Johnsons short pass on fourth-and-1 and turned it into a 29-yard

DETROIT -- The way James Conner and Tyler Boyd played in their first post-season game, its no wonder Pittsburgh coach Paul Chryst is excited about next season. With a pair of freshmen leading the way -- and breaking some long-standing school records in the process -- the Panthers edged Bowling Green 30-27 on Thursday night in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Conner rushed for 229 yards. Boyd caught eight passes for 173 yards and also scored on a punt return. "We obviously have some great young talent and thats why we are so confident about the future of this program," Chryst said. "We think were in great shape going forward." Conner broke a Pittsburgh bowl record for yards rushing held by Tony Dorsett, and Chris Blewitt kicked a tiebreaking field goal with 1:17 remaining. Conner even played a handful of snaps on the defensive line. Boyd gave Pitt (7-6) a boost with his versatility as well. One star the Panthers will have to replace is Aaron Donald, their All-American on the defensive line. Donald, a senior, helped thwart any last-ditch comeback with a sack deep in Bowling Green territory in the final minute. "They were without question the most physical team we faced all season," said Adam Scheier, Bowling Greens interim coach. "The offensive line was tough, the running back was obviously a bear to tackle and the whole defensive line was disruptive. We knew we had to keep Donald and their other guys out of our backfield, but we couldnt do it." Scheier took over after Wake Forest hired coach Dave Clawson away from the Falcons. Scheier coached the bowl, but now Dino Babers takes over. Dorsett rushed for 202 yards in Pitts win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1977. The schools receiving record for a bowl came the next season. In a Gator Bowl win over Clemson, Gordon Jones had 163 yards receiving. Both marks fell Thursday. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Conner rushed for 165 yards in the second half, helping Pitt overcome the loss of quarterback Tom Savage, who didnt play after halftime because of a rib injury. Conner and the Panthers drove 51 yards in seven plays late in the fourth quarter to set up a 39-yard kick by Blewitt, who had missed from the same distance earlier. Then Conner was back on the field on defence, helping the Panthers protect the lead. "After the last game, coach told me they wanted to unleash me on both sides of the ball, so Ive been getting a lot of reps both ways," Conner said. "I was pretty tired by the end, but I wasnt going to tap out. They kept giving me the ball, so I just kept running." Chad Voytik relieved Savage and put Pitt ahead 27-20 with a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, but the Falcons -- who upset Northern Illinois in Detroit in the Mid-American Conference title game earlier this month -- tied it on Matt Johnsons 15-yard strike to Ryan Burbrink with 4:42 to play. Boyds 54-yard punt return gave the Panthers a 17-3 lead in the second quarter. Bowling Green (10-4) rallied, tying it at 17 on a 94-yard kickoff return by BooBoo Gates to start the second half. Bowling Green appeared to catch a break on the kick return by Gates. A tussle behind the play drew a flag as Gates approached the goal line, but officials ruled that the touchdown stood, with offsetting penalties after the play. The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl faces an uncertain future now that the Detroit Lions have decided to get in the bowl business and will host a game next season. If this game vanishes from the bowl lineup, this was an entertaining finale. Conner put Pitt ahead 7-3 with a 15-yard scoring run near the end of the first quarter. Boyd nearly lost his balance trying to stay inbounds at the end of his punt return, but he was able to reach the end zone. "I knew I had to stay inbounds, because Im not in the goal-line package," Boyd said. "So if I stepped out, I wouldnt get a chance to score." The Falcons rallied thanks in part to an ill-timed loss of discipline by Donald, who picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with Bowling Green about to punt from its own territory. The Falcons ended up scoring on the drive when Alex Bayer took Johnsons short pass on fourth-and-1 and turned it into a 29-yard touchdown to make it 17-10. Savage completed eight passes in the first half. Seven of them went to Boyd, for 111 yards. Wholesale Seattle Seahawks Jerseys . Smiths former Atlanta teammates were glad to hang on for an ugly win. Custom Seahawks Jerseys . TSN 1290s coverage begins with Hustler & Lawless at 3pm. Rick Ralph hosts the Official Jets Pre-game Show at 5pm. http://www.cheapseahawks.com/ . Neither side would publicly confirm or deny any discussions were taking place, until the near unexpected happened. On Saturday night sources confirmed to TSN, the league and players agreed to terms on a new, tentative CBA, pending ratification by the unions players. A league source confirmed the CFLs board of governors must also ratify any potential agreement. Stitched Seattle Seahawks Jerseys . -- Each time the Utah Jazz threatened Memphis lead, the Grizzlies responded with defensive stops. Authentic Seattle Seahawks Jerseys . Orlando is to begin play in the MLS for the 2015 season. Kaka, who currently plays with AC Milan, is expected to be loaned out to his home club Sao Paulo for the upcoming season before joining Orlando for next season.The Minnesota Wild got Zach Parise back from injury and Marco Scandella back from illness just in time. Parise had two goals after missing five games with a concussion, and Scandella had the game-winner in overtime to give Minnesota a 4-3 victory over Winnipeg on Sunday. Minnesota blew a 3-0 lead in the third period before Scandellas low wrist shot from just inside the blue line beat Michael Hutchinson at 1:01. Scandella said he didnt realize the puck went in until he saw teammate Jason Pominvilles reaction. He was just screaming, so I was like, Whoa. Maybe I put that one in, Scandella said. It was nice. Especially nice for Minnesota since the Wild was reeling after Winnipeg scored three goals in five minutes in the third. The Jets outshot Minnesota 22-14 in the second and third periods. Their physical play led to 14 penalties in the second period, eight against the Wild. We ended up being short-handed so many times that we just lost a lot of the rhythm on our game, and its not the recipe we want to have, Wild coach Mike Yeo said. The Jets went 0-for-8 on the power play, including two 5 on 3s that lasted 36 and 47 seconds. Michael Frolik ended Niklas Backstroms shutout bid at 5:55 with a wrist shot from the left side of the net. Then Evander Kane scored his second goal this season when his backhander from the bottom of the right circle bounced off Backstroms pads and in between his legs at 8:19. Less than three minutes later, Adam Pardys shot from the point deflected off Andrew Ladd to make it 3-3 and fired up the loud contingent of Jets fans. Im really, really proud the way they handled a couple of real bad breaks there in the first period that would have shattered most teams, Jets coach Paul Maurice said. We got a little snarl on andd fought our way back.dddddddddddd Darcy Kuemper replaced Backstrom, who finished with 19 saves, after Ladds goal. Kuemper stopped all three shots he faced. Its frustrating to lose a game, especially when you came back and you came so close, but when you really look back on it youll see a lot of positives from this road trip, how we really came together and battled, Hutchinson said. Later on down the road this could be a huge point for us. It didnt take long for Parise to give his team a lift — his first goal came at 4:11 of the first with Minnesota already up 1-0. Parises pass from the right circle caromed off Jets right wing Blake Wheeler past Ondrej Pavelec to make it 2-0. His second goal didnt come off his stick either. About 15 minutes later, Pavelec blocked Jared Spurgeons shot, but the rebound hit off Parises leg and went into the net to put the Wild up 3-0. However they go in, Parise said. Looking back early in the year we werent getting those type of bounces for our team. Hopefully they continue. Nino Niederreiter, the Wilds leading goal scorer, gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead 2:07 into the game on a pretty wrap around that sent the puck around Pavelecs outstretched right leg and into the net. Hutchinson replaced Pavelec to start the second period and finished with 15 saves. Notes: Scandella scored his third goal of the season and prevented the Wild from losing their second game this year after losing a three-goal lead. . . Winnipeg entered the game allowing an average of two goals per game, tied for second in the league. . .Wild D Ryan Suter had a career-high eight penalty minutes after tallying four all season.. . Parise still leads Minnesota in points (six goals, six assists) this season, despite missing five games. 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