CFB Saturday bowl game winners, losers: Pop-Tarts Bowl delivers; Cam Ward’s decision puzzles

With eight games, Saturday was the biggest day of the 2024 bowl season, headlined by two top-25 showdowns, BYU-Colorado and Iowa State-Miami.

Here are our winners and losers from the most wonderful day of the college football bowl year.

Winner: Pop-Tarts Bowl

CFP No. 18 Iowa State (11-3) and No. 15 Miami (10-3) gave college football’s best bowl game trophy the game it deserved in the Cyclones’ 42-41 win.

The teams combined for 625 yards and 59 points in the first half, ending the game with 939 yards. Iowa State and Miami had 16 plays of at least 20 yards in the explosive, back-and-forth duel.

Who needs good playoff games when the Pop-Tarts Bowl is keeping us fed?

Loser: Miami’s QB strategy

Miami quarterback Cam Ward broke former Houston quarterback Case Keenum’s NCAA Division I record for most career passing touchdowns in the loss when he completed a four-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jacolby George for his 156th touchdown.

Ward was on his way to a massive game, going 12-of-19 for 190 yards and three touchdowns before sitting in the second half.

Head coach Mario Cristobal said conversations about player availability were “made … in private.” Ward’s decision is a poor look for both him and the Hurricanes. By sitting after securing a personal record, he put himself above his team. His decision also likely cost backup Emory Williams valuable reps with the first-team offense in practice leading up to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, and it showed.

Williams was 5-of-14 for 26 yards and an interception in the second half. Last year, we saw then-backup quarterbacks at USC (Miller Moss) and LSU (Garrett Nussmeier) have huge bowl games after Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels elected to sit. 

It’s fair to wonder how better Williams would have looked if he had the same opportunity.

Winner: Nebraska

The Cornhuskers jumped out to a 20-2 lead over Boston College before holding on for a 20-15 win in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl to clinch their first winning season since 2016.

Head coach Matt Rhule previously succeeded in turning Temple and Baylor around, and he’s laid the groundwork for his next great reclamation project in Lincoln.

Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola was 23-of-31 for 228 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The 2024 five-star recruit recently shut down speculation he intended to enter the transfer portal, and based on his promising start under Rhule, it’s easy to see why he’d stay. 

Loser: Colorado special teams

The Buffaloes arguably had Saturday’s most disappointing performance, losing 36-14 to No. 17 BYU (11-2) in the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter — playing on reported record insurance policies — weren’t the problem.

Sanders was 16-of-23 for 208 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which came on a deflected pass, while Hunter had four receptions, 106 yards and a touchdown, adding four tackles on defense. (h/t StatBroadcast)

But Colorado’s special teams let the Buffaloes down. In the first half, they fell for a Cougars onside kick and allowed a 66-yard punt return touchdown. Kicker Alejandro Mata also missed a 48-yard field goal.

Coach Deion Sanders has done a fantastic job resurrecting Colorado in his first two seasons. He made massive strides in shoring up the Buffaloes’ defense this past offseason, but after the Alamo Bowl loss, Deion Sanders must use this offseason to turn his special teams unit into a positive.

Winner: TCU

TCU dominated Louisiana (10-4), 34-3, to win the Isleta New Mexico Bowl and the most beautiful college football bowl trophy.