The Nationwide Staff, which led the Senior Bowl for a lot of Saturday afternoon at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Cellular, Alabama, discovered themselves having to defend their endzone up 19-16 within the final minute of the sport from an American Staff facet which had gained momentum after a collection of defensive stops within the fourth quarter.
A win was not meant to be for the staff in white, as Memphis quarterback Seth Hanigan rolled out and located TCU broad receiver Jack Bech behind the endzone with no time left on the clock to present the orange-clad American staff the 22-19 victory in walk-off style.
The Nationwide Staff (which rostered all 4 Mid-American Convention representatives) acquired on the scoreboard first, as Oklahoma State operating again Ollie Gordon tossed a move in direction of Iowa State broad receiver Jayden Higgins to get the landing on a halfback toss move play and Gabriel would discover Miami [FL] tight finish Elijah Arroyo on the out route to place the rating at 8-0.
After some stuttering on offense to start out the competition, the American Staff would discover their scoring stride on a redzone speeding landing from Mississippi quarterback Jaxson Dart— who threw a conversion move to Arkansas receiver Issac TeSlaa to tie the sport up late within the second quarter.
The 8-8 rating would maintain till the waning moments of the third quarter, as Florida State kicker Ryan Fitzgerald would convert from 39 yards to present the Nationwide Staff an 11-8 lead.
The fireworks began within the fourth quarter, as Utah linebacker Junior Tafuna would pressure Memphis quarterback Seth Hanigan to fumble on the opening possession, permitting the Nationwide Staff a possibility to attain on offense.
Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough made up for an earlier interception meant for BGSU tight finish Harold Fannin Jr. within the first half by tossing a pleasant landing to Virginia broad receiver Da’Quan Felton to increase the result in 19-8.
The American staff offense would take it from there, scoring 14 factors within the recreation’s final 10 minutes to remove a victory, thanks partially to a double move of their very own from UCF operating again RJ Harvey to Maryland broad receiver Tai Felton and a conversion move from Hanigan to TeSlaa.
Bech would win recreation MVP honors after logging six receptions for 68 yards and the walk-off game-winning landing.
The Mid-American Convention solely had two gamers on the sector in Saturday’s contest, with Toledo defensive lineman Darius Alexander and Bowling Inexperienced tight finish Harold Fannin Jr. each gathering begins for the Nationwide staff.
(Toledo security Maxen Hook and Western Michigan defensive again Bilhal Kone had been declared out pre-game as a consequence of accidents suffered throughout apply week. In the event you’d wish to see extra in-depth evaluation of all 4 gamers and the way they carried out in Cellular this week, you possibly can try our article from Thursday evening right here. )
Each Fannin and Alexander had been highlighted as “affect gamers” initially of the NFL Community broadcast for the Nationwide Staff, an indication they acquired plenty of consideration from media and scouts over the week.
Fannin completed the afternoon because the Nationwide Staff’s main receiver, with 4 catches (on 5 targets) and 25 receiving yards on the day— although he almost scored a landing late within the recreation on an eight-yard reception the place he reached for the pylon.
Fannin was instrumental within the offensive assault, seeing time at in-line tight finish, transfer/slot tight finish and on particular groups as a protector, and received a number of seal blocks in-game from each tight finish positions.
Darius Alexander performed at each the defensive deal with and edge spots, exhibiting good run recreation instincts early on the sport with a tackle-for-loss on Kansas operating again Devin Neal, in addition to a later no-gain cease on Georgia operating again Trevor Etienne.
Alexander additionally acquired a couple of pressures on American Staff QBs within the recreation, together with on the penultimate play of the sport to pressure an incompletion— however was additionally the first defender on Jack Bech the very subsequent play to finish the competition.
The NFL Scouting Mix is the subsequent step, with actions set to start out the final weekend of February in Indianapolis, Indiana. As of publication, Fannin Jr. is the one MAC participant confirmed to have acquired an invite.
Alexander, Hook and Kone are all anticipated to compete of their respective Professional Days.
