Interesting day on land & in air
Not a bad day of football watching considering I spent four hours in the air and three hours at an airport. I landed at Kansas City just before the Cotton Bowl kickoff and flew out just before game’s end. I got to my hotel room in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at halftime of the Sugar Bowl. So I got to see 75 percent of two very interesting games.
Sugar Bowl
* Boise State lives! Utah’s 31-17 upset of Alabama was every bit the equal of Boise State’s knockoff of the Sooners two years ago, if not quite as dramatic.
This Alabama team is better than that OU team was. This again proves that the little guy deserves a spot at the table. Come clean: wouldn’t you be a lot more intrigued by a Boise State-Texas game than the Texas-Ohio State Fiesta Bowl?
Anyway, the Utes even paid homage to Boise State with a later hook-and-lateral that sealed the game.
Utah dominated. Bama stayed in the game only because of a punt return for a touchdown and a rash of penalties in the second half.
* One reason Utah won? It had the better quarterback. Brian Johnson far outplayed John Parker Wilson, continuing a bowl theme. Good quarterbacking matters.
Johnson completed 27 of 41 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns.
After Ole Miss made a case for those good SEC defenses with a victory over Texas Tech, Utah made the SEC’s best defense look weak.
* So here’s the lesson to learn concerning the Big Bowl. Yes, it makes a big difference when you play a good defense. It also makes a big difference when you play a good quarterback.
* Good thing OU’s playing Brigham Young and not the Utes next year.
Cotton Bowl
* Tech’s defense was good for a half against Texas and good for a game against OSU, but it wilted against OU and Ole Miss.
Mississippi had the ball for more than 35 minutes. It totaled 515 yards and scored 38 offensive points. Play like that, and there’s not much comeback when SEC teams start yapping about Big 12 defenses.
* Graham Harrell didn’t reach the end zone with his mad-dash scramble that finished the first half, but he may have made himself some money. Harrell showed some good footwork and almost scored in scrambling 44 yards.
* Great homecoming for Jevan Snead. Beaten out by Colt McCoy at Texas in 2006, Snead was the best quarterback on the Cotton Bowl field. Snead completed 18 of 29 for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Snead did this season what McCoy failed to do: beat Texas.
* Ole Miss has some athletes. Brandon Bolden, Dexter McCluster, Mike Wallace. You can see sort of see how Florida had trouble with the Rebels.
* Houston Nutt is a heck of a coach. Going from Ed Orgeron to Nutt is not so much different than going from John Blake to Bob Stoops.
* I love hearing Pat Summerall’s voice. It’s a throwback to simpler times. Makes me feel good. But he can’t call a game anymore.
* Who knew the Kilgore Rangerettes were still kicking. Which begs the question, whatever happened to the Apache Belles?
Liberty Bowl
* I saw none of it. I was in the air, flying to Fort Lauderdale, so Kentucky beat East Carolina 25-19 without my help.
* But good for Rich Brooks. The guy obviously can coach. He built Oregon into a winner. He’s been solid at Kentucky; not earth-shattering, but solid.
* Tulsa’s giveaway to East Carolina in the Conference USA title game cost the Golden Hurricane this: a shot at an SEC team on a neutral field, which doesn’t come around very often. Instead, Tulsa is stuck in Mobile, Ala., for the GMAC Bowl against Ball State, which should be a heck of a game but will do nothing for TU’s reputation.
Emails: Stoops & Broncos, Big Bowl, Holiday Bowl
The new emails are in, and it’s an interesting batch. Bob Stoops and the Broncos. The looming Big Bowl. The Holiday Bowl. Lots of topics.
Greg wrote, “OU will defense Tebow just fine. Tebow will rattle off a couple of ooh and ahhh plays, but overall he will be negated. He will be forced to throw more than 25 times, which is a negative sign for Florida. Florida will commit one costly turnover per half resulting in 14 OU points with little or no offense. OU will run for 180 and pass for 300. No turnovers. The first half will be lower scoring, but relatively even with someone leading 14-10 or 17-14. OU will win the second half convincingly and the game, 45-27. Tebow will emerge as a sympathetic, game, legendary figure with overall stats. Sam will be quiet, efficient, and the winner.”
Wow. Can you write my column for me, too, and I won’t sweat a thing.
Mac wrote, “Looking back at the bowl games during Stoops tenure, a rather telling pattern emerges. OU won all but one while Mike Stoops was on board and has lost all but one since he left. In those losses our opponents scored at will, that being the difference. I have often thought that Mike Stoops had an extreme ‘fire in the belly’ that he was able to transfer to his defense much better than Brent Venables could. Maybe it was their coaching interaction that made the difference. Either way, college players benefit from that extra sense of purpose that an exceptional one-on-one coach brings to the game.”
You know, I suppose it’s possible that Mike Stoops was a better defensive coordinator than Brent Venables is, but the mythical status of Mike Stoops is one of the more interesting crushes Sooner fans have ever had on a coach. It rivals Mike Leach.
Jason didn’t like me writing about the possibility of Bob Stoops going to Denver. “Your job as a journalist is to report news and not make news. Please stick to the fundamentals of your profession and report on subjects that you have verified the facts.”
Unfortunately, Jason did not accurately assess my job. My job is a combination of analysis, conjecture and reporting the facts. My job is not in any way to make OU fans sleep better at night. But since you asked, the facts are, Pat Bowlen is an OU grad, Bowlen and Stoops have a relationship of some kind, Bowlen is a solid NFL owner, Stoops would be nuts if he considered any franchise other than run by a solid owner and the Rocky Mountain News has reported that the Broncos have an interest in Stoops, to some degree.
Steve wrote about Stoops and the Broncos: “I hope you’re right. I am an OSU grad who left the state in 1970. We (OSU) have lost lots of games to the Sooners over the years and I never liked their coaches. I hated Switzer. But Bob Stoops is different. He’s a class guy and the Broncos are a class organization. I’d say it’s a good fit. We need someone like him to turn the Broncos around. I’m 60, but immaturely still like to see Oklahoma lose. I’ll still be rooting for Florida to whip the Sooners.”
I think it’s a sign of maturity to recognize your immaturity.
Brad wrote, “Watching OSU late this season, it seemed to me that they lacked depth, which hurt them late in games. In OSU’s last three losses (Tech, OU, Ducks), it was outscored 52-22 in the fourth quarter and 103-48 in the second half. Other than that they seemed as good as anyone.”
Maybe so. But OSU trailed OU 21-13 at halftime and Tech 28-14 at halftime. They got wore down only against Oregon. OSU’s first half performances against OU and Tech were about the same as the second half.
Dan wrote, “O-State dominated early, but didn’t show it on the scoreboard. Halftime score should’ve been 28-7. No late hits on OSU QB make it WWF all over again. Robinson likely had a concussion and probably other injuries. Mentally, he just wasn’t there. Head shots on a QB are often called; not here though. Trust me. If the same happened to Bradford in the title game, there would be a federal investigation. The wet field takes out best player for OSU (Bryant), game over. Two of best OSU players out, one due to conditions, one due to hits. Colorado would’ve beaten OSU at that point.”
I sure would have liked to see OSU play the whole way with a healthy Dez.
Eric wrote, “Just watched the Jayhawks’ impressive win over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. Of course, I’ve already seen a number of bowl games this season, complete with the obligatory Gatorade bath for the head coaches. But instead of the celebratory dousing of the big man, just once I’d like to see some of the Jayhawks’ big beef eaters hoist Mangino up on their shoulders and haul him off the field. Now that would be a most impressive feat!”
Sounds like a job for Duke Robinson and Phil Loadholt.
Josh wrote, “The 2008-2009 bowl season has been home to some of the worst bowl games I have ever witnessed. The Sun Bowl (3-0 Oregon State), the Orange Bowl (20-7 VT).”
Actually, I really enjoyed the Orange Bowl and was fascinated by the Sun Bowl. I actually made a list today of the college football games I have covered this year: 57-2, 52-26, 55-14, 56-28, 45-35, 45-31, 28-24, 62-28, 56-20, 30-17, 65-21, 61-41, 62-21. A 3-0 game was a nice change of pace.
Mike wrote, Since you’ve dubbed OKC the Boomers, me and my buds starting referring to Ford Center as The Boom Box. I think you should consider adopting that moniker as well.”
The Boom Box it is!
Gene watched the OU-Arkansas basketball game and was displeased with the officiating. “Something has to be done about Ed Hightower and his totally incompetent crew. If you only look at the stats after the game, then it looks like OU played horrible. Granted, not their best performance, but it is a little hard to do when you have a refereeing crew as bad as this one. You are totally afraid to play any defense whatsoever, and when you see Capel get a technical, then something might, just might be wrong! Hightower has to go.”
I think he’s going to the Final Four. He’s been there a bunch of times.
Happy New Year’s for Nebraska
The New Year’s Day missed the Cotton Bowl. On Jan. 1, there were five bowl games. On Dec. 31, where were five bowl games. OK, so some of the New Year’s games were more prestigious than some of the New Year’s Eve games. But still, they don’t make Jan. 1 like they used to. I think it missed the Cotton Bowl, which kicks off on Friday.
Anyway, it still was a fun day of football, led by the Gator Bowl.
Gator Bowl
* Solid, solid win by Nebraska, 26-21 over Clemson. The Huskers won the way most Big 12 teams win; they had the better quarterback. Joe Ganz wasn’t great but was solid. Clemson’s Cullen Harper struggled.
* I never say things like this. Never, never, never. But the CBS broadcast crew of Craig Bolerjack, Steve Beuerlein and Dan Fouts seemed terribly smitten with Clemson.
It wasn’t an anti-Nebraska bent, it was mostly just infatuation with Clemson. Everything was presented from a Clemson perspective. How will this play affect Clemson, how will that development affect Clemson. The play of the game, as deemed by CBS, was a fumble by Nebraska quarterback Patrick Witt that Clemson returned for a touchdown, but then was wiped out by replay.
Huh?
* The biggest play of the game was Quentin Castille’s 58-yard run in the third quarter, which overturned momentum. Nebraska trailed 21-10 after a Clemson TD, but on NU’s next snap, Castille broke free, setting up a Joe Ganz touchdown pass.
* The Huskers have some excellent receivers. Nate Swift’s 17-yard touchdown catch was as good as you’ll see as far as getting feet down in the end zone.
* I don’t know if Bo Pelini will turn things around in Lincoln, but I think he’s off to an excellent start: 9-4, lots of excitement. The Big 12 North seems ripe for the taking. If Pelini finds a quarterback, Nebraska might soon return to the class of the North.
* Crazy stat of the year: Nebraska has won one North title this decade.
* The Huskers sealed the victory with a defensive stand after Clemson reached the 10-yard line late in the game. Nebraska turned back the Tigers by blitzing. Blitzing almost always is the way to go in college football. Brent Venables seems like he’s blitzing Sooners every play down the stretch, and it’s been working.
Orange Bowl
* I was pulling for Cincinnati, but Virginia Tech clearly was the better team and won 20-7.
* The Tony Pike story — from fifth on the depth chart in August to the Orange Bowl in January — is a nice tale, but now we know why Dustin Grutza was the better player.
Grutza suffered a broken leg at OU in September, and Pike was ineffective against V-Tech. He threw four interceptions, and a fifth was overturned by replay.
* Terrible, terrible call. Fourth-and-goal from the V-Tech 1-yard line, midway through the fourth quarter, Cincy trailed by 13.
Pike ran a counter option. Really good play, usually. And it was open this time, at least enough opening for what Cincinnati needed. Pike had running room. But he was hit at the 1-yard line by Barquell Rivers and nailed for no gain. The way the play developed, almost any quarterback would have fallen forward and found the end zone. But Pike, a stringbean, went barrelling back.
* It was fun watching Cincinnati receiver Mardy Gilyard run circles around V-Tech. He had 158 yards receiving and several oh-so-close kickoff returns. Same thing he did to Oklahoma, except for the oh-so-close part.
* Lots of empty seats in the Orange Bowl. I don’t know how these BCS bowls are expected to sell tickets for these extra games. All their marketing effort goes into the Big Bowl a week later. Oklahoma-Boise State, Georgia-Hawaii, Cincy-Virginia Tech. Those are tough sells.
* And another thing. It seems like on ESPN particularly, there don’t seem to be as many commercials sold as usual. That’s got to be an ominous sign.
Rose Bowl
* Haven’t we seen this before? It was 31-7 and 38-14 before Penn State made a late rally and lost 38-24.
* Sorry, Herbstreit and Musburger, but no matter how much you talk about wanting USC in some kind of four-team playoff, no one cries for the Trojans.
Their final resume’ includes two victories over the best of the Big Ten and an 8-1 record against the Pac-10. The team America should feel sorry for remains Texas; the Longhorns came out on the short end of the Big 12 three-way tie. The national title game should be and is the showdown between champs of the Big 12 and the SEC. The only question was which Big 12 team should get to play.
* Does every USC receiver stand 6-foot-4?
* I swear, USC quarterback Matt Sanchez reminds of Matt Leinart. Not when he throws, but in his face. They look alike.
* I don’t know what the answer is to the USC-dominates-the-Big Ten-in-the-Rose Bowl dilemma, but I’m pretty sure no one in Pasadena cares or even thinks it’s a dilemma, so maybe it’s not.
I’m not one of these Rose Bowl bashers. I think it’s cool that the Rose Bowl and the Pac-10 and the Big Ten want to keep hold of their tradition. I say go for it.
* I’ll never get tired of seeing Galen Hall in the pressbox, calling plays. Only in Happy Valley could Hall, the Penn State offensive coordinator who joined the OU staff in 1966, be considered a young coach.
Capital Outback One Bowl
I just lump these two bowls together because I can never keep them apart. Which one used to be the Citrus (Capital One)? Which one is in Tampa (Outback)? Which one matched Georgia vs. Michigan State, or was it South Carolina vs. Michigan State, or was it Georgia vs. Iowa, or was it South Carolina vs. Iowa?
Way too confusing. Anyway, Iowa beat South Carolina 31-10 and Georgia beat Michigan State 24-12.
* Georgia-Michigan State was a fabulous uniform game. Simply elegant. Georgia white, trimmed in black and red, against Sparty green.
* Matthew Stafford was banged up. Don’t compare him to Sam Bradford off this performance, though it was still solid — 20 of 31, 250 yards, three TDs, one interception. Truthfully, this was great quarterbacking compared to what we’ve seen out of most of the bowls.
Michigan State’s Brian Hoyer was a typical Big Ten quarterback: 18 of 34, 169 yards, one interception.
* I loved Michigan State’s Javon Ringer all year, but Iowa tailback Shon Greene is better. Ringer gained 47 yards against Georgia; Greene had 121 yards and three TDs against South Carolina.
* I guess the Outback Bowl is supposed to host the SEC’s No. 4 team, and if two teams make the BCS, then it becomes the No. 5 team. But if South Carolina is the SEC’s fifth-best team, that’s not much of a league. The Gamecocks are awful, and Steve Spurrier doesn’t look like he’s much into coaching anymore.
Watch out for the SEC
LSU’s 38-3 rout of Georgia Tech in the used-to-be-the-Peach Bowl had to sober up Sooner fans on New Year’s Eve.
LSU was a mediocre SEC team this year; 3-5 in league. The Tigers beat Auburn 26-21, Mississippi State 34-24 and South Carolina 24-17. They lost big to Florida 51-21 and Ole Miss 31-13.
Yet LSU toyed with Georgia Tech, the ACC’s third-best team, even in Atlanta. That’s an indictment of the ACC, I’ll grant you. Especially when you consider that Vanderbilt beat the No. 2 ACC team, Boston College, 16-14 in the Music City Bowl earlier Wednesday.
But the SEC looks awfully strong so far in bowls. Don’t dismiss that. As I’ve told you, this isn’t September, where you can manufacture good records. In bowl games, it’s even Steven. Neutral fields and equitable foes. You stand on your own two feet.
More on the Chick-Fil-A Bowl:
* Les Miles is up to his old tricks, calling a second-quarter onside kick that LSU recovered. That was a sign of Tiger confidence that it could stop Georgia Tech’s option offense.
* I think it’s safe to say that the momentum for G-Tech’s triple-option will evaporate for awhile. It looked completely inadequate against LSU.
* One thing the Big East officiating crew kept doing — and I liked it — was signal a fumble recovery right away. If you see a guy recover the ball and he’s on the ground, the play’s over. Too many officials let possession go to the team that’s roughest at the bottom of the pile.
* I can live with most corporate bowl names, but the Chick-Fil-A gets to me. They’ve scrapped Peach from the name. Peach Bowl was a great name; symbolic of Georgia. Chick-Fil-A Bowl is among the worst.
Insight Bowl
Kansas’ 42-21 victory over Minnesota was nothing special. Good for the Jayhawks, but the Gophers have got to be one of the worst bowl teams in big-league history.
Minnesota finishes 7-6, and here is its victims: Northern Illinois (31-27), Bowling Green, Montana State, Florida Atlantic, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue.
Minnesota finished the year with a five-game losing streak, including losses of 55-0 to Iowa and 29-6 to Michigan.
* In any other league, KU’s Dezmon Briscoe would be a star. In the Big 12, he’s overshadowed by Michael Crabtree and Dez Bryant and Jeremy Maclin and the bevy of passcatchers at Texas and OU. But Briscoe is big-time; he caught 14 passes for 201 yards. Briscoe hurt the Sooners more than any other receiver did this year.
* It’s still a joke that two Big 12 bowl tie-ins — Insight and Texas — are on the NFL Network. The Rice-Western Michigan game in the Texas Bowl (the Big 12 didn’t supply enough teams to fill the allotment) had to be the lowest-rated bowl game of all time.
* Kansas will get some support in the preseason to win the Big 12 North in 2009.
Sun Bowl
* No kidding, I never thought I would ever see a 3-0 bowl game again. But Oregon State and Pitt not only played a 3-0 game, they could have played another two quarters and not reached the end zone.
Pitt completed nine of 28 passes. We watch the Holiday Bowl and think Zac Robinson is off target on a night when he completes 27 of 50 for 329 yards.
There’s a whole lot of bad quarterbacking across America. Just not much in the Big 12. Heck, KU’s Todd Reesing would be the best quarterback in a several leagues, and he’s no better than fifth or sixth in the Big 12.
* The Sun Bowl looks like a fun game to go to. Good crowd. Good atmosphere. Just stay away from Juarez.
* I don’t ever get to see much of the CBS crew that calls SEC games. But it called the Sun Bowl, and while I don’t think Gary Danielsen any good, I’ve always liked Verne Lundquist. And CBS’ sideline reporter, Tracy Wolfson, was excellent. Very good. Much better than ESPN’s best.
Music City Bowl
* You had to be happy for Vanderbilt. First bowl game since 1982. First bowl win since 1955. And the Commodores beat a school, Boston College, that had won eight straight bowls.
Armed Forces Bowl
Good for Kevin Sumlin, whose Houston Cougars beat Air Force 34-28, ending an eight-bowl losing streak dating back to 1980. UH finished 8-5 in Sumlin’s first season.
