CI Week 18 Highlights

With the college season winding down, CI's NFL coaches stepped up with some of their best performances of the season in Week 18. CI coaches combined to go 4-0 on Sunday, headlined by Tennessee Asst. OL Coach Jason Houghtaling (@UpstateNYHom) and the Titans who claimed their second consecutive AFC South title by downing Miami, 34-3. In the NFC West, the Rams and Asst. Head Coach/RB Thomas Brown (@iamthomasbrown) followed up their playoff clinching win last weekend with a 20-19 comeback win over the Ravens. In the NFC South, the Saints and Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael remained in the hunt for a wild card spot with a 18-10 win over the Panthers. Out west, the Chargers and WR Coach Chris Beatty (@BeattyCoach) defeated the Broncos, 34-13, and now control their playoff destiny heading into next week's regular season finale. At the college level, in addition to the three coaches mentioned below, congratulations also to the following coaches who claimed bowl wins in Week 18: Baylor Defensive Coordinator/ILB Ron Roberts (@CoachRonRoberts), Alabama Senior Defensive Analyst Mark Orphey (@Mark_Orphey), South Carolina DB Coach Torrian Gray (@togray14), Maryland RB Coach Elijah Brooks (@UMDCoachBrooks), and Air Force WR Coach Ari Confesor (@CoachAC3). Please keep reading for more highlights from Week 18.  

Bowl games always bring with them a sense of finality but there was something extra special about Tuesday's Liberty Bowl for Texas Tech. With the interim head coach set to take over at Louisiana Tech and assistant coaches on their way to TCU, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Abilene Christian and others, the bowl game marked the last time that several coaches would work together. Suffice it to say, the Red Raiders made the most of the opportunity. QB Donovan Smith threw for 252 yards and a touchdown as Texas Tech jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and quickly turned the Liberty Bowl into a rout. RB SaRodorick Thompson added an exclamation point with a one-yard touchdown rush in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the 34-7 demolition. Defensively, DL Tyree Wilson led the way up front for the Red Raiders, finishing with four tackles, two sacks, one quarterback pressure and a pass breakup. Congratulations on the win to Texas Tech DL Coach Paul Randolph (@CoachPRandolph) and Offensive Analyst/QB Matt Clark (@Coach_MattClark)!

The Razorbacks capped their most successful season in a decade with an emphatic win over the Nittany Lions in the Outback Bowl. Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson rushed for a career-high 110 yards and scored a rushing touchdown as the Razorbacks rushed for a total of 361 yards in a 24-10 win that was even more dominant than the score suggests. RB Dominique Johnson finished second on the team with 85 rushing yards and RB Raheim Sanders was close behind with 79 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Kicker Cam Little accounted for the remainder of the scoring with a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to extended the Hogs' lead to 17-10. Little's field goal gave him 20 for the season which tied him for the third-most in a single season by an Arkansas kicker. The Razorback special teams also came through with a big play when they sniffed out a fake punt from the Nittany Lions late in the second quarter. Congratulations to Razorback Assistant Special Teams Coach Mike Krysl (@CoachKrysl) on the win and Little's stellar campaign!