Texas’ trickery helps turn back Cal

SAN DIEGO -- The next time Texas coach Mack Brown sees Joey Harrington, the memory shouldn't be quite so painful.

David Ash added his name to the list of quarterbacks who have caught a touchdown pass in the Holiday Bowl, and he also threw for one score to lead Texas to a 21-10 victory against California on Wednesday night.

Ash caught a 4-yard pass from wide receiver Jaxon Shipley in the second quarter to join Brigham Young's Steve Young, Texas A&M's Bucky Richardson and Oregon's Harrington as quarterbacks who've caught touchdown passes in the Holiday Bowl.

The Longhorns had the ball first-and-goal when Ash handed off to running back Malcolm Brown, who then handed off to Shipley as if the Longhorns were going to run a reverse. Ash slipped into the end zone and caught Shipley's pass to give Texas a 7-3 lead. Shipley has thrown three touchdown passes this season, all while lining up at wide receiver.

Brown joked Tuesday how much it still bugged him that Harrington caught a TD pass in the Ducks' 35-30 win against Texas in the 2000 Holiday Bowl. The Oregon offensive coordinator then was Jeff Tedford, who has been Cal's coach since 2002. Harrington now works for the Longhorn Network.

Brown credited the play to co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, who previously had coached and played at Boise State.

"Bryan Harsin grew up in that Boise system and that's the stuff Jeff did with Oregon back in the early 2000s," Brown said. "And it's one of the reasons why I hired Bryan. ... He's got toys in the pocket that he's going to take advantage of things when he can."

That play helped salvage a little bit of the Holiday Bowl's reputation for high-scoring, wide-open games.

"We knew they were going to throw something like that out there," Cal defensive end Trevor Guyton said. "It was only a matter of time before they did it."

Ash had another impressive play in the third quarter when he threw a 47-yard TD pass to Marquise Goodwin, who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in full stride to give Texas a 14-10 lead.

The Longhorns (8-5) were even more impressive on defense, getting five takeaways and sacking Cal's Zach Maynard six times, both season highs. The Golden Bears fumbled six times, losing four.

"We had our chances and gave the ball away," Tedford said.

Cal (7-6) is winless in five games against the Longhorns dating to 1959.

MILITARY BOWL

■ Toledo 42, Air Force 41 -- At Washington, the Falcons' attempt at a 2-point conversion went awry with 52 seconds to play, giving the Rockets the victory.

Air Force (7-6) lined up to kick the extra point after Zach Kauth's 33-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-3 pulled the Falcons within a point. But holder David Baska ran the option instead and fumbled toward kicker Parker Herrington, who chased the ball until it went out of bounds in the end zone.

Bernard Reedy's third touchdown -- a 37-yard catch, spin and run on a pass from Terrance Owens -- gave Toledo a 42-35 lead with 5:01 to play and put the Rockets (9-4) over the 40-point mark for a sixth straight game.

Reedy had a career-high 126 yards on four catches and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Owens completed 19 of 24 passes for 210 yards, and Adonis Thomas ran for 108 yards on 22 carries.

The win marked a successful debut for 32-year-old Matt Campbell, the youngest coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Campbell, the Rockets' offensive coordinator for three years, was promoted to head coach after Tim Beckman left this month for Illinois.

Air Force's Tim Jefferson, the first quarterback to lead a service academy to four consecutive bowl games, completed 13 of 22 passes for 159 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.