Albuquerque, N.M. • Leading up to the New Mexico Bowl, Marshall wide receiver Tyre Brady kept hearing about Colorado State’s explosive offense. Doubters were overlooking the Thundering Herd’s own weapons, he thought.
So when Brady’s chance came in the second quarter, the junior separated himself from Rams coverages and sprinted to a 76-yard touchdown reception for the first of three big scoring plays that allowed Thundering Herd hold off the Rams 31-28 on Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl.
“Every time when you play for yourself, you force things, you press things,” said Brady, who had 165 yards receiving. “But when you play for your teammates, things just fall into place the right way.”
He was joined by Keion Davis, who rushed for 141 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown run. Tyler King added a 90-yard rushing touchdown for the Herd (8-5).
Chase Litton threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, overshadowing the much-hyped Colorado State quarterback Nick Stevens, who was sacked five times.
“I think it’s the entire defense played tremendous,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said. “That’s an excellent offensive football team”.
The Thundering Herd are 11-2 in bowl games — 5-0 under Holliday.
For Colorado State (7-6), it was another disappointing postseason. The Rams have lost four straight bowl games, and lost four of their last five this season after a 6-2 start.
“Yeah, it’s pretty much a microcosm of our season,” Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo said. “Played pretty good at times, then giving up big plays, explosive plays for touchdowns. Those kill you defensively.”
NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Troy 50, North Texas 30 • In New Orleans, Brandon Silvers passed for four touchdowns and ran for another, Troy produced five turnovers and the Trojans beat North Texas.
Josh Anderson, filling in for injured starter Jordan Chunn, rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns, and Silvers also scored on a short run to help Troy (11-2) win for the 21st time in two seasons.
Silvers passed for 306 yards. Two of his TD passes went to Damion Willis, who had 136 yards and two TDs receiving on a New Orleans Bowl-record-tying 11 catches.
Mason Fine passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns for North Texas (9-5), but was intercepted twice and fumbled twice. He finished with Mean Green single-season records of 4,052 yards and 31 TDs passing.
CURE BOWL
Georgia State 27, Western Kentucky 17 • In Orlando, Fla., Conner Manning threw for 276 yards and a touchdown to lead Georgia State to a winning record with the first bowl victory in the school's eight-year football history.
Manning threw a 42-yard touchdown pass pass to Roger Carter, Demarcus Kirk scored on a 26-yard run, and Kyler Neal finished a 16-play drive consuming nine minutes of the fourth quarter with a 1-yard scoring run that put Georgia State (7-5) up 27-10.
Mike White had TD passes of 54 and 4 yards to Deon Yelder and finished with 351 yards for Western Kentucky (6-7). Yelder had five receptions for 112 yards.
CAMELLIA BOWL
Middle Tennessee 35, Arkansas State 30 • In Montgomery, Ala., Brent Stockstill passed for 232 yards and two touchdowns and Middle Tennessee came up with some key stops to hold off Arkansas State.
The Blue Raiders (7-6) ran out most of the final five minutes with a series of short passes from Stockstill after losing much of an 18-point lead over the Red Wolves (7-5).
Punter Matt Bonadies pinned Arkansas State's prolific offense 91 yards from the end zone with 1:27 left and no time outs. Middle Tennessee defenders then sacked Justice Hansen three times, including one by Darrius Liggins on the final play. That capped a wild game that included DJ Sanders' 54-yard fumble return for a touchdown, six turnovers and 17 penalties.
CELEBRATION BOWL
North Carolina A&T 21, Grambling State 14 • In Atlanta, Lamar Raynard scored on a 1-yard sneak with 38 seconds left and unbeaten North Carolina A&T won its second Celebration Bowl in three years.
N.C. A&T (12-0) won its fourth Historically Black College and University national championship. In 2015, the Aggies beat Alcorn State in the first Celebration Bowl. They also won titles in 1990 and 1999
Raynard completed 23 of 43 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown.
Grambling (11-2) beat North Carolina Central 10-9 last year in the title game.
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