No more jokes about whether you can get your GMAC Bowl serviced by the Meineke Car Care Bowl... the ever expanding non-BCS bowl games are finished.
Ball State was pummeled by Tulsa Tuesday night, leaving only the National Championship Game (TM) to close out the college season. And by "close out," I mean, of course, start the annual who's really number one bitchfest from coaches, critics, fans, and the office of the President-elect.
Still, it was a postseason of football, flawed or not. Let's recap some of the better games from this season's non-BCS bowl games.
Poinsetta Bowl: TCU 17 Boise State 16. Drew at Fight, Fight, BSU says:
The Boise State/TCU game provided everything that fans were looking for (besides a Boise State win) and really could've gone either way. Were we disappointed with the outcome? Absolutely—the way the game ended, with Kellen's out-of-leftfield INT, quickly soured the optimistic mood that most fans probably had going into the last 2 minutes of the bowl, but It is great to be a Bronco fan. Their insistence on trying to break the record for "most bowl game ended with a pick in one decade" certainly sprouts some gray hairs among even the most loyal Bronco fans, but no player or fan should be hanging their heads about the 2008 campaign...
Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia 31 UNC 30. Charley West at West BY GOD Virginia says:
But now, as we bid adieu to a quarterback that has broken the mold at quarterback at our school, it’s time to do the same with our retirement requirements. Who cares if Pat White hasn’t yet had a successful pro career. He’s the all-time leading rusher at QB in NCAA history, he’s the first QB to win four bowl games as starter, and he’s the best damn player in Mountaineer history. All of those, plus hundreds of other reasons, lead me to reach only one conclusion:
Retire #5. Now.
Emerald Bowl: California 24 Miami 17. Bear With Fangs says:
What more can be said about the conference’s leading rusher? Jahvid Best has been absolutely spectacular, particularly in the second half of this season. And he was in prime form on Saturday, running through, around, and most often right by Miami defenders. Best was the most consistent offensive attack for the Bears, rushing for 186 yards on just 20 carries and two touchdowns.
Anyone else even think that number is a bit low compared to what Best has done in recent weeks? Yeah, it’s become THAT ridiculous.
The difference this time is that Miami was a legitimate defense. While giving up big yardage on the ground in the closing games of the season, the Canes were certainly no Stanford or Washington, and it’s impressive to consider what Best was able to do on the ground against Miami.
Alamo Bowl: Missouri 30 Northwestern 23. The True Son at Mizzourah! says:
I can’t say I’m elated with this victory. Like I said, for most of the night the Tigers looked like they were attending a funeral rather than playing in a bowl game. But all I really wanted was for this group of players to have one more night where they could exit the stadium with smiles on their faces. And that’s what I got.
For one final night we got to see Jeremy Maclin sprint at full speed, Chase Coffman make clutch catch after clutch catch and William Moore, Ziggy Hood and Stryker Sulak wreak havoc on an opposing offense.
When all was said and done the Tigers ended the night with their tenth victory of the season, which pushed their average number of wins over the last three years to 10. And for one final night, Mizzou fans were able to watch No. 10 walk off the field with a victory in-hand.
Sun Bowl: Oregon State 3 Pittsburgh 0. Chas at Pitt Blather says:
In the first quarter, McCoy touched the ball 3 times — 2 rushes and 1 pass. McCoy ran the ball a total of 8 times in the first half. Stull was 5-14 with an interception and a sack in that half.
In the second half, McCoy got 16 touches, but 5 of them came in the second last series after Stull was pulled due to injury. Meaning, everyone knew and the Beavers were not even bothering to worry about covering the receivers.
We can blame Stull for not making passes anywhere near the receivers. For locking in on his target at the line of scrimmage. But, put the blame on the guy making the decision to keep doing it when it was obvious and apparent very early that it wasn’t going to work.
Oregon State was without their best player and best offensive weapon in RB Jacquizz Rodgers. To say nothing of WR James Rodgers. Yet, they still did enough without the two players that accounted for 21 of the Beavers 46 TDs and over 2500 yards. I don’t even want to imagine what Pitt’s offense would have looked like without McCoy.
Music City Bowl: Vanderbilt 16 Boston College 14. Diezba at Star & Stripe says:
And there was Myron Lewis. Holding the ball after staying in-bounds just long enough to register possession, tip-toeing his way into everlasting fame and Vanderbilt legend.
The silence lasted for the smallest of moments.
And then cacophony.
Chaos.
Eruption.
Mind-searing jubilation.
It may be possible in the hindsight of history, perhaps five to ten years down the road, to understand the implications of what took place along the icy banks of the Cumberland River that night.
But in that moment, for 118,000 living Vanderbilt alumni -- almost half of whom made the pilgrimage back to Nashville to see what for many was something they had almost given up hope would occur in their lifetime -- there was absolution. There was release.
Capitol One Bowl: Georgia 24 Michigan State 12. Chancellor of the Sexchequer Doug at Hey Jenny Slater. says:
It wasn't a perfect game by any stretch -- pretty damned ugly, actually, depending on your standards, for the first two and a half quarters at least -- but I told one of my fellow Dawg fans after the game that if we were going to win by 12, much better that it be a 24-12 win than one by a score of, say, 48-36. The offense took a while to get started, but I think we've been given reason to be confident by now that any team with Stafford and Moreno on it is never too far from breaking out. The defense was the group that had the most to proved, and they proved it. This one game won't take Willie Martinez off the hot seat in a lot of people's eyes, but it did prove that the talent, the drive, and the coaching are all there, it's just a matter of getting them all to operate at 110 percent at the same time.
Gator Bowl: Nebraska 26 Clemson 21. Sammy Vegas at Double Extra Point says:
Joe Ganz isn't the best quarterback Nebraska has ever seen, but he very well could be the toughest. Whether it was hobbling on a gimpy knee, slamming his head on the turf, or committing 2 costly turnovers that lead to touchdowns, he wasn't about to let any of that get to him. Joe's a winner in every way and he couldn't have dreamt of a more fitting way to go out.
Cotton Bowl: Ole Miss 47 Texas Tech 34. The Ghost of Jay Cutler at the Red Solo Cup says:
Leading up to the game, just about every member of the major sports media, the Texas Tech fanbase, and even a few of their players predicted a blowout victory for the Red Raiders.
They deserved better than the play some 8-4 team in the Cotton Bowl. They were going to do to us what we would do to Oklahoma State. This guy was somehow going to scare Peria Jerry.
We heard it all month long but we nor our players listened. Yesterday we had a confidence and swagger that I could have never imagined as an Ole Miss fan. If an Ed Orgeron led team had fallen behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter, would they have turned around and won by 13? This team isn't afraid to play anyone and that attitude is what won our 9 games.
0 comments:
Post a Comment