In a week when there
was plenty of bowl upsets, my Bowl Mania Pick’em seemed to go particularly bad,
but despite that there was some very exciting games to watch, let’s get to
reviewing them.
SHERATON HAWAII
BOWL: Southern Methodist 43 - Fresno State 10
In what turned out to be a very one sided game,
the Mustangs of SMU completely shut down the Fresno State run game and managed
enough offence to put the game to bed by the end of the half.
Player of the Game: Margus Hunt, in what was a
truly dominant performance from the Estonian, he had a safety and two forced
fumbles and looked ready for Sundays.
Players to Watch: Despite having over 350 yards
passing, Carr somewhat reminded me of his brother’s play behind an O-line that
was overmatched. Line on the other hand was outshone by his QB on the ground,
but still managed a touchdown and some solid yardage.
Pick: Wrong – 24 points lost on a game that
seemed stacked in favour of Fresno State but ended up being a blow out the
other way.
LITTLE CAESARS
BOWL: Central Michigan 24 - Western Kentucky 21
This was a close one that really came down to the
decision of the Hilltoppers interim head coach Lance Guidry trying to win the
game on a fourth and 2 instead of tying the game.
Player of the Game: Ryan Radcliff finished his
Chippewa career by being almost perfect and throwing three touchdowns, a really
assured performance by the senior.
Players to Watch: Andrews had a solid game in for
his team recording 119 yards on the ground and despite not finding the endzone
his performance really drove his offence forwards. Cherocci didn’t seem to
impact the game in the way I expect and only had 8 tackles.
Pick: Wrong - 20 points lost. This was always a
touch one to call, and it nearly went my way.
MILITARY BOWL -
PRESENTED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN: No. 24 San Jose State 29 -
Bowling Green 20
The Spartans totally eschewed the run game and
played just enough defence at the right time to take this game over a Falcons
team that did themselves proud.
Player of the Game: David Fales. A very efficient
performance from the young QB who only threw ten incompletions and averaged 9.2
yards a completion to go along with his two touchdowns.
Players to Watch: Travis Johnson had the key
turnover in the fourth quarter that led to the Spartans game ending score
whilst Jones had a very disappointing game and very little impact.
Pick: Correct – 12 points won. A decent total for
another game that could have gone either way in the end.
After a very quick start, the Blue Devils
succumbed to a late Cincinnati surge to allow the Big East its first win of the
bowl season. Both teams really opened up the playbook and very little defence
was played, just what the college postseason ordered!
Player of the Game: Brendon Kay. When the
Bearcats were under pressure he was the man that came up with the big plays
when it mattered. Having four touchdowns was impressive but it was his ability
to scramble whilst under pressure that allowed the Bearcats to mount the
comeback.
Players to Watch: Blair turned in a very nice performance
with 15 tackles, 1 TFL and a forced fumble to really help out the Bearcat
defence whilst Crowder was outshone by Conner Vernon who is a interesting guy
to watch coming upto the NFL draft.
Pick: Correct – 10 points won. If you’d have
asked me how confident I was after the Bearcats got run over in the first
quarter then I would have said not very, but Cincy showed some real heart to
battle back and earn me 10 vital points.
Like I predicted, plenty of offence was played
and after Baylor got up early, there was no catching them. UCLA just couldn’t
keep pace after going down 21-0 early on, and the Bears kept them at arms
length the rest of the way but playing some semi-decent defence.
Player of the Game: Glasco Martin. Two yards shy
of the ton and had 3 TDs including a 26 yarder to keep the Baylor offence
rolling.
Players to Watch: Neither player I chose had the
impact I expected. Florence threw the ball a total of 13 times and managed 2
TDs and no turnovers, but Franklin had only 34 yards off of 14 carries as the
UCLA offence turned to their passing game to try and keep them in touch.
Pick: Wrong – 17 points lost. I was always
skeptical about picking UCLA, but I thought Jim Mora Jr’s NFL experience would
have the Bruins game planned better. In the end the Baylor offence just had too
many tricks up their sleeve.
Once again, the madness of bowl play showed up
most of the Bowl Mania Pick’em League when the Warhawks didn’t play up to
expectations and were dominated by the Ohio Bobcats. Offensively the Warhawaks
were a shadow of their in-season selves whilst the Bobcats exploded for 556
yards and 6 TDs.
Player of the Game: Beau Blankenship. The case
can be made for Tettleton to be here, but Blankenship put up over 100 yards on
the ground and put the ball in the endzone 4 times with his power running.
Players to Watch: Blankenship had a great game
but Browning was dominated by the Ohio defence and had 3 interceptions.
Pick: Wrong – 8 points lost. The Warhawks didn’t
play anywhere near their potential and gave in after a while as Ohio ran out
deserved winners.
Not a good advert for college football as both
offences played atrociously in the poor weather conditions and were thoroughly
dominated by the opposing defences. Rutgers QB Gary Nova had a fourth quarter
to forget which allowed the Hokies back into the game when they hadn’t
threatened the Scarlet Knights all night.
Player of the Game: If I’m honest I don’t think
there was anyone that deserved this award. But I’ll go with the ESPN pick and
say it was VT’s punter A.J. Hughes who put 5 punts within the 20 and had three
that went of 50 yards.
Players to Watch: Greene didn’t let me down at all;
he had 11 tackles with 4 for a loss and Rutgers’ only touchdown of the night.
Thomas played to his season form on the night to fit my description perfectly,
he stunk the place out for the majority of the night before find some rhythm in
the fourth and pulling of an absolutely perfect throw for the Hokies touchdown.
Pick: Correct – 19 points won. Most people picked
against VT and looked justified in doing so, but the Hokie defence, as so often
in the past, came up big to propel Tech past Rutgers in OT.
MEINEKE CAR CARE
BOWL OF TEXAS: Texas Tech 34 -
Minnesota 31
This one ended up a lot closer than everyone
expected. The Golden Gophers came out and gave the Tubberville-less Raiders
everything the could handle.
Player of the Game: Darrin Moore. Since I didn’t
get to see this game I once again bow to the pick of ESPN. Eleven catches for
84 yards, well done sir.
Players to Watch: Kirkwood rattled off 77 yards
and a touchdown whlst Doege had a fairly poor night having 2 picks and only one
touchdown.
Pick: Correct – 33 points won. I expected an easy
win for Tech, but I got the points in the end, that’s all that matters.
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