Well, it's that time again. When I reflect back on the best four months of the year, which is followed by a week long depression, followed by an acceptance. Thank God for signing day and spring practice.
It was a good season, but none are ever bad. The SEC once again took home the crown, and the story lines. There was a run away Heisman winner, and the non-AQ's made another small push to the big time. And just like any year, there were surprises(Boise State) and disappointments(Texas).
That's all for my post season ramble, here is the bowl games wrap up. There were 35 bowl games this year, and I'm going through every one of them......just kidding.
Might as well get it out of the way (Sugar Bowl).
The Arkansas Razorbacks finally made it to a BCS bowl, and against a high profile opponent in Ohio State. Well, in the first half they sure acted like it was their first time. If something could go wrong for the Hogs in the first two quarters, it did. The very first play Ryan Mallett hit a streaking Joe Adams with no one in front of him right in the hands, and Adams dropped it. And then there was another drop, and another, and another. Seven drops in all by arguably the best receiving corps in the nation. On the flip side, Ohio State caught EVERYTHING. Not only could Arkansas not catch balls thrown at them, they couldn't hang on to fumbled balls on the ground that were in their hands! Like Tramain Thomas' strip of Terrelle Pryor, that two Hog players had their hands on at the two yard line, but somehow squirted into the end zone so Ohio State receiver Dane Sanzenbacher could recover it for a touchdown. Or TP's falling backwards heave to Sanzenbacher in the end zone with a Hog defender ALL OVER HIM, but somehow caught it. And Ohio State's last touchdown right before halftime where Devier Posey is spinning and turning and looking for the ball in the air while Tramain Thomas is once again all over him, and the ball just drops in right over Thomas' arm into Posey's hands. I don't even think Posey knew where the ball was. Even after all of that, Arkansas had a chance, and probably should have won the game. It was 28-10 Ohio State at half. But they held the Buckeyes to just three points in the second half, and finally got the offense going. Running back Knile Davis did his part, rushing for 139 yards, and Mallet became only the second player against Ohio State all year to throw for more than 200 yards. The real tragedy however came with just a little over a minute remaining. Arkansas' clawed their way back to be down by only five, and the defense held and forced a punt. And the punt is blocked!! But once again, Julian Horton can't seem to pick it up on the hop, and has to fall on it. If he just picks it up and runs it in, Arkansas wins. Two plays later Mallett throws an interception. Game over. The Hogs lose their chance to get over the hump, again. Final score 31-26, Ohio State.
Speaking of being there before (Fiesta Bowl).
Oklahoma was back in a BCS bowl, the seventh time in 11 years to be exact. But we all know the story, five straight losses in BCS bowls, including two to "inferior" opponents. And here came another weak foe, the winner of the weakest conference in America, UConn. No not the women's basketball team who in the same week won their 90th game in a row, the football team. An 8-4 Big East champion on paper was no match for the Big 12 champ. But this time, OU took care of business. A couple of early mistakes didn't matter in this one, the Sooners rolled easily. The trio of Landry Jones(429 yards passing, three TD), Demarco Murray(93 yards rushing, 1 TD), and Ryan Broyles(170 yards receiving, 1 TD) played extremely well. This time there was no disappointing defeat, or same old "we'll get it next year" talk, it was this year. Final score 48-20, Oklahoma.
Terrible (Holiday Bowl).
Possibly the worst performance of the bowl season goes to Nebraska. Matched up with Washington, who they beat 56-21 in Seattle in the regular season, should have been an easy victory. But no. Washington barely made into a bowl game at 6-6 for crying out loud, Nebraska narrowly lost the Big 12 title game! Washington QB Jake Locker at the start of the season was said to be one of the top three quarterbacks in the country, but was very disappointing as the season wore on. He only had 56 yards passing in this game, but did have 83 rushing. It was the Nebraska offense who lost the game for them. They could only muster 189 yards of total offense. I don't know how many times I can say this, but hurry up and get out of the Big 12, you don't belong anymore. Final score 19-7, Washington.
Worst game (Liberty Bowl).
Another team that barely managed to make it in was Georgia, paired up against Central Florida out of Conference USA. Georgia had turned around their season after a horrific start, and were playing some good football, except for this game. UCF had never won a bowl game, ever, and did I mention was out of Conference USA. But it doesn't matter that Georgia put up more yards of offense(although neither team could get over 300), because QB Aaron Murray threw two interceptions and couldn't get the ball down field. What made this game so bad? No one could score, or even get anything going at all. It was so bad, after the game a storm blew threw the area causing people to evacuate quickly. God was trying to tell them something. Final score 10-6, UCF.
Best game (Pinstripe Bowl).
The first bowl game played in Yankee Stadium(the new one) in 48 years was a great one between Kansas State and Syracuse. There were long touchdowns, fake punts, two point conversions, celebration penalties, and even successful flea flickers by both teams. The second play from scrimmage for K State was a Daniel Thomas 51 yard touchdown run. Syracuse receiver Marcus Sales had touchdown grabs of 52, 36, and 44 yards. Both teams traded touchdowns in the second half it seemed like every two or three plays. But with just 1:13 left, and Syracuse holding a 36-28 lead, K State scored on a 30 yard TD pass to now be down only two. The K State receiver saluted the crowd and drew himself a penalty, that pushed the Wildcats two point conversion back 15 yards. That proved costly considering the try failed, and Syracuse won by.....two. Final score 36-34, Syracuse.
Domination (Capital One Bowl).
It seems every year a team puts together a really good regular season, only to be "snubbed" out of the BCS in favor of another team out of their same conference. Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State had a three way tie for the Big 10 title, all going 11-1. Wisconsin and Ohio State got into the BCS bowls, while Michigan State was put in the Capital One Bowl. A really good bowl, but not a BCS bowl. And here came the whining and the moaning and "we belong" talk. What usually happens when a team cries they didn't get in a better bowl, they focus less on the actual game, and get blown out! In this case, Alabama completed owned their Big 10 foe like MOST SEC teams do. It wasn't even a game, at any point. The Tide racked up 546 yards of offense, 275 of it on the ground, and had a 28-0 lead at halftime. It was 49-0 late in the fourth quarter when Michigan State scored a garbage touchdown with all of Alabama's starters laughing on the sideline, and talking about how the sick the party was going to be that night. Final score 49-7, Alabama.
When I say most(not counting Arkansas) SEC teams are too much for the Big 10, I mean games like Mississippi State murdering Michigan on the same day in the Gator Bowl, 52-14.
And one more (Outback Bowl).
It wasn't a blowout, but Florida finally decided they were somewhat talented. The Gator offense has been quite the disappointment all year, from John Brantley and the O line, to the lack of playmakers. So the only way to win games is just use what you have in other areas, like block a punt and return it for a touchdown, as well as an 80 yard interception return for a TD. When you can only roll out 279 yards of offense, you need plays from somewhere else. And those touchdowns Florida pulled out will always help you win games, no matter how bad you are. And I STILL don't know how Joe Paterno and Penn State win any games. There is no way he can communicate with his players, and Penn State is EASILY the most boring team in the entire country! The uniforms are hideous, and they are the epitome of a slow Big 10 team. They couldn't even beat the worst Florida team in years. Final score 37-24, Florida.
OK fine (Rose Bowl).
TCU's win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl was impressive. As much as I hate to say it, considering how I despise everything about Fort Worth. But Wisconsin was playing maybe the best football in the country the last month of the season, steamrolling people to massive amounts of yards and points(in the Big 10). TCU was doing the same, in the weaker Mountain West conference. I didn't know how TCU would hold up against a big, physical offensive line, and big, fast running backs. They did have the number one defense in the country, but against what competition? I was still skeptical. I was wrong. The Wisconsin rushing attack was able to account for 226 yards, but the long runs for touchdowns weren't there. TCU made the critical stops when they needed them. QB Andy Dalton played great, accounting for 247 of TCU's 301 total yards. Final score 21-19, TCU.
Taking over (Cotton Bowl).
It seems that as much as LSU's offense gets bashed for not ever being able to get it going, they will come out the next game and light it up. And that's just what they did against Texas A&M. The Aggies were the hot team coming in, winning six in a row to end the season. Two of those wins were against OU and Nebraska. But LSU and Jordan Jefferson took control on offense after the first quarter. A&M started well, taking a 10-7 lead into the second quarter. But LSU rattled off 21 points in the quarter, and held the Aggie offense in check. LSU racked up 446 yards total, their second highest of the season against a defense that was playing very well coming in. Aggie QB Ryan Tannehill played his worst game since becoming the starter, throwing for only 204 yards and tossing three picks. That is of course partly due to LSU having an excellent defense. This was one of my most satisfying bowl victories to watch, considering my hatred for A&M. Final score 41-24, LSU.
Similar circumstance (Orange Bowl).
Much like the Cotton Bowl scenario, Stanford and Virginia Tech was a little different than we expected. Stanford was playing great football going into the game, but Va Tech had won 11 games in a row! With an always stingy defense the Hokies bring, they would pose some problems for Stanford QB Andrew Luck. WRONG! Luck completely dominated from the get go. Stanford moved the ball at will against the Va Tech defense, while the Stanford defense held the Hokie offense. Except for a couple of great plays by Va Tech QB Tyrod Taylor early in the game, this game would have been even worse. Luck went 18-23 for 287 yards and 4 touchdowns, which led to 534 yards of total O. So much for that good Va Tech defense. Stanford reeled of 27 points in the second half, to Va Tech's 0. Andrew Luck cemented himself as the best quarterback in the land, who is coming back next year, watch out. Final score 40-12, Stanford.
Five in a row. (BCS National Championship Game)
Just as I suspected, the more the media and all the "experts" say its going to be a shootout, the less it becomes one. The way the universe seems to work, is for every time someone in the media calls for a shootout, you can subtract one touchdown that will be scored. And that was just the case in this one. Yes, Auburn and Oregon had two of the very best offenses in the country, but with all of that time off it gives the defense a better chance to prepare. Auburn's defense came out and made a statement, that the high tempo attack from Oregon was not going to work. They completely shut down the run game, and got pressure on QB Darron Thomas a lot. Oregon averages about 330 yards rushing per game, they were able to squeak out 75 in this one. Darron Thomas was able however to throw for 363 yards against Auburn's secondary, which has not been as good all year. But again, the shootout wasn't there. There was really only one huge play, an 81 yard reception by Oregon's Jeff Maehl in the second quarter. Other than that, neither offense could seem to break anything open. But just like Auburn, and Heisman winner Cam Newton have done all year, they found a way to win. Newton did throw for 265 himself, and freshman running back Michael Dyer ran for 143. The biggest play of the game was easily Dyer's run with just about a minute remaining. He got tackled after what looked to be a 7 yard gain, but no, he wasn't actually tackled. He rolled on top of the defender, knee never touching the ground. When he realized he wasn't down, he scampered for about another 25 yards to the Oregon 23. And as time ran out, kicker Wes Byrum knocked it in for the national championship. Five national titles in a row for the SEC, world domination. Oh by the way, defense still wins championships. Final score 22-19, Auburn.
Until next season.
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