Tune’s TD throw completes Houston’s rally past Louisiana-Lafayette

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
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SHREVEPORT, La. – Clayton Tune connected with Nathaniel Dell for a 12-yard touchdown with 20 seconds remaining, and Houston rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Louisiana-Lafayette 23-16 in the Independence Bowl.

The TD pass was Tune’s third of the game and 40th of the season, tying the senior with Western Kentucky’s Austin Reed for the most in the nation. Before the winning throw, he completed a 41-yard pass to KeSean Carter on first-and-30 to move Houston into Ragin’ Cajuns territory.

Dell, a junior who plans to enter the NFL draft, had two touchdown catches, pushing his total to a nation-best 17 this season.

The Cougars (8-5) never led until that late touchdown as Tune heated up amid unseasonably cold temperatures in northwest Louisiana. It was 25 degrees at kickoff, with a wind chill of 12 degrees.

“Today was like the rest of the year,” Houston coach Dana Holgorsen said. “The conditions were tough, but they handled it fine.

“To be down at halftime and to come back on a two-minute drive and score, that’s what the whole season has been about. They created a pretty special memory, to win a bowl game like this.”

Louisiana-Lafayette (6-7) led 13-0 midway through the second quarter and 16-6 at halftime.

Tune was named the game’s offensive MVP, finishing 19 of 28 for 216 yards. He led Houston on a 13-play, 70-yard drive to open the second half and hit Dell for a 2-yard touchdown that made it 16-13.

The Cougars kept it close from there, setting the stage for Tune’s game-winner to the 5-foot-10 Dell, nicknamed “Tank.”

“That’s exactly the way I would have scripted to go out,” Tune said. “I saw the coverage, and we had a play called to Tank. I saw leverage for a better route and he did, too. I had all the faith in the world he would win on the route, catch the ball and get into the end zone. It was an easy decision for me. I couldn’t be happier with the way it happened.”

Clinging to a three-point lead, Louisiana stuffed Houston on fourth-and-short at the Ragin’ Cajuns 5-yard line midway through the third quarter, but the Cougars eventually tied the game on Kyle Ramsey’s 19-yard field early in the fourth.

The Ragin’ Cajuns wasted a chance to retake the lead when running back Chris Smith fumbled at the Houston 4.

“They fought,” first-year Ragin Cajuns coach Mike Desormeaux said. “We made a couple of mistakes in crucial situations, but I’ve never been more proud of them.”

Louisiana-Lafayette, located three hours south of Shreveport, took the opening kick and orchestrated a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ended when tight end Johnny Lumpkin made a dazzling touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone.

The Cajuns got three field goals in the first half from by Kenneth Almendares (42, 42, and 22 yards). Chandler Fields finished 17 of 25 passing for 169 yards and a touchdown.

Tune’s first TD toss was a 33-yarder to Carter in the second quarter. Carter finished with 104 yards on three catches, and Dell had six receptions for 44 yards.

ELITE COMPANY

Tune and Reed, who threw six TD passes in Wednesday’s New Orleans Bowl victory over South Alabama, are three ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams of Southern California and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. Williams still has the Cotton Bowl game to play and Stroud’s Buckeyes are in the College Football Playoff.

THE TAKEAWAY

Louisiana-Lafayette: First-year coach Michael Desormeaux guided the Ragin’ Cajuns to their first losing season since 2017 (5-7). The program had posted three consecutive seasons with at least 10 victories (34-5 in that stretch).

Houston: Coach Dana Holgorsen honored one of his mentors, the late Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, by wearing a black hoodie with “STATE” on the front. Holgorsen played for Leach at Iowa Wesleyan and later coached under him at Texas Tech. Leach died on Dec. 12.

UP NEXT

Louisiana-Lafayette: The Ragin Cajuns remain in-state to open the 2023 season as they will host another Louisiana school, Northwestern State, on Sept. 2.

Houston: The Cougars open the 2023 campaign at home against UTSA on Sept. 2.

Georgia No. 1 in AP poll for second time, with Alabama No. 2

enna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
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INDIANAPOLIS- Georgia is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll, earning their second national title by beating Alabama on Monday night.

The Bulldogs received all 61 first-place votes to be a unanimous No. 1 for the ninth time this season. Georgia’s only other time finishing No. 1 was 1980.

The Tide finished No. 2, giving the Southeastern Conference the top two teams in the final rankings for the third time since 2011.

Michigan was No. 3, the Wolverines best final ranking since winning the national championship in 1997 and their first top-10 finish since 2006.

No. 4 Cincinnati, which became the first team from outside the Power Five conferences to reach the playoff, finished with its best final ranking.

As did No. 5 Baylor. The Bears previous best finish in the AP poll was No. 7 in 2014.

Ohio State was No. 6 and Oklahoma State finished seventh. The Cowboys had their best finish in the poll since they were third in 2011.

Notre Dame was eighth, Michigan State was ninth and Oklahoma was 10th, giving the Big 12 three top 10 teams.

For Michigan State, its the Spartans first top-10 finish since a string of three straight from 2013-15. The two Big Ten schools from the state of Michigan last both finished the season ranked in the top 10 in 1999.

Utah was No. 12, BYU was 19th and Utah State was No. 24, marking the first time the Beehive State has had all three of its major college football teams finish the season ranked.

Clemson finished 14th, snapping a string of six straight seasons in which the Tigers were no worse than fourth in the final Top 25.

Florida hires La-Lafayette coach Napier to replace Mullen

COTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Content Services, LLC
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Florida hired Louisiana-Lafayette’s Billy Napier on Sunday to be the Gators next football coach.

The move ends a quick process that landed Florida its top target one week after it fired Dan Mullen.

The 42-year-old Napier will remain with the Ragin Cajuns (11-1) this week as they prepare to host Appalachian State (10-2) in the Sun Belt Conference championship game Saturday. He is 39-12 in four seasons in Lafayette, including 32-5 the past three years.

Florida scheduled an introductory news conference with Napier for Dec. 5.

Mullen was fired last Sunday after the Florida’s fourth loss in five games. He was let go less than a year after leading the Gators to a third consecutive New Year’s Six bowl.

Mullen’s stunningly swift downfall ended a tumultuous two seasons that included mounting losses, numerous public relation missteps and NCAA sanctions.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin moved quickly to land Napier, a former receivers coach at Alabama under Nick Saban and a former offensive coordinator at Clemson and Arizona State.

Napier has been one of college football’s rising stars and hottest names in recent years. He was in the mix for current openings at Virginia Tech and TCU.

He also turned down Mississippi State after the 2019 season and backed away from South Carolina and Auburn following the 2020 season. His name has been connected to other Southeastern Conference openings, too, including Mississippi and Missouri.

He takes over a Florida program that’s been in disarray for more than a year but is close to opening an $85 million football facility that could help the team catch up in recruiting. And that could help the Gators close the gap on the superpower such as Georgia and Alabama.

Florida had lost nine of their last 11 games against teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision before beating rival Florida State on Saturday. The 24-21 victory in the Swamp made Florida (6-6) bowl eligible.

Stricklin surely hopes Napier will help Florida continue the offensive success it enjoyed in much of Mullen’s four seasons while also providing a better culture and more accountability on and off the field.

Napier is known for having detailed organization skills that he adopted during his time with Saban. Napier’s approach has carried the Ragin’ Cajuns to unprecedented success.

Louisiana had not been ranked since 1943 until Napier arrived. The team had never won 10 games until Napier arrived , and now he’s done it in three straight seasons. He beat Iowa State in the 2020 season opener.

Napier, a native of Cookeville, Tennessee, was a former quarterback at Furman in South Carolina. His coaching career took a a big step forward while coaching receivers at Alabama (2013-16), where he worked with stars Amari Cooper and Calvin Ridley.

He parlayed that into a job as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator in 2017 under Todd Graham, whose Sun Devils averaged 31.8 points before ULL hired away Napier.

Napier’s contract calls for a $3 million buyout to be paid to Louisiana-Lafayette.