Going Bowling

December 9, 2009

Three years and I have never missed a bowl game, that's my winter break. 34 postseason games this year and I plan to watch them all, but can I just say that there are some very uninteresting matchups this year. For example, Marshall vs. Ohio in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Bowling Green vs. Idaho in the Humanitarian Bowl, Minnesota vs. Iowa State in the Insight Bowl, South Florida vs. Northern Illinois in the International Bowl, and Boston College vs. USC in the Emerald Bowl, really? And even in the BCS with the Georgia Tech vs. Iowa in the Orange Bowl and Florida vs. Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl. Are those worth watching if you're anyone else but me? No.

A complete list of the bowl games and matchups below

College Football's Postseason: 68 teams, 34 games, 17 winners, 1 national champion.
Something about those numbers don't sound right. Can we get a playoff system today please?
House subcommittee passes college football playoff bill

But I can finally breathe and relax knowing that the BCS system did not screw over my Texas Longhorns this year. Texas will play Alabama on January 7, 2010 for the 2009 National Championship. At Texas, "winning championships is an expectation, the University of Texas is the New York Yankees of college sports."

The Alabama-Texas matchup is going to be a great game if you like defensive battles. Alabama has Heisman Trophy candidate runningback Mark Ingram while Texas has Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Colt McCoy (the Heisman Trophy will be presented Saturday, December 12). Here's the thing, Mark Ingram has to win it. Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska gets my first place vote, but Ingram is No. 2 on my ballot. There is a curse that comes with that Heisman Trophy known as the "Heisman Hangover." The Heisman winner has not won its postseason game in the past six years.

Alabama and Texas both have Top Three defenses while Texas has the nation's number one run defense in the country, but Alabama has three stud runningbacks with Ingram, Trent Richardson, and Roy Upchurch. Running the ball is the strength of the Alabama offense, while stopping the run is the strength of Texas's defense. It's going to be a great battle in the trenches between the lines. Texas's No. 1 Defensive Line vs. Alabama's No. 1 Offensive Line and Alabama's No. 2 Defensive Line vs. Texas's No. 2 Offensive Line. Texas's O-Line could not stop Nebraska, notably Ndamukong Suh. Alabama has a guy that's unblockable to in Terrence Cody. Cody is much bigger and more powerful than Suh but lacks the explosiveness and quickness. Suh chased down Colt McCoy on every play while Colt could sidestep Cody, that's the difference.

The problem for Texas will be the physicality of the game. Alabama dominated Florida physically and Nebraska's physicality gave Texas a lot of trouble. Texas will also have to adjust to the Alabama traditional power offense after facing so many spread offenses which was a tough adjustment for Florida to make and they couldn't do it. In the secondaries though Texas's secondary matches up much more favorably than Alabama's. Alabama has great corners in Javier Arenas and Kareem Jackson but lack consistency at safety while Texas has arguably the best defensive back at safety in the country in Earl Thomas and also Blake Gideon, and shutdown corners Chykie Brown, Curtis Brown, and Aaron Williams.

The matchup to watch will be Chykie Brown vs. Julio Jones, the All-American receiver for Alabama. If Alabama establishes the run game, which they will, the play action will open up Julio. Florida has the number one cornerback prospect for the NFL in Joe Haden and he could not stop Julio Jones. It's going to be a tough challenge for Brown, but one thing that Texas has that is to their advantage is the Speed. Alabama loves to use long developing plays, especially crossing routes through the middle with Jones. If Texas's pass rush can get pressure on Greg McElroy, that is when he struggles and Alabama won't have time to run those routes. But with the speed that Texas has they can play man-on-man in the secondary and cover crossing routes. And another guy on Alabama's offense that doesn't get much recognition Marquis Maze. He is always the open guy when opponents focus on Julio, they put Maze in the slot but Texas has the best nickelback in the country with Aaron Williams who has shutdown ability. The sophomore Williams, would be the superstar corner on any other team. That's how deep Texas is.

Texas offensively to score against Alabama, something Florida couldn't do is that they HAVE to establish some kind of run game. Texas has not been able to run the ball all year. Tre' Newton has become the Longhorns starter at tailback over Fozzy Whittaker and Cody Johnson, but the two most successful backs have been Fozzy and Johnson. Newton had one big game and is the best receiver out of the backfield, but to win games I think we need to better utilize the burst that Fozzy has and the power running of Cody Johnson. Johnson can match up physically with the Alabama defense, while the two smaller backs are stopped on first contact. I give the majority of the carries to Johnson if I'm Greg Davis, but Davis is one of the best offensive coordinators in the land and I know he will come up with something for Alabama.

Speaking of the coordinators of the two teams, Texas has some key guys on staff that know Alabama head coach Nick Saban very well and learned under him. Quarterbacks/Runningbacks Coach Major Applewhite was Saban's former Offensive Coordinator and Defense Coordinator, Will Muschamp, the best D-Coordinator in the country, also worked under Saban. Saban's current D-Coordinator, Kirby Smart, and Muschamp are very good friends and talk regularly I hear. And looking at the schemes they run, Kirk Herbstreit says the Alabama and Texas defenses are "mirror images of defense philosophies."

Between the two quarterbacks, what a matchup. Colt McCoy vs. Greg McElroy. McElroy played at Texas High School Power House Southlake Carroll while Colt played at unheard of Jim Ned High School in the very small town of Tuscola, Texas. Colt went on to become the winningest quarterback of all-time in NCAA history while to this day, McElroy has never lost a football game, in college or high school. Colt McCoy has led 12 fourth quarter comebacks while McElroy led the biggest comeback of his life vs. Auburn just two weeks ago. Something's got to give. While Alabama is already an 80% favorite over Texas, Texas has the edge in some departments: most notably special teams.

Everyone talks about Alabama's special teams with Javier Arenas being one of the best return men in college football history. To keep Arenas from doing damage, Texas will continue to use the rugby style punt of Justin Tucker while on kickoffs, Texas has had great coverage all season long. While both kicking games are very good with the two best kickers in the country: Leigh Tiffin of Alabama and Hunter Lawrence of Texas (whose 46 yard field goal with 1 second left gave Texas the 13-12 win over Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game). The advantage is Texas in their return game. Kick returner DJ Monroe has been suspended after a DWI arrest. He had two kick returns for a touchdown. Then in comes Marquise Goodwin who returns a kick for a touchdown of his own and has filled in nicely, while Alabama's kickoff coverage does not have a good reputation. Punt returner Jordan Shipley is also among the best in the nation, while Alabama's punt coverage is also susceptible.

So Alabama and Texas have not played each other since the 1982 Cotton Bowl that Texas won 14-12. It will be a similar score in January, but Texas has never lost to Alabama. Texas is 7-0-1 all-time against the Crimson Tide. And let me remind you that Texas is undefeated in BCS bowls at 3-0, but at the same time Alabama has the most bowl wins of any school in history with 31. This national championship game will be played in Pasadena, CA in the Rose Bowl. Texas is undefeated in Pasadena where they won their last national championship in 2005 in the Rose Bowl on that very same field. The winner this year will have their coach win his second BCS title: Mack Brown or Nick Saban.

Last year, Texas was screwed over by the BCS after being jumped by Oklahoma for the No. 2 spot by .0128% to have the right to play Florida for the 2008 national championship. What essentially cost Texas its season was the last second loss to Texas Tech after Blake Gideon dropped an interception that would have ended the game and gave Texas the 33-32 win en route to an undefeated season. This year, Gideon has come back much better looking for redemption and made a crucial interception in the Big 12 Championship game. After that last-second loss, Texas head coach Mack Brown said that over the summer at practice he preached to his team that "We need to be 1 second better this year." And that's just what they were. 1 second stood on the clock when Hunter Lawrence kicked the game-winning field against Nebraska for Texas to win 13-12 and stay undefeated and earn a berth to the national title game.

Let's take a look at some of the other great matchups this season.
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: January 4, 2010
No. 4 TCU (12-0) vs. No. 6 Boise State (13-0)
In a rematch of last year's Poinsettia Bowl that TCU won 17-16, this is the first time two undefeated teams have met in a bowl game that wasn't the national championship. For the time also, two non-BCS automatic quailfying schools have made a BCS bowl game. However, this is a matchup nobody wanted. the fans wanted a Boise State-Iowa and a TCU-Florida but it doesn't work out that way. TCU dominated the game last year but Boise was able to hang in and fall by a point. This year should be just the same margin of victory. Boise is a very balanced team with the nation's top scoring offense and a top five defense, while TCU has an explosive offense and a top five defense. This game ultimately decides who is the better of the non-BCS teams and all along its been noted that it is TCU. TCU can make an argument for a national championship with their body of work and with the eye test. TCU is the most balanced team in the country and maybe the most complete team in the country and they will beat Boise State again this year, but watching Boise and their creative style of play is always entertaining.

The Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi: January 1, 2010
No. 7 Oregon (10-2) vs. No. 8 Ohio State (10-2)
What a great Rose Bowl matchup. Ohio State is back to Pasadena for the first time since 1995 while Oregon's drought has been much longer. This is an explosive offense of Oregon against the Buckeyes defense. A problem for Oregon is, they don't play much defense and Ohio State has the biggest weapon in Terrelle Pryor. Oregon won the Pac-10 with the 37-33 win over Oregon State, and expect this game to be similar.

AT&T Cotton Bowl: January 2, 2010
No. 19 Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. Ole Miss (8-4)
Ole Miss played in the Cotton Bowl last year against Texas Tech with so many people thinking that Tech's offense would blow out Ole Miss and the Rebels wouldn't be able to keep up. Well, turns out Ole Miss kept up pretty good and won the shootout. This year, they have to go against Oklahoma State's offense, but the Ole Miss defense is much improved. I don't know yet whether Ole Miss defensive end Greg Hardy will be healthy for this game, but he will get after the quarterback. Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead has one last chance this year to show off for the NFL scouts unless he is certain he will return for his senior season to raise his draft stock. He started the season as the number two ranked QB prospect but plummeted off the draft board. With Oklahoma State playing defense poorly like they do, Ole Miss should be able to put up 30. The defense of Ole Miss at times has been humiliated so they have a lot to prove to hold Oklahoma State's explosive offense. If it goes to a shootout, Oklahoma State wins, but if Ole Miss steps up defensively, chalk up their second consecutive Cotton Bowl victory.

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl: January 1, 2010
No. 16 West Virginia (9-3) vs. Florida State (6-6)
It's a great story that Florida State was able to be invited to the Gator Bowl to give Coach Bobby Bowden is last game near home with a pro-FSU crowd. He has a great task ahead of him in getting his team ready to play against the Mountaineers and making sure his departure is not a distraction. This is a good matchup on the field, but it should be a West Virginia convincing victory. The real interest here is in Bobby Bowden and the sad ending to an era in Florida State where Bowden's 34 years of being the head coach in Tallahassee will come to an end.

Capital One Bowl: January 1, 2010
No. 12 LSU (9-3) vs. No. 13 Penn State (10-2)
What a coaching matchup between Les Miles and Joe Paterno. Miles is the young, exuberant, fiery, risk-taking guy, and Paterno the old sportsman with all the wisdom and history. It's much like a liberal vs. a conservative. Penn State plays outstanding defense, but has a tough task of stopping LSU's offense. They also have a tough task of scoring against LSU's defense. Penn State's achilles heel has been the receiving corp where only Derek Moye has stepped up.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl: December 31, 2009
No. 11 Virginia Tech (9-3) vs. Tennessee (7-5)
Great, great matchup. Virginia Tech had bigger expectations coming into the season so they may be discouraged by this bowl placement, but these two defenses are going to have a great competition. Bud Foster's Virginia Tech defense vs. Monte Kiffin's Tennessee defense. Virginia Tech's defense has surprisingly struggled at times this year, while their offense has been better than anticipated after tailback Darren Evans went down with a torn ACL before the season. Freshman tailback Ryan Williams went on to become the ACC's Top Newcomer. This Tennessee defense effectively shut down Florida. Can they do the same to Virginia Tech? I think they can.

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: December 30, 2009
No. 20 Arizona (8-4) vs. No. 22 Nebraska (9-4)
This is a great defensive football game, but the edge goes to Arizona because of their offense. Arizona does not have the best offensive line, so Ndamukong Suh and company are going to have a field day as the Black Shirts go after Arizona QB Nick Foles. Arizona is hoping to have RB Nic Grigsby back healthy at 100% which will be crucial. The key to stopping the Nebraska D-Line is to run right at them.

Brut Sun Bowl: December 31, 2009
Oklahoma (7-5) vs. No. 21 Stanford (8-4)
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops doesn't have to worry about losing a BCS game this year. He's stuck in the Sun Bowl. And we'll find out how good Stanford runningback and Heisman Trophy candidate Toby Gerhart is in this game. Oklahoma will go into this game as the underdog as they did against Oklahoma State, and again let me say it: big mistake. If all goes right, Oklahoma will blow out the Stanford Cardinal. What I mean by if all goes right, is that Oklahoma QB Landry Jones makes good decisions. When Jones has a good game, Oklahoma's high-powered offense rolls. But there are times when Jones is terrible that Oklahoma has lost, notably the 10-3 loss to Nebraska when Landry threw 5 interceptions. There is a lot of deserving hype surrounding Stanford freshman quarterback Andrew Luck. Luck will be a star in college football, he is the real deal, but he has limited weapons in the Stanford offense. Oklahoma's defense is too good and will shut down Toby Gerhart. Oklahoma has 5 legitimate NFL guys on their defense especially with Gerald McCoy, Austin English, DeMarcus Granger, and Jeremy Beal along that defensive line. Oklahoma has been out of the rankings for a lot of this year because their record, but they will prove again to the doubters that they are one of the Top 12 teams in the country.
(I hope Stanford absolutely crushes Oklahoma)

All of College Football's 2009 Postseason Bowl Games, some I haven't mentioned yet
New Mexico Bowl: December 19, 2009 4:30pm on ESPN
University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Fresno State (8-4) vs. Wyoming (6-6)

St. Petersburg Bowl: December 19, 2009 8pm on ESPN
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida
Central Florida (8-4) vs. Rutgers (8-4)

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: December 20, 2009 8:30pm on ESPN
Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana
Southern Miss (7-5) vs. Middle Tennessee State (9-3)

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl: December 22, 2009 8pm on ESPN
Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 18 Oregon State (8-4) vs. No. 14 Brigham Young (10-2)

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: December 23, 2009 8pm on ESPN
Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California
No. 23 Utah (9-3) vs. California (8-4)

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: December 24, 2009 8pm on ESPN
Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii
Nevada (8-4) vs. Southern Methodist (7-5)

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: December 26, 2009 1pm on ESPN
Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan
Marshall (6-6) vs. Ohio (9-4)

Meineke Car Care Bowl: December 26, 2009 4:30pm on ESPN
Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 17 Pittsburgh (9-3) vs. North Carolina (8-4)

Emerald Bowl: December 26, 2009 8pm on ESPN
AT&T Park in San Francisco, California
Boston College (8-4) vs. USC (8-4)

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl: December 27, 2009 8:30pm on ESPN
LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee
Kentucky (7-5) vs. Clemson (8-5)

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl: December 28, 2009 5pm on ESPN
Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana
Texas A&M (6-6) vs. Georgia (7-5)

EagleBank Bowl: December 29, 2009 4:30pm on ESPN
RFK Stadium in Landover, Maryland
UCLA (6-6) vs. Temple (9-3)
*Army will play Navy on December 12. If Army wins, they will play in the EagleBank Bowl. If Navy wins, UCLA will play in the EagleBank Bowl.

Champs Sports Bowl: December 29, 2009 8pm on ESPN
Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida
No. 15 Miami (9-3) vs. No. 25 Wisconsin (9-3)

Roady's Humanitarian Bowl: December 30, 2009 4:30pm on ESPN
Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho
Bowling Green (7-5) vs. Idaho (7-5)

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: December 30, 2009 8pm on ESPN
Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California
No. 20 Arizona (8-4) vs. No. 22 Nebraska (9-4)

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: December 31, 2009 12pm on ESPN
Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas
Houston (10-2) vs. Air Force (7-5)
*rematch of last year's Armed Forces Bowl

Brut Sun Bowl: December 31, 2009 2pm on CBS
Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas
Oklahoma (7-5) vs. No. 21 Stanford (8-4)

Texas Bowl: December 31, 2009 3:30pm on ESPN
Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas
Navy (8-4) vs. Missouri (8-4)

Insight Bowl: December 31, 2009 6pm on NFL Network
Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Iowa State (6-6)

Chick-fil-A Bowl: December 31, 2009 7:30pm on ESPN
Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia
No. 11 Virginia Tech (9-3) vs. Tennessee (7-5)

Outback Bowl: January 1, 2010 11am on ESPN
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5)

Capital One Bowl: January 1, 2010 1pm on ABC
Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida
No. 13 Penn State (10-2) vs. No. 12 LSU (9-3)

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl: January 1, 2010 1pm on CBS
Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida
No. 16 West Virginia (9-3) vs. Florida State (6-6)

Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi: January 1, 2010 4:30pm on ABC
Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California
No. 8 Ohio State (10-2) vs. No. 7 Oregon (10-2)

Allstate Sugar Bowl: January 1, 2010 8:30pm on FOX
Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 5 Florida (12-1) vs. No. 3 Cincinnati (12-0)

International Bowl: January 2, 2010 12pm on ESPN2
Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada
South Florida (7-5) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5)

Papajohns.com Bowl: January 2, 2010 2pm on ESPN
Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama
South Carolina (7-5) vs. Connecticut (7-5)

AT&T Cotton Bowl: January 2, 2010 2pm on FOX
Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas
No. 19 Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. Ole Miss (8-4)

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: January 2, 2010 5:30pm on ESPN
Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee
Arkansas (7-5) vs. East Carolina (9-4)

Valero Alamo Bowl: January 2, 2010 9pm on ESPN
Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Michigan State (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (8-4)

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: January 4, 2010 8pm on FOX
University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
No. 6 Boise State (13-0) vs. No. 4 TCU (12-0)

FedEx Orange Bowl: January 5, 2010 8pon on FOX
Land Shark Stadium in Miami, Florida
No. 10 Iowa (10-2) vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech (11-2)

GMAC Bowl: January 6, 2010 7pm on ESPN
Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama
Central Michigan (11-2) vs. Troy (9-3)

Citi BCS National Championship Game: January 7, 2010 8pm on ABC
Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California
No. 2 Texas (13-0) vs. No. 1 Alabama (13-0)

Let's get ready for some more football. All my other bowl game previews and matchup analysis will be posted when we get closer to game day.