The son of one of the most prolific running backs in NFL history made quite a name for himself during college football's bowl season.
Southern Mississippi sophomore Frank Gore Jr. rushed for 329 yards — the most in any bowl game ever — to lead the Golden Eagles to a 38-24 victory over Rice at the LendingTree Bowl on Dec. 17, the second day of bowls for the 2022 season. The record had been held by Appalachian State's Camerun Peoples, who rushed for 317 yards against North Texas in the 2020 Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Gore's father ran for 16,000 career yards from 2005 to 2020 to rank third on the NFL's all-time rushing list, behind only Emmitt Smith (18,355) and Walter Payton (16,726).
The younger Gore, a 5-foot-8, 195-pounder, rushed for touchdowns covering 64 and 55 yards while averaging 15.7 yards per carry against Rice. He also completed two of his three passes for 19 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown.
Gore's huge performance made him an easy selection as the all-purpose player on the AP all-bowl team. With only Monday night's College Football Playoff championship game between No. 1 Georgia (14-0) and No. 3 TCU (13-1) remaining, here are the picks for the best postseason performances.
Bowl names are listed in parentheses, and rankings are from the most recent AP Top 25 poll.
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Bryce Young, Alabama (Sugar): The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner capped his college career by completing 15 of 21 passes for 321 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions as No. 5 Alabama beat No. 11 Kansas State 45-20.
AP photo by Butch Dill / Alabama quarterback Bryce Young holds his most outstanding player trophy as he celebrates after the Crimson Tide's 45-20 victory against Kansas State at the Sugar Bowl last Saturday in New Orleans. Young, who said Monday that he is leaving college early to make himself available for the NFL draft this spring, made the AP all-bowl team announced Thursday after throwing five touchdown passes against Kansas State.Running backs
Emari Demercado, TCU (Fiesta): Kendre Miller's knee injury forced the Horned Frogs to rely on Demercado more and more as the game wore on. He responded by rushing for a career-high 150 yards -- just the second 100-yard game of his collegiate career -- and a touchdown on 17 carries in a 51-45 semifinal upset of No. 2 Michigan.
Tyjae Spears, Tulane (Cotton): He rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries as No. 14 Tulane rallied for a 46-45 victory over No. 8 Southern California.
Wide receivers
Malik Nabers, LSU (Citrus): Nabers made nine catches for 163 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown, as No. 16 LSU rolled to a 63-7 win against Purdue.
Brenden Rice, Southern California (Cotton): He had six receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns against Tulane. Another receiver to have a big performance for a losing team in a New Year's Six matchup was Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., who had five catches for 106 yards against Georgia in the Peach Bowl semifinal before getting injured.
Johnny Wilson, Florida State (Cheez-It): He had eight catches for 202 yards to help No. 13 Florida State beat Oklahoma 35-32.
Tight end
Alex Bauman, Tulane (Cotton): He caught a 6-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds left to complete the Green Wave's dramatic comeback and had a 24-yard catch on fourth-and-10 earlier in the winning drive.
Linemen
Graham Barton, Duke (Military): He anchored a line that didn't allow any sacks in the Blue Devils' 30-13 victory over UCF. Barton had a pass-blocking grade of 88.9, according to Pro Football Focus.
Hampton Ergle, East Carolina (Birmingham): He played center in his first college start and helped the Pirates gain 486 yards in a 53-29 victory over Coastal Carolina.
Xavier Truss, Georgia (Peach): He had four knockdown blocks and two pancakes while allowing no pressures as No. 1 Georgia won its semifinal 42-41 over No. 4 Ohio State.
Dalton Wagner, Arkansas (Liberty): In his 40th college start, the right tackle helped Arkansas gain 681 yards in a 55-53 triple-overtime victory over Kansas.
Darnell Wright, Tennessee (Orange): Wright, a right tackle, didn't allow a sack all season in 895 snaps. That streak continued when No. 6 Tennessee beat No. 10 Clemson 31-14.
DEFENSE
Linemen
Devo Bridges, Fresno State (L.A. Bowl): He had eight tackles and two sacks as Fresno State defeated Washington State 29-6 and limited the Cougars to 182 total yards.
Jordan Ferguson, MTSU (Hawaii): He had five tackles (one for loss), intercepted one pass and broke up another in Middle Tennessee State University's 25-23 victory over San Diego State. He also had an offensive highlight, catching an 8-yard touchdown pass.
Dylan Horton, TCU (Fiesta): He delivered four sacks, forced a fumble and broke up a pass, producing the highest single-game sacks total for a TCU player since Mat Boesen had 5.5 against Baylor in 2017. Horton finished the season with 10.5 sacks.
Richard Jibunor, Troy (Cure): He had a 13-yard interception return, forced and recovered a fumble, and added a sack as No. 23 Troy won 18-12 over No. 22 UTSA.
Linebackers
Aaron Beasley, Tennessee (Orange): He racked up 12 tackles (four for loss), two sacks and a pass breakup to help the Volunteers complete an 11-win season.
Ben Bywater, BYU (New Mexico): He scored on a 76-yard interception return and also had a team-high 11 tackles as BYU edged SMU 24-23.
Kyrei Fisher-Morris, Oregon State (Las Vegas): He made 11 tackles (three for loss) with a sack as the 17th-ranked Beavers dominated Florida in a 30-3 victory.
Daylen Gill, Southern Miss (LendingTree): He stood out with a team-high 11 tackles and collected three sacks against Rice.
Secondary
Brian Branch, Alabama (Sugar): He had 12 tackles -- including 11 solos and four for loss -- plus a sack and an interception against Kansas State.
Ji'Ayir Brown, Penn State (Rose): He had a 22-yard interception return, eight tackles and 1.5 sacks as No. 9 Penn State beat No. 7 Utah 35-21.
Coleman Bryson, Minnesota (Pinstripe): He scored on a 70-yard interception return and made seven solo tackles as Minnesota beat Syracuse 28-20.
Cooper DeJean, Iowa (Music City): He scored on a 14-yard interception return, delivered seven tackles and had three punt returns for a combined 42 yards in Iowa's 21-0 rout of Kentucky.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker
Ben Sauls, Pittsburgh (Sun): His 47-yard field goal with four seconds left gave Pitt a 37-35 triumph over No. 18 UCLA. Sauls made all five field goals he attempted in the game, with his others from 22, 27, 31 and 49 yards, and kicked a pair of extra points for the Panther. Sauls kicking a winner gave him the edge at this spot over Michigan's Jake Moody, who made a 59-yarder in the Fiesta.
Punter
Ryan Rehkow, BYU (New Mexico): He averaged 58.8 yards on four punts, including a 65-yarder and a 67-yarder. Three of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line.
Returner
Ta'ron Keith, Bowling Green (Quick Lane): He scored on a 75-yard kickoff return in Bowling Green's 24-19 loss to New Mexico State. Keith also caught three passes for 69 yards.