Jan 1, 2019 4 min read

Dwayne Haskins passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and Urban Meyer finished his coaching career at Ohio State with a 28-23 victory after the Buckeyes held off Washington’s thrilling fourth-quarter comeback in the 105th Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

Parris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon and Rashod Berry caught TD passes in the first half for the fifth-ranked Buckeyes (13-1), who took a 25-point lead into the fourth.

But Myles Gaskin threw a touchdown pass and rushed for two more scores for the No. 9 Huskies (10-4), scoring from 2 yards out with 42 seconds left.

The Buckeyes intercepted Jake Browning’s pass on the 2-point conversion attempt and then recovered the Huskies’ onside kick to wrap up the final game of Meyer’s seven-year tenure.

“I’m a very blessed man,” Meyer said. “I’m blessed because of my family, (but) this team, this year, I love this group as much as any I’ve ever had.”

The 54-year-old coach is walking away after going 83-9 at Ohio State with one national championship, three Big Ten titles and this Rose Bowl victory, the Buckeyes’ eighth overall in the Granddaddy of Them All.

Meyer cited his health last month in his decision to step down. A cyst in Meyer’s brain causes severe headaches that are even worse in a high-stress job.

Browning passed for 313 yards and Gaskin rushed for 121 in the final game of the four-year starters’ landmark careers at Washington, which has lost three straight New Year’s Six bowl games.

LSU 40, UCF 32: There will be no self-proclaimed national championship for Central Florida this year.

LSU snapped UCF’s 25-game winning streak with a 40-32 victory at the Fiesta Bowl, with Joe Burrow dissecting the Knights’ secondary for 394 yards passing and four touchdowns.

The seventh-ranked Knights entered as one of only three remaining unbeaten teams. The others are No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson, who meet for the national title next Monday.

UCF was never in serious consideration for a spot in the four-team playoff and was eighth in the final college football committee’s rankings. Its fans loudly claimed the system was unfair, but UCF’s defense was anything but title worthy against the Tigers.

A depleted LSU team rolled for 555 yards, easily the most allowed by the Knights this season. Burrow had touchdown passes of 22, 49, 33 and 32 yards. UCF, meanwhile, managed just 250 yards after entering the game ranked third nationally at 545 yards per game.

Darriel Mack Jr., a redshirt freshman who took over at quarterback for UCF late in the season when McKenzie Milton was injured, completed 11 of 30 passes for 97 yards.

The final score was made respectable with a UCF touchdown and two-point conversion with 2:24 to play. The Knights had one last shot from their 12-yard line, but Mack was intercepted and the fourth-longest winning streak since 2000 was over.

Iowa 27, Mississippi State 22: Safety Jake Gervase made an interception in the end zone to help preserve a late lead, and ball-hawking Iowa Hawkeyes beat No. 18 Mississippi State in the Outback Bowl 27-22.

Gervase also batted down an errant fourth-down pass to end the Bulldogs’ final drive at the Iowa 32 with 25 seconds left. Two earlier Mississippi State threats in the fourth quarter led to only three points.

The Hawkeyes totaled just 199 yards, with 75 coming on a touchdown pass from Nathan Stanley to Nick Easley, but they converted three takeaways into 17 points.

Stanley threw for 214 yards and three scores. The Hawkeyes won despite netting minus 15 yards rushing, and their three running backs totaled 4 yards in 15 carries.

Iowa (9-4) earned its biggest postseason victory since an Orange Bowl win over Georgia Tech to cap the 2009 season. Mississippi State (8-5) lost to a team outside the top 15 for the first time.