Tangerine Bowl
2003
N.C. State 55
Kansas 26
Orlando, FL -- Philip Rivers posted Tangerine Bowl records with 475
yards passing and five touchdowns in his final college game, leading the
North Carolina State Wolfpack to a 56-26 win over the Kansas Jayhawks in
Orlando. Rivers also set Tangerine records with his 37 completions and
45 passing attempts, and won bowl-MVP honors to go along with his ACC
Player of the Year award. It was the third Bowl MVP honor for Rivers,
who also captured the award in the 2000 Micronpc.com Bowl and the 2003
Gator Bowl.
Rivers' favorite target and fellow senior, Jerricho Cotchery, finished
with 171 yards and a touchdown on 13 catches, eclipsing the school's
all-time reception mark in the contest. T.A. McLendon led the Wolfpack
(8-5) in rushing with 72 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries,
and also caught seven balls for 44 yards and a score, as NC State ended
a two-game skid in its second Tangerine Bowl appearance in three years.
Bill Whittemore completed 20-of-41 passes for 243 yards and two
touchdowns for the Jayhawks (6-7), but was intercepted twice. Brandon
Rideau's 109 yards on nine catches paced Kansas, which closed out its
season with losses in five of its last six. Clark Green led Kansas in
rushing with 87 yards on 14 attempts, followed closely by Whittemore's
84 yards and a touchdown on 17 tries, in Kansas' first bowl appearance
since 1995.
Trailing 42-17 in the third quarter, Kansas scored on back-to-back
possessions to try to make a game of it. Johnny Beck hit a 39-yard field
goal with 3:42 left in the third, and on the next Jayhawks' drive,
Whittemore ended an eight- play, 60-yard march with a nine-yard
touchdown run. The failed two-point conversion made it 42-26 in favor of
NC State with more than 14 minutes left in the contest.
However, Rivers brought the Wolfpack down for two more quick touchdowns
to eliminate any suspense. Just 1:21 after the Jayhawks' TD, Rivers
found Cotchery with a 21-yard touchdown pass (video).
Less than three minutes later, McLendon scampered into the end zone from
26 yards out to end a seven-play, 73-yard drive, and make it an
insurmountable 30-point lead at 56-26. The 56-point performance was the
largest in post-season history for the Wolfpack, surpassing a 49-point
output against West Virginia in the 1972 Peach Bowl.
The scoring came fast and furious early, as NC State scored just 62
seconds into the game when Rivers connected with Rich Washington on a
45-yard touchdown pass. Kansas responded with a nine-play, 73-yard drive
that tied the game with just over four minutes gone in the contest.
Whittemore hit Charles Gordon with a short pass that Gordon turned into
a 23-yard score.
The Wolfpack came right back down the field on a seven-play, 68-yard
drive that took less than two minutes off the clock. Rivers found
Washington again, this time from 15 yards out, to make it 14-7 with 8:43
to go in the opening stanza.
The Jayhawks were stopped on their next drive, and the Wolfpack went to
work again. Starting at his own three-yard line, Rivers led NC State on
an 11-play touchdown drive, capped by a one-yard burst by McClendon that
put the Wolfpack ahead by two touchdowns with 1:23 to play in the first.
Kansas was stopped by an interception on its next drive, but the Jayhawk
defense finally held, as Adam Kiker missed a field goal attempt from 41
yards.
Jerod Brooks pulled Kansas to within 21-10 on a 28-yard field goal with
4:01 left in the half, but Rivers struck again, completing a four-yard
touchdown pass to McLendon with 45 seconds to play. Rivers was 21-of-24
for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, and NC State held
a 28-10 halftime lead.
Kansas tried to claw its way back into the game on the opening
possession of the second half, going 79 yards in nine plays for a
touchdown. Just over four minutes in, Whittemore hit Green with an
11-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-17 (video).
But NC State scored touchdowns on its next two drives just over a minute
apart to take control of the game. Rivers connected with Brian Clark on
a 40-yard touchdown pass with 7:24 remaining in the third, and after a
partially blocked Kansas punt, Reggie Davis ran it in from nine yards
out for the score (video). Davis'
touchdown made it 42-17 with 6:03 left in the third.
Attendance: 26,482
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NCSU- Washington 45 yd pass from Rivers (Kiker kick)
KU- Gordon 23 yd pass from Whittemore (Brooks kick)
NCSU- Washington 14 yd pass from Rivers (Kiker kick)
NCSU- McLendon 1 yd run (Kiker kick)
Second Quarter
KU- FG Brooks 28
NCSU- McLendon 3 yd pass from Rivers (Kiker kick)
Third Quarter
KU- Green 11 yd pass from Whittemore (Brooks kick)
NCSU- Clark 40 yd pass from Rivers (Kiker kick)
NCSU- Davis 10 td run (Kiker kick)
KU- FG Beck 39
Fourth Quarter
KU- Whittemore 9 yd run (failed 2pt pass)
NCSU- Cotchery 21 yd pass from Rivers (Kiker kick)
NCSU- McLendon 26 yd run (Kiker kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
NCSU- McLendon 7-72, Hall 3-40, Davis 5-28, Rivers 3-20
KU- Green 14-87, Whittemore 17-84, Gordon 3-36
Passing
NCSU- Rivers 37-45-475
KU- Bill Whittemore 20-41-243
Receiving
NCSU- Cotchery 13-171, Washington 7-97, Clark 5-90, Hall 4-46, McLendon
7-44, Williams 1-27
KU- Rideau 9-109, Gordon 4-73, Green 3-30, Johnson 2-21
