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OTE Awards Its Cotton Bowl MVP: Reaction, Recap, Awards

There were a lot of worthy contenders, but only one stood out.

By MNWildcat and BigRedTwice
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic - Memphis v Penn State Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the upstart G5 representative Memphis Tigers in the Cotton Bowl this afternoon, 53-39. The Lions picked off Memphis QB Brady White twice, then racked up 396 yards on the ground, with Journey Brown amassing 202 yards and a pair of scores, with Noah Cain chipping in 92 yards and a paid of TDs as well.

As is custom, then, we at Off Tackle Empire like to hand out our MVP award for the Cotton Bowl Classic.

There were a lot of worthy contenders out there: Brown certainly was deserving, and LB Micah Parsons picked up a couple sacks of his own. We went, however, a different direction:

BigRedTwice

Congratulations to Memphis K Riley Patterson, this year’s Cotton Bowl MVP based on the strength of his 21 points—6/6 on FGs, and 3/3 on PATs! The junior kicker—whose holder, Preston Brady, won this year’s Mortell Award for the best holder in the country—hit field goals of 48, 37, 44, 51, 41, and 42 yards, each of them a no-doubter on distance. Get this kid in the NFL Draft immediately (if he declares).

The Tigers may have come up short against a Big Ten also-ran, but they should be immensely proud of the historic performance by their kicker! Congratulations, Riley!