FORT WORTH, Texas -- Louisiana Tech senior quarterback Ryan Higgins was bawling like a baby even before Jonathan Barnes' game-ending kick went through the uprights to win the Armed Forces Bowl.
"As soon as (the holder) put the ball down, I felt like the kick was money," Higgins said. "Each person that I hugged after that, it was just getting worse and worse. .... I just couldn't be happier to send my class and this team out on a high note."
Higgins threw for 409 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson, and Barnes' 32-yard field goal broke the game's fourth tie as the Bulldogs beat Navy 48-45 on Friday.
"Excellent win would be an understatement," Coach Skip Holtz said.
"If you want to be a kicker, you live for that," Barnes said. "I'm lucky to be able to share it with a bunch of guys that are like my brothers."
The Bulldogs (9-5) drove for the winning score after Navy freshman quarterback Malcolm Perry ran 30 yards for a touchdown on his only play. Higgins was then 4-for-4 for 58 yards on the final drive.
Navy (9-5), which was trying for its first consecutive 10-victory seasons, instead ended with its third consecutive loss. The Midshipmen lost the American Athletic Conference title game before its first loss to Army since 2001.
"They made a few more plays than we did," Coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
Taylor, the 5-foot-8 senior, set an Armed Forces Bowl record with his 12 catches for 233 yards, including a 51-yard TD just before halftime for a 31-24 lead, and joined Troy Edwards as the only Bulldogs with more than 4,000 career receiving yards. Henderson, a junior, had 10 catches for 129 yards and finished this season with 19 TDs.
Perry, whose TD with 3:46 left tied the game at 45-45, came in after Zach Abey took a shot to the ribs on a play that led to a targeting ejection by Tech defensive tackle Jordan Bradford.
Abey, who made only his second start, ran for 114 yards and two scores and threw for 159 yards and another touchdown.
BAHAMAS BOWL
Old Dominion wins
NASSAU, Bahamas -- David Washington came to Old Dominion a year before the program started its transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Five years later, he led the Monarchs to a victory in their first bowl game.
Washington threw three touchdowns passes, Ray Lawry ran for 133 yards and Old Dominion beat Eastern Michigan 24-20 in the Bahamas Bowl.
Old Dominion (10-3) didn't play football for 69 years before restarting the program in 2009. The Monarchs started at the FCS level and made the transition to the FBS in 2013, where they play in Conference USA.
"I know I haven't been here since the program started, but I've been here five years," Washington said. "So it kind of feels like my baby. We just took it to a bowl game and won the bowl game so it's just really special."
Eastern Michigan (7-6) lost in its first bowl appearance since 1987. The Eagles were led by Brogan Roback, who completed 26 of 46 passes for 300 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Roback threw for at least 300 yards in six of his final seven games.
"We were moving the ball," Roback said. "We just weren't really finishing."
Old Dominion had a 10-0 halftime lead, but Eastern Michigan rallied to tie it at 17 late in the third quarter on Paul Fricano's 24-yard field goal.
The Monarchs took the lead for good on Washington's third touchdown pass, which went for 5 yards to Jonathan Duhart and put Old Dominion up 24-17.
DOLLAR GENERAL BOWL
Troy beats Ohio
MOBILE, Ala. -- Jordan Chunn had three short touchdown runs and Troy intercepted four passes in a 28-23 victory over Ohio in the Dollar General Bowl on Friday night.
The Trojans (10-3) finished off their first 10-victory season since moving up to the FBS in 2001, thanks largely to a defense that came up with three big fourth-quarter stops. The first Sun Belt Conference team to crack the Top 25, Troy forced 18 turnovers in its last five games.
The Bobcats (8-6) settled for field goal attempts twice in the fourth quarter, making one, and got one more chance from their own 15 with 2:20 left and no timeouts. They managed one first down but Greg Windham couldn't throw for another one under heavy pressure.
Louie Zervos had made a 37-yard field goal with 4:01 left to cut Troy's lead to 28-23. They had first down from the 12 before a personal foul penalty against lineman Jake Pruehs.
Chunn found little room to run except near the goal line against the nation's sixth-ranked run defense. He had 56 yards on 20 carries.
Deondre Douglas gained 113 yards on six catches. Ohio's Jordan Reid had 12 catches for 162 yards.
Sports on 12/24/2016