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Raynor and Wallace lead Arkansas State past Bowling Green 38-31 in the 68 Ventures Bowl
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Jaylen Raynor passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns to go with a rushing score, and Zak Wallace had 99 yards rushing and a TD to help Arkansas State beat Bowling Green 38-31 on Thursday night in the 68 Ventures Bowl.
Wallace scored on a 14-yard run with 3:10 left in the fourth quarter for a 38-24 lead. He carried the ball on the last six plays of the drive, gaining 59 yards on the eight-play, 68-yard march. It was his 11th rushing touchdown of the season, nine coming in the last six games.
Rahkeem Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to give Bowling Green a short field. Five plays later, Smith made a 23-yard catch in the end zone to get within 38-31.
Hunter Summers easily recovered the onside kick and Wallace powered through the middle of the defense for a 19-yard gain to seal it.
Corey Rucker added 107 yards receiving and two touchdowns for Arkansas State (8-5), which won a bowl game for the first time since 2019 - the same year it last won eight games in a season.
Rucker caught a long pass from Raynor and raced for a 79-yard touchdown for a 24-14 lead with 4:13 left in the first half. Following a fumble recovery by Noah Collins, Raynor found Rucker for a 6-yard TD to make it 31-21 early in the third.
Connor Bazelak threw for 390 yards and three touchdowns for Bowling Green (7-6). Harold Fannin Jr. had 17 catches for a career-high 213 yards and a touchdown.
Fannin reached 125-plus yards with a touchdown for the sixth time this season, which leads the FBS.
Bowling Green's special teams struggled. Zach Long missed his third field goal attempt of the game (one was blocked) with 10:19 left. The Falcons allowed Courtney Jackson to return a punt for a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and BGSU also had a fake punt come up short of a first down in the second half.
Fannin made a catch midway through the first quarter to become the single-season record holder for receiving yards by a tight end in the FBS. He entered needing just 11 yards to surpass Jace Amaro’s record of 1,352 in 2013 at Texas Tech. Fannin finished the season with 1,555 yards.
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J. Raynor
1 QB 221 PaYds, 2 PaTDs, INT, -5 RuYds, RuTD |
|
C. Bazelak
7 QB 390 PaYds, 3 PaTDs, -12 RuYds |
Team Stats | ||
---|---|---|
1st Downs | 19 | 22 |
Rushing | 7 | 3 |
Passing | 9 | 17 |
Penalty | 3 | 2 |
3rd Down Conv | 6-12 | 8-17 |
4th Down Conv | 0-0 | 3-4 |
Total Net Yards | 360 | 479 |
Total Plays | 63 | 74 |
Avg Gain | 5.7 | 6.5 |
Net Yards Rushing | 128 | 46 |
Rush Attempts | 32 | 24 |
Avg Rush Yards | 4.0 | 1.9 |
Yards Passing | 232 | 433 |
Comp. - Att. | 19-31 | 33-50 |
Yards Per Pass | 6.1 | 8.3 |
Penalties - Yards | 7-51 | 6-56 |
Touchdowns | 5 | 4 |
Rushing TDs | 2 | 0 |
Passing TDs | 2 | 4 |
Other | 1 | 0 |
Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
Fumbles - Lost | 0-0 | 3-1 |
Int. Thrown | 1 | 0 |
Punts - Avg | 3-44.7 | 2-41.0 |
Return Yards | 60 | 5 |
Punts - Returns | 1-60 | 2-3 |
Kickoffs - Returns | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Int. - Returns | 0-0 | 1-2 |
Safeties | 0 | 0 |
|
Passing | CP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
Rushing | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
Z. Wallace
21 RB
|
Z. Wallace | 15 | 99 | 1 | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Cross
2 RB
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J. Cross | 8 | 38 | 0 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Raynor
1 QB
|
J. Raynor | 7 | -5 | 1 | 5 |
Receiving | TAR | REC | YDS | TD | LG |
C. Rucker
7 WR
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C. Rucker | 13 | 4 | 107 | 2 | 79 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
C. Jackson
9 WR
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C. Jackson | 5 | 4 | 49 | 0 | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Cross
2 RB
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J. Cross | 5 | 5 | 30 | 0 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
R. Ealy
15 WR
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R. Ealy | 3 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Raynor
1 QB
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J. Raynor | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
M. Stevenson Jr.
12 TE
|
M. Stevenson Jr. | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
C. Cobb
16 WR
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C. Cobb | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A. Jones
11 WR
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A. Jones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
H. Summers
3 WR
|
H. Summers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Defense | T-A | SACK | INT |
C. Willekes
36 LB
|
C. Willekes | 8-3 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Parks
29 S
|
J. Parks | 7-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
M. Ham
5 LB
|
M. Ham | 6-2 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
T. Thomas
9 S
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T. Thomas | 5-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
W. Etienne
12 S
|
W. Etienne | 4-3 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Hodges
0 CB
|
J. Hodges | 2-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
B. Greil
15 S
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B. Greil | 2-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Mahoney
7 CB
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J. Mahoney | 2-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
N. Collins
50 DE
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N. Collins | 1-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
T. Hardiman
90 DT
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T. Hardiman | 1-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
K. Stephens
80 DE
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K. Stephens | 1-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
M. Bradley
1 DE
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M. Bradley | 1-0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
I. Jeffries
40 DT
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I. Jeffries | 1-0 | 1.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
D. Hood
16 CB
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D. Hood | 0-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
C. Jeffery
33 LB
|
C. Jeffery | 0-1 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
B. Whitehead
4 DE
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B. Whitehead | 0-2 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
N. Martey
45 DT
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N. Martey | 0-2 | 0.0 | 0 |
Kicking | FG | LG | XP | PTS |
C. Van Andel
34 K
|
C. Van Andel | 1/2 | 46 | 5/5 | 8 |
Punting | NO | AVG | IN20 | LG |
R. Heicher
47 P
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R. Heicher | 3 | 44.7 | 0 | 54 |
Kickoff Returns | NO | AVG | LG | TD |
J. Cross
2 RB
|
J. Cross | 3 | 14.7 | 22 | 0 |
Punt Returns | NO | AVG | LG | TD |
C. Jackson 9 WR
|
C. Jackson | 1 | 60.0 | 60 | 1 |
Passing | CP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
C. Bazelak
7 QB
|
C. Bazelak | 32/49 | 390 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
B. May
8 QB
|
B. May | 1/1 | 43 | 1 | 0 |
Rushing | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
J. Patterson
28 RB
|
J. Patterson | 5 | 15 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Johnson
6 RB
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J. Johnson | 3 | 14 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
R. Smith
16 WR
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R. Smith | 2 | 9 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
H. Fannin Jr.
0 TE
|
H. Fannin Jr. | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
T. Stewart
4 RB
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T. Stewart | 6 | 8 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Henderson
19 P
|
J. Henderson | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
J. Pegues
20 RB
|
J. Pegues | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
C. Bazelak
7 QB
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C. Bazelak | 3 | -12 | 0 | 0 |
Receiving | TAR | REC | YDS | TD | LG |
H. Fannin Jr.
0 TE
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H. Fannin Jr. | 22 | 17 | 213 | 1 | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
R. Smith
16 WR
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R. Smith | 9 | 7 | 97 | 1 | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
M. Johnson Jr.
1 WR
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M. Johnson Jr. | 5 | 2 | 69 | 1 | 43 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
F. Hogan
11 WR
|
F. Hogan | 4 | 2 | 31 | 0 | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Patterson
28 RB
|
J. Patterson | 2 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Johnson
6 RB
|
J. Johnson | 3 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
L. Gazarek
10 TE
|
L. Gazarek | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |