MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Deondre Francois threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Nyqwan Murray with 36 seconds remaining, and No. 11 Florida State beat No. 6 Michigan 33-32 in a wild Orange Bowl on Friday night.
Francois threw for two scores -- both to Murray -- and ran for another for the Seminoles (10-3), who got 145 yards rushing from Dalvin Cook and recovered after wasting a 12-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Chris Evans had a 30-yard touchdown run and Khalid Hill an 8-yard scoring catch in the final minutes for Michigan (10-3), which also got a defensive conversion when Josh Metellus ran a blocked extra point back after the second Francois-Murray touchdown.
But Michigan turned the ball over on its final possession, and the Seminoles held on to win a game where the teams combined for 23 points and two lead changes in the final 5:22.
"The character on this team," Florida State Coach Jimbo Fisher said. "I've said it before. I'm as proud of this team as any I've coached."
Evans' scoring run put the Wolverines up 30-27, but Florida State's Keith Gavin swung momentum back to the Seminoles with a 66-yard kickoff return right up the middle -- setting up the drive where his team would take the lead for good.
Michigan played without injured star linebacker Jabrill Peppers, who was out with a hamstring injury, and lost tight end Jake Butt to a knee injury early in the second quarter. Wolverines Coach Jim Harbaugh said the early indications were that Butt has either an MCL or ACL injury.
"Really proud of the effort of our team," Harbaugh said.
Wilton Speight was 21-for-38 passing for 163 yards for Michigan, which got a 14-yard interception return from Mike McCray for a touchdown. Francois completed his freshman season with a 9-for-27 night, but threw for 222 yards -- including a 92-yarder to Murray early in the game when the Seminoles were rolling out to leads of 17-3 and 20-6.
"The offense in the first half, it was tough sledding," Harbaugh said.
Florida State was in total control, but the game turned midway through the fourth when Trey Marshall was ejected for targeting on a punt return -- giving Michigan a short field on which to start its comeback.
Marshall missed an amazing finish.
"This game here took so many turns," Cook said. "But we kept fighting ... and things turned our way."
LIBERTY BOWL
Chubb leads Georgia back
MEMPHIS -- Nick Chubb ran for 142 yards and a touchdown Friday as Georgia beat TCU 31-23 in the Liberty Bowl to win a bowl game for the third consecutive year.
The Bulldogs (8-5) had won the Belk Bowl two seasons ago and the TaxSlayer Bowl last year. Georgia's latest bowl victory sent TCU (6-7) to only its third losing year in Gary Patterson's 16 full seasons as coach.
In a game that featured numerous momentum changes, Rodrigo Blankenship put Georgia ahead for good with 13:27 left by kicking a 30-yard field goal. Blankenship's kick was set up by Chubb's 48-yard burst on the final play of the third period.
Brandon Hatfield was wide right on a 47-yard field goal attempt that would have put TCU ahead with 7:57 remaining. He earlier had missed a 41-yard field goal and an extra-point attempt.
Georgia then went on a 70-yard drive that was capped by Chubb's 13-yard touchdown run with 2:48 left. Deandre Baker clinched the victory by breaking up Kenny Hill's fourth-and-4 pass from the Georgia 44 with 1:14 remaining.
Jacob Eason threw touchdown passes to Javon Wims and Sony Michel, who also rushed for 87 yards. Isaiah McKenzie had four catches for 103 yards, including a 77-yarder that set up a touchdown. Trenton Thompson recorded three sacks for Georgia and was named the game's most valuable player.
MUSIC CITY BOWL
Vols run by 'Huskers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Joshua Dobbs ran for 3 touchdowns and 118 yards and threw for 291 yards and another score and No. 21 Tennessee beat Nebraska 38-24 on Friday in the Music City Bowl.
The Volunteers (9-4) beat a Big Ten team in a bowl for a third consecutive year and notched their first victory in three tries against the Cornhuskers. It's the first time Tennessee has won three consecutive bowls since 1994-1996 when Peyton Manning was its quarterback.
Tennessee took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and outgained Nebraska 521-318 in total offense.
Nebraska (9-4) ended the season with two consecutive losses. The Cornhuskers lost four of their final six after rising as high as No. 7 in the rankings.
SUN BOWL
Love shines for Cardinal
EL PASO, Texas -- Bryce Love took over for the absent Christian McCaffrey in the Stanford backfield, running for 119 yards and catching a 49-yard touchdown pass to help the No. 18 Cardinal beat North Carolina 25-23 on Friday in the Sun Bowl.
Stanford (10-3) held on after North Carolina (8-5) pulled within two with 25 seconds left on Mitch Trubisky's 2-yard pass to Bug Howard, sacking Trubisky on the two-point conversion try.
McCaffrey skipped the bowl game to focus on his NFL career.
Stanford took a 25-17 lead on Conrad Ukropina's 27-yard field goal with 3:23 left. North Carolina was forced to punt on its next series, but used two timeouts to get the ball back.
After taking over at their own 3, the Tar Heels drove 97 yards in 10 plays and 1:11. After competing passes of 44 and 27 yards, Trubisky capped the drive with the 2-yard scoring pass to Howard.
Stanford then sacked Trubisky on the two-point try, a rush led by Solomon Thomas forcing the quarterback to retreat before being taken down. Thomas was selected the game's MVP, and the Cardinal defense also got a big game from safety Dallas Lloyd.
Lloyd intercepted Trubisky's pass in the first half, then again early in the fourth quarter. He returned that one 19 yards for a touchdown to give Stanford a 22-17 lead. That stalled a North Carolina rally that saw it go from being down 13-7 at the half and 16-7 early in the third to taking a 17-16 lead. That came after a 37-yard field goal by Nick Weiler and a 5-yard TD run by Jordon Brown.
ARIZONA BOWL
Air Force rolls
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arion Worthman threw for 207 yards to balance out Air Force's run-heavy offense, Jacobi Owens scored two touchdowns and the Falcons overcame a sluggish start to beat South Alabama 45-21 in Arizona Bowl on Friday.
Air Force (10-3) struggled to get its triple-option going, falling into an 18-point first-half hole. Once the Falcons got rolling, they couldn't be stopped, scoring 42 straight points to turn it into a rout.
Worthman was the trigger, jump-starting Air Force's option while completing 7 of 10 passes, including a 75-yard touchdown to Jalen Robinette to open the second half. He also had 71 yards on 21 carries.
South Alabama (6-7) appeared to be headed toward its first bowl victory after jumping on the Falcons early, starting with Dallas Davis' 75-yard touchdown pass to Josh Magee on the game's first play.
Davis threw for 245 yards and a touchdown, but also had an interception and lost a fumble. Magee had five catches for 154 yards.
Sports on 12/31/2016