Houston scores three times in last 4 minutes to beat Pittsburgh, 35-34

Houston’s Greg Ward threw three touchdowns — two of them after recovered onside kicks — in the final three minutes, 41 seconds of the Armed Forces Bowl and completed a game-winning two-point conversion to lift the Cougars to a 35-34 victory over Pittsburgh on Friday at Fort Worth.

Pittsburgh (6-7) led 31-6 when James Conner, the Atlantic Coast Conference offensive player of the year, got his second touchdown run with 14 minutes left in the game.

Houston (8-5) went on to the biggest comeback in an FBS game this season and matched the third-largest in a bowl game.

Ward had an eight-yard scoring pass to Deontay Greenberry before the Cougars recovered their first onside kick. That led to a 29-yard catch by Demarcus Ayers on a fourth-and-13 play with 1:58 left, and Houston tried another onside kick.

While the second one didn’t go 10 yards on the rain-slickened field, the ball was touched by the same Pitt defender who couldn’t handle the first one before Houston running back Kenneth Farrow jumped on it at the Cougars’ 43-yard line. Greenberry started the drive with a 38-yard catch, then on third and 16 had a 25-yard touchdown with 59 seconds left.

Interim coach David Gibbs opted for a win-or-lose two-point conversion try, and Greenberry made a leaping catch in the back corner of the end zone.

Tennessee 45, Iowa 28: Joshua Dobbs accounted for three touchdowns and Jalen Hurd ran for two scores in the TaxSlayer Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla., for the Volunteers’ first postseason victory since the Phillip Fulmer era.

The Volunteers (7-6) scored on their first four possessions, leading 28-0 before Iowa (7-6) managed 70 yards.

Hurd, Dobbs and a bit of trickery helped Tennessee build the big lead.

Hurd broke tackles on nearly every run, capping Tennessee’s first possession with a three-yard score and adding a 29-yard touchdown scamper on the next drive.

Tennessee made it 21-0 late in the first quarter when Dobbs threw a lateral to running back Marlin Lane in the right flat. Lane, a senior from nearby Daytona Beach, turned and hit Vic Wharton in stride down the sideline.

The victory was Tennessee’s first in the postseason since beating Wisconsin in the 2008 Outback Bowl. The Volunteers closed the season with four wins in their final five games.