Duke wins 9 games, the first time this has happened since 2014.

The college football bowl season is in full swing and the week between Christmas Eve and New Years’s seemed like the perfect time to recognize those who did well and take note of the poor performances of others. Here are the winners and losers of the 2022-23 bowl season — so far. As the bowl season continues through January 2, this post will be revised.

Winners

Oregon State: Oregon State beat Florida by 30-3 in Las Vegas Bowl. This was the Beavers’ 10th win since 2006. The Beavers also won their first bowl game since 2013. Oregon State was able to limit Florida to just 219 yards of offense during the win. UF scored only one point, a field goal with just 37 seconds remaining in regulation. Oregon State was 7-6 before 2021. They had lost seven consecutive seasons. The Beavers now stand at 17-9 in the last two seasons. With Clemson’s transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei joining next season, the Beavers could become a fashionable preseason pick for the Pac-12 title.

Florida State: The Seminoles are now 10-1 after their 35-32 win over Oklahoma at the Cheez It Bowl. Johnny Wilson had eight catches and 418 yards from Jordan Travis, while Travis threw 38 passes. The Seminoles threw for 587 yards in 72 plays and won the match despite being 0-of-3 with fourth down attempts. It’s the first bowl win for Florida State since 2017 and a huge boost for a program that will enter 2023 as the top challenger to Clemson in the ACC.

Fresno State: Fresno State finished the season with nine consecutive wins after a disappointing 1-4 start. The Bulldogs defeated Boise State to win the Mountain West title match. They then beat Washington State 29-6 at the LA Bowl, bringing their total to 10 wins in six seasons. Fresno State became first FBS team to win 10 games after having lost four of five in the opening game. Jake Haener was victorious in the LA Bowl, his final college game. Haener threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, while Jordan Mims ran for 209 yards and scored two of his own.

Duke: Duke went from losing in ACC play in 2021, to nine wins in 2022. Duke capped off a remarkable season by beating UCF 30-13 on Wednesday in the Military Bowl — the program’s first bowl win since 2018. Duke’s win brought them to nine wins, the most since 2014. Mike Elko’s first season as Blue Devils’ coach was one of his best. The program was barely competitive in David Cutcliffe’s final seasons on the job, going a combined 5-18 (1-17 ACC) in his final two years. With Wednesday’s win, Duke finished the season 9-4 overall with a 5-3 mark in ACC play. It was just the third season in school history The Blue Devils finished the conference season with a win and won a bowl.

Washington: Washington defeated Texas 27-20 at the Alamo Bowl, completing a remarkable turnaround after going 4-8 in 2021. With the win, Washington finished the season with 11 wins — the most it has had in a season since 2016. The Huskies made it to the College Football Playoff that year. Kalen DeBoer, the head coach at Fresno State was able to revive the program after only one season. A major role was played by the addition of Michael Penix Jr. as quarterback. Penix Jr. will be back next season and threw for 287 yard and two touchdowns during the bowl win.

Western Kentucky WKU might have put up the most impressive performance in bowl season. In the New Orleans Bowl, the Hilltoppers defeated South Alabama 44 to 23. South Alabama was seeking its first bowl win. However, WKU took a 31-3 lead at halftime and never looked back. WKU had 677 yards total by the end of the game. Austin Reed threw 497 yards and four touchdowns during the win.

Air Force Air Force looked at home in Fort Worth on a cold night. The Armed Forces Bowl saw the Falcons win over Baylor, 30-15. Air Force ran for 276 yards while Baylor was limited to 42 rush yards. Air Force’s win was their third consecutive double-digit win in four seasons. AFA was 11-2 in 2019 while the other two seasons were 10-3. The Falcons finished 3-3 in the 2020 season. Air Force won four consecutive bowl games as a team.

New Mexico State: Year 1 of Jerry Kill at New Mexico State was marked by a bowl victory. NMSU knocked off Bowling Green 24-19 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday to capture the program’s second bowl victory since 1960. The Aggies won six of seven games to close out the year at 7-6. Kill has made a tremendous turnaround in his first year as NMSU’s coach. The Aggies won eight games each in its four previous seasons. Diego Pavia was the star of this bowl victory. Pavia threw for 167 yard and two touchdowns, and added 65 rushing yards to the win. To help his team win, he converted several third-down touchdowns with his legs during the second quarter.

Southern Miss RB Frank Gore Jr. Frank Gore Jr. ran wild in Southern Miss’ win over Rice in the LendingTree Bowl. Gore set an all-time bowl record With 329 yards and just 21 carries, Gore won the 38-24 victory. Gore ran for 2 touchdowns and also passed an 18-yard touchdown pass. Gore broke the previous single-game record for bowl rushing at 317 yards. However, he rushed for a 55-yard touchdown in overtime. Southern Miss won six consecutive games in 2020 and 2021. However, the bowl win over Rice gave Rice seven wins for the 2022 season. And with Gore and a significant chunk of this team’s core expected to return, Southern Miss could be a team on the rise in the Sun Belt next season.

Eastern Michigan: EMU won the Potato Bowl against San Jose State, its first bowl win since 1987. It’s been a long time coming. Before Chris Creighton arrived as head coach in 2014, the 1987 California Bowl was the program’s last bowl trip. Creighton took the Eagles five times to bowl games but this year, EMU was victorious for the first time. EMU ended the season at 9-4 with the win. That’s the second-most wins in a season in program history.

Losers

Ole Miss The Rebels had 11 drives that didn’t end in points in a 42-25 loss to Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl. Ole Miss lost the ball five more times, and on downs it turned the ball over five more times. They also punted once. Texas Tech was 5-of-6 on fourth downs while the Rebels were only 2-of-7. The game was a punt hater’s dream. It was also a nightmare for Ole Miss QB Jaxson dart. He threw three interceptions, and fumbled one. Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough rushed in for two touchdowns and threw one as the Red Raiders maintained a 19-point lead at halftime. Ole Miss lost the season finale at 8-5. They had started the season 7-1.

UTSA: After falling 18-12 to Troy in Cure Bowl, the Roadrunners still want their first bowl win. It was also a terrible performance by UTSA. The skilled UTSA offense made five mistakes without Will Stein, now the Oregon OC. The Roadrunners had nine penalties totalling 104 yards. Many of these penalties occurred in critical moments. A win over the Trojans would have been a huge boost for a UTSA team looking to make the AAC leap in 2023.

Oklahoma: The Sooners were shorthanded in the Cheez-It Bowl and considered significant underdogs against Florida State. Oklahoma lost 35-32, but that was still enough to cover the loss. Oklahoma finished the season at 6-7. That’s the first losing season for OU since 1998. The first year of the Brent Venables era was a bit rocky — especially when you consider the success that Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley had at USC. But there’s no reason to panic in Norman. Yet.

SMU: The Mustangs entered New Mexico Bowl as 4.5 point favorites over a BYU team which had started Sol-Jay Maiava–Peters, a freshman third-string quarterback. BYU was able to win the game with just 24 points on the ground, despite being unable to stop a SMU 2-point conversion with 8 seconds remaining. While Maiava-Peters, a freshman, threw for 47 yards and a touchdown, he rushed 14 times for the 96 yard. Christopher Brooks ran 19 times for 88 yards. SMU didn’t have receiver Rashee Rice but still had just 218 yards passing on 37 pass attempts.

San Diego State: In a loss to Middle Tennessee, 25-23, the Aztecs made five turnovers in the Hawaii Bowl. Blue Raiders managed just 170 yards, while the Blue Raiders threw for 236 yards. Yes, that is correct. MTSU managed a remarkable -66 rushing yardage on just 30 attempts, thanks to sacks. The game was still won. Jalen Maiden, SDSU’s QB, had three interceptions. Also, he lost one. The Aztecs’ final turnover came with 55 seconds to go on a 4th and 24 when Tyrell Shavers fumbled the ball after a 12-yard gain.

Cincinnati: In a 24-7 defeat to Louisville, the Bearcats’ performance was nothing but a sloppy one. Cincinnati allowed 419 yards to Cardinals for 127 yards total offense. After sacks were added, Cincy managed just 10 first downs. They also ran for 44 yards in 38 rushes. Louisville even turned the ball over four times to Cincinnati’s two and the game still wasn’t close. If you didn’t know any better, you would have assumed that Scott Satterfield had gone to a far worse team when he left Louisville for Cincy before the bowl game.

Georgia Southern If you were an Eagles fan, the Camellia Bowl was painful to watch. Georgia Southern was defeated 23-21 by Buffalo after they went 12-of-19 with third downs and averaged less that three yards per carry. Georgia Southern players also failed to catch multiple catchable passes and was unable to stop Buffalo on the third down. Kyle Vantrease threw 352 yards in 45 attempts. Joshua Thompson was hit on a 79 yard touchdown pass. Georgia Southern lost the ball after being within two seconds of the end, with just 3:38 left. This was due to two crucial third-down conversions by Bulls in order to finish the clock.

NC State Dave Doeren may have lost a bowl win due to his risk-averse decision making. NC State lost the Duke Mayo Bowl 16-12. Doeren made two field goals inside Maryland’s 10-yard line in the loss. Doeren kicked fourth-and-goal in the first half from the 2. Doeren’s kicker was sent out by Doeren instead of going for the ball on fourth-and-3 at the 9. The NC State offense was struggling all day and that was the last scoring opportunity for the team.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys entered the Guaranteed Rate Bowl as underdogs to Wisconsin, so OSU’s 24-17 loss to the Badgers wasn’t terribly surprising. But it’s still worth noting just how poorly OSU finished the season. The Cowboys went 6-1 in the season and ended it with 7-6, after a 1-5 run. Yes, Oklahoma State lost QB Spencer Sanders in the last two games, but the most significant factor for the team’s collapse was the failure of defense in 2022. A testy Mike Gundy didn’t want to talk about any potential staff changes after the game and we’re not going to be surprised if there are some staff announcements forthcoming from OSU in the near future.