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Michigan and Washington survived instant classics in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, respectively, fittingly leaving just two remaining unbeaten programs.
The Wolverines rallied to beat Alabama in Pasadena in overtime. The Huskies withstood a frenetic late challenge from Texas in New Orleans. The stage is set for one of these programs to win its first national championship of the 21st century.
Michigan and Washington will bring contrasting styles to NRG Stadium. The Wolverines rely on a Blake Corum-led ground game, play mistake-free ball and allow an FBS-low 10.2 points per game. It’s a tight-knit, player-led squad with the ability to tune out noise and distractions.
Washington boasts the far more high-powered offense, a 37.6 points per game attack spearheaded by Maxwell Award winner Michael Penix Jr. and the game’s deepest corps of receivers. Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan can create mismatches, but Michigan has allowed just seven TD passes all year, the fewest in the FBS. The Huskies knack for winning close games is unprecedented, with their last 10 victories coming by 10 or fewer points.
If the National Championship Game is even half as entertaining as New Year’s Day’s two semis, the biggest winners on Monday night will be the sport and its devoted fan base.
The Maxwell Football Club honors the nation’s best player with the Maxwell Award. Here’s a look at some of the bowl season's top offensive performers, so far.
Priority No. 1 for the Wildcat offensive staff this offseason will be to find new ways to get the ball in Brown’s hands. The sophomore is one of the game’s most exciting all-around playmakers, yet he had just five touchdowns entering the Gator Bowl with Clemson. However, in Jacksonville Friday afternoon his jets were on full display. Brown accumulated 226 all-purpose yards and scored three times, on a 22-yard run, a 60-yard reception and a 100-yard kickoff to start the second half.
The Rebels are going to be a factor in the playoff chase a year from now. Ole Miss essentially made its first statement of 2024 by pounding favored Penn State, 38-25, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Dart, who will lead the offense next fall, had his way with a talented veteran Nittany Lion D. He deftly spread the ball to his receivers and tight ends, completing 25-of-40 for 379 yards and three touchdowns. Dart accounted for a fourth score with an exclamation point rushing TD in the final quarter.
The Hokies have a tailwind entering the offseason courtesy of a 41-20 handling of Tulane in the Military Bowl. Virginia Tech overcame a torrential downpour in Annapolis behind the backfield of Drones and star RB Bhayshul Tuten. Drones, the Baylor transfer, completed 13 passes for 91 yards and a couple of touchdowns. However, he did most of his damage with his legs, rushing for a career-best 176 yards and another score in the victory. Both Drones and Tuten are expected back in Blacksburg in 2024.
The good news is Henigan was named MVP of the Liberty Bowl, a 36-26 win over Iowa State to secure Memphis’ first 10-win season since 2019. The better news is that the QB still has eligibility left. Henigan pierced the Cyclone D for 364 yards and four TD passes to four different receivers on 24-of-34 passing. He also rushed for 27 yards and another score while becoming the school’s all-time leader in passing yards in front of a largely partisan home crowd.
Start working on this pronunciation in the offseason. You’ll be hearing—and saying—his name a lot in the fall. With Joe Milton out, the Volunteers turned the page in the Citrus Bowl. And Iamaleava did not disappoint. In fact, he gave UT fans plenty to feel excited about until spring ball begins. The blue-chip true freshman from Long Beach, Calif. produced 35 points, the most yielded by Iowa all season. Moving and looking like a young Lamar Jackson, Iamaleava accounted for four touchdowns, three with his legs.
Rutgers never had much success versus Miami when the two were Big East members. That was then and this is now. The Scarlet Knights beat the Canes, 31-24, in the Pinstripe Bowl for their first postseason win and winning season since 2014. Monangai, as he’s done all season, was the offensive catalyst. The junior from Roseland, N.J. earned game MVP after rushing for 163 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. It was the seventh 100-yard game for Monangai, who finished 2023 with 1,262 yards rushing.
One man’s opt-out is another man’s opportunity. With Caleb Williams watching from the sideline, No. 7 gave new meaning to being Mossed in the Holiday Bowl with Louisville. In his first start of any kind since 2019, Moss calmly dissected the Cardinal defense for 372 yards and a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdowns on 23-of-33 passing. The 42-28 victory gives 8-5 USC a much-needed boost entering the offseason and puts Moss in a position to compete for the full-time job with whoever Lincoln Riley brings in from the portal.
While many of his heralded peers elected to opt out of the postseason, Nix choose to take one more ride as a Duck. And he didn’t just suit up and make a cameo in the Fiesta Bowl. The Maxwell Award finalist was spectacular once more, handing Liberty its first loss of the season. Nix capped the most prolific season ever by an Oregon quarterback with a near perfect performance in Glendale. After falling behind, 6-0, he led the Ducks to 45 unanswered points by completing 28-of-35 for 363 yards, five touchdowns and no turnovers.
The Cowboys overpowered a depleted Texas A&M squad to win the Texas Bowl, 31-23, in a game that was a little more one-sided than the score indicates. Oklahoma State amassed 570 total yards and more than seven yards per play to reach 10 wins for the second time in the last three years. Brennan Presley and Owens could not be contained, with the latter earning game MVP honors after catching 10 passes for a personal-high 164 yards and two touchdowns.
Penix played at an entirely different level in the Sugar Bowl, carving up the Texas D downfield to help bring the Huskies within a game of a national championship. This year’s Maxwell Award winner showed the nation why he’s the most outstanding player in college football. Penix lit up the Longhorn secondary for 430 yards and a pair of TD strikes on 29-of-38 passing. He put on a clinic in the 37-31 win, stepping up in the pocket, making six Big Time Throws and showcasing his trademark accuracy and knack for fitting the ball into tight windows.
The Maxwell Football Club honors the nation’s best defensive player with the Chuck Bednarik Award. Here’s a look at last week’s standout defenders.
Carter is putting off the NFL for one more year, electing to play his senior year with the Tigers. His performance in the Gator Bowl showed why he’ll be one of the nation’s elite defenders in 2024. The 6-1, 230-pound Carter flashed his versatility and athleticism in Friday’s 38-35 win over Kentucky. While he had just three tackles, he also made his presence felt with a sack, a fumble recovery, an interception and three pass breakups.
The Hawkeyes failed to score in the Citrus Bowl and were never competitive versus Tennessee. All the more reason to be impressed by Evans’ performance in Orlando. The senior, who could have gotten a head start on NFL Draft prep, set a new Iowa bowl record with four sacks as a part of his five total tackles. Evans, a walk-on when he arrived on campus in 2019, moved into fourth place in program history with 28 career sacks.
Much like they’ve done all season, the Wolverines didn’t have one obvious defensive star in the comeback win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl. It was another collaborative effort from the nation’s top-ranked scoring D so a number of Wolverines warrant this space. However, Graham was especially tough in the middle, the area of the field where Jalen Milroe was stuffed in overtime to preserve a 27-20 Michigan win. The junior, playing just 40 miles from his Anaheim home, had four tackles, a stop for loss and the game’s highest run stuffing grade according to Pro Football Focus.
The Mountaineers scored on the opening play of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and never looked back in a 30-10 win over North Carolina. West Virginia’s special teams produced a score and the defense yielded just a lone touchdown. Kpogba spearheaded the D, much like he’s done throughout this breakout 9-4 season in Morgantown. He had a game-high dozen tackles, including eight solo stops and one tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
The Wildcats ended a breakout campaign by beating Oklahoma, 38-24, in the Alamo Bowl Thursday night. And while the Noah Fifita-led passing attack clicked, the win was fueled by a big-play D. Arizona forced six Sooner turnovers, three fumbles and three interceptions. Maldonado had one of the picks and two fumble recoveries, one he returned 87 yards for a momentum-shifting TD at the end of the third quarter. The junior also had nine stops, including seven solos, to bring his season total to 81 tackles.
In Martin, the Tigers mined a gem out of the FCS a year ago. The former East Tennessee State transfer capped an all-conference debut at Memphis with an MVP performance in his school’s 36-26 Liberty Bowl defeat of Iowa State. Martin, who has the range and the closing speed of a safety, wrecked the Cyclone offensive front for eight tackles, which included a sack and a bowl-best five stops for minus yards.
The Texas Bowl did not go as planned for the Aggies, an eight-point loss to Oklahoma State. However, for Mathews it was a game he will never forget. Texas A&M’s storied 12th Man this season played his most significant minutes of the year on Wednesday night. And he played very well. Mathews led the team with 14 tackles, including 11 solos and 1.5 for loss, and also had a pass breakup and his first career interception.
Pearce laid the ground floor as a sophomore in 2023. Next season, he could be one of the nation’s top edge rushers and the target of NFL GMs. Pearce closed the season with a scintillating all-around effort in the Vols’ 35-0 Citrus Bowl blanking of Iowa. In just 37 snaps, he had three tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, five total pressures and a perfectly timed pick that resulted in a 52-yard return for a touchdown.
The Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri had nothing to do with the defense. The D was fine in Arlington, pitching a shutout for the first three quarters and holding the Tigers to their fewest points in well over a year. Sawyer provided the pressure off the edge for Ohio State. He set a single-game career high with three sacks and had three hurries of QB Brady Cook who had a season-low 11 completions on the night.
The Terps delivered one of the best all-around efforts of the postseason, upsetting Auburn, 31-13, in the Music City Bowl despite playing without QB Taulia Tagovailoa. Maryland jumped out to an early lead and the defense made it last for 60 minutes. The Terps allowed just 4-of-17 third down conversions, with Sheppard starring in coverage out of the secondary. The former all-star at Cincinnati was targeted five times but allowed just one reception for six yards, while forcing two incompletions and tallying the top coverage grade among postseason corners from Pro Football Focus.
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Rich Cirminiello is the VP of College Awards at Maxwell Football Club. He can be followed on Twitter at @Rich Cirminiello