This was a great bowl season for guys named Anthony Smith.
East Carolina wide receiver Anthony Smith scored two touchdowns in the Pirates’ 23-17 Military Bowl victory over Pittsburgh, while the Minnesota defensive end with the same name — no relation — delivered a pair of sacks in the Golden Gophers’ 20-17 Rate Bowl overtime triumph over New Mexico.
Both Smiths were selected to the Associated Press all-bowl team.
In this era of the 12-team College Football
Playoff, the AP puts together two postseason all-star teams: an all-playoff team that will be released after the Jan. 19 championship game and a team for the top performers from the bowl games that aren’t part of the playoff. To account for all the different types of defensive schemes used across the country, our defense includes four linemen, four linebackers and five defensive backs:
Dampier accounted for five touchdowns for No. 15 Utah in a 44-22 Las Vegas Bowl victory over Nebraska. Dampier went 19 of 31 for 310 yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions, and he also rushed for 148 yards and three scores on 19 carries.
Buckley needed just eight carries to rush for 174 yards in Western Michigan’s 41-6 Myrtle Beach Bowl blowout of Kennesaw State. He opened the scoring with a 65-yard touchdown run.
Nwawuihe rushed for 171 yards on 12 carries in Army’s 41-16 Fenway Bowl triumph over UConn. The freshman had touchdown runs of 43 and 70 yards.
Ashlock caught 14 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns as Hawaii rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat California 35-31 in the Hawaii Bowl.
Brown had 10 receptions for 178 yards and two touchdowns – including a 69-yarder – in Duke’s 42-39 Sun Bowl victory over Arizona State. His 17-yard touchdown catch with 2:10 left put the Blue Devils ahead for good.
Smith had four receptions for 156 yards, including touchdown catches of 47 and 72 yards. The rest of East Carolina’s team had four combined catches for 21 yards.
Vonnahme caught seven passes for 146 yards and a touchdown to help Iowa beat No. 13 Vanderbilt 34-27 in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Hawkins ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries while also catching three passes for 25 yards and a touchdown as North Texas outlasted San Diego State 49-47 in the New Mexico Bowl.
Agnello didn’t allow any pressures and earned an 87 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus while helping Houston pass for 230 yards and rush for 207 in a 38-35 Texas Bowl victory over LSU.
Blair, a team captain, moved from left guard to right guard for this game and helped North Texas gain 618 yards, including 368 on the ground. Blair was making his 50th career start.
The left tackle helped make sure Arch Manning never got sacked as No. 14 Texas won the Citrus Bowl 41-27 over No. 18 Michigan. Gooby had the highest grade of any Texas offensive lineman for that game.
This guard graded out at 80 with an 80.5 run blocking rating from Pro Football Focus while helping Army rush for 368 yards and five touchdowns.
Mitchell had an 84.7 pass block rating from PFF and the highest overall rating for any BYU offensive lineman in the Pop Tarts Bowl as the 12th-ranked Cougars won 25-21 over No. 24 Georgia Tech.
Dennis-Sutton recorded a pair of sacks in Penn State’s 22-10 Pinstripe Bowl win over Clemson. He increased his career sack total to 23 ½.
Hubbard delivered three sacks and forced a fumble as Northwestern trounced Central Michigan 34-7 in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
Lubin forced two fumbles and had seven tackles – two for loss – with 1 ½ sacks in Louisville’s 27-22 Boca Raton Bowl victory over Toledo.
Smith recorded six tackles – four for loss – while collecting two sacks and breaking up two passes. Smith ended the season with 12 ½ sacks to rank third among all Bowl Subdivision players.
Cauley scored on a 5-yard interception return and made 10 tackles as No. 22 Navy beat Cincinnati 35-13 in the Liberty Bowl.
Fordham grabbed a tipped pass and delivered a 55-yard interception return that set up a touchdown for NC State in its 31-7 Gasparilla Bowl rout of Memphis. Fordham also had 13 tackles, with 1 ½ of them behind the line of scrimmage.
Leota forced a fumble, collected two sacks and made 10 tackles – three for loss – in Louisiana Tech’s 23-14 Independence Bowl win over Coastal Carolina.
Smith intercepted two passes and had nine tackles – one for loss – in Texas' Citrus Bowl triumph.
Bryant had two of Washington’s five interceptions in the Huskies’ 38-10 LA Bowl victory over Boise State.
Carter picked off two passes in a 24-10 Cure Bowl victory over South Florida. His six interceptions this season put him in a tie for second place among all FBS players.
Embry intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble for Fresno State in its 18-3 Arizona Bowl win over Miami (Ohio).
Smith had two interceptions along with three tackles – including one for loss – in Georgia Southern’s 29-10 Birmingham Bowl victory over Appalachian State.
Turner scored on a 47-yard fumble return and also intercepted a pass and made six tackles in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
Olano’s 29-yard field goal as time expired gave Illinois a 30-28 Music City Bowl victory over Tennessee. Olano was 3 of 3 that day, also connecting from 30 and 28 yards.
Maynard, an AP All-America first-team selection, followed up his impressive regular season by landing three of his six punts inside the 20-yard line in Western Kentucky’s 27-16 New Orleans Bowl victory over Southern Mississippi. He averaged 45.7 yards on six punts.
Bartley scored on a 100-yard kickoff return in Wake Forest’s 43-29 Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over Mississippi State. Three other players also scored on kickoff returns in bowl games, but Bartley was the only player from a winning team to accomplish the feat.
Anderson scored on a 97-yard punt return in FIU's 56-20 First Responder Bowl loss to UTSA.
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