Go long: SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert drops back to pass against Fresno St. during the Hawaii Bowl. SMU won 43-10. APHunt, the 203-cm senior from Estonia with an 82-inch wing span, forced two fumbles that led to field goals and sacked Derek Carr for a safety as SMU (7-6) built a 22-0 halftime lead and never looked back.The Mustangs also returned two interceptions for touchdowns, giving them eight for the season to tie the NCAA record set last year by Southern Miss. Hayden Greenbauer picked off Carr and returned it 83 yards with 1:14 left, the final blow to a miserable night for the Bulldogs (9-4).SMU had seven sacks, the most Fresno State has given up all year.Garrett Gilbert was effective with his arm and his legs, running for a 17-yard touchdown for the first score of the game and throwing a perfect strike to Darius Johnson for a 21-yard score to answer the Bulldogs' only touchdown. He rushed for 98 yards on 18 carries and threw for 212 yards.But this game was decided by the Mustangs' defense, with Hunt leading the way. He was voted the game's MVP.Fresno State, which had averaged just over 47 points in its last five games, was held scoreless in the first half for the first time in two years, and Carr was too busy running for his life to get the Bulldogs into any kind of offensive rhythm.The Mustangs were playing in a school-record fourth straight bowl game since ending a 25-year drought dating to its infamous NCAA death penalty. They have won three of those bowl games, twice as big underdogs to explosive offenses — a 45-10 win over Nevada in 2009 and Saturday against Fresno State, both in the Hawaii Bowl.That's where Jones feels right at home, even though the flea market earlier in the day drew more people.He was the coach at Hawaii for eight years, leaving after its unbeaten regular season in 2007. Jones now has won 10 straight games in Aloha Stadium, dating to a December 2006 loss to Oregon State."I just want to say 'Aloha' to the seniors," Jones said during the trophy presentation. "We said we were going to do it and we did it."Without hardly breaking a sweat.Hunt, who won the Junior World Championships in Beijing in 2006 in the shot put and discus, came to SMU to work on athletics and earned a scholarship when coaches took one look at him, and saw his 4.7-second time in the 40-yard dash. He set an NCAA record this year by blocking his 10th field goal.His speed made all the difference in his final college game as Hunt zipped around tackles and harassed Carr all night. Carr finished with 362 yards on 33-of-54 passing. The 10 points were the fewest Fresno State has scored since a 20-10 loss to Boise State this year.The Bulldogs hardly looked like a team averaging 488 yards a game. Carr spent more time on his back than stepping into throws as the Mustangs' defensive front — particularly Hunt — was overwhelming.
Showing posts with label Hawaii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawaii. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Defensive star Hunt leads charge in Hawaii Bowl rout
HONOLULU — SMU coach June Jones walked out of Aloha Stadium with another win Saturday, thanks largely to a disruptive performance by defensive end Margus Hunt that set the tone for the Mustangs' 43-10 win over Fresno State in the Hawaii Bowl.Go long: SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert drops back to pass against Fresno St. during the Hawaii Bowl. SMU won 43-10. APHunt, the 203-cm senior from Estonia with an 82-inch wing span, forced two fumbles that led to field goals and sacked Derek Carr for a safety as SMU (7-6) built a 22-0 halftime lead and never looked back.The Mustangs also returned two interceptions for touchdowns, giving them eight for the season to tie the NCAA record set last year by Southern Miss. Hayden Greenbauer picked off Carr and returned it 83 yards with 1:14 left, the final blow to a miserable night for the Bulldogs (9-4).SMU had seven sacks, the most Fresno State has given up all year.Garrett Gilbert was effective with his arm and his legs, running for a 17-yard touchdown for the first score of the game and throwing a perfect strike to Darius Johnson for a 21-yard score to answer the Bulldogs' only touchdown. He rushed for 98 yards on 18 carries and threw for 212 yards.But this game was decided by the Mustangs' defense, with Hunt leading the way. He was voted the game's MVP.Fresno State, which had averaged just over 47 points in its last five games, was held scoreless in the first half for the first time in two years, and Carr was too busy running for his life to get the Bulldogs into any kind of offensive rhythm.The Mustangs were playing in a school-record fourth straight bowl game since ending a 25-year drought dating to its infamous NCAA death penalty. They have won three of those bowl games, twice as big underdogs to explosive offenses — a 45-10 win over Nevada in 2009 and Saturday against Fresno State, both in the Hawaii Bowl.That's where Jones feels right at home, even though the flea market earlier in the day drew more people.He was the coach at Hawaii for eight years, leaving after its unbeaten regular season in 2007. Jones now has won 10 straight games in Aloha Stadium, dating to a December 2006 loss to Oregon State."I just want to say 'Aloha' to the seniors," Jones said during the trophy presentation. "We said we were going to do it and we did it."Without hardly breaking a sweat.Hunt, who won the Junior World Championships in Beijing in 2006 in the shot put and discus, came to SMU to work on athletics and earned a scholarship when coaches took one look at him, and saw his 4.7-second time in the 40-yard dash. He set an NCAA record this year by blocking his 10th field goal.His speed made all the difference in his final college game as Hunt zipped around tackles and harassed Carr all night. Carr finished with 362 yards on 33-of-54 passing. The 10 points were the fewest Fresno State has scored since a 20-10 loss to Boise State this year.The Bulldogs hardly looked like a team averaging 488 yards a game. Carr spent more time on his back than stepping into throws as the Mustangs' defensive front — particularly Hunt — was overwhelming.
Go long: SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert drops back to pass against Fresno St. during the Hawaii Bowl. SMU won 43-10. APHunt, the 203-cm senior from Estonia with an 82-inch wing span, forced two fumbles that led to field goals and sacked Derek Carr for a safety as SMU (7-6) built a 22-0 halftime lead and never looked back.The Mustangs also returned two interceptions for touchdowns, giving them eight for the season to tie the NCAA record set last year by Southern Miss. Hayden Greenbauer picked off Carr and returned it 83 yards with 1:14 left, the final blow to a miserable night for the Bulldogs (9-4).SMU had seven sacks, the most Fresno State has given up all year.Garrett Gilbert was effective with his arm and his legs, running for a 17-yard touchdown for the first score of the game and throwing a perfect strike to Darius Johnson for a 21-yard score to answer the Bulldogs' only touchdown. He rushed for 98 yards on 18 carries and threw for 212 yards.But this game was decided by the Mustangs' defense, with Hunt leading the way. He was voted the game's MVP.Fresno State, which had averaged just over 47 points in its last five games, was held scoreless in the first half for the first time in two years, and Carr was too busy running for his life to get the Bulldogs into any kind of offensive rhythm.The Mustangs were playing in a school-record fourth straight bowl game since ending a 25-year drought dating to its infamous NCAA death penalty. They have won three of those bowl games, twice as big underdogs to explosive offenses — a 45-10 win over Nevada in 2009 and Saturday against Fresno State, both in the Hawaii Bowl.That's where Jones feels right at home, even though the flea market earlier in the day drew more people.He was the coach at Hawaii for eight years, leaving after its unbeaten regular season in 2007. Jones now has won 10 straight games in Aloha Stadium, dating to a December 2006 loss to Oregon State."I just want to say 'Aloha' to the seniors," Jones said during the trophy presentation. "We said we were going to do it and we did it."Without hardly breaking a sweat.Hunt, who won the Junior World Championships in Beijing in 2006 in the shot put and discus, came to SMU to work on athletics and earned a scholarship when coaches took one look at him, and saw his 4.7-second time in the 40-yard dash. He set an NCAA record this year by blocking his 10th field goal.His speed made all the difference in his final college game as Hunt zipped around tackles and harassed Carr all night. Carr finished with 362 yards on 33-of-54 passing. The 10 points were the fewest Fresno State has scored since a 20-10 loss to Boise State this year.The Bulldogs hardly looked like a team averaging 488 yards a game. Carr spent more time on his back than stepping into throws as the Mustangs' defensive front — particularly Hunt — was overwhelming.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Golden Eagles soar in Hawaii Bowl
HONOLULU — Austin Davis made the plays when it counted to send Southern Mississippi coach Larry Fedora out a winner.Davis threw two touchdowns, including a 4-yarder late in the game, and No. 22 Southern Miss earned a school-record 12th victory by holding off Nevada 24-17 in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night."It wasn't his best game, but he did enough to help us win this football game," said Fedora, who is leaving after four seasons to take over at North Carolina.Davis overcame a shaky game for the Conference USA-champion Golden Eagles (12-2), and the defense in the second half managed to shut down Nevada's potent pistol attack led by Lampford Mark."I thought we struggled the entire game offensively. We made a few big plays at the end, but really the defense, these guys were special and they've done that all year," Davis said. "We made a play or two on offense when we needed to."Davis was off most of the night but made it count on the game-winning drive. On third-and-goal, he scrambled right and found Kelvin Bolden for the 4-yard score, capping a seven-play, 68-yard drive. He had just 59 yard passing at halftime and finished 18 of 41 for 165 yards.On the winning drive, Davis was 3 of 4 for 66 yards, including a 43-yard completion to Dominique Sullivan down the right sideline and a 19-yarder to a crossing William Spight. Sullivan had five catches for 75 yards.With Davis held in check, the Golden Eagles relied on their defense, stopping Mark on fourth-and-1 at midfield with 3:56 left. Mark had 183 yards rushing for the Wolf Pack (7-6) but was held to just 21 yards in the second half."Our offense in the second half — our offensive front just didn't get it done at all and I was really disappointed in that aspect of it. We got stopped on two fourth-and-1s," Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault said.Nevada was without its top receiver, Rishard Matthews, who has 91 receptions for 1,364 yards and eight TDs.The game featured a Hawaii Bowl-record 17 punts, and the 41 combined points was the fewest in bowl history.Cody Fajardo was 8 of 19 for 60 yards for Nevada. He also was held to just 14 yards rushing on nine carries before being replaced by Tyler Lantrip.The Golden Eagles got another big win after capturing their fifth C-USA title by upsetting previously unbeaten Houston 49-28 in the conference championship game. This was the first 10-win season for Southern Miss since 1988.
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