Field Level Media
Dec 31, 2018
Trayveon Williams ran for 236 yards and three touchdowns as No. 19 Texas A&M overwhelmed North Carolina State for a 52-13 Gator Bowl victory Monday night in Jacksonville, Fla.
Williams, a junior, had scoring runs of 2, 17 and 93 yards, the last coming early in the fourth quarter.
Williams, who had 19 carries, broke the Gator Bowl record for rushing yardage. Syracuse's Floyd Little set the mark of 216 yards in 1966 against Tennessee. Williams also tied the bowl mark for rushing touchdowns.
Quarterback Kellen Mond ran for a touchdown and threw for a score as the Aggies (9-4) finished the season with four consecutive victories. He completed 14 of 26 passes for 140 yards and an interception, and he gained 85 yards on five carries.
It was a grand reunion for first-year Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, whose Florida State teams had annual battles with NC State.
The Wolfpack (9-4) failed in their quest to notch three consecutive bowl victories for the first time in school history. There was no magic for NC State in its first return to the Gator Bowl since capping an 11-win season by defeating Notre Dame to complete the 2002 campaign.
The Wolfpack were trying to reach a double-digit win total for just the second time in program history. Instead, they absorbed the most lopsided bowl loss in school history.
NC State quarterback Ryan Finley, a three-year starter in his final college game, went 19 of 32 for a season-low 139 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and two interceptions.
Texas A&M linebacker Tyrel Dodson returned a Finley interception 78 yards for a touchdown to thwart NC State's opening possession of the second half.
Two Williams runs for touchdowns followed as the margin ballooned to 42-13 in a game that NC State led 13-7.
Earlier, Mond took the second snap of the game 62 yards for a touchdown.
Christopher Dunn's 43-yard field goal put the Wolfpack on the board at the end of a 12-play drive late in the first quarter.
Eurndraus Bryant, a 330-pound senior nose tackle, corralled a tipped pass for an interception to set up NC State's first touchdown drive. The Wolfpack needed to go only 27 yards -- though the drive included a fourth-and-1 pickup. That resulted in Finley's 9-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Riley, who made a diving catch in the end zone as the Wolfpack took the lead for the first time, 10-7.
Dunn, a freshman, drilled a season-long 49-yard field goal on NC State's next possession.
The Aggies were back on top after Williams' 2-yard run with 6:43 to play in the second quarter. They traveled 60 yards on four plays in less than a minute.
Mond threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to leaping Kendrick Rogers with 32 seconds left in the first half as Texas A&M built a 21-13 lead.
--Field Level Media