College football bowl roundup: Ihmir Smith-Marsette has 3 TDs, Iowa beats USC in Holiday Bowl

Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored on a 6-yard run, a 98-yard kickoff return and a 12-yard reception – all in the second quarter – to lead No. 19 Iowa to a 49-24 victory over No. 22 Southern California in the Holiday Bowl on Friday night in San Diego.

Senior Nate Stanley threw two touchdown passes and the Hawkeyes (10-3) won their fourth straight game for their sixth 10-win season in coach Kirk Ferentz’s 21 years.

USC freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis, who threw two touchdown passes, was knocked out of the game with an apparent arm injury early in the third quarter. The Trojans (8-5) had their three-game winning streak snapped. They fell apart after Slovis left.

Smith-Marsette helped the Hawkeyes to a 28-17 halftime lead.

Smith-Marsette scored on a 6-yard sweep for a 14-7 lead. After USC tied it on Slovis’ 16-yard pass to Vavae Malepeai, Smith-Marsette returned the kickoff 98 yards to give the Hawkeyes the lead for good.

Smith-Marsette, a junior wide receiver, also had a 95-yard kickoff return for a score in the regular-season finale, a 27-24 victory over Nebraska.

Stanley found Smith-Marsette on a 12-yard scoring pass on Iowa’s next possession for a 28-14 lead.

Chase McGrath kicked a 32-yard field goal as the clock expired to pull USC to 28-17 at halftime.

The Trojans pulled to 28-24 on Stephen Carr’s 2-yard run to cap the opening drive of the second half. It followed a 55-yard pass from Slovis to Amon-Ra St. Brown to the Iowa 5. Jack Koerner was called for roughing the passer when he slammed down Slovis, whose head hit the turf.

Kicker Michael Brown then recovered his onside kick. Slovis was hurt two plays when he was sacked and fumbled, which was recovered by USC. Slovis came out and was replaced by Matt Fink.

Slovis took over after JT Daniels suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener and threw for 3,242 yards and 28 touchdowns, against nine interceptions in the regular season. He threw for a school-record 515 yards as well as four touchdowns in a 52-35 victory over UCLA.

Iowa put it away with a 90-yard drive capped by Tyler Goodson’s 1-yard run for a 35-24 lead late in the third quarter. Stanley had a 34-yard pass to Smith-Marsette and also gained 8 yards on a sneak to the USC 3.

Texas A&M 24, Oklahoma State 21: Kellen Mond ran for a career-high 117 yards and threw a touchdown pass as the Aggies (8-5) scored 24 straight points to overcome an early deficit and the Cowboys (8-5) at the Texas Bowl in Houston.

Mond ran 67 yards to give the Aggies a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. Mond cut to the right to avoid a couple of defenders and outran everyone else. Tre Sterling had a shot to tackle him around the 25, but Mond ran away from his diving attempt.

The Cowboys went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Texas A&M 34 on their next possession, but Spencer Sanders was stopped for no gain.

The Aggies added a 24-yard field goal to make it 24-14 with about 3 minutes to go.

Oklahoma State cut the lead to three on a touchdown reception by Braydon Johnson with about a minute left. The Cowboys attempted an onside kick, but A&M recovered it to secure the victory.

Michigan State 27, Wake Forest 21: Brian Lewerke threw for 320 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score in the Spartans’ (7-6) victory over the Deamon Deacons (8-5) at the Pinstripe Bowl in New York.

Lewerke threw a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Cody White in the third quarter to put the Spartans ahead 27-21 and they survived down the stretch to give embattled coach Mark Dantonio his sixth bowl victory.

Wake Forest missed a chance to win nine games for the third time in program history.

Michigan State tried to give away the game twice in the fourth, the first time on Lewerke’s shovel pass to tight end Trenton Gillison inside the 10 that was stripped and recovered by linebacker Ja’Cquez Williams at the 6.

The Deamon Deacons failed to score on the drive, and handed Michigan State another chance to seal the victory. Again, the Spartans couldn’t put it away when Matt Coghlin was wide left on a 28-yard field goal attempt with 3:03 left Wake Forest’s last chance ended on an incomplete pass on its own 16.

North Carolina 55, Temple 13: Freshman Sam Howell threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns in addition to catching a TD pass, and the Tar Heels (7-6) blew out the Owls (8-5) at the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Maryland, to cap a satisfying return season for coach Mack Brown.

Howell completed 25 of 34 passes and ran for 53 yards on three carries to help the Tar Heels secure their first bowl victory since 2013. North Carolina was 4-6 before winning its last two regular-season games to qualify for a bowl bid.

Temple has gone to a bowl game five years in a row – and lost four. This was the Owls’ first trip under coach Rod Carey, who came to Temple after a run of six-plus seasons at Northern Illinois in which he was 0-6 in the postseason.