Bowled over

ST. PETERSBURG BOWL: UCF vs. Rutgers

ST. PETERSBURG — The UCF Knights were chopped down in their third attempt to pick up a win in a bowl game, losing the St. Petersburg Bowl to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 45-24.

UCF starting quarterback Brett Hodges was replaced in the fourth quarter by Rob Calabrese after Hodges was injured by a hard tackle with 5:21 left on the clock.

UCF made a late-game rally via a series of big plays by Jonathan Davis and Calabrese, capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run by Davis.

However, when UCF attempted an onside kick, Rutgers linebacker Damaso Munoz recovered and ran the ball into the endzone, putting the final score on the board.

The Knights entered the fourth quarter with only two yards of rushing offense.

UCF recorded just eight yards of offense in the third quarter, and Rutgers scored twice to extend its lead to 38-17 entering the final quarter of play.

The Scarlet Knights gained 126 yards of offense in the third quarter, including a 61-yard pass play from Tom Savage to Mohamed Sanu on the first play of the third quarter. Sanu went on to catch an 11-yard touchdown pass later in the drive.

Rutgers eventually scored again on a 43-yard field goal by San San Te with 8:09 left in the quarter.

Trailing 21-10 with 5:50 left in the quarter, the Knights reeled off an    8-play, 71-yard drive capped off by a 34-yard pass from Hodges to Kamar Aiken for the touchdown to bring UCF to within a score.

Rutgers defensive back Billy Anderson intercepted a Hodges' pass with less than two minutes until the half and returned it for a touchdown to give the Scarlet Knights a 28-17 lead.

The Rutgers receiving combo of Sanu and Tim Brown gored the Knights in the first half. Sanu rushed for two touchdowns in the half, while Brown burned the UCF defense to the tune of 88 yards on three receptions and a touchdown.

At the break, Rutgers out-gained the Knights in total yards, 221-163, despite running four less plays. The Scarlet Knights also dominated the Knights on the ground, holding down Brynn Harvey and the UCF rushing unit to just eight yards on 11 carries.

Big plays highlighted the first quarter.

The Knights returned the opening kick 65 yards, but a Hodges' interception and big plays by Brown led to a 14-7 Rutgers lead after one quarter.

Rutgers drove down the field after Damaso Munoz's interception and scored off a 4-yard run from Sanu, to take an  early 7-0 advantage. After forcing the Knights to punt on their second possession, Sanu fumbled the ensuing punt, which was recovered by the Knights and eventually led to a      7-yard touchdown pass from Hodges to Aiken.

Brown, who was a game-time decision for Rutgers with a sprained ankle, burned the Knights on the second play of the ensuing drive, scoring on a 65-yard pass play down the middle of the field to give the Scarlet Knights the 14-7 lead at the 3:56 mark in the first quarter.

Rutgers out-gained the Knights 133-75 in the first quarter despite UCF controlling the time of possession 9:36 to 5:24

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL: Miami vs. Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin head football coach Bret Bielema related his football team to that of a boxer.

They wear you down, then finish you off to get the win.

Tuesday night, in the Champs Sports Bowl against the University of Miami (FL), the Badgers wore the Hurricanes out on the ground and used a dominant, knock-out defense to capture a 20-14 victory to improve to 10-3 on the season.

"What you have to understand a little bit with Wisconsin is we kind of take a boxers' mentality offensively," Bielema said. "We are going to wear you out, wear you out, throw the body punches and then hopefully that cumulative effect can ultimately lead to a win and that's what was able to happen."

John Clay rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and the Badgers defense held Miami to just 249 total yards of offense, 90 of which came in the final two minutes. Clay, who carried the ball 22 times despite tweaking his ankle in the first half, was named the MVP of the bowl game.

Wisconsin took a 20-7 after a Phillip Welch 29-yard field goal with 4:01 left on the clock, but Miami wasn't done yet.

The Hurricanes drove 79 yards down the field in 2:32 to trim Wisconsin's lead to 20-14. They then recovered the ensuing onside kick, but a sack on Harris and three consecutive incomplete passes sealed the game for the Badgers.

"Our defense does well when they stick to the plan," said Bielema, whose Badgers improved to 10 wins for the sixth time in school history. "One of our main goals was to get after their quarterback. When he goes, they go. I really felt we kind of disrupted his rhythm all day.

"We weren't allowing them to get any type of rhythm that made them move the chains consistently."

Miami opened the game with an 84-yard   kickoff return by Sam Shields, which eventually led to a Craig Cooper 16-yard run that gave the Hurricanes an early 7-0 lead.

Wisconsin answered with a score of its own on the following possession, a 3-yard run by Clay, which tied the score with 7:12 left in the first quarter.

Wisconsin's defense then took over, limiting a Miami  team to just 45 rushing yards the rest of the game that came into the game averaging 144 yards on the ground. The Badgers then scored on another 3-yard scamper by Clay with 8:07 left in the second quarter and capitalized on two Welch field goals in the third and fourth quarters to take a 20-7 lead late.

The big stat in the game for Wisconsin was time of possession. Coming into the contest, the Badgers ranked fourth in the country in possession time and held the football for nearly 40 minutes against Miami.

Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien threw for a career-high 260 yards in the game, a heavy portion of which went to Lance Kendricks, who also had a career high with 128 yards receiving.