Drew Wolitarsky of the Minnesota Golden Gophers celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo : Getty Images/Dylan Buell)
The Minnesota Golden Gophers took home their first Holiday Bowl championship in the 38 years. It is at the expense of the Washington State Cougars in a nail-biting 17-12 win on Dec. 27 behind Rodney Smith and Blake Cashman who were both awarded Most Valuable Players.
With the game still in the balance with just a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, Adekunle Ayinde of the Golden Gophers intercepted a pass as running back Smith converted a touchdown with 2:06 remaining for a 17-6 Minnesota lead, virtually ending the match, Bleacher Report reported.
Washington State scared of a comeback by scoring a late touchdown and an onside kick try to cut the deficit to just five points but the lead was too big to overcome as the time expired with the Golden Gophers getting away with the upset victory. The Cougars were touted to win this one in previous predictions.
It was an emotional win for the Golden Gophers as 10 of their players were suspended following a sexual assault investigation, Yahoo Sports reported. Starting defensive backs Antoine Winfield Jr. and KiAnte Hardin, two key cogs in the Minnesota defensive lineup, were among the suspended players.
However, the Golden Gopher defense looked like they did not miss a player after shutting down Cougars star quarterback Luke Falk, who was one of the nation's leaders in all the major passing categories, to just 264 yards, 86 yards below his norm. It was also Falk's pass which Ayinde intercepted to seal the victory.
Mitch Leidner capped the win with 129 passing yards while Smith covered 74 yards on 17 carries while scoring a touchdown. The Minnesota defense clamped down on the Cougars who just covered 303 yards, way below their 497.5 yards per game average. Golden Gopher wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky had five receptions for 73 yards while running back Shannon Brooks made two receptions and a touchdown.
Watch the video below to see the highlights of the game:
