Red Bluff Daily News

December 30, 2015

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JOESKIPPER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney laughs as he is "interviewed" by safety Jayron Kearse during Orange Bowl media day on Tuesday in Miami Gardens, Fla. ByPaulNewberry The Associated Press MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. Noonewillbe tuning in to the Orange Bowl looking for a defensive slugfest. Clemson's Deshaun Watson is used to lighting up the scoreboard. Okla- homa's Baker Mayfield has shredded one helpless defense after another. "People love seeing high-powered offenses and guys slinging the ball around," said Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware, sounding a bit gloomy as he looked ahead to Thursday's na- tional semifinal game. "The viewers want to see Deshaun throw for 600 yards and Mayfield throw for 600 yards." While no one is ready to bury the ol' adage that defense wins champi- onships, it needs a bit of tweaking with these teams. Clemson (13-0) gave up more than 30 points in its last two games, but Watson & Co. made sure it didn't ruin the perfect season. The Tigers held off South Carolina 37-32 in their regu- lar-season finale, then survived a 45- 37 track meet with North Carolina to capture the Atlantic Coast Confer- ence championship. Oklahoma (11-1) followed a similar path to the College Football Playoff. The Sooners gave up at least 20 points in eight games, more than 30 a cou- ple of times. It cost them only once — an upset loss to Texas. Despite all those shaky perfor- mances, neither defense is lacking bravado. "I know what we've got," Oklahoma outside linebacker Eric Striker said Tuesday during media day at Sun Life Stadium. "We know what it takes to win the game. One thing about the media: They've got to talk, they've got to come up with stuff." The media has nothing to do with the national statistics, which have Oklahoma outside the top 20 in all four major defensive categories. The Sooners are tied for 22nd in points al- lowed (20.8 per game). Clemson has been stingy when it comes to defending the pass, but a bit leaky against the run. The Tigers COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF OrangeBowldefensesleaky Clemson,Oklahomaboth have powerful offenses that grab headlines, wins ORANGEBOWL Thursday: Clemson vs. Oklahoma, 1p.m., TV on ESPN. TUNEIN 102ND ROSE BOWL Friday: Stanford vs. Iowa, 2p.m., TV on ESPN. TUNEIN By Greg Beacham The Associated Press LOSANGELES The Rose Bowl has a lavish list of cool pregame tra- ditions, and the Iowa Hawkeyes are embracing them all during their school's long-awaited week in the sun. The Hawkeyes have explored Disneyland, taken in Hollywood night life and eaten disturbing amounts of prime rib at Law- ry's in Beverly Hills. Yet they also practiced on Christmas, showing they haven't forgotten the serious side of this trip to Southern Cal- ifornia after a quarter-century away. "The game means so much af- ter what we had to go through to get here," running back Jordan Canzeri said Tuesday. "We un- derstand this is something that we'll never forget. We've been say- ing to each other, 'Do you want to come back to Kinnick (Stadium) 25 years from now and say we just played in the Rose Bowl, or do you want to say we won it?'" COLLEGE FOOTBALL Iowainfirst Rose Bowl in last 25 years By Schuyler Dixon The Associated Press FORT WORTH, TEXAS If Jared Goff is headed to the NFL early, California's junior quarterback replaced a couple of pretty big names in the record books in his final college game. How about Aaron Rodgers and Marcus Mariota. Goff threw for 467 yards and six touchdowns and the Bears won in the postseason for the first time in seven years, beating Air Force 55-36 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Tuesday. The 6-foot-4 Goff was already the season leader two times over in passing yards and touch- downs at Rodgers' alma mater. Now he has Mariota's Pac- 12 record for touchdowns with 43 a year after the former Ore- gon star threw 42 in leading the Ducks to the national champi- onship game before going No. 2 overall in the NFL draft to Ten- nessee. Not enough? OK, how about breaking Rodgers' Cal record for passing yards in a bowl game — 394 yards in a 52-49 win over Virginia Tech in the 2003 In- sight Bowl. That was a full sea- son before Green Bay drafted Brett Favre's eventual replace- ment in the first round. "He is definitely a good guy to idolize," Goff said of Rodg- ers. "He did a lot of great things here." As for the obvious question, Goff says he will discuss the NFL decision with the parents and "should know soon." Cal fans were chanting "One more year!" while celebrating the vic- tory. "I was chanting that, too," coach Sonny Dykes said, draw- ing laughter from reporters in the postgame news conference. "It's funny," Goff said. "I was one of those kids chanting for DeSean Jackson about 10 years ago. It's funny how that comes all the way around." Goff had three of his scor- ing tosses in a span of five plays in the second quarter as the Bears (8-5) broke a 14-14 tie and cruised while setting a school postseason scoring record in a rematch of the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl, also won by Cal (42-36). Receiver Kenny Lawler had three touchdowns for Cal, which last made the postseason in a 21- 10 loss to Texas in the Holiday Bowl in 2011. The Bears' last bowl win was 24-17 over Miami in the 2008 Emerald Bowl near their Bay Area campus. Weakened by the targeting ejection of secondary anchor Weston Steelhammer on Air Force's third defensive play, the Falcons (8-6) lost for the fourth time in five Armed Forces ap- pearances since 2007. "We tried a little bit of every- thing," Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. Goff, who was Cal's first fresh- man starting quarterback in 2013, has started all 37 games as the Bears bounced back from 1-11 his first year to 5-7 last year. He was 25 of 37 with no inter- ceptions while breaking Armed Forces records for passing yards and touchdowns. While Goff fell short of his ca- reer record of seven touchdown passes in a game from a 59-56 double-overtime win against Colorado last season, he added another Pac-12 mark with 4,719 yards. It was another successful Texas homecoming for Dykes, the son of former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes. The Bears won for the second time this sea- son in the Lone Star State af- ter beating Texas 45-44 in Sep- tember. Steelhammer, Air Force's leader in tackles and intercep- tions at safety, was ejected after hitting Bryce Treggs moments after a pass had gone by the Cal receiver. The junior dropped his head as the announcement was made, and coach Troy Calhoun angrily waved his arms at offi- cials. "I didn't see the replay," Cal- houn said. "If that's the call, that's the call." Karson Roberts threw for two ARMED FORCES BOWL CAL RIPS AIR FORCE FOR BOWL VICTORY Goff tosses 6 TDs in Golden Bears' first bowl win since 2008 California quarterback Jared Goff (16) celebrates with fans a er California defeated Air Force 55-36in the Armed Forces Bowl on Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas. PHOTOS BY RON JENKINS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS California wide receiver Darius Powe (10) catches a pass against Air Force linebacker Grant Ross (44) during the second half of the Armed Forces Bowl on Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas. California won 55-36. CAL 55, AIR FORCE 36 ARMEDFORCESBOWL CAL PAGE 2 ORANGE PAGE 2 ROSE PAGE 2 By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA GM Chip Kelly cost coach Chip Kelly his job. The Philadelphia Eagles fired Kelly Tuesday night with one game left in his third season, dumping the coach/personnel boss after missing the playoffs in consecutive years. Kelly was released before the finale of a disap- pointing season that began with Super Bowl expec- tations. The Eagles are 6-9 after going 10-6 two years in a row. They were eliminated from playoff conten- tion after losing to Washington at home on Sat- urday night. Eagles CEO Jeffrey Lurie issued a one-sentence statement to the media, saying he appreciates Kel- ly's contributions and wishes him success going forward. Lurie told fans in an email that he decided to make a change af- ter "evaluating the many factors involved in our performance as a team." The Eagles also fired Ed Marynowitz, who was vice pres- ident of player personnel. Long- NFL Eagles fire Kelly with 1 game le in season Kelly KELLY PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, December 30, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1

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