Dec 20, 2014 5 min read

Utah quarterback Travis Wilson ran for three touchdowns and passed for another Saturday, leading the No. 23 Utes to a 45-10 rout of Colorado State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Wilson rushed for a season-high 91 yards on 11 carries and completed 17 of 26 passes for 158 yards.

Utah (9-4) scored three times in the first quarter and finished with 548 total yards, including 359 on the ground. Devontae Booker ran for 162 yards and a TD and Troy McCormick ran for 86.

Colorado State (10-3) fell behind in the first three minutes and never got its vaunted offense in gear. The Rams played a ranked team for the first time this season – they have lost their last 16 games against teams in the Top 25.

Garrett Grayson completed 21 of 35 passes for 242 yards, but he was unable to avoid Utah’s rush in the second half when the Rams were forced to throw the ball.

Utah, which led the nation with 52 sacks, dropped Grayson twice in the game, one each by Jason Fanaika and Nate Orchard.

Grayson threw an interception and lost a fumble in the fourth quarter, and Utah turned both into touchdowns.

Wilson ran for a 12-yard touchdown and backup running back Bubba Poole scored on a 10-yard run.

Colorado State interim coach Dave Baldwin hoped to confuse Utah’s defense by using multiple formations, but it didn’t work. The Rams ran the ball early with little success and couldn’t mount a passing attack in the second half. They finished with 8 yards rushing.

Air Force 38, Western Michigan 24: Shayne Davern ran for a career-high 101 yards and two touchdowns and Air Force beat Western Michigan 38-24 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on a soggy Saturday night in Boise.

Air Force finished the season 10-3 after going 2-10 last year. Miami of Ohio was the last previous team to follow a 10-loss season with 10 victories, going from 1-11 in 2009 to 10-4 in 2010.

Davern was selected the Falcons’ most valuable player.

Dexter Walker returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown for Air Force.

Western Michigan finished 8-5 after going 1-11 last season.

The Broncos had cut a 23-10 deficit to 23-17 and were in Air Force territory when Western Michigan quarterback Zach Terrell was hit by linebacker Spencer Proctor and fumbled. Walker scooped the ball and raced untouched down the sideline for the clinching score.

Air Force snapped a two-game bowl losing streak. The Falcons last won a postseason game in 2010 when they beat Georgia Tech in the Independence Bowl.

Utah State 21, UTEP 6: After yet another injury, Utah State wound up needing its fifth-string quarterback. Fortunately for the Aggies, they had the Vigil brothers the whole way.

Nick Vigil ran for a touchdown and combined with his brother to make 16 tackles as Utah State shut down UTEP 21-6 in the New Mexico Bowl.

“Knowing that he’s talented, plays on both sides of the ball,” praised senior Zach Vigil, who made nine stops and was chosen the game’s defensive MVP. “That’s just who he is, the kid I grew up watching.”

The Aggies have one of the top-ranked defenses in the nation. The Vigils, a pair of linebackers who had combined for 551 career tackles to rank first at the FBS level among active brothers, helped hold UTEP to 149 rushing yards and no touchdowns.

Utah State (10-4) won a bowl game for the third straight year. UTEP (7-6) is 0-6 in postseason play since winning the 1967 Sun Bowl.

Sophomore Nick Vigil scored on a 3-yard run for a 14-3 lead early in the third quarter. Kent Myers threw for 68 yards and rushed for 70, including a 48-yard touchdown run for Utah State.

“We had some designed runs,” Myers said. “They’re a great defense so I took the opportunity and when I saw a hole I would just take it.”

Louisiana-Lafayette 16, Nevada 3: Terrance Broadway walked into a hotel meeting room at around 5:45 a.m. and knew immediately that an unusual 10 a.m. kickoff in the New Orleans Bowl wouldn’t be a problem for Louisiana-Lafayette.

“It looked like people were partying in the meeting rooms, like the music was blasting,” the Ragin’ Cajuns quarterback said, grinning at the memory. “It was like it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It didn’t look like it was 5:45, and our team was ready.”

Broadway set an NCAA Division I bowl game record by completing his first 14 passes, finishing with 227 yards and a touchdown to lead Louisiana-Lafayette past Nevada 16-3.

Hunter Stover made a career-long 46-yard field goal in the first half and added kicks of 35 and 30 yards for the Ragin’ Cajuns (9-4), who completed their fourth consecutive nine-victory season with their fourth straight New Orleans Bowl win.

“We put together four quarters of possibly the best football we played this year,” said Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth.

He took great pride in his team winning eight of its last nine games after starting 1-3.

Cody Fajardo passed for 124 yards and rushed for 49 more for Nevada (7-6), marking the second time he’d passed for more than 2,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 in a season.

But the Wolf Pack, who had 200 or more yards rushing in each of their previous five games, gained only 89 yards on the ground against ULL and failed to score a touchdown for the first time since being shut out at Notre Dame in 2009.