Tipsheet: Quarterback Connor Bazelak kept going and going after exiting Mizzou

Remember Connor Bazelak?

The yesteryear Missouri quarterback was still plugging away this season. After his three years in Boone County, he spent the 2022 campaign at Indiana before moving on to Bowling Green for two seasons.

Bazelak squeezed every last bit out of his college career. He put the ball up 353 times this season and completed 237 passes for 2.654 yards and 15 touchdowns.

He completed 32-of-49 passes for 390 yards and three TDs in the Ventures Bowl Thursday. Bazelak located tight end Harold Fannin Jr. 17 times in this game for 213 yards and a touchdown.

Alas, it was not enough as Bowling Green fell to Arkansas State 38-31 in Bazelak's collegiate farewell.

That was just one of the three entertaining bowl games on the day after Christmas. These were minor bowls, yes, but they offered a welcome respite for sports fans who grew weary of family time.

Kansas State rallied to a 44-41 victory over Rutgers in the Rate Bowl by staying in character. The Wildcats rushed for 340 yards overall to wear down the Scarlet Knights -- and they scored 27 second points during their epic comeback.

Pittsburgh was down to its fourth- and fifth-string quarterbacks thanks to an injury to starter Eli Holstein and the loss of two backups to the transfer portal. But the Panthers hung tough against Toledo during their mentally exhausting six-overtime (!) 48-46 loss in the GameAbove Bowl.

“It felt like we had to win the game three or four times today, but we are so proud of this team.” Toledo coach Jason Candle said. “To hang in there and to keep fighting like we did today, we were able to keep up with the emotional swings over the course of the game.

"It was a sloppy game at times, but I am proud of our response. Today's game was ultimately defined by who made the last play and who threw the last punch.”

Here is what folks are writing about college football:

Chuck Culpepper, Washington Post: “In Texas’ 38-24 win, Clemson might have benefited from the little notch of letup involved in a dud when it climbed from a 31-10 deficit to a 31-24 mild curiosity early in the fourth quarter. Two plays from scrimmage after it did that, Texas had stretched its advantage to the final margin on Jaydon Blue’s 77-yard run, which restored to the game its dud-hood, before Clemson went on a journey to the Texas 1-yard line, before a fourth-down stop with 7:24 left. That made dud-hood mildly debatable and left the weekend with Notre Dame’s 27-17 dud over Indiana that stood at 27-3 with four minutes left,  Penn State’s 38-10 dud over SMU that stood at 38-3 with three minutes left, Texas’s dud or near-dud over Clemson and Ohio State’s 42-17 dud over Tennessee that stood at 42-10 with three minutes left and served as a competitive dud even as Ohio State played gorgeously. Spectators might have snoozed in the stands all around were it not for the cold, and maybe somebody snoozed in Austin whether through boredom or some other agent.”

Ross Dellenger, Yahoo! Sports: “Despite being ranked No. 9 and No. 12 by the CFP selection committee, the Broncos and Sun Devils were seeded No. 3 and No. 4 as required by a format rule designating the four highest-ranked conference champions as seeds Nos. 1-4 and recipients of a first-round bye. In this year’s playoff, the rule has resulted in unequal seeding and bracketing. For instance, Ohio State, ranked sixth by the committee, was seeded No. 8 and now meets No. 1 seed Oregon in a quarterfinal game. ASU and Boise State, better seeds than Texas and Penn State, are giant underdogs. Texas and Penn State were ranked No. 3 and No. 4 but seeded fifth and sixth. The conference championship seeding rule — and the 12-team format in general — was intended for a world that featured five somewhat equitable power conferences and not the current landscape of four inequitable power leagues . . . The most recent conference realignment strengthened the Big Ten and SEC as it absorbed previous brands from the Pac-12 (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington) and Big 12 (Oklahoma and Texas).”

Matt Hayes, USA Today: “We don’t have to wait for those who run the CFP -– the reactionary revolutionists that they are -– to figure out what’s wrong with the new 12-team format. It’s not that difficult to comprehend. When the two losers of the championship games of the two strongest conferences in the sport are given an easier playoff path than the champions of those conferences, it’s time to change.  When three teams (Indiana, SMU, Tennessee) who didn’t deserve to be in the field got in and were summarily blown out in first-round games, it’s time to change. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Hayes Plan to fix the Ferrari: Eliminate top seeds for automatic qualifiers. Reseed after the first round. And for the love of all things pigskin, strength of schedule must be heavily weighted in the selection process.” 

Steve Muench, ESPN.com: “As talented as (Alabama quarterback Jalen) Milroe is as a rusher, he has been far more productive running designed quarterback runs than he has been scrambling this season. He is averaging 9.6 yards per scramble, but he has scrambled only 20 times. But Milroe is averaging 5.7 yards on 114 designed runs with 20 touchdowns. Expect Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale to have a plan to defend those designed runs much like Oklahoma did late in the year, when Milroe was held to a season-low 9 rushing yards on 13 attempts. But Milroe will still need to make plays with his feet against the Wolverines. He should be more aggressive when he gets an opportunity to scramble, tucking the ball and running when his first or second reads aren't there.”

Shehan Jeyarajah, CBSSports.com: “(Boise State running back Ashton) Jeanty might have lost the Heisman Trophy to Travis Hunter, but no one else in the CFP compares. The junior from Frisco, Texas, sits more than 800 yards ahead of any other running back in college football after posting one of the greatest running back seasons in history. With a strong performance against Penn State, Jeanty has a chance to break the all-time rushing record set by Barry Sanders in 1988. By the way, Jeanty was an explosive pass-catcher for the Broncos in 2023, finishing with 569 yards and five touchdowns. Don't be surprised to see that part of his game come out.” 

MEGAPHONE

“We’re not stupid. We know if a guy like a Luke Hasz walks out the door, it’s going to mean something. Hell, it meant something to us too. It meant something to him too. It was very difficult for him and his family. But the decisions have to be about the team. It can’t be about just the individual, it has to be about the team. All I would say is, all I would ask is that they be patient to see over the next week and a half (to) see if we get out of the portal what I think we can get. If we do, I think they’ll be very excited about that.”

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, on suffering big hits in the transfer portal.