Bowl Recap

With three games left and only two of signifigance to me I figure that it is about time to bring my thoughts on this Bowl Season to a close.

The Fiesta Bowl is a classic simple put. As a game on its own merits it doesn’t measure up to the 2003 Fiesta Bowl or the 2006 Rose Bowl but it was about as good as you can get. The 2003 Fiesta was a slug fest going back and forth with many lead changes and several points that turned the tide of the game. The teams were even and on solid footing all game long untill Ken Dorsey’s fourth down pass hit the Sun Devil sod under heavy pressure from Cie Grant. That game was a classic. From start to finnish it exceded all our expectations. Last years Rose Bowl remains the best game that I have ever seen. It had more hype than any one game should ever have but it lived up to it all. The first half might have been sluggish and filled with blown calls and bad decisions. However the second half of that game was Football decended from the Gods. It provided everything you could ever want in a game. Clutch defensive stops, five wide spreads followed by two tight end power I formations. It had a singular defining moment, the 4th and 2 stop by Michale Huff and the heart of the Texas line after being shoved around all game. It had the two best offensive line performances in a single game as USC and Texas’s OLines proved why they were the best in all of College Football. There is also that small issue of the most amazing singular performance by one person in a bowl game, or a game for that matter. Vince Young, if he was not playing USC would have rolled in an embareasment akin to the Orange Bowl from the year before. But Vince did play and Vince did star.

This years Fiesta Bowl is not on par with any of that but what it does have on those games is the best end game play calling and excecution that you will ever see. Ever. A hook and ladder on 4th down with under two minutes to play. A statue of liberty for the game winning two point conversion. And they worked. they worked! How does that work against one of the best coaches in all of College Football? Several times during that game I yelled at my TV. That being said this was not even the game of the year. It was such a laugher that I went into my room and started looking at my laptop, of course when the ESPN.com gamecast showed that OU was trying its best to win it I went back into the living room, turned on the TV and marveled. The tipped TD pass from Paul Thompson promtply followed by the 2 point conversion displaying some of the worst quarterback footwork that you will see that somehow found its target. Promptly followed by the oh shit moment of the pick six of Jared Zabransky. Little did I know that this was the first of many to come. Becuase less than a minute later Brian Harsin dialed up a play that will never die, the hook and ladder from Drisan James to Jerard Rabb. On the first play of OT the franchise ripped of a 25 yard TD that I thought would difitivly end this game. I was wrong, Boise drove. Boise scored. Boise went for two. Boise got the two. Boise won. Oh Shit! Boise won! It was a great moment and a great upset but some things must be taken into concideration. The first of which is the fact that Oklahoma tried their hardest to hand this game to the Broncos on a silver platter with 4 turnovers and generally lack luster. second those trick plays as great and amazing as they were make it very easy to say that Boise was up against it and had to resort to gimmicks to beat one of the true blue bloods of the sport. just some things to think about.

The Rose Bowl was good, for a half. UM quit in the second half and showed no heart at all. they were out played in every phase of the game and showed why they did not deserve a shot at the Buckeyes in the first place. USC now has the inside track to preseason #1 next year with everyone but Jarrett coming back for next year.

thats all i got, i forgot all my other thoughts.

Random Bowl Thoughts

First and foremost this bowl season has been a huge bust to this point. Only one game so far has been competitive start to finish and will wind up being one of the top five Bowl Games this year, and that was the PetroSun Independence Bowl between the other, other OSU and Bama. Last year was a classic bowl season headlined by the best series of BCS games ever and several good to great mid-level bowl games and a few intriguing match ups in the menial bowls. This year all of 4 games have been close at the half. 2 were close going into the 4th and 1 actually had a satisfying finish. However there is hope as the bulk of the good match ups are at hand in the coming week so there is that much to look forward to.

Best Game: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama no question on this one. It was a close fought back and forth. Sure it was fraught with turnovers and would not be considered more than marginally entertaining or good last year but this was an exciting game to watch and had it all. From a Tackle throwback to some perfectly designed plays on the part of OSU the best of which was the screen call on third down to take the ball into field goal territory with under two minutes to play.

Best Performance: Colt Brennan next question. Seriously though he was nothing short of fantastic in the game with the desert devils. 33 of 42, 559 yards 5TD’s 1INT. I don’t care what offense you run who you play. That is amazing and he has been doing it all year. Unless Jamarcus Russell, Troy Smith or Darren McFadden tear of astronomical games he is not moving from here.

Worst Game: Holiday Bowl. The first tilt between ranked teams in this bowl season was a dud. A dud on a massive scale even Ryan Leaf would call that a dud. The game was close and went back and forth. for a quarter. from that point all Cal asserted its advantage and in large doses. That advantage was speed and the boys from Strawberry Canyon pressed it to its fullest degree. Behind the masterful play calling and decision making from Tedford, that was for the most part completely absent in losses to Zona, USC and a close call with lowly Standford, the sturdy Golden Bears rolled in the 2nd half to turn this into a laugher. It seems that once Desmond Bishop and Co. figured out the option read attack of the Aggies it was all down hill for Fran.

Worst Performance: Oregon Ducks. Nothing went right for the quack attack. First the coaching staff decided that they did not know which QB fits best in their offense (Hint, it is the fast one, not the slow pocket passer). They compounded the problem by forgetting to give Jon Stewart the ball more than 10 times, 8 to be precise. To top it all off the Ducks decided to wear their shiny new Yellow and Green tinted domes for the first time ever. Something tells me that we will never see those helmets again on the Ducks. Something else tells me that at some point next year the Ducks will rock the all white uni’s, including helmet, at some point next year.

Bowl picks so far 8 for 12

Bowl Selections

My picks are bold

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Northern Illinois vs Texas Christian

Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl
Oregon vs Brigham Young

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Troy vs Rice

PapaJohns.com Bowl
East Carolina vs South Florida

New Mexico Bowl
San Jose State vs New Mexico

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Tulsa vs Utah

Hawaii Bowl
Arizona State vs Hawaii

Motor City Bowl
Central Michigan vs Middle Tennessee State

Emerald Bowl
University of California Los Angeles vs Florida State

PetroSun Independance Bowl
Alabama vs Oklahoma State

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
Texas A&M vs University of California Berkely

Texas Bowl
Kansas State vs Rutgers

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Kentucky vs Clemson

Brut Sun Bowl
Missouri vs Oregon State

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Houston vs South Carolina

Insight Bowl
Minnesota vs Texas Tech

Champs Sports Bowl
Maryland vs Purdue

Meinike Car Care Bowl
Navy vs Boston College

Alamo Bowl
Iowa vs Texas

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Goergia vs Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

MPC Computers Bowl
Nevada vs Miami

Outback Bowl
Penn State vs Tennessee

AT&T Cotton Bowl
Nebraska vs Auburn

Toyota Gator Bowl
Georgia Institute of Technology vs West Virginia

Capital One Bowl
Arkansas vs Wisconsin

Rose Bowl
Southern California vs Michigan

Tosteitos Fiesta Bowl
Boise State vs Oklahoma

Fed-Ex Orange Bowl
Wake Forest vs Louisville

Allstate Sugar Bowl
Louisiana State vs Notre Dame

International Bowl
Western Michigan vs Cincinnati

GMAC Bowl
Ohio vs. Southern Miss

Tostitos BCS Championship Game
Ohio State vs Florida

BCS Breakdown

Well the BCS match ups have been determined. First a word on the BCS as a system. First of all I do agree with the people who continue to say that the BCS as a whole is a bad institution. It is a bad system and it is terribly flawed. The computer portion of the system is the only one that is legitimate in my opinion. The human polls are a farse in and of itself. The Harris poll is a complete joke, and should be scrapped in favor of the AP if the AP would agree to once again agree to be part of the system. The coaches poll is in and of itself a complete joke. Coaches put in 60 hour weeks on average and they are supposed to be able to pay attention to the depth and scope of the entire college football world? Hardly. Yes the BCS is bad. But does anyone remember how Champions were determined 20 years ago? By opinion. That is it matchup between top teams in bowl games for the determination of national champions were rare. With the BCS the national championship match ups are, for the most part, between teams that people agree deserve consideration. There is only one match up that I can think of where a team clearly not deserving the privilege was chosen over a more deserving team and that was in 2001. College Football has always wished for a “Magic Bullet,” a situation in which a clear #1 and a clear #2 team meet in a post season bowl. Those instances have been very rare over the course of College Football history. The fact remains that for all its faults and short comings the BCS has managed to successfully managed to do that far more often than Bowl Alliance and Bowl Coalition before it. Deplore the BCS all you want but it is still a better system that anything that was in place before it. For those that wish the BCS would disband and a playoff system would magically create itself. Dream on. It will never happen. This will surely be a topic I will write about in the future.

Now on to more pressing issues. The BCS has chosen its teams to fill the 10 BCS slots. The Majority of the discussion has been of the decision to place Florida in the BCS Title game instead of a one loss Michigan team. The uproar that has come from this has been nothing short of nauseating for me being that I do live in the great state of Ohio. First the choice to put Florida in that National Title game is the correct one in my opinion for a pair of very important reasons. I hope that this decision to place the Gators over the Wolverines will set a pair of precedents, one that should have been in place years ago and one that, while not officially part of the BCS bylaws, is implied.
The First precedent is that failing to win your own conference championship should automatically disqualify a team from making the national title game. This is a common sense thing and should have been instituted after the 2001 edition of the National Title game when Nebraska laid a huge egg on the day after Thanksgiving in Boulder and failed to win their own division, let alone their own conference. This is a rule that should have been in place when the BCS formula was recalculated at the end of the season. The objection that will be raised by alot of people is that there is potential that the two best teams in the nation may be from the same conference. This can happen but in all conferences but one it will never happen. Can you guess the only conference in which this scenario can come to fruition? That’s right its the Big 10 folks. The ACC, SEC and Big XII all have title games and the Big East and PAC 10 mandate that every team in the conference play the other 7, in the case of the Big East, and 9, in the case of the PAC 10. For the sake of the scenario if two teams from the Big 10 run the table and appear to be the two best teams in the nation I have no reservations about the placing those two teams in the National Title game. That is the only scenario that I could ever approve of in which two teams from the same conference match up in the national title game.
The other precedent that has been set is that rematch’s should be avoided. While it is found no where in the BCS guidelines that there are never to be rematches in any of the BCS games it is implied that they are to be avoided. It is common sense that there should be no rematches in the BCS games. The two goals of the BCS is to first and foremost match the two best teams in the nation in the national title game(If at this point you object and claim that Michigan is the second best team in the nation refer to the point above.) The second goal of the BCS is to create interesting match ups in the other four BCS bowls. Except for in rare situations rematches are rarely as interesting as the first match ups. A rematch would have been horrible for the integrity and the sport of College Football. You should be thanking the College Football gods that an Ohio State Michigan rematch for all the marbles never came to fruition.

And now onto the actual BCS games.
The Rose Bowl; Southern California Vs. Michigan: This is easily the most intriguing of all of the BCS games. While the OSU and UofF game is being played for more, this game is being played for next season. The winner of this game will almost be assured of being the pre season number one team in the nation. In addition to that this game will be extremely interesting from a tactical stand point. Ohio State has the blueprint for how to beat this Michigan defense, and you beat this team by using the run to set up the pass. USC can carry out that game plan exactly as OSU did. John David Booty is not Troy Smith, but he will do his best impersonation of #10 in Scarlet and Gray. One thing that USC has over OSU is incredible depth at WR. Leon Hall is a great, great corner, but Morgan Trent is not. USC’s second receiver will have the advantage in that match up all day especially if Carr and Co. don’t anticipate it. Michigan failed to adjust to against OSU and continued to place a linebacker on one of the slot receivers. They were burned for the over site. If they do the same thing against SC JD Booty will be able to hit out routes and stops all afternoon to Chris McFoy and Patrick Turner. Conversely UCLA gave the blueprint to Michigan on how to stop SC. They placed a ton of pressure on Booty with relentless pressure and quick aggressive defensive ends. Michigan can carry out that game plan. They might not have the same speed in the defensive front seven but they are far more physical and just as aggressive as the Bruins. The games within the game: will be Sam Baker vs Lamarr Woodley and Leon Hall vs. Dwayne Jarrett.
The Fiesta Bowl; Boise State vs. Oklahoma: Adrian Peterson is back. That is bad news for Boise State. Boise State has a fine defense, you don’t go unbeaten in College Football without a defense that can step it up big time. That being said they have only played one national level running back all season. That was Yvenson Bernard and he managed 89 yards on 24 carries in a blowout. On the other hand Oklahoma lost arguably the most physically gifted and imposing running backs in the last 20 years, plugged in a former defensive back and barely missed a beat. Now they get Adrian Peterson back? That is bad news for the Broncos. This will be an interesting game, for a half. Then Oklahoma will turn it on and the Sooner Schooner will be rolling the rest of the game. The game within the game: the Oklahoma front seven verses Boise States Offensive Line and Ian Johnson.
The Orange Bowl; Wake Forest vs. Louisville: Wake Forest is the shock of the season and has managed to get win the ACC despite losing their starting QB and Tailback. Jon Abbate is the heart and soul of this team and he played out of this world in the ACC title game. Wake is once again at a talent disadvantage and should seemingly be a monster underdog. And they are in my mind. Wake may have managed to keep Calvin Johnson from making a huge impact but that was more a product of Reggie Ball being incompetent than the Deacons actually shutting him down. Louisville is bigger faster stronger and more talented Deacs and that fact should manifest itself in a resounding victory for the Cards. If Reggie Ball was playing for the Ville instead of Brian Brohm wake would have a very good shot at this game. But Brohm is playing. Bad news for the Deacons. Wake has been the story of the College Football season, its a shame it will end in a loss. The game within the game: Amobi Okye and the Louisville defensive line vs. the Demon Deacons offensive front.
The Sugar Bowl; Notre Dame vs. Louisiana State: This game has potential to be the least entertaining of all the BCS bowl games. LSU is loaded at all positions and has a decided talent advantage everywhere but Quarterback. Brady Quinn is a talented player but he has struggled mightily against any defense that has consistently gotten in his face. He looked shaky in games with Georgia Tech, Michigan, UCLA and USC. LSU will get in his face early and often and will bloody and bruise the golden boy. If the Notre Dame offensive line can not hold up this game will get very ugly very quickly. Even if the Irish offensive line can hold up this game could still get out of hand. The Golden Domers defensive secondary has been a cause for concern all season long with shaky corners and safety’s that have been more concerned with laying out running backs than rolling over receivers. That will not work with the Byeou Bengals, they have three big, fast, and physical receivers. Not to mention a QB in Jamarcus Russell who could probably throw it into the third level of the Superdome if he really wanted two. Brady Quinn should keep this interesting but in the end he will not be able to stop the streak of consecutive loses in Bowl games for the Irish. The game within the game: The Notre Dame offensive line vs. LSU’s defensive line.
The BCS National Title Game; Ohio State vs. Florida: This game will be a lot closer than anyone in Ohio thinks. Florida has the talent to make this a game even pull the upset. Ohio State is the clear favorite and should be able to dictate the pace of the game. Florida has the defensive speed to limit the home run plays that the Bucks have used to their advantage. One other thing to remember is that Florida will finally be able to get healthy on their defensive front. They haven’t exactly be doing it with smoke and mirrors but they have not been completely healthy up front for a long time. Florida has not been as explosive as Urban Meyer may like but they have been steady all year. That being said the have been hampered by mental lapses all year long. They are the most penalized team in the SEC this season and Chris Leak seems to be good for one play that is inexplicable in its stupidity all season long such as the intercepted shovel pass against Arkansas. Sometimes those plays come in bunches such as the second half of the Auburn game. I look for Tim Tebow’s package to expand dramatically with the additional practice time. I don’t think he will get more playing time I just expect more wrinkles to manifest themselves in his playing time. The game within the game: Percy Harvin vs. The Ohio State secondary.