Jerome Ford rushed for 187 yards and two touchdowns and Desmond Ridder threw three touchdown passes as No. 3 Cincinnati broke open a close game in the third quarter and rolled past No. 16 Houston 35-20 in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
Hawaii linebacker Darius Muasau (53) holds up the trophy after the team's 28-14 win over Houston in the New Mexico Bowl NCAA college football game in Frisco, Texas, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. All rights reservedFRISCO, Texas – Chevan Cordeiro threw three first-half touchdown passes and Calvin Turner had two long scoring plays to help Hawaii beat Houston 28-14 on Thursday in the New Mexico Bowl. The game was moved to Frisco from its usual location in Albuquerque because of COVID-19 restrictions in New Mexico. Hawaii raced to a 21-0 lead in the first half, with Cordeiro throwing scoring passes of 3 yards to Dae Dae Hunter, 75 yards to Turner, and 4 yards to Jonah Laulu. Houston rallied with two touchdowns in the third quarter, with Tune throwing a 7-yard scoring pass to Nathaniel Dell and a 26-yarder to Christian Trahan.
Down 12, Wilson found Milne for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 53 seconds remaining in the third. Wilson gave BYU the lead back with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Masen Wake with 10:35 left to make it 29-26 following a 2-point conversion pass from Wilson to Tyler Allgeier. Wilson threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Milne with three minutes remaining before Allgeier iced it with a 14-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left. Clayton Tune finished 21 of 31 for 310 yards and two touchdowns to lead Houston (1-1). Trailing by 11 to start the second quarter, Houston scored 23 straight points to take a 26-14 lead with three minutes left in the third.
