Around the Northeast wraps up at the same time as the regular season, which ended with an incredible Week 13 nationwide In the Northeast region however, there were all blowouts.
No. 11 Penn State shines on Senior Day, defeats Michigan State 35-16
The Nittany Lions closed the door on any bowl eligibility for Michigan State thanks to quarterback Sean Clifford, who passed for four touchdowns in his final game at Beaver Stadium. Penn State now await which bowl game they will be in, which will be decided on Sunday after the conference championships. They finished third in the Big Ten East. Theo Johnson caught two of Clifford’s four touchdown passes. The defense was excellent, featuring freshman linebacker Abdul Carter recording two sacks and sophomore cornerback Kalen King deflecting five passes and picking Michigan State quarterback off once. Jayden Reed fumbled three times and lost two of them, having possibly his worst game of the season.
Buchanan, Tyler lead Army in blowout over UMass, 44-7
Gino Campiotti gave his team hope with an early touchdown run early in the first quarter. However, the extra point was the last time UMass would score this season. During the first half, the Black Knights had four straight touchdown drives, making the score 28-7 at the half. Quarterback Tyhier Tyler ran for 101 yards and three touchdowns and running back Jakobi Buchanan had two scores on the ground. UMass quarterback Brady Olson had two interceptions on back-to-back drives. The Minutemen fumbled three times and lost two of them. UMass’s season is over, but Army still has a shot. They have their arch-rival Navy in Philadelphia on December 10, and while they have two FCS wins, their win total would be six if they beat Navy and there were not enough bowl-eligible teams, so Army could potentially go bowling this season.
Maryland shuts Rutgers out, 37-0
Led by Taulia Tagovailoa and Roman Hemby, the Terrapins guaranteed a bowl spot with their seventh win of the season. Tagovailoa passed for 342 yards and a touchdown on 25-for-37 passing. His top target was wide receiver Jeshaun Jones, who had nine receptions for 152 yards and the only touchdown not scored by Roman Hemby. Hemby ran for 70 yards and three touchdowns. Rutgers ends their season with a 4-8 record. Maryland will find out which bowl game they are playing on Sunday.
East Carolina edges Temple, 49-46
East Carolina secured a bowl spot with their seventh win of the season, spoiling Temple’s Senior Day. Down 46-42 with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter, Holton Ahlers passed to Jaylen Johnson for 38 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Ahlers passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns on 25-for-37 passing. Running back Keaton Mitchell ran for 222 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and caught two passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, which was a 73-yard touchdown reception. Junior safety Jireh Wilson had four tackles for loss while cornerback Malik Fleming picked off E.J. Warner. Warner was incredible for Temple, passing for 527 yards and five touchdowns on a 45-for-63 completion rate. Jordan Smith caught two of those, finishing the day with 85 yards on three receptions. David Martin-Robinson, Amad Anderson Jr. and Zae Baines all found the end zone with the help of Warner and all had at least 73 receiving yards. While he did not score, Jose Barbon had 13 receptions for 160 yards. Despite the brilliant effort by the Owls’ offense, they fell to 3-9 and will not be bowling this season. East Carolina now wait to see where they are going to play on Sunday.
Syracuse snaps losing streak, beats Boston College on Senior Day, 32-23
Syracuse began their season 6-0 and were immediately bowl-eligible and a top-15 team in the country. However, the Orange lost their last five games and were on the verge of a 6-6 record to wrap the regular season up. Pat Garwo III ran for a five-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to extend the Eagles’ lead to 17-6, the largest lead of the game. However, that would be the last time the home crowd saw a touchdown that gave them the lead as Syracuse scored four unanswered touchdowns. Garrett Shrader was quite efficient, passing for 285 yards and two touchdowns on a 21-27 completion rate. It was the last time this regular season that star running back Sean Tucker can say he was “pleased with his performance,” as he ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns that were the difference makers for the Orange. Oronde Gadsden led the team in receiving with 106 yards on six receptions, but it was Damien Alford and Devaughn Cooper on the receiving end of Shrader’s two touchdown passes. Syracuse’s defense had a total of three sacks and seven tackles for loss. Boston College quarterback Emmett Morehead passed for 252 yards and two scores, both of them caught by wide receiver Zay Flowers, making his final appearance in college with 110 receiving yards on eight catches. Two lost fumbles by Morehead hurt the Eagles, as they fell to 3-9 to finish their season. Donovan Ezeiruaku had a great day statistically, recording two-and-a-half sacks and three tackles for loss. Syracuse wait to see which bowl game they are in next weekend.
