2014 Poinsettia Bowl results: Navy beats San Diego State in final minute

Let’s look at the key numbers from Tuesday’s bowl action.

Marshall beat Northern Illinois, 52-23, in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl. The Herd were up by double digits for 40 of the last 42 minutes. After some back-and-forth scoring early on, they were in complete control.

Each team had a consistent blunder theme throughout.

Navy’s was simple. It turned the ball over four times. San Diego State, which had three turnovers of its own, was even more damned by failing to capitalize on opportunities. Those four Navy turnovers, multiple of which gave SDSU friendly field position, resulted in all of six Aztec points.

Does late-season NIU show up?

In the F/+ rankings, Northern Illinois -- the school with five consecutive 11-win seasons -- doesn’t make the mid-major top 20. The 11-2 Huskies come in 72nd overall, 21st among non-power schools and behind eight schools who have combined for a 49-47 record. They’re 10 spots behind FBS newbie Georgia Southern.

It’s hard to complain about getting a bowl game in beautiful California during the winter, and San Diego State and Navy get the benefit of playing in this year’s Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Midshipmen enter this game having won their previous three games to get to bowl eligibility for the third straight season. They get to face the Aztecs of the Mountain West, who went 3-1 down the stretch to finish 7-5 and make a bowl game for the fifth straight year.

The BYU Cougars and Memphis Tigers meet in the Miami Beach Bowl at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 22. Allowing only 17.1 points per game on defense this season, Memphis finished the year ranked fifth behind only Ole Miss, Stanford, LSU and Alabama in scoring defense.

BYU is 4-1 straight up and against the spread in its last five bowl games, while Memphis will be making its first bowl appearance since 2008. The Tigers are a 2-point favorite.

Navy football is in San Diego for the Poinsettia Bowl, and you know what that means: SEA WORLD! And you know what that means? Photo ops with the beluga whale!

However, do you notice something in all these pictures?

The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl might be one of the hidden jewels of bowl season. Qualcomm Stadium is nearing its 50th birthday, but the game is played in one of America’s most beautiful cities.

And what you get is one of the best names in all of bowl season: the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. The sponsor is hyperlocal and it makes for a comically long name, so using its full name is preferred whenever possible.