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Las Vegas • On Utah's first offensive play at the Las Vegas Bowl, junior running back Devontae Booker pitched to sophomore quarterback Jason Thompson, and nothing made sense anymore.

Thompson, who started a game at both quarterback and running back as a true freshman at Wyoming in 2012, wasn't thought to be eligible this season.

He redshirted in Laramie last season. Then, he followed offensive coordinator Dave Christensen to the U., where he has been virtually forgotten in the discussion about Utah's crowded quarterback field.

But there he was Saturday, catching Booker's pitch and throwing back across the field to junior quarterback Travis Wilson, who found a wide-open Kaelin Clay for a 36-yard gain.

Thompson also attempted a pass downfield to Delshawn McClellon, rushed twice for 5 yards and played on special teams.

His excuse: He transferred to the U. at the start of 2014, and when classes ended Friday, he became eligible to play.

"It's a unique situation," said head coach Kyle Whittingham. "I've never had that happen in my coaching career."

Whittingham said the compliance office discovered the quirk about three or four weeks ago.

"They researched it, and sure enough, everyone said yeah, thumbs up. If he gets the grades posted in time, then he's good to go."

Records remain

When the clock hit :00, 7 yards were all that separated Booker from John White IV's single-season school rushing record.

Maybe next year?

Booker finished with 1,512 after rushing for 162 and one score against the Rams, with Whittingham joshing him about it in the postgame press conference.

Booker said afterward he's not sure yet if he'll return next season — maybe he will learn from the example of White, who was a standout this season for the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos, but may have cost himself a higher draft grade when he returned for a comparatively pedestrian senior season of 1,041 yards.

Senior wideout Kaelin Clay and senior defensive end Nate Orchard were also within one more Herculean effort of setting school marks, but Clay couldn't manage another punt return touchdown to break his tie with Baltimore Ravens wideout Steve Smith, and Orchard finished with just one sack — two short of John Frank's career total of 27.

Still, Orchard's sack gave him the nation lead, at 18.5, by half a sack over Washington senior Hau'oli Kikaha, who has a chance to answer when Washington faces Oklahoma State in the Cactus Bowl on Jan. 2.

Bowl notes

Utah scored the most points in the first quarter (21) in Las Vegas Bowl history and finished with the second-highest margin of victory, at 35. Utah also set the Las Vegas Bowl record for rushing yards by a team, with 359, while CSU's total of 12 was the fourth-lowest total in bowl history. The attendance was 33,067, the 10th largest, with Utah having sold out its allotment of 7,500 shortly after the tickets went on sale.

Awards

With three rushing scores, Wilson won the Rossi T. Ralenkotter Most Valuable Player Award. Other honors went to junior left tackle (and hometown boy) Jeremiah Poutasi, as "Outperformer of the Game" on offense and junior linebacker Jared Norris as defensive "outperformer." Poutasi did not allow a sack, and Norris recorded eight tackles.

Twitter: @matthew_piper