Jake Fine - Inside the Mind of Fine

Bowl Bonaza

January 15th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized

That’s right we got new sexy look!  Before I go any farther I though it would be fitting to put out a belated recap all 32 of this year’s bowl season because I think we all need some closure.  Picking wise for me was not too shabby with a 19-13 mark but 1-4 in BCS games.  Here’s what I have to say now that another bowl season has passed us by.

 

POINSETTIA BOWL: Utah 35, Navy 32

WHAT I LEARNED: At the time I thought this was the first of what would hopefully be many exciting bowl season, only to see than I would eventually be disappointed.  Right now there are three things I can assume: the sun will rise in the east, set in the west, and Utes will win their Bowl game.  After hanging on for their slim 3 point win, that made it 7 straight W’s.  Although one can’t help but wonder if the outcome would have been different if Navy head coach Paul Johnson wouldn’t have taken the Georgia Tech job.  As soon as Navy got down 17-7 in the second half the team’s body language showed the motivation that had been with them all season simply wasn’t there.

 

NEW ORLEANS BOW: Florida Atlantic 44, Memphis 27

WHAT I LEARNED: You can’t help but to give the Owls a standing ovation after notching victory in their first ever bowl appearance.  FAU benefited from a stellar performance from quarterback Rusty Smith who threw for 336 yards and 5 TD’s, proving that he might be the second best QB playing in the state of Florida right now.  One other note I wanted to pass along was that I couldn’t help but notice that FAU head coach, Howard Schnellenberger looked exactly like the father in the movie Dirty Work.  It was almost as if once he was interviewed after the game concluded and was asked how he felt, part of me was hoping he said, “Oh I’m feeling great, but I’d be a lot better if you gave me a whore.”

 

PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL: Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss. 21

WHAT I LEARNED: Despite the fact that the final score would suggest, you had to figure this one was over before it started.  Maybe if Ciny’s Ben Mauk wouldn’t have thrown 3 picks in the first half, the difference might have been larger.  On the other hand it is good to see the Bearcats turning their program around as reached the 10-win plateau for the first time since 1951.

 

NEW MEXICO BOWL: New Mexico 23, Nevada 0

WHAT I LEARNED:  In what might have been the most impressive performance that you didn’t see as New Mexico basically took Nevada out back and beat the living crap out of them.  The Lobo’s were shined on both sides of the ball as their front 7 gave Wolf Pack QB Colin Kaepernick fits all game, while quarterback Donovan Porterie and running back Paul Baker lead UNM to a season best 548 yards of total offense.

 

LAS VEGAS BOWL: BYU 17, UCLA 16

WHAT I LEARNED: Eventually we all at some point need to show some sympathy for Karl Dorrell.  After having all the expectations heading into the season, and many projecting 10 wins for the Bruins, the year was tarnished by injury after injury, and eventually Dorrell’s job.  But in the final two minutes it looked like they were going to send their coach out on top a winner by engineering an 87 yard drive.  Of course it only resulted in watching BYU’s Eathyn Manumaleuna block a potential game winning field goal try as time expired.  OUCH!

 

HAWAII BOWL: East Carolina 41, Boise St. 38

WHAT I LEARNED:  It’s safe to say that this was one result that nobody outside of Greenville saw coming, but ECU’s Chris Johnson stole the show by setting an NCAA Bowl record with 408 all-purpose yards.  It was hard for the Broncos to get back into the game after Ian Johnson left after just one carry, and Taylor Tharp’s inability to hang onto the football.  In fact had it not been for some careless Pirate turnovers late in the game the score would not have been as close.  Not even the Statue of Liberty could have saved them.

 

MOTOR CITY BOWL: Purdue 51, Central Michigan

WHAT I LEARNED:  Consider this just one of the very many reasons that the Big Ten was having an off year as they couldn’t even pick up even a comfortable win over the lowly Chippewas.  I’m just glad that Purdue got their win so now their fans can go back into their dark caves until they start 3-0 next season so they start demanding respect.  Nobody respects you because you haven’t had a good team since Drew Brees left.  On the one positive of this game it was a solid showing from CMU quarterback Dan LeFevour who threw for 292, ran for 114, while totaling 6 scores.  If this continues you can almost call him a very poor man’s Vince Young.

 

HOLIDAY BOWL: Texas 52, Arizona St. 34

WHAT I LEARNED:  Traditionally this is one of my favorite games to watch since the match up is annually intriguing and most of the time the game lives up to the hype.  However this year, like several times in the past the representative from the Pac-10 showed up and laid an egg.  I could talk about the strength of Texas but I don’t want to because despite putting 52 on the board, it could not have been done in a sloppier fashion.  One of the bigger storylines to arise was UT assistant Chris Jessie was flagged for inadvertently stepped onto the field and touched a live ball.  Later we would all learn that Jessie is actually the stepson of head coach Mack Brown.  Does that sound messed up to anyone else?  If you want to live up to the expectations of competing for a title every year why don’t you put coaches on your staff that actually know what they are doing rather than just taking care of your own family.  At the same time if you really want to put someone ridiculous like that on your staff than just name Matthew McConaughey an assistant.  He’s always on the sidelines anyway and I’m willing to bet he won’t run on the field.

 

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL: Boston College 24, Michigan St. 21

WHAT I LEARNED:  The only way I can categorize this game is more of a Spartan loss than an Eagles win.  MSU junior quarterback Brian Hoyer picked a bad time for his worst game of the year as he posted season lows in yards (131) and completion percentage (38.6), while throwing a season-high 4 interceptions, including one in the final minutes preventing a Spartan comeback.  On a lighter note, Matt Ryan put up a solid showing in his final game tossing 3 TD’s.

 

HOUSTON BOWL: TCU 20, Houston 13

WHAT I LEARNED:  Based on the fact that this game was on the NFL Network for some ridiculous reason, if you watched it then congratulations!  You clearly like college football more than I do.

 

EMERALD BOWL: Oregon St. 21, Maryland 14

WHAT I LEARNED:  Beavers were victoriously thanks to a gutsy outing from running back Yvenson Bernard who carried the ball 38 times for 177 yards and a touchdown.  Bernard ended his career at 3,862 which puts him 6^th on the conference’s all-time list.  Bottom line he’s just another reason why the running back position will have plenty of depth in the upcoming draft.

 

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL: Wake Forest 24, UCONN 10

WHAT I LEARNED:  I’ve been saying all season that UCONN has been tremendously overrated, and did you know that if you listen very carefully you can hear Louisville fans complaining about the phantom fair-catch.  In some sense justice has been served by the fact that they simply can’t score if their lives depended on it.  Also Wake’s Jim Grobe is simply a likeable guy.

 

LIBERTY BOWL: Mississippi St. 10, Central Florida 3

WHAT I LEARNED:  The fact that MSU was even back in the bowl picture was such a feel-good story that we may have slightly over-looked how good the defense was.  The Bulldog “D” was able to do something that nobody had done in a while, which was slow down UCF’s Kevin Smith.  In his previous 5 games he rushed for 1,000 yards.  It’s too bad that he will not return for his senior season because I think there might have been a slim outside shot at a Heisman for him.

 

ALAMO BOWL: Penn St. 24, Texas A&M 17

WHAT I LEARNED:  Prior to this game at an Aggie pep-rally, A&M cheerleaders started declaring that Joe Paterno was on his deathbed and it was time to put him to sleep. Seriously when will you people learn that nobody messes with Joe Pa.  The man has made more comebacks than Sly Stallone, and that’s without looking like a moron in the new Rambo movie.

 

INDEPENDENCE BOWL: Alabama 30, Colorado 24

WHAT I LEARNED:  I’m still honestly puzzled as to how Colorado even got into a Bowl game.  This is why we can’t have a playoff?!?!?!?  So sub-par teams like the Buffs can play one more game?  The only real significance behind this game was that it prevented Bama from finishing the year on a five game skid.  It really sounds Nick Saban is really earning that 4mill/year.

 

ARMED FORCES BOWL: Cal 42, Air Force 36

WHAT I LEARNED: Even though it seems odd to see AFA lose a bowl with that title in it.  Other than that I really want to know where the hell Cal’s offense has been hiding the whole time and why it took 2 months to reappear.

 

HUMANIARIAN BOWL: Fresno St. 40, Georgia Tech 28

WHAT I LEARNED: In everyone’s favorite game played on blue turf, and for once FSU head coach Pat Hill can finally walk off with a smile on his face after his club racked up 571 yards of offense.  All though part of me is a bit confused why Tech a banded the run as early as it did (161 yds, 4.0 avg).  One stat that did stand out to was that both teams were very efficient on 3^rd down combining 18-27 (66.7%).

 

SUN BOWL: Oregon 56, South Florida 21

WHAT I LEARNED:  It was too long ago when USF was ranked 2^nd in the initial BCS rankings, now look how far they have fallen since then.  In the case for Oregon, when Dennis Dixon went down with a torn ACL it was clear that the Ducks were no longer the same team and that showed as they ended the regular season with losses against Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon St.  But when it came time for bowling they did the one thing they should have done the whole time- get the ball to Jonathan Stewart.  The junior set the tone for the Ducks as he rushed for 253 yards on 20 carries, now he looks to take that momentum into the next level.

 

MUSIC CITY BOWL: Kentucky 35, Florida St. 28

WHAT I LEARNED:  Obviously all the talk heading into this game was how 36 Seminole players, which included half of the team’s starting line-up was suspended for the game as a result of an online music class fiasco.  With that being said it would have been easy to assume a blowout.  That’s why I have to tip the cap to Coach Bowden who got his team playing inspired football that hung with the Wildcats the entire time and very realistically could have pulled off the upset.  Andre’ Woodson walked off with game MVP honors for tossing 4 TD’s, and I have come to the conclusion that at the next level he will be a very solid starter at the position.  He might not ever make the Pro Bowl or win a title, but I truly believe he has all the tools to have a good career.

 

INSIGHT BOWL: Oklahoma St. 49, Indiana 33

WHAT I LEARNED:  Well even before this game kicked off it would have been easy to tell these teams apart (insert your own Mike Gundy joke here).  When it came to game time it was all about whose playmakers showed up and whose did not.  The Cowboys got an inspiring game from young sophomore quarterback Zac Robinson who manufactured over 370 total yards and 5 touchdowns in just his 11^th career start.  On the other side the Hoosiers were unable to get the ball to wide out James Hardy who only caught 5 balls for 50 yards.

 

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL: Auburn 23, Clemson 20 (OT)

WHAT I LEARNED:  Slowly but surely this bowl is giving the Holiday Bowl a run for the title of my favorite pre-January game because these games have been pretty close and because some of the last few games in San Diego have been atrocious.  If you were Tommy Bowden you would have to start storming around your home demanding to know what it is going to take to finally win a bowl game.  I was extremely intrigued based on the fact that Auburn revamped their offense into more of a spread formation for this game.  Tommy Tuberville knows what he is doing most of the time but I think he even knows that if the spread is in Auburn’s future than Brandon Cox is not the answer at QB.

OUTBACK BOWL: Tennessee 21, Wisconsin 17

WHAT I LEARNED:  The Vols proved to be superior in the same bowl game that they were unable to win last year thanks to a heavy load from Eric Ainge who completed 25 of 43 passes for 365 yards and a pair of touchdowns.  The win also gave UT their first 10 win season in four seasons.  Hopefully now the critics will get off Phillip Fulmer’s back.

 

COTTON BOWL: Missouri 38, Arkansas 7

WHAT I LEARNED: After getting cheated out of a BCS bid, the verdict was out as to how the Tigers would respond.  The funny thing is if I told you that Chase Daniel would fail to toss a touchdown it would be safe to say the Razorbacks had their way, however that wasn’t the case as Mizzou showed just how strong their offense really is thanks to the Tony Temple Show (24 carries, 281 yards, 4 TD’s).

 

GATOR BOWL: Texas Tech 31, Virginia 28

WHAT I LEARNED:  In what just might have been the most exciting 4^th quarter as Tech had some tough defense to get the ball back time after time.  Even though it was in a losing effort, words cant explain how amazing it is to watch Chris Long play for UVA, and it could be the same in the NFL.

 

CAPITAL ONE BOWL: Michigan 41, Florida 35

WHAT I LEARNED: The best ever use of the “Win one for the Gipper” motivation as Michigan was able to send Coach Lloyd Carr out a winner thanks to an offense that put 524 total yards.  In a lot of ways it reminded of that one scene in Major League 2 when Jake Taylor used that one win one for Lou speech.  Only switch Carr with Lou, Taylor with Rich Rodriguez, and the fact that they were actually playing football not baseball.  One other note to pass along is this marks the third straight year the Heisman winner ends his season with a bowl loss.

 

ROSE BOWL: USC 49, Illinois 17

WHAT I LEARNED:  I can’t really say that I learned anything because I said from the beginning that this type of result was going to happen and that Illinois clearly didn’t belong to in this game.  Mostly I wish I could leave this spot blank for all the high ego Illini fans who were over optimistic from the day this game was announced.  Although I would say that I was very impressed with the play at the running back position on both sides.  Rashard Mendenhall showed that he does have the skills to play at the next level, and Joe Mcknight could be a better form of Reggie Bush in the making.

 

SUGAR BOWL: Georgia 41, Hawaii 10

WHAT I LEARNED:  So the BCS novelty was not nearly as successful as last year but let’s be honest and realize that Georgia can make a very strong argument for claiming to be the best team in the nation.  Don’t’ forget had Kentucky knocked off Tennessee in the final week of the season then the Bulldogs would have had a shot at LSU in the SEC title game.  As for Hawaii I’m not so sure that Colt Brennan wouldn’t have had a better showing than if he were in bed.  The truth is that his offensive line has always been suspect, but with the schedule he has gone up against this year it would be hard to tell.  Bottom line I think we should all read into the fact that June Jones bolted the islands to go to SMU, because this is the best Hawaii will ever be and it still wasn’t anywhere near being able to compete.

 

FIESTA BOWL: West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28

WHAT I LEARNED:  At some point we really need to start taking the Mountaineers seriously.  Blame them all you want for not taking care of business against Pitt to end the year but it wouldn’t be too far fetch to think this guys would have given LSU a bigger fight because they have an abundance of speed up and down the roster.  As critical as I’ve been calling Pat White overrated, against some big time competition he has officially made a believer out of me with his 2-0 BCS record.

 

ORANGE BOWL: Kansas 24, Virginia Tech 21

WHAT I LEARNED: Speaking of being proven wrong……….  It still pains me to write this portion out but the time has come for me to eat my words.  I was wrong about the Jayhawks and they shut me up with a win where they flat out punched the Hokies in the mouth.  Having said, I still believe this bid should have gone to Missouri, but it is clear that I simply have not given this team enough credit.  Aqib Talib is by far one of the bigger playmakers in the nation playing on the defensive side of the ball, and Todd Reesing isn’t exactly a stand out passer but he fits their system well taking what opposing defenses give him and does an excellent job managing the game.  There Bob I did it now get off my back.

 

INTERNATIONAL BOWL: Rutgers 52, Ball St. 30.

WHAT I LEARNED:  With Ray Rice finding the end zone four times on 280 yards rushing wasn’t exactly a surprise.  I think it was more noteworthy that Ball State was able to hang 30 on the board which is impressive for a MAC school to do against a Top-25 caliber team.  We got some early signs of this earlier when the Cardinals nearly knocked off Nebraska in Lincoln, but it was easy to look past that seeing how bad the Huskers really were.

 

GMAC BOWL: Tulsa 63, Bowling Green 7

WHAT I LEARNED:  I really don’t know how else to put this than to say that there is too many Bowl games because under no circumstance should anyone lose by that margin.

 

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP: LSU 38, Ohio St. 24.

WHAT I LEARNED:  Aside from all the parameters that took place in the game I have never spent an ending to a season before with such an empty feeling because I don’t know if I honestly know who the best team in the nation is.  LSU deserves to be in the talk, but so does Georgia, and USC.  Bottom line we need a playoff now more than ever.  Don’t give me the excuses that the kids can be pulled away from their academics when at the same time schools in the lower divisions have been doing it for years.  I don’t care if it consists of 4,8, or 16 teams but something needs to be done.

 

And with that we finally close the book on the college football season, until next time, keep your mind on the fine side.