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College Football Roundup

North Texas Star Quarterback Is Hurt in Loss to Utah State

DJ Williams with one of the four interceptions Utah State had on Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl against the three quarterbacks North Texas used after the star Mason Fine was injured. Williams had two interceptions.Credit...Andres Leighton/Associated Press

North Texas’ star quarterback, Mason Fine, was injured in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, allowing his Utah State counterpart, Jordan Love, to steal the show.

Love threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns, and Jalen Greene had six catches for 151 yards and a score, leading the Aggies (11-2) to a 52-13 victory in Albuquerque.

Fine, who is set to begin next season as the leading active passer in the Football Bowl Subdivision, left the game for good early in the second quarter after a bad snap that North Texas (9-4) recovered at its 1 for a loss of 24 yards.

He came up limping after a 9-yard run in the first quarter and sat out the next series but returned near the end of the quarter.

“I don’t ever want to put him in harm’s way, and he is so tough,” Mean Green Coach Seth Littrell said. “He wants to do everything he can for his teammates. But as the head coach, sometimes enough is enough.”

After the game, North Texas officials announced that Fine had a severely strained left hamstring.

The three quarterbacks who replaced Fine combined to complete 9 of 22 passes for 134 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions, two of them by Utah State’s D J Williams. Fine was 8 of 12 for 59 yards.

Aaren Vaughns caught two passes for 109 yards and two scores for the Aggies, and Gerold Bright ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

Frank Maile, who became Utah State’s interim coach when Mike Wells left to take over at Texas Tech, said he had done his best to get the offense ready. The rest was up the players, he added.

“The guys have lot of efforts to doing their jobs,” said Maile, who will be replaced by Gary Andersen, who coached the Aggies from 2009 to 2012. “The defense is set up for everybody to make plays.”

FRESNO STATE 31, ARIZONA STATE 20 Ronnie Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, Anthoula Kelly had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown, and No. 19 Fresno State beat Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Marcus McMaryion rushed for a touchdown and completed 15 of 29 passes for 176 yards, helping the Bulldogs (12-2) set a program record for wins in a season. It was Fresno State’s second victory against a Pacific-12 team this season.

Eno Benjamin rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown for the Sun Devils (7-6) in their third straight bowl loss. He finished the season with a team-record 1,642 rushing yards, passing Woody Green, who had 1,565 yards rushing in the 1972 season.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN 23, EASTERN MICHIGAN 21 Tyler Bass kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Georgia Southern (10-3) a victory over Eastern Michigan (7-6) in the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.

Shai Werts, who ran for two first-half touchdowns, kept the winning drive alive with a 29-yard scramble on fourth-and-10. Georgia Southern, which averages less than 10 pass attempts a game, did not throw an interception all season and set an F.B.S. record with only five turnovers. The previous record was eight.

Eastern Michigan had taken the lead on Mike Glass’ 5-yard touchdown pass to Arthur Jackson on fourth-and-4 with 3 minutes 33 seconds left.

APPALACHIAN STATE 45, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 13 Receiver Malik Williams passed for two touchdowns on trick plays, quarterback Zac Thomas caught a scoring pass and threw for three more, and Appalachian State (11-2) routed Middle Tennessee (8-6) in the New Orleans Bowl.

The Mountaineers forced three turnovers and sacked Blue Raiders quarterback Brent Stockstill six times.

TULANE 41, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 24 Darius Bradwell rushed for a career-best 150 yards and two touchdowns, leading Tulane (7-6) to its first postseason victory in 16 years, over Louisiana-Lafayette (7-7) in the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

Bradwell scored on runs of 15 and 4 yards while setting bowl records for rushing attempts (35) and yards for Tulane, which won a bowl game for the first time since the 2002 Hawaii Bowl.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T 24, ALCORN ST. 22 Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns, and Malik Wilson returned a kickoff 79 yards for the game-sealing touchdown as North Carolina A&T (10-2) held off Alcorn State (9-4) and won the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.

The Aggies captured their second straight historically black leagues national title and their third in four years in the annual matchup between the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

EASTERN WASHINGTON 59, MAINE 10 Eric Barriere threw seven touchdown passes, leading host Eastern Washington (12-2) to a rout of Maine (10-4) in their Football Championship Subdivision semifinal.

Nsimba Webster caught four touchdown passes for third-seeded Eastern Washington, playing in the national semifinals for the fifth time in nine years. The Eagles will face top-seeded North Dakota State (14-0), which has won six of the past seven F.C.S. titles, in the championship game on Jan. 5 in Frisco, Tex.

VALDOSTA STATE 49, FERRIS STATE 47 Rogan Wells threw five touchdown passes and Valdosta State (14-0) won its fourth N.C.A.A. Division II title and first since 2012, beating Ferris State in McKinney, Tex.

Wells threw for 349 yards and caught a 25-yard scoring pass as Valdosta State kept Ferris State (15-1) from becoming the first college team at any level since 1899 to win 16 games in a season.

MORNINGSIDE 35, BENEDICTINE 28 Trent Solsma threw four touchdown passes, including an 16-yarder to Connor Niles with 1:29 to play, to help Morningside (15-0) beat Benedictine (13-2) in Daytona, Fla., for its first N.A.I.A. championship.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section SP, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: North Texas’ Star Quarterback Is Hurt in Loss to Utah State. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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