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North Carolina State 31, Louisville 34
Mike Glennon passed for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns as North Carolina State built a 31-10 lead and held on for a 31-24 win in the Belk Bowl.
Glennon and Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater traded touchdowns in the first quarter, Glennon's pass to T.J. Graham and Bridgewaters' on a 8 yard run. The Cardinals' only lead came in the 2nd quarter at 10-7 after a Chris Philpott field goal.
After that the Wolfpack scored 24 straight points reaching into the 3rd quarter. Glennon had two more 1st half touchdowns to Tobais Palmer and Graham; both were long plays of 35 and 67 yards and N.C. State took a 21-10 halftime lead.
A Niklas Sade field goal and a 64-yard interception return of a Bridgewater pass made it 31-10 with a quarter and a half to go.
Louisville crept closer on two short Bridgewater TD passes, to Nate Nord and Josh Bellamy, but another interception ended the Cardinals' final chance to tie the game.
Bridgewater finished with 274 yards and 4 total touchdowns but was undone by the two interceptions which proved to be critical.
North Carolina State improved to 8-5 while Louisville fell to 7-6.
Purdue 37, Western Michigan 32
In the Little Caesars' Pizza Bowl, Purdue beat Western Michigan in game reminiscent of their win over Central Michigan in 2007 in the same bowl, formerly the Motor City Bowl.
That game ended 51-48, and while this one wasn't quite as high scoring but there was still plenty of offense. Western Michigan struck first on a 49-yard Alex Carder pass to Jordan White; after a successful 2-point try it was 8-0.
Purdue's Robert Marve made it 8-7 on a 1-yard toss to Reggie Pegram. Then the scoring ramped up in the 2nd quarter.
After a Purdue field goal, Carder got his 2nd TD pass to make it 15-10, Broncos. Purdue's Raheem Mostert had the play of the day on the ensuing kickoff, taking it back 99 yards for a score. A Pegram TD run and another Carson Wiggs field goal gave Purdue a seemingly strong 27-15 lead at the half.
But Western Michigan didn't give in. A field goal cut it to 27-18, and they stuck close, trading touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. Caleb TerBush hit Gary Bush for a 33-yard score for the Boilermakers and Tevin Drake responded with a 1-yard TD run. Purdue led 34-25.
A field goal in the 4th quarter extended that lead to 37-25. Carder's pass with 5 minutes left cut the lead to 37-32, but on the Broncos' final possession Carder fumbled and Purdue ran out the clock.
The Boilermakers finished with a winning record at 7-6, and Western Michigan fell to the same.
More previews and results: View the complete 2011-2012 bowl game schedule.
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