Hawaii Bowl: Middle Tennessee 25, San Diego State 23
(AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
By KALANI TAKASE
Associated Press
HONOLULU - Zeke Rankin kicked four field goals, including a 37-yarder for the go-ahead score with 2:05 left, and Middle Tennessee State beat San Diego State 25-23 in the Hawaii Bowl.
The Blue Raiders (8-5) overcome a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to turn back the Aztecs (7-6) in a game that featured six lead changes.
Rankin converted four of his five field goal attempts to tie the Hawaii Bowl record for field goals. He made kicks from 44, 49, 26 and 37 yards and missed from 42.
San Diego State took a 23-22 lead with 5:43 to play on a 52-yard field goal by Jack Browning, but Middle Tennessee State drove 55 yards in 12 plays, capped by Rankin's 37-yard field goal to put his team ahead for good.
Middle Tennessee State finished with 170 yards of total offense to 364 total yards for San Diego State.
The Blue Raiders won despite allowing seven sacks and being held to minus-61 yards rushing.
San Diego State led 14-13 at halftime.
It was the first meeting between the schools.
THE TAKEAWAY
Middle Tennessee State: After being picked by league media to finish eighth (out of 11 teams) in the C-USA preseason poll, the Blue Raiders finished the season out in a strong way by winning their final four games, capped off by their sixth bowl in eight seasons and 10th overall in 17 seasons under coach Rick Stockstill.
San Diego State: The Aztecs were projected by Mountain West media to finish second in the West Division behind Fresno State. Their season saw personnel changes at offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and quarterback, which helped to spur five wins in seven games following a 2-3 start to the year.
December 24, 2022
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
MiddTn | SDSU |
| SDSU |
TD |
7:18 |
Mark Redman 9 yard TD pass from Jalen Mayden (Jack Browning Extra Point) |
0 |
7 |
| SDSU |
TD |
4:42 |
Kenan Christon 73 yard TD pass from Jalen Mayden (Jack Browning Extra Point) |
0 |
14 |
| Second Quarter |
MiddTn | SDSU |
| MiddTn |
FG |
11:49 |
Zeke Rankin 44 yard field goal |
3 |
14 |
| MiddTn |
TD |
3:14 |
Jordan Ferguson 8 yard TD pass from Chase Cunningham (Zeke Rankin Extra Point) |
10 |
14 |
| MiddTn |
FG |
0:22 |
Zeke Rankin 49 yard field goal |
13 |
14 |
| Third Quarter |
MiddTn | SDSU |
| MiddTn |
FG |
6:59 |
Zeke Rankin 26 yard field goal |
16 |
14 |
| SDSU |
FG |
1:26 |
Jack Browning 39 yard field goal |
16 |
17 |
| Fourth Quarter |
MiddTn | SDSU |
| MiddTn |
TD |
13:25 |
Jaylin Lane 16 yard TD pass from Chase Cunningham (Frank Peasant 2pt conversion attempt is NO GOOD) |
22 |
17 |
| SDSU |
FG |
10:15 |
Jack Browning 36 yard field goal |
22 |
20 |
| SDSU |
FG |
5:43 |
Jack Browning 52 yard field goal |
22 |
23 |
| MiddTn |
FG |
2:05 |
Zeke Rankin 37 yard field goal |
25 |
23 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Middle Tennessee |
San Diego State |
| First downs |
13 |
15 |
| Rushing |
0 |
4 |
| Passing |
11 |
9 |
| Penalty |
2 |
2 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
3-17, 18% |
4-16, 25% |
| 4th down efficiency |
1-2, 50% |
2-4, 50% |
| Rushes-Yards |
30--66 |
32-55 |
| Passing Yards |
236 |
309 |
| Return Yards |
62 |
114 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
26-43-1 |
19-43-3 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
7-76 |
2-17 |
| Punts |
7 |
4 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-0 |
2-2 |
| Penalties - Yards |
5-50 |
9-90 |
| Middle Tennessee Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| C. Cunningham |
26 |
43 |
236 |
2 |
1 |
| San Diego State Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Mayden |
19 |
43 |
309 |
2 |
3 |
| Middle Tennessee Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| F. Peasant |
17 |
27 |
1.6 |
0 |
| D. Bracy |
2 |
7 |
3.5 |
0 |
| C. Cunningham |
9 |
-91 |
-10.1 |
0 |
| San Diego State Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| G. Fountain |
1 |
27 |
27.0 |
0 |
| J. Mayden |
12 |
26 |
2.2 |
0 |
| J. Matthews |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
0 |
| C. Bell |
4 |
1 |
0.3 |
0 |
| J. Byrd |
11 |
1 |
0.1 |
0 |
| M. Shaw |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
| K. Christon |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Lane |
10 |
111 |
11.1 |
1 |
| I. Gathings |
7 |
69 |
9.9 |
0 |
| Y. Ali |
3 |
24 |
8.0 |
0 |
| F. Peasant |
2 |
10 |
5.0 |
0 |
| J. Ferguson |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
1 |
| D. England-Chisolm |
1 |
7 |
7.0 |
0 |
| E. Metcalf |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| D. Bracy |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| San Diego State Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Christon |
2 |
111 |
55.5 |
1 |
| J. Matthews |
7 |
99 |
14.1 |
0 |
| T. Shavers |
4 |
62 |
15.5 |
0 |
| D. De Los Reyes |
2 |
18 |
9.0 |
0 |
| M. Redman |
1 |
9 |
9.0 |
1 |
| J. Byrd |
2 |
7 |
3.5 |
0 |
| J. Nicholson |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| T. Ross |
1 |
12 |
| D. Patterson |
1 |
2 |
| J. Ferguson |
1 |
0 |
| San Diego State Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| D. Malone |
1 |
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| K. Ulbrich |
7 |
383 |
54.7 |
| San Diego State Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| J. Browning |
4 |
195 |
48.8 |
| Middle Tennessee Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Lane |
3 |
48 |
16.0 |
| San Diego State Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Byrd |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
| Middle Tennessee Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| San Diego State Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Byrd |
4 |
84 |
21.0 |
| M. Garrison |
1 |
27 |
27.0 |
| Middle Tennessee Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Z. Rankin |
42 |
| San Diego State Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| J. Browning |
43 |
