if to affirm its mastery of special teams, LSU pulled off a successful fake punt in the fourth quarter, with punter Brady Dalfrey running for 21 yards for the first down. LSU led 38-3 when coach Les Miles called for the fake.
Georgia Tech (9-4) was denied its first 10-win season since 1998.
LSU freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson, making only his second start, was 16 of 25 passing for 142 yards and a touchdown. Jefferson, who completed his first nine passes, added nine carries for 33 yards. Scott scored on runs of 1, 2 and 4 yards.
INSIGHTTEMPE, Ariz. ó Dezmon Briscoe caught a game-record 14 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and Todd Reesing threw for four scores for Kansas.
Reesing completed 27 of 35 passes, hitting on a school-record 14 straight passes in the first half. He threw for 313 yards and improved to 20-6 as a starter.
Kerry Meier caught one touchdown pass and threw another for the Jayhawks (8-5), who have won three straight bowl games for the first time.
Eric Decker caught eight passes for 149 yards and a touchdown for the Golden Gophers (7-6), who finished the season on a five-game losing streak and have lost their last three bowl games./
ARMED FORCES
FORT WORTH, Texas ó Case Keenum ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score and Houston (8-5) wrapped up coach Kevin Sumlin’s first season by beating Air Force (8-5) for its first bowl victory since 1980.
Houston ended an eight-game bowl losing streak, avoiding a record the Cougars didn’t want to share with Notre Dame. The Irish won the Hawaii Bowl last week to end an NCAA-record bowl losing streak at nine.