Tagovailoa outdueled Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to earn his spot as the quarterback of The Associated Press all-bowl team.

Although the College Football Playoff championship game still must be played — with No. 1 Alabama meeting No. 2 Clemson on Monday at Santa Clara, California — all the postseason games with “bowl” in the title are finished.

There were so many outstanding individual postseason performances that the all-bowl team couldn’t make room for a pair of 200-yard rushers (Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor), a couple of receivers who had three touchdown catches (Auburn’s Darius Slayton and Virginia’s Olamide Zaccheaus) or any representatives from Rose Bowl champion Ohio State.

It also doesn’t include a tight end so the offense features three wide receivers instead. And with some teams running 4-3 defenses while others opt for 3-4 alignments, the team includes four defensive linemen and four linebackers to cover the bases.

OFFENSE

Quarterback

Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama (Orange): The Heisman Trophy runner-up had more touchdown passes than incompletions in the Crimson Tide’s 45-34 victory over Oklahoma. Tagovailoa was 24 of 27 for 318 yards and four touchdowns in the playoff semifinal, another big performance in a big game.

Running back

Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Vanderbilt (Texas): Vanderbilt lost the Texas Bowl 45-38 to Baylor, but Vaughn did everything he possibly could. He rushed for 243 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries.

Trayeon Williams, Texas A&M (Gator): Williams broke a 52-year-old Gator Bowl rushing record by gaining 236 yards in the Aggies’ 52-13 blowout of North Carolina State. He also ran for three touchdowns, including a 93-yarder.

Wide receiver

T.J. Rahming, Duke (Independence): Rahming caught 12 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns in a 56-27 victory over Temple.

Justyn Ross, Clemson (Cotton): Ross had six catches for 148 yards (including touchdowns of 52 and 42 yards) in the Tigers’ 30-3 semifinal triumph over Notre Dame. The magnitude of the Cotton Bowl helped Ross make the AP team over some receivers who put up bigger numbers in lower-tier games.

Xavier Ubosi, UAB (Boca Raton): Ubosi caught seven passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-13 victory over Northern Illinois.

Offensive line

Beau Benzschawel, Wisconsin (Pinstripe): Benzschawel makes the all-bowl team for a second straight season after leading a line that paved the way for Jonathan Taylor’s 205-yard rushing performance in a 35-3 blowout of Miami. Wisconsin controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes and rushed for 333 yards.

Jordan Budwig, Florida International (Bahamas): Budwig made his 50th consecutive start in a 35-32 win over Toledo and capped a season in which the senior guard didn’t allow a sack. FIU gave up only eight sacks this season.

Andre Dillard, Washington State (Alamo): The senior tackle and Associated Press All-America third-team selection provided enough pass protection to help Gardner Minshew throw for 299 yards in Washington State’s 28-26 victory over Iowa State.

Phil Haynes, Wake Forest (Birmingham): The four-year starter led a line that helped Wake Forest gain 529 total yards in a 37-34 victory over Memphis. Although Wake Forest allowed two sacks, Haynes wasn’t responsible for either one.

Jared Weyler, Minnesota (Quick Lane): Weyler was Minnesota’s lone senior starter on offense for the bowl game and led an offensive line that featured two freshmen and a redshirt freshman. Weyler’s run blocking helped Mohamed Ibrahim rush for 224 yards as Minnesota beat Georgia Tech 34-10.

All-purpose

Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State (Las Vegas): Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns while also catching four passes for 33 yards and returning a punt 41 yards as Fresno State defeated Arizona State 31-20.

DEFENSE

Line

Willie Baker and Jaylon Ferguson, Louisiana Tech (Hawaii): Two teammates as one entry is admittedly cheating, but Baker had five tackles for loss and four of Louisiana Tech’s nine sacks in a 31-14 victory over Hawaii. Ferguson added 2 ½ sacks to bring his career total to 45, breaking Terrell Suggs’ Football Bowl Subdivision record.

Austin Bryant, Clemson (Cotton): Bryant had six overall tackles (three for loss) and two sacks as Clemson’s defensive line dominated Notre Dame even without suspended tackle Dexter Lawrence.

Rashard Lawrence, LSU (Fiesta): Lawrence delivered four tackles for loss and two sacks as LSU defeated UCF 40-32.

Charles Omenihu, Texas (Sugar): Omenihu had two tackles for loss in the Longhorns’ 28-21 upset of Georgia. He also was part of a defensive line that limited Georgia’s potent rushing attack to 72 yards on 30 carries.

Linebacker

Josh Allen, Kentucky (Citrus): Allen recorded three sacks in Kentucky’s 27-24 victory over Penn State to increase his season total to 17. He also blocked a field-goal attempt.

Justin Hollins, Oregon (Redbox): Hollins recorded seven tackles (2 ½ for loss) plus 1 ½ sacks and also forced a fumble for the fifth time this season as Oregon edged Michigan State 7-6.

Jawuan Johnson, TCU (Cheez-It): Johnson picked off a pass in overtime to spark TCU’s 10-7 victory over California. He also had a team-high seven tackles, including one for loss.

James Nachtigal, Army (Military): Nachtigal made a career-high 16 tackles and delivered three of Army’s program-record 10 sacks in a 70-14 blowout of Houston. He also forced three fumbles.

Secondary

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Florida (Peach): He picked off two passes and totaled 83 yards in interception returns. His touchdown on a 30-yard return capped the scoring as Florida trounced Michigan 41-15.

Jaylin Hawkins, California (Cheez-It): Although his team lost to TCU in overtime, Hollins had three interceptions to go along with six tackles.

JR Pace, Northwestern (Holiday): Pace picked off a pass, recovered a fumble and made seven tackles as Northwestern rallied to beat Utah 31-20.

Juan Thornhill, Virginia (Belk): Thornhill recorded six tackles (one for loss) and had an interception as Virginia blanked South Caro lina 28-0.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker

Tyler Bass, Georgia Southern (Camellia): Bass made all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 40-yarder as time expired to beat Eastern Michigan 23-21. He also made field goals from 50 and 35 yards.

Punter

Blake Gillikin, Penn State (Citrus): Although his team lost the game, Gillikin had an exceptional performance. He averaged a career-best 51.2 yards on five punts and landed two of them inside the 20-yard line.

Kick Returner

Tony Pollard, Memphis (Birmingham): Pollard scored on a 97-yard kickoff return in the loss to Wake Forest. Porter totaled six kickoff returns for 209 yards and had 17 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Punt Returner

Lynn Bowden, Kentucky (Citrus): Bowden scored on a 58-yard punt return and also was Kentucky’s leading receiver with five catches for 84 yards in the victory over Penn State.

Follow Steve Megargee at https://twitter.com/stevemegargee

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