After celebrating Christmas Day without any college football action, the bowl season resumed with five games on the slate for Boxing Day. There was plenty of drama – including three high scoring shootouts with one of them decided in overtime. While the weather has been mostly mild across the country, watching Washington State and Miami deal with the elements in the Sun Bowl (there wasn’t much Sun) was particularly fun. There were a number of impressive individual performances that stood out but four in particular stood above the rest as the four best performances from this past weekend’s bowl action.
Luke Falk, Washington State Cougars
Quarterback
The Cougars secured their first bowl win since 2003 to cap off an impressive season in style. Their junior quarterback played a starring role as Falk threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns in the 20-14 victory over Miami. There is no doubt that head coach Mike Leach probably would have liked to run the football a little more as Falk had 53 pass attempts in the game but he was poised under pressure and delivered a solid performance while avoiding turnovers to help Washington State get the job done. The bowl win will create a little momentum for the Cougars heading into this offseason and the fans are already looking forward to next year in anticipation of what Falk will do in his fourth and final season with the program. Leach has finally turned around Wazzu as they appear to have made the ascent out of the Pac-12 basement. They’re no long just a doormat for all of the other teams to walk on and this bowl win serves notice to the conference members that the Cougars are on the rise.
Isaiah Ford, Virginia Tech Hokies
Wide Receiver
The Hokies’ star receiver capped off an impressive sophomore season in style as he had 12 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown to help make sure head coach Frank Beamer went out in style with a 55-52 win over Tulsa in the Campus World Independence Bowl. The All-ACC receiver had 10 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone and was easily Virginia Tech’s biggest offensive weapon in the highest scoring bowl game from this past weekend.
Tommy Armstrong Jr., Nebraska Cornhuskers
Quarterback
Nebraska followed in San Jose State’s footsteps as another 5-7 team that secured a bowl win despite the critics calling them undeserving and Armstrong was the biggest reason for their success as the junior quarterback threw for 174 yards and a touchdown along with a season-high 76 rushing yards and an additional score. Armstrong’s play helped allow the Huskers to move the football almost at will for most of the game as Nebraska finished the win with a ridiculous 38 minutes and 14 seconds of possession time. Armstrong and company could have very well packed it in after falling behind 21-7 but instead they rallied with 30 straight points to take control of the game and held on for the upset in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Devine Redding, Indiana Hoosiers
Running Back
Indiana could have been in big trouble when star running back Jordan Howard was ruled out because of an ankle injury that he suffered in the pregame warm-up for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl but it was just ‘next man up’ for them. Sophomore Redding got the opportunity and broke out with the best performance of his young career as he rushed for 227 yards and a touchdown in the 44-41 overtime loss to Duke. The fact the Hoosiers didn’t get the win obviously takes away from the hype around the performance but considering the circumstances, it’s clear that Redding deserves credit for one of the most impressive individual bowl performances from this past weekend. He put the team on his shoulders, nearly leading them to a victory, and if the defense would have been able to do just a little bit more, he’d be getting a bigger spotlight these days.
