January 1, 2010
Outback Bowl, 11am on ESPN
Northwestern Wildcats (8-4) vs. Auburn Tigers (7-5)
I thought I’ve seen these two teams play each other before but I don’t know what I was thinking. This Outback Bowl will be the first meeting between these two teams on the football field and it should be a good one. Is this going to be another outing where the SEC shows its dominance over the Big Ten? I think so.
Northwestern’s defense hasn’t exactly been stout and is probably one of the lesser defenses in the Big Ten. They went up against some poor offenses that put up points against them play Syracuse, Minnesota, and Penn State didn’t show me much of Northwestern’s good side.
Auburn Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn is one of the best and his offenses are fun to watch, especially given this much time to prepare for a New Year’s Day bowl game. Auburn started the season 5-0 and made the rankings until going on their annual downslide the second half of the season as they lost five of the last seven games.
Remember though, the last time Auburn was on the football field was in the Iron Bowl when they almost pulled off the upset of Alabama. I’ve seen Auburn play a lot this year and I’ve seen their impressive wins over Mississippi State and West Virginia earlier this year, but even though they lost this game against Alabama I think it was their most complete game and maybe they can ride that momentum into this bowl game.
Auburn’s offense came out hot against that Alabama defense and Malzahn threw in some razzle dazzle trick plays and I expect much of the same against Northwestern where they don’t necessarily have the athletes to defend the plays. If the Auburn offense can get Ben Tate going in his final game, it should be easy sailing with a balanced offense, the Tigers have one of the nation’s best balanced offenses averaging over 200 yards per game both passing and running. Northwestern’s only guy to watch is defensive end Corey Wootton, but I don’t think he’ll be entirely effective unless Auburn gets into obvious passing downs.
Auburn held Alabama’s great runningback trio of Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, and Roy Upchurch to under 100 yards and stuffed them for 2.1 yards per carry. Northwestern will want to run the ball with a power running game. Mike Kafka might be the best pro-prospect quarterback in the Big Ten, and he’ll have to really play like it against Auburn because I don’t think the Wildcats can run the ball consistently against the Tigers, but don't be surprised if Northwestern pulls off this upset.
Prediction: Auburn 34, Northwestern 17
Result: Auburn 38, Northwestern 35 (overtime)
What a game, rooting for Auburn was nerve racking at the end. What a finish after Auburn should have won that game three times especially at the end of the fourth quarter when they had that ridiculous facemask penalty. After a Ben Tate fumble with two minutes to go, Northwestern drove down the field and scord a touchdown and got the two point conversion to tie the game at 35-35. On the kick return, Northwestern recovered another fumble and had a chance to win it with 3 seconds left but Stefan Demos missed the 44 yard field goal at the end of regulation wide right. He had missed a 48 yarder and had an extra point attempt blocked earlier.
In overtime, Auburn stormed the field twice thinking they had won 38-35. The first was on a missed field goal by Stefan Demos on 4th down and 14, but Auburn got called for roughing the kicker for an automatic first down for Northwestern. Let me tell you though, that roughing the kicker call was ridiculous, the Auburn defender fell down and couldn't stop his momentum and rolled into Demos' leg, and it should have been a 5-yard running into penalty, not the 15-yarder. But before the field goal miss, Auburn thought they won after recovering a Kafka fumble, but the review showed that Kafka was down before the ball came out.
Auburn finally won it after the well disciplined defense sniffed out the fake field goal by Northwestern and Neiko Thorpe made the game saving hit out of bounds. But what a finish to that this game. With all the thrills at the end, it's been forgotten that Mike Kafka threw five interceptions (two in the endzone), but Auburn only really capitalized on two of them, one on a 100-yard touchdown return by Walter McFadden on his second interception of the game. I was surprised by the way Northwestern came into this game, they like to throw a little bit to set up the run, and they started out that way, except they never handed the ball off. They came out with 4 and 5 receiver sets and threw the ball around using short crossing routes and deep post routes and kept Auburn on its heels. Kafka finished 47 of 78 for 532 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. How about that stat line? What a crazy game this was for the first game of the new decade, and a great way to start the new year.
My Player of the Game: Neiko Thorpe, Auburn Cornerback
Honorable Mention to Chris Todd, Darvin Adams, Ben Tate, Walter McFadden, and even Mike Kafka.
Bowls Blog
Bowls Blog Part 2
Capital One Bowl, 1pm on ABC
No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) vs. No. 12 LSU Tigers (9-3)
*Charles Scott will not play
This is one of the best bowl matchups there is this year. The legendary Joe Paterno coaching Penn State vs. the exuberant Les Miles coaching LSU in a classic Big Ten vs. SEC showdown. Both of these teams expected to be the national title hunt and underachieved, but these are two of the best each conference has to offer. Penn State only lost two games this year, but they were the only games that mattered against Iowa and Ohio State, the only two ranked teams the Nittany Lions played and the only teams they needed to beat to win the Big Ten Conference. LSU is in a similar situation, they went a successful 9-3, but lost to the three teams on their schedule that they had to beat hands down to win the SEC: Florida, Alabama, and Ole Miss.
Every college football fan, unless maybe you’re an LSU fan for this particular situation, roots for Joe Paterno. The 83-year old head coach is still going strong at Penn State and has become an icon in the sport. But, Les Miles at LSU is 4-0 in bowl games, has yet to lose one, and Penn State got thumped in the Rose Bowl by USC last year. LSU dominated heavily-favored Georgia Tech 38-3 in last year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. Les Miles got his team fired up and ready to play, and the same can’t really be said about JoePa, perhaps Paterno has lost his touch.
In both Penn State losses, they were held to 10 points or fewer. The “Spread HD” offense doesn’t quite work with reliable receivers. Penn State has yet to have receivers step up and replace the three guys who made big plays last year. Derek Moye and Graham Zug are the two team leaders in receptions. I actually met Moye during my visit to Penn State and he has become the number one target for Daryll Clark, but other guys need to emerge.
I’m not sure LSU’s defense is as good as it used to be. Al Woods anchors the defensive line but he’s no Glenn Dorsey and is a third round NFL draft pick at best. Chad Jones (the same Chad Jones from LSU’s baseball team who got the win over Texas in the baseball national championship back in June, still haven’t gotten over it) is having a great year at safety. The rest of LSU’s defense is suspect. But then you look at Penn State’s defense and they’re ready to feast on LSU’s subpar offensive line. The best group of linebackers outside of Alabama is in Penn State with Navorro Bowman, Sean Lee, and leading tackler Josh Hull. You also have defensive tackle Jared Odrick to defend against.
LSU runningback Charles Scott is still recovering from a broken collar bone and it’s been reported that he will not play so his LSU career is over. The health of Keiland Williams is also a concern so I think we’ll see more of Trindon Holliday and Stevan Ridley in the backfield for LSU, not exactly the type of backs to rely on in a game like this. To counter, I think Miles will utilize true freshman quarterback Russell Shepard in a variety of ways on more snaps in this game to throw different looks at Penn State offensively, but ultimately it comes down to LSU’s QB Jordan Jefferson to create plays with his feet and to find Brandon LaFell and Terrence Tolliver, two good guys to throw too, and LSU will have to stop Penn State rusher Evan Royster whose very quietly put together a great season, but to force Penn State to throw will be key in a close game.
Prediction: LSU 27, Penn State 24
Result: Penn State 19, LSU 17
Let me reiterate that Penn State has the best linebackers in the Big Ten. They came up big today. LSU was without their top two backs Charles Scott and Keiland Williams and could not get any kind of run game going with Stevan Ridley and Trindon Holliday and abandoned the run game. Penn State put pressure on Jordan Jefferson all day and had good coverage on his receivers.
Penn State could not run much either but LSU's pass defense softened up and Daryll Clark was moving the offense methodically downfield with short to intermediate throws. The only real big play Penn State had was their first touchdown in the first quarter when Derek Moye just beat Patrick Patterson on a double move and got wide open for a 37 yard touchdown.
The LSU defense played bend but don't break for much of the game, but in the end that wasn't good enough because the offense for LSU didn't provide enough points. Four consecutive field goals by Collin Wagner was enough for the Nittany Lions. Wagner hit the game-winner from 21 yards out with 57 seconds to go.
LSU had a chance at the end but unnecessary penalties took them out of any chance for a field goal, and true freshman receiver Rueben Randle fumbled the ball away around the 30 yard line to end the game, when LSU might have had a game-winning field goal try.
My Player of the Game: Daryll Clark, Penn State Quarterback
Honorable Mention: Sean Lee, Penn State Linebacker
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, 1pm on CBS
No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3) vs. Florida State Seminoles (6-6)
First, West Virginia starting safety and Nate Sowers and starting defensive tackle Scooter Berry are ruled academically ineligible for this game.
Now for the real story, this will be an emotional game for Florida State and all true fans of college football as we say goodbye to a legend and respect the end of an era as Bobby Bowden’s 34 year tenure as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles comes to an end after this game.
The Seminoles have had a disappointing season going 6-6 and losing this game would give Florida State its first losing season since 1976. So this being Bowden’s final game and not wanting to have a losing season should go well together to create a very well motivated Florida State team that doesn’t want to disappoint; they will be fired up.
The victim of the Bobby Bowden storyline is West Virginia where Bowden actually started his coaching career 44 years ago so this is a fitting end for him, but the Mountaineers haven’t received much media with all the attention on Bowden. I know that West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart and Bowden are very good friends and he also wants Bowden to go out with a win and you know what, honestly, I would not be surprised if West Virginia loses to pay its respect to Bowden.
But if this is a well played football game and the Bowden story isn’t a distraction and West Virginia can avoid falling under the emotion of the situation, the Mountaineers should be able to continue their streak of bowl wins. Remember West Virginia won all four bowl games in a row that Pat White played and Jarrett Brown has waited five years for this chance. Florida State’s had its share of defensive struggles this season and also the retirement of Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews. I myself would love to see Coach Bowden go out with a win, but I think West Virginia will put up its points and I don’t know if Florida State can match the offense against this West Virginia defense that looked like the best in the Big East this year. But bowl games are not about who is more talented, they are about who wants it more and I know the Seminoles want this for Coach Bowden. This will be a competitive game that comes down to heart at the end.
Prediction: West Virginia 34, Florida State 30
Result: Florida State 33, West Virginia 21
It could not have been scripted any better, congratulations to Bobby Bowden. I knew if the emotions got into this game and affected West Virginia too that Florida State would send Bowden out with a win and it happened.
Florida State really didn't have answer for Noel Devine who finished with 168 yards on 16 carries. Everytime he touched the ball it was a big play and he was the reason why West Virginia jumped out to a 14-3 lead and the way things were going and the way Florida State's defense has played this season, it looked like it was going to be a game controlled by West Virginia.
Well, this was also Mickey Andrews' last game as Defensive Coordinator for the Seminoles and his defense really rallied around him. West Virginia was shut out in the 2nd and 3rd quarter before making it a game again with a Ryan Clarke 5 yard touchdown run to cut the game to a 23-21 lead for a Florida State. In that time, FSU scored 20 unanswered behind the running of Jermaine Thomas who carved up 121 rushing yards against this good West Virginia defense, but remember this is the same defense that allowed Darius Ashley of Louisville to run for 164 yards.
I was more surprised by the play of Florida State freshman quarterback EJ Manuel. Offensive Coordinator and new head coach Jimbo Fisher had a great gameplan for Manuel and used him as a game manager in this passing game and allowed him to utilize his running ability with designed runs, option plays, and incorporated some zone-read.
As the time winded down, the emotions began swirling and it was just a historical day for Bobby Bowden and his team as they improve their record to 7-6 for Florida State's unprecedented 33rd consecutive winning season and Bobby Bowden's 389th career win (2nd all-time). Bowden never had a losing season and it wasn't to come now.
My Player of the Game: EJ Manuel, Florida State Quarterback
BCS Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi, 4:30pm on ABC
No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) vs. No. 7 Oregon Ducks (10-2)
Ohio State is in the Rose Bowl for the first time under Jim Tressel since 1997 and Oregon is in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1995. This is such a good matchup: Ohio State the conservative vs. Oregon the liberal. Ohio State wants to run a pro-style offense and play solid defense while Oregon wants it go up tempo, spread you out and score points and these are two very contrasting coaches with Tressel’s conservative ways. Well, the Big Ten Conference has lost six straight BCS games, but Ohio State has never lost to Oregon, they are 7-0 all-time against the Ducks.
Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor revealed this week that he has been playing through a slight MCL tear in left knee. He’s going to play through it again, but it could be a problem, Pryor has such a bright future you would hate to see anything happen to him. But two of Pryor’s top three targets won’t be playing in this one: receivers Ray Small and Duron Carter are both ineligible, but Pryor still has good targets in Dave Sanzenbacher and Devier Posey. And I’m not sure Oregon can play good defense, I haven’t seen it all year, but the real problem for Ohio State is Oregon’s offense, the Buckeyes have had trouble with spread offenses and rarely see the zone-read during the regular season.
Oregon’s different from most spread teams though because they look to run the ball first rather than airing it out and the resurgence of LeGarrette Blount really adds another dimension to the Oregon offense. Blount is a perfect change of pace with LaMichael James. Oregon averages 236 rushing yards per game (6th best) and the Buckeyes give up about 83.4 yards per game (5th best) and have never allowed a 100 yard rusher in a game this season.
Ohio State’s two losses this season: to Purdue and USC, both whom Oregon beat.
Prediction: Oregon 30, Ohio State 21
Result: Ohio State 26, Oregon 17
Oregon was anxious to get its offense started and show Ohio State's defense what they could do. Oregon won the coin toss and deferred so Ohio State's offense took the field first and surprised Oregon. The Buckeyes went on a 10 play scoring drive, but all 10 called plays (though Pryor scrambled for some) were called pass plays and Pryor found Brandon Saine on a checkdown throw and Saine got into the endzone. So right off the bat, Oregon's defensive game plan had to be adjusted because so much was made of Ohio State's power running game, but the Buckeyes did go back to it on their next drive and further possessions and Oregon was ready.
The other matchup we wanted to see was Oregon's high speed offense against Ohio State's defense and the defense won the battle with a lot of help from their offense. Jim Tressel said his defnse turned into an uptempo defense to stand a chance against the Ducks, but he also acknowledged the best way to stop the Oregon offense is to keep them off the field and Ohio State held the ball for over 41 minutes in this game including almost all of the 4th quarter.
In the second quarter Oregon started getting big plays with the run getting to the outside on a zone-read option and it forced Ohio State to respect Oregon's offensive speed on the perimeter and that opened up a big run up the middle for Jeremiah Masoli, but the drive only led to a short 24 yard field goal. The Ohio State defense got more aggressive in the second half and went after Masoli and made tackles in the backfield that forced Masoli into obvious passing situations and that's not the way Oregon wanted to play and Masoli just did not have a good game through the air completing less than 50% of his pass attempts.
The other big adjustment that Ohio State made was on offense in the second half, I watched Terrelle Pryor rolling out both to his left and his right and he took a lot more snaps in the shot gun so it was clear that Ohio State was going to abandon the Iso run game. The roll outs allowed Pryor to escape pressure in the pocket before it got there and gave him open throwing lanes and better vision the field. They also wanted to make sure most of Pryor's passing plays went to the outside because he seems to struggle throwing down the middle of the field. Pryor hit Devier Posey on a big gain down the left sideline after rolling out left and he hit also hit Brandon Saine on a wheel route rolling right. Both were perfectly placed throws, but Pryor's best throw of the night came on the final score in the fourth quarter with a perfect back shoulder throw to Posey in the endzone and I bet Oregon really missed injured cornerback Walter Thurmond, III on that play. Thurmond hasn't played the last few weeks and was out for this game, but it would have been a great matchup to watch between he and Posey.
Terrelle Pryor had career highs in passing today going 23-37 for 266 yards. He also had 72 yards on the ground stiff-arming Oregon defenders.
My Player of the Game: Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State Quarterback
BCS Allstate Sugar Bowl, 8:30pm on FOX
No. 5 Florida Gators (12-1) vs. No. 3 Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0)
Cincinnati lost their head coach Brian Kelly to Notre Dame, and their offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn to Buffalo; Florida lost their defensive coordinator Charlie Strong to Louisville, and might be losing their head coach, but they’ll have him for this one and that’s all that matters. Cincinnati hired former Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones as their new coach, but Jeff Quinn will remain as the interim coach for this game and head to Buffalo immediately after.
So this is it for Tim Tebow, the legendary Florida quarterback and anointed as one of the best players ever in the history of college football; this is Tebow’s final showing on a grand stage at the Sugar Bowl. I’m sure he has no intentions of losing. I’m sure his teammates have no intentions of letting him down. But just in case for added incentive, they’re playing for Urban Meyer too. Meyer is taking an indefinite leave of absence as head coach to deal with his health issues.
On paper this just looks like a complete mismatch doesn’t it? Does anyone think Cincinnati has a chance? Like ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said, “You’re not happy if you’re a Cincinnati fan” when Meyer announced his resignation (before later changing his mind and deciding to take a leave of absence instead) because that was just extra juice for the Gators to stomp Cincinnati.
I’ll give you my take, I think Cincinnati is vastly overrated and I have them down at No. 6 in my rankings behind Boise State. This is a team that really should not be undefeated or in the BCS. But it’s also a team that’s getting no respect and that’s exactly what they want. After Kelly announced he was leaving to take the Notre Dame job, his players were furious and fired up. They want to prove that Kelly was not the key to their success, that they don’t need him.
Here’s the way I see it: both teams are very fired up, but both are also deflated in their own ways. They are both motivated for special reasons, but Florida expected to be in the national championship game and Cincinnati was a Texas missed field goal away from playing in the title game. Neither really wants to be in the Sugar Bowl because they had higher aspirations, but which team will take advantage of where they are more? That’s who wins the game and because of the leadership of Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, Ryan Stamper, Riley Cooper, all those guys; Florida gets it done. And Carlos Dunlap is reinstated and will play after being suspended for a DUI arrest so it gets tougher for Cincinnati.
So much talk is of the Cincinnati offense and how many points they can put up. They have a great receiving duo of Mardy Gilyard and Armon Binns, but Florida will defend them with Joe Haden and Jenoris Jenkins, two of the nation’s best corners. Those will be matchups to watch. Florida’s defense is just too good for Cincinnati I really think they’ll be overwhelmed and the Bearcats themselves do not play good defense and Florida will put up a good amount of points. Tim Tebow is going to have a grand finale with a big game statistically. But, in the event that maybe we are all wrong and are underestimating Cincinnati, and if this game gets into a shootout, Cincinnati just might win.
Prediction: Florida 45, Cincinnati 24
Result: Florida 51, Cincinnati 24
Man, almost got the score right. But anyway this was just a pure mismatch as soon as this matchup was announced. A team like Cincinnati just can't compete against a Florida and that was proven tonight. Both teams were upbeat and motivated for their respective reasons, but one got deflated real fast and they were the team sporting the new white helmets (Cincinnati). Florida was just too fast and too strong for Cincinnati both on offense and defense and they jumped out with 23 unanswered points to start the game until Cincinnati got a 47 yard field goal, but right after that the Gators responded with one 80 yard play to send the game into halftime with a 30-3 lead. Florida would cruise to victory but they did have something to worry about, sophomore tailback Jeff Demps was taken into the locker room for X-rays and I didn't hear anything after that, though I'm sure I'll hear the report tomorrow. But Demps looked to have probably broke his forearm as he tried to use arm on the ground to keep his balance but his elbow took a nasty turn and we wish Demps the quickest recovery, he is an exciting player to watch.
But this game was all about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and the truth is, like it or not, he will be considered one of the, if not the, best player ever in college football and he put on a show for the NFL scouts in the building. In the first half alone Tebow had 321 passing yards with three touchdowns. Florida kind of abandoned the run game with their backs and you could tell, it was obvious, that the gameplan was to throw the ball around with pass plays that Tebow is comfortable with and prove to all the scouts that he can throw the ball and that he has a chance to be a QB at the next level. Florida knew right away this game wouldn't be competitive and used it as a showcase game for Tebow. But like they say, it's still clear that Tebow has that very long delivery and its hard to fix that in a short amount of time, but Tebow did show some great arm strength especially that one throw he zipped through the middle to Deonte Thompson that went right through two linebackers and he was super accurate with the ball all night. Tebow is also the SEC record holder for rushing touchdowns and on his four yard touchdown in at the end of the third quarter he had so much room to run in front of him, but he didn't take it right away like he would have in the past and he sat in the pocket and made his second and third reads but no one was open so then Tebow decided to run. It was clear he wanted to prove that he could throw the ball, much like Pat White of West Virginia did in the Meineke Car Care Bowl last year. With Tebow's big night passing he threw for a career high and Sugar Bowl record 482 yards on 31 of 35 passing and three touchdowns. Tebow also had 51 rushing yards so he had a total of 533 yards that smashed the record for most individual yards in a BCS game set by Texas' Vince Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl of 467 yards (267 passing, 200 rushing). Tebow left the game to a standing ovation with 3:26 remaining, and the last college play persay he ever had was his final touchdown when they ran the option and he pitched it out to Chris Rainey. After that it was more showcasing of Tebow's throwing until it was finally time to give the man his due and let him walk off the field with fans paying tribute.
Some credit should be given to Cincinnati's guys they did not quit in the second half despite their head coach being gone, and their interim head coach being on his way out and their new head coach lurking in the background. I'm sure Cincinnati knew they had no chance to come back and win but they showed a lot of heart and passion with emotion. They moved the ball better in the third quarter against the Gators' defense that still had their starters in so you can't help but wonder what would have been if Cincinnati had done this from the start, but they went up tempo with no huddle and threw a lot of short bubble screens to Mardy Gilyard and moved down field that way. After a 14 play drive that took seven minutes, senior linebacker Marcus Waugh was in at fullback and Pike threw him the ball wide open in the endzone on a play action fake and Waugh's celebration showed the passion those guys had.
Cincinnati has some guys going to the NFL too and they had a lot to show, notably Mardy Gilyard. He didn't quit and fought for every yard he got and given his background and what he's overcome, quitting isn't in his nature. Cincinnati QB Tony Pike never quit and neither did his other two receivers DJ Woods and Armon Binns, that's why Cincinnati got 24 points. Not because they were running offensive schemes Florida couldn't defend, but just because they didn't quit. Pike had a beautiful back shoulder throw to Armon Binns in the endzone with Florida corner and the top NFL cornerback prospect Joe Haden defending and it was good coverage, but an even better throw and catch. There was a similar play in the first half where Binns went up for the grab and Haden got up and knocked it out of his hands.
For Florida defensively, they did the SEC proud showing the nation the SEC's defense against one of the nation's highest scoring offenses, but Cincinnati's offensive line was overmatched too and left tackle Jeff Linkenbach will slip on a lot of draft boards after tonight. Credit to the Florida defense, they have guys like Brandon Spikes who's been there four years and Jermaine Cunningham and handful of juniors who could leave for the NFL, but most importantly they played hard in Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong's last game as a Gator as he will not head to Louisville as their head coach, but he wanted to coach this game one last time. With so many players leaving and obviously Tebow being gone and John Brantley taking over, and with Urban Meyer's future in flux, is this the end of Florida football as we know it now? We will see.
My Player of the Game: Tim Tebow, Florida Quarterback
Northwestern Wildcats (8-4) vs. Auburn Tigers (7-5)
I thought I’ve seen these two teams play each other before but I don’t know what I was thinking. This Outback Bowl will be the first meeting between these two teams on the football field and it should be a good one. Is this going to be another outing where the SEC shows its dominance over the Big Ten? I think so.
Northwestern’s defense hasn’t exactly been stout and is probably one of the lesser defenses in the Big Ten. They went up against some poor offenses that put up points against them play Syracuse, Minnesota, and Penn State didn’t show me much of Northwestern’s good side.
Auburn Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn is one of the best and his offenses are fun to watch, especially given this much time to prepare for a New Year’s Day bowl game. Auburn started the season 5-0 and made the rankings until going on their annual downslide the second half of the season as they lost five of the last seven games.
Remember though, the last time Auburn was on the football field was in the Iron Bowl when they almost pulled off the upset of Alabama. I’ve seen Auburn play a lot this year and I’ve seen their impressive wins over Mississippi State and West Virginia earlier this year, but even though they lost this game against Alabama I think it was their most complete game and maybe they can ride that momentum into this bowl game.
Auburn’s offense came out hot against that Alabama defense and Malzahn threw in some razzle dazzle trick plays and I expect much of the same against Northwestern where they don’t necessarily have the athletes to defend the plays. If the Auburn offense can get Ben Tate going in his final game, it should be easy sailing with a balanced offense, the Tigers have one of the nation’s best balanced offenses averaging over 200 yards per game both passing and running. Northwestern’s only guy to watch is defensive end Corey Wootton, but I don’t think he’ll be entirely effective unless Auburn gets into obvious passing downs.
Auburn held Alabama’s great runningback trio of Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, and Roy Upchurch to under 100 yards and stuffed them for 2.1 yards per carry. Northwestern will want to run the ball with a power running game. Mike Kafka might be the best pro-prospect quarterback in the Big Ten, and he’ll have to really play like it against Auburn because I don’t think the Wildcats can run the ball consistently against the Tigers, but don't be surprised if Northwestern pulls off this upset.
Prediction: Auburn 34, Northwestern 17
Result: Auburn 38, Northwestern 35 (overtime)
What a game, rooting for Auburn was nerve racking at the end. What a finish after Auburn should have won that game three times especially at the end of the fourth quarter when they had that ridiculous facemask penalty. After a Ben Tate fumble with two minutes to go, Northwestern drove down the field and scord a touchdown and got the two point conversion to tie the game at 35-35. On the kick return, Northwestern recovered another fumble and had a chance to win it with 3 seconds left but Stefan Demos missed the 44 yard field goal at the end of regulation wide right. He had missed a 48 yarder and had an extra point attempt blocked earlier.
In overtime, Auburn stormed the field twice thinking they had won 38-35. The first was on a missed field goal by Stefan Demos on 4th down and 14, but Auburn got called for roughing the kicker for an automatic first down for Northwestern. Let me tell you though, that roughing the kicker call was ridiculous, the Auburn defender fell down and couldn't stop his momentum and rolled into Demos' leg, and it should have been a 5-yard running into penalty, not the 15-yarder. But before the field goal miss, Auburn thought they won after recovering a Kafka fumble, but the review showed that Kafka was down before the ball came out.
Auburn finally won it after the well disciplined defense sniffed out the fake field goal by Northwestern and Neiko Thorpe made the game saving hit out of bounds. But what a finish to that this game. With all the thrills at the end, it's been forgotten that Mike Kafka threw five interceptions (two in the endzone), but Auburn only really capitalized on two of them, one on a 100-yard touchdown return by Walter McFadden on his second interception of the game. I was surprised by the way Northwestern came into this game, they like to throw a little bit to set up the run, and they started out that way, except they never handed the ball off. They came out with 4 and 5 receiver sets and threw the ball around using short crossing routes and deep post routes and kept Auburn on its heels. Kafka finished 47 of 78 for 532 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. How about that stat line? What a crazy game this was for the first game of the new decade, and a great way to start the new year.
My Player of the Game: Neiko Thorpe, Auburn Cornerback
Honorable Mention to Chris Todd, Darvin Adams, Ben Tate, Walter McFadden, and even Mike Kafka.
Bowls Blog
Bowls Blog Part 2
Capital One Bowl, 1pm on ABC
No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) vs. No. 12 LSU Tigers (9-3)
*Charles Scott will not play
This is one of the best bowl matchups there is this year. The legendary Joe Paterno coaching Penn State vs. the exuberant Les Miles coaching LSU in a classic Big Ten vs. SEC showdown. Both of these teams expected to be the national title hunt and underachieved, but these are two of the best each conference has to offer. Penn State only lost two games this year, but they were the only games that mattered against Iowa and Ohio State, the only two ranked teams the Nittany Lions played and the only teams they needed to beat to win the Big Ten Conference. LSU is in a similar situation, they went a successful 9-3, but lost to the three teams on their schedule that they had to beat hands down to win the SEC: Florida, Alabama, and Ole Miss.
Every college football fan, unless maybe you’re an LSU fan for this particular situation, roots for Joe Paterno. The 83-year old head coach is still going strong at Penn State and has become an icon in the sport. But, Les Miles at LSU is 4-0 in bowl games, has yet to lose one, and Penn State got thumped in the Rose Bowl by USC last year. LSU dominated heavily-favored Georgia Tech 38-3 in last year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. Les Miles got his team fired up and ready to play, and the same can’t really be said about JoePa, perhaps Paterno has lost his touch.
In both Penn State losses, they were held to 10 points or fewer. The “Spread HD” offense doesn’t quite work with reliable receivers. Penn State has yet to have receivers step up and replace the three guys who made big plays last year. Derek Moye and Graham Zug are the two team leaders in receptions. I actually met Moye during my visit to Penn State and he has become the number one target for Daryll Clark, but other guys need to emerge.
I’m not sure LSU’s defense is as good as it used to be. Al Woods anchors the defensive line but he’s no Glenn Dorsey and is a third round NFL draft pick at best. Chad Jones (the same Chad Jones from LSU’s baseball team who got the win over Texas in the baseball national championship back in June, still haven’t gotten over it) is having a great year at safety. The rest of LSU’s defense is suspect. But then you look at Penn State’s defense and they’re ready to feast on LSU’s subpar offensive line. The best group of linebackers outside of Alabama is in Penn State with Navorro Bowman, Sean Lee, and leading tackler Josh Hull. You also have defensive tackle Jared Odrick to defend against.
LSU runningback Charles Scott is still recovering from a broken collar bone and it’s been reported that he will not play so his LSU career is over. The health of Keiland Williams is also a concern so I think we’ll see more of Trindon Holliday and Stevan Ridley in the backfield for LSU, not exactly the type of backs to rely on in a game like this. To counter, I think Miles will utilize true freshman quarterback Russell Shepard in a variety of ways on more snaps in this game to throw different looks at Penn State offensively, but ultimately it comes down to LSU’s QB Jordan Jefferson to create plays with his feet and to find Brandon LaFell and Terrence Tolliver, two good guys to throw too, and LSU will have to stop Penn State rusher Evan Royster whose very quietly put together a great season, but to force Penn State to throw will be key in a close game.
Prediction: LSU 27, Penn State 24
Result: Penn State 19, LSU 17
Let me reiterate that Penn State has the best linebackers in the Big Ten. They came up big today. LSU was without their top two backs Charles Scott and Keiland Williams and could not get any kind of run game going with Stevan Ridley and Trindon Holliday and abandoned the run game. Penn State put pressure on Jordan Jefferson all day and had good coverage on his receivers.
Penn State could not run much either but LSU's pass defense softened up and Daryll Clark was moving the offense methodically downfield with short to intermediate throws. The only real big play Penn State had was their first touchdown in the first quarter when Derek Moye just beat Patrick Patterson on a double move and got wide open for a 37 yard touchdown.
The LSU defense played bend but don't break for much of the game, but in the end that wasn't good enough because the offense for LSU didn't provide enough points. Four consecutive field goals by Collin Wagner was enough for the Nittany Lions. Wagner hit the game-winner from 21 yards out with 57 seconds to go.
LSU had a chance at the end but unnecessary penalties took them out of any chance for a field goal, and true freshman receiver Rueben Randle fumbled the ball away around the 30 yard line to end the game, when LSU might have had a game-winning field goal try.
My Player of the Game: Daryll Clark, Penn State Quarterback
Honorable Mention: Sean Lee, Penn State Linebacker
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, 1pm on CBS
No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3) vs. Florida State Seminoles (6-6)
First, West Virginia starting safety and Nate Sowers and starting defensive tackle Scooter Berry are ruled academically ineligible for this game.
Now for the real story, this will be an emotional game for Florida State and all true fans of college football as we say goodbye to a legend and respect the end of an era as Bobby Bowden’s 34 year tenure as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles comes to an end after this game.
The Seminoles have had a disappointing season going 6-6 and losing this game would give Florida State its first losing season since 1976. So this being Bowden’s final game and not wanting to have a losing season should go well together to create a very well motivated Florida State team that doesn’t want to disappoint; they will be fired up.
The victim of the Bobby Bowden storyline is West Virginia where Bowden actually started his coaching career 44 years ago so this is a fitting end for him, but the Mountaineers haven’t received much media with all the attention on Bowden. I know that West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart and Bowden are very good friends and he also wants Bowden to go out with a win and you know what, honestly, I would not be surprised if West Virginia loses to pay its respect to Bowden.
But if this is a well played football game and the Bowden story isn’t a distraction and West Virginia can avoid falling under the emotion of the situation, the Mountaineers should be able to continue their streak of bowl wins. Remember West Virginia won all four bowl games in a row that Pat White played and Jarrett Brown has waited five years for this chance. Florida State’s had its share of defensive struggles this season and also the retirement of Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews. I myself would love to see Coach Bowden go out with a win, but I think West Virginia will put up its points and I don’t know if Florida State can match the offense against this West Virginia defense that looked like the best in the Big East this year. But bowl games are not about who is more talented, they are about who wants it more and I know the Seminoles want this for Coach Bowden. This will be a competitive game that comes down to heart at the end.
Prediction: West Virginia 34, Florida State 30
Result: Florida State 33, West Virginia 21
It could not have been scripted any better, congratulations to Bobby Bowden. I knew if the emotions got into this game and affected West Virginia too that Florida State would send Bowden out with a win and it happened.
Florida State really didn't have answer for Noel Devine who finished with 168 yards on 16 carries. Everytime he touched the ball it was a big play and he was the reason why West Virginia jumped out to a 14-3 lead and the way things were going and the way Florida State's defense has played this season, it looked like it was going to be a game controlled by West Virginia.
Well, this was also Mickey Andrews' last game as Defensive Coordinator for the Seminoles and his defense really rallied around him. West Virginia was shut out in the 2nd and 3rd quarter before making it a game again with a Ryan Clarke 5 yard touchdown run to cut the game to a 23-21 lead for a Florida State. In that time, FSU scored 20 unanswered behind the running of Jermaine Thomas who carved up 121 rushing yards against this good West Virginia defense, but remember this is the same defense that allowed Darius Ashley of Louisville to run for 164 yards.
I was more surprised by the play of Florida State freshman quarterback EJ Manuel. Offensive Coordinator and new head coach Jimbo Fisher had a great gameplan for Manuel and used him as a game manager in this passing game and allowed him to utilize his running ability with designed runs, option plays, and incorporated some zone-read.
As the time winded down, the emotions began swirling and it was just a historical day for Bobby Bowden and his team as they improve their record to 7-6 for Florida State's unprecedented 33rd consecutive winning season and Bobby Bowden's 389th career win (2nd all-time). Bowden never had a losing season and it wasn't to come now.
My Player of the Game: EJ Manuel, Florida State Quarterback
BCS Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi, 4:30pm on ABC
No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) vs. No. 7 Oregon Ducks (10-2)
Ohio State is in the Rose Bowl for the first time under Jim Tressel since 1997 and Oregon is in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1995. This is such a good matchup: Ohio State the conservative vs. Oregon the liberal. Ohio State wants to run a pro-style offense and play solid defense while Oregon wants it go up tempo, spread you out and score points and these are two very contrasting coaches with Tressel’s conservative ways. Well, the Big Ten Conference has lost six straight BCS games, but Ohio State has never lost to Oregon, they are 7-0 all-time against the Ducks.
Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor revealed this week that he has been playing through a slight MCL tear in left knee. He’s going to play through it again, but it could be a problem, Pryor has such a bright future you would hate to see anything happen to him. But two of Pryor’s top three targets won’t be playing in this one: receivers Ray Small and Duron Carter are both ineligible, but Pryor still has good targets in Dave Sanzenbacher and Devier Posey. And I’m not sure Oregon can play good defense, I haven’t seen it all year, but the real problem for Ohio State is Oregon’s offense, the Buckeyes have had trouble with spread offenses and rarely see the zone-read during the regular season.
Oregon’s different from most spread teams though because they look to run the ball first rather than airing it out and the resurgence of LeGarrette Blount really adds another dimension to the Oregon offense. Blount is a perfect change of pace with LaMichael James. Oregon averages 236 rushing yards per game (6th best) and the Buckeyes give up about 83.4 yards per game (5th best) and have never allowed a 100 yard rusher in a game this season.
Ohio State’s two losses this season: to Purdue and USC, both whom Oregon beat.
Prediction: Oregon 30, Ohio State 21
Result: Ohio State 26, Oregon 17
Oregon was anxious to get its offense started and show Ohio State's defense what they could do. Oregon won the coin toss and deferred so Ohio State's offense took the field first and surprised Oregon. The Buckeyes went on a 10 play scoring drive, but all 10 called plays (though Pryor scrambled for some) were called pass plays and Pryor found Brandon Saine on a checkdown throw and Saine got into the endzone. So right off the bat, Oregon's defensive game plan had to be adjusted because so much was made of Ohio State's power running game, but the Buckeyes did go back to it on their next drive and further possessions and Oregon was ready.
The other matchup we wanted to see was Oregon's high speed offense against Ohio State's defense and the defense won the battle with a lot of help from their offense. Jim Tressel said his defnse turned into an uptempo defense to stand a chance against the Ducks, but he also acknowledged the best way to stop the Oregon offense is to keep them off the field and Ohio State held the ball for over 41 minutes in this game including almost all of the 4th quarter.
In the second quarter Oregon started getting big plays with the run getting to the outside on a zone-read option and it forced Ohio State to respect Oregon's offensive speed on the perimeter and that opened up a big run up the middle for Jeremiah Masoli, but the drive only led to a short 24 yard field goal. The Ohio State defense got more aggressive in the second half and went after Masoli and made tackles in the backfield that forced Masoli into obvious passing situations and that's not the way Oregon wanted to play and Masoli just did not have a good game through the air completing less than 50% of his pass attempts.
The other big adjustment that Ohio State made was on offense in the second half, I watched Terrelle Pryor rolling out both to his left and his right and he took a lot more snaps in the shot gun so it was clear that Ohio State was going to abandon the Iso run game. The roll outs allowed Pryor to escape pressure in the pocket before it got there and gave him open throwing lanes and better vision the field. They also wanted to make sure most of Pryor's passing plays went to the outside because he seems to struggle throwing down the middle of the field. Pryor hit Devier Posey on a big gain down the left sideline after rolling out left and he hit also hit Brandon Saine on a wheel route rolling right. Both were perfectly placed throws, but Pryor's best throw of the night came on the final score in the fourth quarter with a perfect back shoulder throw to Posey in the endzone and I bet Oregon really missed injured cornerback Walter Thurmond, III on that play. Thurmond hasn't played the last few weeks and was out for this game, but it would have been a great matchup to watch between he and Posey.
Terrelle Pryor had career highs in passing today going 23-37 for 266 yards. He also had 72 yards on the ground stiff-arming Oregon defenders.
My Player of the Game: Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State Quarterback
BCS Allstate Sugar Bowl, 8:30pm on FOX
No. 5 Florida Gators (12-1) vs. No. 3 Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0)
Cincinnati lost their head coach Brian Kelly to Notre Dame, and their offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn to Buffalo; Florida lost their defensive coordinator Charlie Strong to Louisville, and might be losing their head coach, but they’ll have him for this one and that’s all that matters. Cincinnati hired former Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones as their new coach, but Jeff Quinn will remain as the interim coach for this game and head to Buffalo immediately after.
So this is it for Tim Tebow, the legendary Florida quarterback and anointed as one of the best players ever in the history of college football; this is Tebow’s final showing on a grand stage at the Sugar Bowl. I’m sure he has no intentions of losing. I’m sure his teammates have no intentions of letting him down. But just in case for added incentive, they’re playing for Urban Meyer too. Meyer is taking an indefinite leave of absence as head coach to deal with his health issues.
On paper this just looks like a complete mismatch doesn’t it? Does anyone think Cincinnati has a chance? Like ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said, “You’re not happy if you’re a Cincinnati fan” when Meyer announced his resignation (before later changing his mind and deciding to take a leave of absence instead) because that was just extra juice for the Gators to stomp Cincinnati.
I’ll give you my take, I think Cincinnati is vastly overrated and I have them down at No. 6 in my rankings behind Boise State. This is a team that really should not be undefeated or in the BCS. But it’s also a team that’s getting no respect and that’s exactly what they want. After Kelly announced he was leaving to take the Notre Dame job, his players were furious and fired up. They want to prove that Kelly was not the key to their success, that they don’t need him.
Here’s the way I see it: both teams are very fired up, but both are also deflated in their own ways. They are both motivated for special reasons, but Florida expected to be in the national championship game and Cincinnati was a Texas missed field goal away from playing in the title game. Neither really wants to be in the Sugar Bowl because they had higher aspirations, but which team will take advantage of where they are more? That’s who wins the game and because of the leadership of Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, Ryan Stamper, Riley Cooper, all those guys; Florida gets it done. And Carlos Dunlap is reinstated and will play after being suspended for a DUI arrest so it gets tougher for Cincinnati.
So much talk is of the Cincinnati offense and how many points they can put up. They have a great receiving duo of Mardy Gilyard and Armon Binns, but Florida will defend them with Joe Haden and Jenoris Jenkins, two of the nation’s best corners. Those will be matchups to watch. Florida’s defense is just too good for Cincinnati I really think they’ll be overwhelmed and the Bearcats themselves do not play good defense and Florida will put up a good amount of points. Tim Tebow is going to have a grand finale with a big game statistically. But, in the event that maybe we are all wrong and are underestimating Cincinnati, and if this game gets into a shootout, Cincinnati just might win.
Prediction: Florida 45, Cincinnati 24
Result: Florida 51, Cincinnati 24
Man, almost got the score right. But anyway this was just a pure mismatch as soon as this matchup was announced. A team like Cincinnati just can't compete against a Florida and that was proven tonight. Both teams were upbeat and motivated for their respective reasons, but one got deflated real fast and they were the team sporting the new white helmets (Cincinnati). Florida was just too fast and too strong for Cincinnati both on offense and defense and they jumped out with 23 unanswered points to start the game until Cincinnati got a 47 yard field goal, but right after that the Gators responded with one 80 yard play to send the game into halftime with a 30-3 lead. Florida would cruise to victory but they did have something to worry about, sophomore tailback Jeff Demps was taken into the locker room for X-rays and I didn't hear anything after that, though I'm sure I'll hear the report tomorrow. But Demps looked to have probably broke his forearm as he tried to use arm on the ground to keep his balance but his elbow took a nasty turn and we wish Demps the quickest recovery, he is an exciting player to watch.
But this game was all about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and the truth is, like it or not, he will be considered one of the, if not the, best player ever in college football and he put on a show for the NFL scouts in the building. In the first half alone Tebow had 321 passing yards with three touchdowns. Florida kind of abandoned the run game with their backs and you could tell, it was obvious, that the gameplan was to throw the ball around with pass plays that Tebow is comfortable with and prove to all the scouts that he can throw the ball and that he has a chance to be a QB at the next level. Florida knew right away this game wouldn't be competitive and used it as a showcase game for Tebow. But like they say, it's still clear that Tebow has that very long delivery and its hard to fix that in a short amount of time, but Tebow did show some great arm strength especially that one throw he zipped through the middle to Deonte Thompson that went right through two linebackers and he was super accurate with the ball all night. Tebow is also the SEC record holder for rushing touchdowns and on his four yard touchdown in at the end of the third quarter he had so much room to run in front of him, but he didn't take it right away like he would have in the past and he sat in the pocket and made his second and third reads but no one was open so then Tebow decided to run. It was clear he wanted to prove that he could throw the ball, much like Pat White of West Virginia did in the Meineke Car Care Bowl last year. With Tebow's big night passing he threw for a career high and Sugar Bowl record 482 yards on 31 of 35 passing and three touchdowns. Tebow also had 51 rushing yards so he had a total of 533 yards that smashed the record for most individual yards in a BCS game set by Texas' Vince Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl of 467 yards (267 passing, 200 rushing). Tebow left the game to a standing ovation with 3:26 remaining, and the last college play persay he ever had was his final touchdown when they ran the option and he pitched it out to Chris Rainey. After that it was more showcasing of Tebow's throwing until it was finally time to give the man his due and let him walk off the field with fans paying tribute.
Some credit should be given to Cincinnati's guys they did not quit in the second half despite their head coach being gone, and their interim head coach being on his way out and their new head coach lurking in the background. I'm sure Cincinnati knew they had no chance to come back and win but they showed a lot of heart and passion with emotion. They moved the ball better in the third quarter against the Gators' defense that still had their starters in so you can't help but wonder what would have been if Cincinnati had done this from the start, but they went up tempo with no huddle and threw a lot of short bubble screens to Mardy Gilyard and moved down field that way. After a 14 play drive that took seven minutes, senior linebacker Marcus Waugh was in at fullback and Pike threw him the ball wide open in the endzone on a play action fake and Waugh's celebration showed the passion those guys had.
Cincinnati has some guys going to the NFL too and they had a lot to show, notably Mardy Gilyard. He didn't quit and fought for every yard he got and given his background and what he's overcome, quitting isn't in his nature. Cincinnati QB Tony Pike never quit and neither did his other two receivers DJ Woods and Armon Binns, that's why Cincinnati got 24 points. Not because they were running offensive schemes Florida couldn't defend, but just because they didn't quit. Pike had a beautiful back shoulder throw to Armon Binns in the endzone with Florida corner and the top NFL cornerback prospect Joe Haden defending and it was good coverage, but an even better throw and catch. There was a similar play in the first half where Binns went up for the grab and Haden got up and knocked it out of his hands.
For Florida defensively, they did the SEC proud showing the nation the SEC's defense against one of the nation's highest scoring offenses, but Cincinnati's offensive line was overmatched too and left tackle Jeff Linkenbach will slip on a lot of draft boards after tonight. Credit to the Florida defense, they have guys like Brandon Spikes who's been there four years and Jermaine Cunningham and handful of juniors who could leave for the NFL, but most importantly they played hard in Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong's last game as a Gator as he will not head to Louisville as their head coach, but he wanted to coach this game one last time. With so many players leaving and obviously Tebow being gone and John Brantley taking over, and with Urban Meyer's future in flux, is this the end of Florida football as we know it now? We will see.
My Player of the Game: Tim Tebow, Florida Quarterback
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