Down 3 touchdowns, Cal rallies, defeats Air Force

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jan 1, 2008 | by Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Stuck on the sideline for disciplinary reasons, DeSean Jackson and Robert Jordan could do nothing to help as California quickly fell behind by three touchdowns.

"They were chomping at the bit to get in," coach Jeff Tedford said. "They were prancing around on the sideline. And so when they finally got let loose, they were ready to roll."

And they made an immediate impact.

Jackson made an acrobatic 40-yard grab for Cal's first touchdown right after entering the game and Jordan had six catches for 148 yards and a score as the Bears rallied to beat Air Force 42-36 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Monday.

Ranked No. 2 in the nation in October before losing six of seven games, the comeback gave California (7-6) its sixth straight winning season.

Jackson, Jordan and leading tackler Thomas DeCoud were held out of the starting lineup and didn't play the first quarter because of unspecified violations of team rules that occurred before the team got to Fort Worth for the bowl.

While the starting receivers watched helplessly, Air Force (9-4) built a 21-0 lead after scoring twice in a 2-minute span early in the second quarter with help of a botched kickoff.

"The hard part about it was the score," said Jordan, who was about to finally get into the game with Jackson when the Falcons recovered the fumbled kickoff. "That just made me play harder. I haven't felt all year the way I did today about trying to prove a point and help the team."

Jackson caught three passes on his first possession, including the TD on which he turned and backpedaled a few steps in the end zone before twisting and diving to make the catch. He finished with five catches for 81 yards.

"It gave them a spark," Air Force linebacker Drew Fowler said. "As soon as they got in, it was a different story."

HUMANITARIAN BOWL -- FRESNO STATE 40, GEORGIA TECH 28: At Boise, Clifton Smith rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns, Tom Brandstater threw for a score and ran for another and the Bulldogs beat another BCS conference team in a bowl game.

Fresno State's offense was surprisingly unstoppable against a Yellow Jackets (7-6) defense that was among the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After punting on its opening possession, the Bulldogs (9-4) scored 27 straight points, taking a 34-14 lead midway through the third quarter.

It's Fresno State's second bowl win over Georgia Tech, beating the Yellow Jackets 30-21 in the 2002 Silicon Valley Football Classic, and it made the Bulldogs 3-0 against the ACC in bowls. Fresno State has won four of its last five bowl appearances, all four wins coming against teams from the six conferences with automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series.

Georgia Tech's John Tenuta became the fourth interim coach to lose this postseason, joining DeWayne Walker (UCLA), Gary Darnell (Texas A&M) and Chris Thurmond (Houston).

SUN BOWL -- OREGON 56, SOUTH FLORIDA 21: At El Paso, Texas, Jonathan Stewart set a Sun Bowl record with a career-high 253 yards rushing and Justin Roper threw four touchdown passes in his first start as Oregon beat South Florida 56-21 on Monday.

The Ducks (9-4) scored 28 straight points in the third quarter to snap a four-game postseason losing streak. Oregon made it look easy against the Bulls (9-4) in a matchup of teams that were ranked No. 2 during the season.

The Ducks won for the first time since losing quarterback Dennis Dixon to a knee injury in November, snapping a three-game losing streak even though they set a Sun Bowl record with 138 penalty yards.

Roper started the scoring avalanche with a 14-yard TD strike to Jaison Williams and added a 15-yard scoring pass to Ed Dickson.

On the next play from scrimmage, Walter Thurmond stepped in front of a pass by South Florida's Matt Grothe and returned it 25 yards for another TD, giving the Ducks a 39-14 lead midway through the third.

Grothe had another interception on the ensuing possession, the first of two for Oregon's Jairus Byrd, setting up Roper's 8-yard TD pass to Stewart.

On that drive, Stewart got free on a 16-yard gain, breaking the previous Sun Bowl record of 197 yards rushing set in 1977 by LSU's Charles Alexander in a 24-14 loss to Stanford.