California Golden Bears

2017 Senior Bowl Recap: South Holds On Against North

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:24 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jeremy Karll/FanSided via Dear Old Gold

The South All-Stars took down the North All-Stars 16-15 in the Senior Bowl

In the final All-Star game of the season, the South all-stars beat the North all-stars 16-15 in the 2017 Senior Bowl. California quarterback Davis Webb won the game’s MVP.

Points were hard to come by early in the game. The North scored the first points on a 22-yard Zane Gonzalez field goal with 3:35 left in the first quarter.

They held the lead until South’s Davis Webb connected with Josh Reynolds for a 39-yard touchdown and kicked a 37-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the half. South only held a 9-3 lead because they had to go for two-points on their touchdown since it occurred in the second quarter, but the two-point conversion failed.

The South all-stars added to their lead with the eventual winning touchdown midway through the third quarter. Matthew Dayes ran it in for a two-yard touchdown to give the South a 16-3 lead.

Gonzalez kicked two field goals in the third quarter to bring the North all-stars within a touchdown, 16-9. However, it took until the final two minutes for the Chicago Bears-led squad to answer.

Nate Peterman, who started and played most of the game, connected with standout receiver Zay Jones, who finished six receptions and 68 yards, for a six-yard touchdown with 1:51 left. North’s two-point conversion failed, though, which ended the game 16-15 after the South picked up a couple of first downs.

Despite the North forcing five turnovers, the South still gained 104 more yards and five more first downs. Their quarterback play was clearly superior on Saturday afternoon and made a huge difference in the end result.

North quarterback Nate Peterman finished the game completing 16-of-23 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. He played all but part of the second quarter when former Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard went under center.

Besides a beautiful downfield touchdown pass to Zay Jones, that a penalty negated, Beathard looked rattled.

Got called back but Zay Jones has been ballin' this week pic.twitter.com/5sFYtdhFkh

— Jared Tokarz (@NFLDraftInsider) January 28, 2017

He scrambled once for 12 yards to pick up a first down on third-and-seven, but the defensive pressure got to him multiple times. It resulted in Beathard being sacked, as well as fumbling twice. He didn’t look comfortable in the pocket the whole game.

Beathard finished the game completing 1-of-2 passes for four yards.

Jaleel Johnson put the same pressure on the South’s quarterbacks, even if he didn’t record a sack. He did record a few tackles in the run game, though, and proved to be one of the best defensive tackles in the game as he played on more than half of the defensive possessions.

Desmond King played as much as Johnson but struggled on the afternoon like Beathard. Joshua Dobbs, 12-of-15 for 104 yards, went after King twice and completed both passes for a first down. King was trying to prove to NFL scouts that he can play cornerback at the next level but didn’t live up to expectations on his couple of chances.

Other standouts included Kareem Hunt, 118 yards on 15 carries, Josh Reynolds, five receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown, Lorenzo Jerome, two interceptions, and Davis Webb, 11-of-16 for 165 yards and a touchdown.

There are still Pro Days and the NFL Combine, but this is the last college game of the season.