HONOLULU (AP) San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and the Aztecs never looked back in beating Cincinnati 42-7 in the Hawaii Bowl on Thursday.
In the day’s other far-flung game, Western Michigan won its first ever bowl game by defeating Middle Tennessee 45-31 in the Bahamas Bowl.
San Diego State (11-3) won its final 10 games of the season to match the longest winning streak in school history.
Penny had his third kickoff return for a score this season – and second 100-yarder – and broke the Hawaii bowl record for the longest return.
San Diego State rushed for 207 yards, topping the 200-yard mark for the 10th consecutive game, and finished with 336 yards of total offense.
Donnell Pumphrey, the Mountain West Conference offensive player of the year, had 99 yards on 25 carries. He threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Dakota Gordon and had a 1-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter. Gordon also had a 1-yard run and finished with four catches for 58 yards.
Cincinnati finished 7-5.
Western Michigan’s Jamauri Bogan ran for 215 yards and four touchdowns as the Broncos ended a run of six straight defeats in bowl games and broke through for their inaugural win.
Bogan broke a tie a 1-yard touchdown with 6:12 left, setting up the score with a 61-yard burst. He had another 1-yard score with 5 minutes remaining after Rontavious Atkins’ 29-yard interception return to the 4-yard line. Bogan also had 62- and 46-yard scoring runs. He averaged 11.3 yards per carry.
Zach Terrell completed 18 of 26 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns. Corey Davis had eight catches for 183 yards and a touchdown, and Daniel Braverman added five receptions for 101 yards and a score.
Richie James had two touchdown catches and a scoring run for Middle Tennessee (7-6). Brent Stockstill threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Stockstill was 26 of 39 in passing and finished the season with 327 completions to break the collegiate freshman record of 321 set by Jared Lorenzen for Kentucky in 2000.
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