Fiesta Bowl wildcard
When it comes to college bowl games, the Oklahoma football team knows all about wildcards — players who unexpectedly come to the forefront and excel.
Arkansas backup tailback Roland Sales is the most prominent figure who comes to mind, rushing for an Orange Bowl record 205 yards in the Razorbacks’ stunning 31-6 victory over the Sooners in 1978. At kickoff, Arkansas was a 24-point underdog.
Three years later, OU tight end Forrest Valora caught a pass on a game-winnning two-point conversion to beat Florida State 18-17 in the 1981 Orange Bowl.
Who might be the wildcard player in Wednesday night’s Fiesta Bowl between OU and West Virginia?
OU’s depleted defense has a number of candidates thanks to starters Reggie Smith, Lendy Holmes and DeMarcus Granger missing the contest for various reasons. Defensive back Dominique Franks plus linemen Jeremy Beal, Cory Bennett and Steven Coleman are good wildcard choices. (The Sooners are so deep offensively, no player really qualifies as a wildcard.)
The loss of Granger is expected to add firepower to the Mountaineers’ already explosive rushing attack, which ranks No. 4 nationally. This is why my pregame wildcard vote goes to WVU freshman running back Noel Devine.
Devine backs up one of the nation’s premier backs in Steve Slaton. But Slaton has had a somewhat pedestrian junior season, averaging 87.8 yards per game and failing to gain 100 yards in six of the last eight games.
The 5-foot-8, 170-pound Devine has had flashes of brilliance this season, averaging a school record 27.2 yards per carry against Maryland (136 yards on five carries). Devine’s 8.65 yards-per-carry average is second only to Arkansas’ Felix Jones (9.08). Devine has 519 rushing yards and is averaging 89.5 all-purpose yards per game.
Will Devine win the game for the Mountaineers? Possibly. But I still like the Sooners to win by about 10 points.
Devine might not even touch the ball against OU. But if he does, things could get a little wild.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Wow….. good call!