up tailback Marcus Coker put in a record performance to lead Iowa to a 27-24 win over Missouri in college football's Insight Bowl Tuesday. Coker ran for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Undermanned due to injuries and suspensions, Iowa turned to Coker, who was a back-up to Adam Robinson during the regular season. With Robinson out suspended, Coker set school records for yards and carries in front of an Insight Bowl-record 53,453 fans. It was a run of a different kind that sealed the result, as Micah Hyde had a meandering 72-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. Missouri had its way with Iowa's once-stout defense most of the night, rolling up 512 yards, including a school bowl record 434 passing by quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert finished 41 for 57 to set two more school records, but inexplicably threw an interception straight to Hyde, who dodged several tackles while running backward and sideways. Missouri had one final chance, but a fourth-down reception by T.J. Moe with 2:15 left was overruled on review and Coker helped grind out the clock. Moe finished with an Insight Bowl record 15 receptions for 152 yards. Once fierce rivals, these teams hadn't met in a century, despite being separated by less than 400 kms. The 12-game rivalry ended following a particularly brutal game in 1910, and a planned four-year series from 2005-08 also fell through, putting an interesting twist on this Midwest battle in the desert. North Carolina State 23, West Virginia 7: In Orlando, Florida, Russell Wilson threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns in what may have been his football farewell, leading North Carolina State past West Virginia in the Champs Sports Bowl. Wilson also had 41 yards rushing, Josh Czajkowski made three field goals and the Wolfpack won nine games in a season for only the second time in school history. Wilson, who earned the bowl's MVP honor, may very well have played his last football game for the Wolfpack. He spent much of the summer playing baseball in the Colorado Rockies' minor-league system, and now he'll have to decide whether to come back for his senior season or move on to a baseball career. The Wolfpack can only hope he returns. Wilson was 28 for 45 passing, had no interceptions and handled a West Virginia defense that been solid. It was the most points that the Mountaineers allowed all season. Wilson's 16-yard touchdown pass to Mustafa Greene put the Wolfpack up 7-0 in the first quarter, and they never had trouble moving the ball after that. For West Virginia, Geno Smith had 196 yards passing and an injured Noel Devine ran for 50 yards, but the Mountaineers' five second-half turnovers ended any hopes of a cheerful send off for some of Bill Stewart's staff. Stewart is being slowly forced out as coach with Dana Holgorsen, Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator, taking over at the same position next year at West Virginia before moving into Stewart's job in 2012. The game was current offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen's last game.
