Washington State hired South Dakota State’s Jimmy Rogers as its head football coach Saturday.

Rogers replaces Jake Dickert, who left to become Wake Forest’s head coach Dec. 18.

“Throughout the process, it was evident Jimmy embodies the qualities needed to lead our program: character, passion, vision and commitment,” Washington State athletic director Anne McCoy said in a statement. “His coaching acumen is extremely high as is his work ethic, and the value he places on mentoring the young men in his program is evident.”

Rogers arrives in Pullman after two successful years as South Dakota State’s head coach. He led the Jackrabbits to the 2023 FCS national championship and to the national semifinals this season, compiling a 27-3 record.

Rogers earned the Eddie Robinson Award as the FCS’s top coach following the 2023 championship run and was the defensive coordinator when the Jackrabbits won the national title the year before. He’s spent the past 12 years at South Dakota State, starting as linebackers coach in 2013.

Rogers played linebacker for three seasons at South Dakota State, ending his career as the school’s career tackles leader. He started his coaching career at his alma mater right after his playing days and spent two seasons at Florida Atlantic before returning.

Rogers takes over a program decimated by the transfer portal. The Cougars lost at least 25 players and several coaches, including both coordinators.

Short-handed Washington State lost 52-35 to No. 22 Syracuse in the Holiday Bowl on Friday night.

INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Bryson Daily broke the FBS record for touchdowns by a quarterback in a season with 32, running for three scores in No. 19 Army’s 27-6 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night in Shreveport, La.

Daily ran for 127 yards on 27 carries and was 2-of-9 passing for 65 yards to help Army set a program victory record at 12-2. Daily broke the FBS quarterback record for touchdowns in a season set by Navy’s Keenan Reynolds in 2013.

“I’m really proud of this senior class, the way we came together to have this season,” Daily said. “To have two six-win seasons in a row, to turn it around and get 12, just extremely proud of the guys.”

Army entered the game with a nation-best 298.9 yards rushing per game and punished the Bulldogs (5-8), a late replacement for Sun Belt champion Marshall.

MUSIC CITY BOWL

The Missouri Tigers and Iowa Hawkeyes finally get to make up for a missed opportunity today at the Music City Bowl in Nashville.

The teams originally were set to play each other here in 2020 when Missouri was hit hard by COVID-19 cases, canceling the game. Iowa got here in 2022 and shut out Kentucky.

No. 23 Missouri (9-3, No. 19 CFP) needs a victory for back-to-back 10-win seasons for the third time in school history and the first since 2013-14.

Iowa (8-4) rebounded from a 4-3 start by winning four of its last five to reach a 12th straight bowl.

Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz is a win away from a couple of impressive marks in Big Ten history as he wraps up his 26th season with Iowa. Ferentz has 204 career victories and needs one more to tie Woody Hayes’ 205 wins at Ohio State for the most overall wins in league history. Ferentz also has 10 career bowl victories, tying him with Joe Paterno for most bowl wins among Big Ten coaches.

Brady Cook will become the first quarterback in Missouri history to start four straight bowls. He is 26-13 as a starter, trailing only Chase Daniel’s 30 wins for the most at Missouri. Cook has completed 63.3% of his passes for 2,248 yards this season.

Cook won’t have one of his favorite targets. Luther Burden III, who had 61 catches for 676 yards and six touchdowns despite facing double- and triple-team coverage, announced on Dec. 2 he would skip the bowl to prepare for the draft.

SABAN FOR COMMISH?

Penn State coach James Franklin believes college football needs a commissioner and he even has a candidate in mind: former Alabama coach Nick Saban.

“I think he’s the obvious choice, right?” Franklin said.

Franklin — who joked that Saban wouldn’t be thrilled with his comment — made the suggestion on Sunday at Penn State’s College Football Playoff quarterfinals media day ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions are preparing for their game against No. 3 seed Boise State on Tuesday.

The veteran coach was responding to a question about Penn State’s backup quarterback situation after Beau Pribula transferred to Missouri just weeks before the CFP began, leaving the Nittany Lions scrambling for options. Pribula’s decision highlighted some of the frustrating aspects of a new college football world in the Name, Image and Likeness era and the transfer portal, forcing players to make tough decisions at inopportune times.

Franklin said that because there isn’t a leader dedicated solely to college football, conference commissioners are left to handle the task themselves. That’s led to bickering between the leagues because different conferences have different interests.

“I think one of the most important things that we can do is let’s get a commissioner of college football that is waking up every single morning and going to bed every single night, making decisions that’s in the best interest of college football,” Franklin said.

The 73-year-old Saban retired after last season. He won seven national titles, including six at Alabama and one at LSU. He is now an analyst for ESPN’s “College GameDay.”

OTT RETURNING FOR CAL

Standout running back Jaydn Ott announced on social media Sunday that he’ll return to Cal for his senior season.

Ott, who was slowed by a lingering ankle injury this season, posted on X that he’s coming back to Berkeley.

His return is welcome news for the Bears, who lost starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza to the transfer portal, where he eventually landed at Indiana.

Ott ran for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023, while also catching 25 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

He suffered an ankle injury in this year’s season opener and never could get it completely healed as he rushed for just 385 yards on 116 carries with four touchdowns.

— Jon Becker