Re: It's Bowl Season!

by DoubleDipper Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:01 pm

I've watched bits and pieces of all the bowls this season to this point, and just a few were exciting enough to make me watch the game in its entirety including the best bowl so far, the hard-hitting Liberty Bowl in which Oklahoma State upset 19th ranked SEC member, Missouri, 38-33, and in second place, the Military Bowl where Cincinnati beat Virginia Tech, 35-31.

UW plays tomorrow, but the best Pac-12 game so far was WSU's and mustachioed QB Gardner Minshew's 28-26 victory over the Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl.

IMO, the top stinkers so far are the Redbox game between UO and Michigan St., the Cotton Bowl between Notre Dame and Clemson, and the Cheez-it Bowl between Cal and TCU.

Although the Armed Forces Bowl was a lopsided victory for Army, I savored the 70-14 win over Houston that gave the underated Army team the most wins in a season, ever, 11.

by DoubleDipper Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:16 pm

IMO the best bowl game were on New Year's Day, and what made it even more exciting was four of the five games were upsets.

Hard to pick which game was the best, but it was hard to not root for #15 Texas in their win over #5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Some probably wanted #8 UCF's two-year winning streak to continue, but #11 LSU was obviously the better team in the Fiesta Bowl.

Both #12 Penn State and #9 UW needed at least another quarter of play if they were to beat #14 Kentucky and #6 OSU in the Citrus and Rose Bowls, and despite their many injuries, unranked Iowa was much better than #18 Mississippi State in the Outback Bowl.

by Guest Wed Jan 02, 2019 7:31 pm

UCF losing their starting QB a couple games ago was a tough break.

UW made it close, but they were never really gonna win. OSU had let up on the gas pedal.

Georgia getting roasted after all their woofing about being more deserving than Oklahoma and ND was funny.

by Guest Sat Dec 28, 2019 1:04 am

The Pac-12 got off to a good bowl season start with UW's victory over Boise St. But not so good today, as USC lost to Iowa 49-24, and WSU lost to Air Force 31-21. In each case the team with the better record won, but still, that's a couple big Pac-12 stumbles.

by DoubleDipper Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:59 pm

I've only watched two games so far, the Cheez-It and Camping World (never thought I'd use those names in one sentence), and really enjoyed USAFA's domination of WSU, and today's Notre Dame's victory over Iowa St., although I thought the Cyclones started stronger before losing two fumbles that resulted in Fighting Irish scores.

Looking forward to today's Fiesta Bowl between Clemson and Ohio State and all the New Year's Day games...

by StudentPilot Sat Dec 28, 2019 5:09 pm

Ha, I watched the first half of the Peach Bowl, but after LSU's Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow threw 7 TD passes, I decided it would be a waste of time to watch the second half.

Is he that good, or is Oklahoma's defense that bad? I think he and LSU are that good!!

by DoubleDipper Sat Dec 28, 2019 9:31 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:Looking forward to today's Fiesta Bowl between Clemson and Ohio State and all the New Year's Day games...

The Fiesta Bowl was championship game worthy, even though it was "just" a semi-final.

What a comeback (twice) by the Tigers... If I didn't dislike OSU (Woody Hayes left a negative impression that still sticks in my brain from over 40 years ago), I'd feel badly for the OSU quarterback being intercepted on their final drive, but the LSU/Clemson matchup in a couple of weeks could be a classic!!

by DoubleDipper Wed Jan 01, 2020 12:08 pm

I don't usually continue watching blow-outs, but it was too sweet not to watch as Texas stomped Utah, 38-10, in the Alamo Bowl.

Cal showed they and their star quarterback, Chase Garbers, could be a contender in the Pac-12 next season while beating Big-Ten rival Illinois 35-20 in the Redbox Bowl. Nice to see Garbers throw for four TDs and run for another after missing a number of games with a shoulder injury.

Oh, and it was really nice to see Navy beat Kansas St. in the Liberty Bowl after so many pundits questioned their #23 ranking, and they finished the season 11-2. It was a good year for the service academies after Air Force earlier beat WSU in the Cheez-It Bowl to also finish the season with an 11-2 record.

Today's Rose Bowl should be fun!

by Guest Wed Jan 01, 2020 7:26 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:Today's Rose Bowl should be fun!

Today's Rose Bowl was intense. A defensive struggle. Never a minute to relax if you were invested in one team.

by Guest Mon Jan 13, 2020 9:48 pm

LSU beat Clemson for the College Football National Championship, 42-25. LSU QB had an amazing season: undefeated, national champion, Heisman trophy.

His counterpart Trevor Lawrence lost his first game as a starting college QB after being 25-0 coming into the game. It is only his second loss ever. He lost a playoff game in his first year of high school ball.

by up7587 Thu Dec 16, 2021 9:11 pm

We skipped the Bowl Season conversation last year. The 2021-22 games start Friday, with a couple stinkers, then several games on Saturday, including the LA Bowl with the OSU Beavers playing Utah State, at 4:30pm on ABC.

Oregon plays Wednesday the 29th in the Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma. Both teams have interim coaches. Don't expect much.

The playoff games are Alabama with the bye, I mean, against Cincinnati, at 12:30pm and Georgia against Michigan at 4:30pm on New Year's Eve.

The New Year's Day bowls are mildly interesting, but not compelling to me. Good thing there is a UP basketball game to attend instead.

Probably be an all-SEC rematch for the championship, which interests exactly two states.

by A_Fan Sun Dec 19, 2021 5:36 am

The Beavers distinguished themselves by getting beaten by a team who's second string quarterback coming in for the injured starter threw his first college pass for a 62 yard TD. It went downhill from there for the Beavs. As Beaver alum it was a disappointing end to the season.

When I think of the Aggies starter Logan Bonner the name Wally Pipp comes to mind.

by up7587 Sun Dec 19, 2021 9:55 am

A_Fan wrote:The Beavers distinguished themselves by getting beaten by a team who's second string quarterback coming in for the injured starter threw his first college pass for a 62 yard TD. It went downhill from there for the Beavs. As Beaver alum it was a disappointing end to the season.

When I think of the Aggies starter Logan Bonner the name Wally Pipp comes to mind.

I listened to the first minute on the way to a dinner party. Guess I heard all the OSU highlights.

by DoubleDipper Sun Dec 19, 2021 1:02 pm

A_Fan wrote:The Beavers distinguished themselves by getting beaten by a team who's second string quarterback coming in for the injured starter threw his first college pass for a 62 yard TD.

If it will make you feel any worse, it was actually the third string QB, Cooper Legas, the second string QB was unavailable due to injury.

Sophomore Legas' only other experience this season was a late game appearance in Utah State's blowout of New Mexico on November 26.

What was interesting about that first-play 62-yard touchdown was that Legas checked the play before the snap based on the defensive alignment he saw...something he'd never done before.

The Mountain West champion has now won four of the past five bowl games when paired against the Pac-12. The Utah State victory also gave the MWC a 6-5 advantage over the Pac-12 in games
this season...the Aggies also beat WSU to begin the season.

by A_Fan Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:22 am

Thanks to both of you for the encouraging information.

by up7587 Fri Dec 24, 2021 10:45 pm

Haven't watched too much of the bowl games so far. I did watch the start of the Armed Forces Bowl. Missouri was dominating Army, and I thought, this won't be interesting, so I switched it off. Imagine my surprise to see that Army won 24-22, kicking a game winning FG as time ran out. The powerful SEC is now 0-2, as Florida also lost to Central Florida 29-17. Puts them right there with the 0-1 Pac-12.

by DoubleDipper Fri Dec 24, 2021 11:41 pm

up7587 wrote:Haven't watched too much of the bowl games so far. I did watch the start of the Armed Forces Bowl. Missouri was dominating Army, and I thought, this won't be interesting, so I switched it off. Imagine my surprise to see that Army won 24-22, kicking a game winning FG as time ran out.

The Armed Forces Bowl is the only bowl game I have watched so far, and I loved the way Army fought back.

Since meeting him and watching his enthusiasm on the MBB sideline, I now measure a person's enthusiasm on what I call, for obvious reasons, the "Coleman Lemke Enthusiasm Meter" (CLEM)

It is tough to tell from this tape which shows kicker Cole Talley for only a moment, but after watching Talley (#94) sprint around the field and jump into his teammate's arms for close to 5-minutes while yelling and screaming after his game winning field-goal, Talley is the first football player I have given a 10/10 on the CLEM.

The kick is at the 1:34 mark:

by up7587 Tue Dec 28, 2021 5:05 pm

Congrats to DoubleDipper and his Air Force Academy Falcons. They followed up their 10-3 season with a win over Louisville, 31-28, in the First Responder Bowl (?).

Service academies 2-0. SEC 0-3, as Auburn lost to Houston today.

UCLA pulled out of the Holiday Bowl just hours before kick-off. I also failed to note another embarrassment for the Pac-12 when their Southern Division champion BYU lost to UAB before Christmas.

by DoubleDipper Tue Dec 28, 2021 7:19 pm

up7587 wrote:Congrats to DoubleDipper and his Air Force Academy Falcons. They followed up their 10-3 season with a win over Louisville, 31-28, in the First Responder Bowl (?).

My second watched bowl game of the season was quite a surprise as the AFA took to the AIR and junior QB Haaziq Daniels threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.

Daniels completed 9 of 10 passes for a season-high 252 yards, leading the triple-option offense that came into the game averaging an FBS-best 340.8 rushing yards but the second-fewest passing yards at 82.5 per game.

The Falcons (10-3) didn’t throw a pass in their final game of the regular season, a 48-14 win over UNLV, and took a streak of 94 straight rushes from scrimmage into their second possession today.

Something I learned today: The game was played in Gerald Ford Stadium, home of the SMU Mustangs and a 32,000-seat stadium where a several Texas high schools play, but what was news to me, the stadium was not named after the former US President, but instead multi-billionaire banker Gerald J. Ford who provided the money to build the stadium.

by DoubleDipper Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:03 am

Watched bits and pieces of the Alamo Bowl last evening...it's a good thing Oregon has hired a defense-minded guy as their new HC.

On the other hand, it would seem Bob Stoops can be retired for five seasons and still lead the Sooners. Nice to see his son catch a TD pass as he grew up on the Oklahoma sidelines but never played for his dad.

by up7587 Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:07 am

Yeah, when they moved two offensive players to play d-line due to injuries and opt-outs, and only had two scholarship inside linebackers available, defense was going to be a problem. Too bad the offense didn't show up until halftime.

by StudentPilot Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:32 am

StudentPilot wrote:
up7587 wrote:Actually he's a defensive lineman, maybe the best college player in the country.
I am still shaking my head at a college defensive lineman, Kayvon Thibodeaux. being considered the 11th most influential sports person in Oregon.

I have looked for him during UO games but rarely saw him play until yesterday when his obvious targeting of the Stanford qb resulted in his ejection and Stanford's two subsequent TDs to beat the Ducks.

UP Alum, #13 Jim Etzel, is far more influential in Oregon.

Just finished watching a replay of the Alamo Bowl, and still haven't seen the "11th most influential sports person in Oregon" do anything influential.

Canzano's list is obviously meant to boost readership through controversial picks....WELL DONE!

by up7587 Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:34 am

StudentPilot wrote:Just finished watching a replay of the Alamo Bowl, and still haven't seen the "11th most influential sports person in Oregon" do anything influential.

Canzano's list is obviously meant to boost readership through controversial picks....WELL DONE!

That's because he did not play in the game. He opted out and declared for the NFL draft.

by DoubleDipper Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:53 am

up7587 wrote:Yeah, when they moved two offensive players to play d-line due to injuries and opt-outs, and only had two scholarship inside linebackers available, defense was going to be a problem. Too bad the offense didn't show up until halftime.

by up7587 Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:32 pm

Yeah, what happens if/when covid hits one of the four playoff teams? Wonder if they've had those teams locked in isolation?