R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
The
late Rodney Dangerfield would tell you these guys don't get no respect. Boise State takes division 1-A's longest intact win streak--22 games--into its Liberty
Bowl meeting with the high flying Louisville Cardinals. The BSU Broncos are an
incomprehensible 14 point underdog (and the opening line had Boise as a 9 1/2
point underdog).
Dan Hawkins' team hasn't lost since September of 2003. Hawkins recently inked a
long-term extension to remain with the Broncos.
Yes, Louisville is ranked number one in the nation in total offense. Boise State
is ranked number two. Yes, the wild Cards are ranked first in the country in
scoring average per game.
Boise
is second. In truth, I like Louisville to end the Broncos' winning streak, but
to think the Cards will decimate Boise by 14 points, is lunacy. Louisville will
have plenty of fans on hand in Memphis, but forecasting a two touchdown victory
over a team that has won twenty-two games in a row and is averaging nearly fifty
points and 512 yards a game is a pipe dream. Take BSU and the points in this one
all day long.
RUNNING
ON FUMES.
Page one, chapter one, paragraph one of the proverbial "book" on
football says a team cannot, and will not, win unless it has a productive
running game. The New Year's Day Capital One Bowl meeting between Iowa and LSU
is intriguing based on the fact that one of the participants can't run,
AT ALL.
The Bayou Bengals struggled early in the year dropping two of their first five
games, losing to Auburn by a point, before getting bitten by the Georgia
Bulldogs, 45-16, in Athens. Last year's co-national champs ended the regular
season with a six game win streak. LSU sports the thirteenth best mark against
the rush this season allowing a mere 105 yards a game.
On the other end of the rushing spectrum is Iowa. The
Hawkeyes
enter the postseason ranked dead last in the country--117th--in running the
ball. Iowa gained just 824 yards for the year and a minuscule 2.07 yards per
attempt. Time and space do not permit a full recounting of the number of
injuries sustained to Iowa RBs during the regular season. In spite of being
unable to balance its offensive attack with a healthy running game Iowa finished
the season with a 9-2 record and won its final seven games.
LSU gives every indication of being able to contain the depleted Iowa rushing
attack, but then again the lack of a ground game hasn't kept Kirk Ferentz's team
from winning each of its games in October and November. Against Wisconsin--which
led the nation for most of the year and wound up 13th in points against average
per game--Iowa gained only 76 yards rushing and still managed to score 30 points
against the Badgers. If you're thinking Iowa can't win unless it is able to run
the ball, you might reevaluate that opinion.
EMBATTLED.
Coache,
Gary Barnett of Colorado and Mike Price of Texas-El Paso (UTEP), had off-seasons
from hell in the winter of 2003-2004. The chronicling of events in Boulder was
the stuff of national headlines for weeks while the Price was definitely not
right for the folks in Alabama. Let's say it just wasn't Price's Destiny to
coach the Crimson Tide.
To everyone's amazement the Buffs and Miners are bowl bound and headed to
Houston. By default as much as by accomplishment, Colorado won the north
division of the Big 12 while UTEP finished in second place in the WAC behind
Boise State. Persevering in the face of adversity--whether self-inflicted or
caused by events beyond your control--is an admirable trait. Simultaneously,
these two coaches may continue to be viewed with scorn while their players are
congratulated for overcoming sizable odds to gain an invitation to the
postseason.
While UTEP flourished in the points-happy, defense-deprived WAC, Colorado
struggled on offense for much of the year while playing the likes of Texas,
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. A win by UTEP over a team from a BCS affiliated
conference would be perceived as a mightier accomplishment than if Colorado were
to shaft the Miners. UTEP enters the Houston Bowl ranked 37th in the nation on
offense compared to CU's 94th place standing. The relative strength of schedules
will be a telling factor in this contest. Colorado doesn't have one of its
vintage teams, but the Buffs' record in 2004 is one of the remarkable
achievements in division 1-A.
CONSOLATION.
Let's face it: sometimes playing in a bowl game is nothing more than a faint
substitute for unattained goals. That's the case for Georgia and Wisconsin who
meet on New Year's Day in the Outback Bowl.
The Badgers didn't allow a team to score two TDs in the same game until
mid-October when Purdue did so in losing to Barry Alvarez's bunch. In fact,
Wisconsin yielded just 82 points in its first nine games before being torched
for 79 points in their final two games of the regular season, one a, 49-14, loss
to Michigan State and the other a, 30-7, loss to Iowa. Both games were on the
road. The Badgers thought they were headed to Pasadena, but find themselves
detoured to Tampa instead.
Georgia QB David Greens set an NCAA record for most wins by a starter at the
division 1-A level while the Dawgs were in pursuit of an SEC title. Losses to
Tennessee and Auburn are the lone blemishes for Mark Richt's team.
Wisconsin (ranked 8th) and Georgia (ranked 12th) bring two of the nation's
stingiest defenses into this New Year's Day meeting. Greene and his counterpart
John Stocco are likely to find yards and points scarce in this game. There's
good reason why the over/under in this contest (40 1/2) is the lowest of the
entire bowl season--the defenses are stout, sturdy and will dictate the outcome
of the game. If you love defensive battles this is the game for you. If you
crave a "last-to-team-to-score-wins-the-game-contest" try Boise State and
Louisville.
FIESTA
SIESTA?
There are college fans who bemoan the fact that the Big East
retains an automatic bid to a BCS affiliated bowl game. Frankly, that group
feels Pittsburgh is unworthy of playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Then there are coach
Urban Meyer's Utah Utes, the first team from outside a BCS aligned
conference
to capture a bid to a BCS bowl game.
With QB Alex Smith, RBs Marty Johnson & Quinton Ganther and WRs Steve Savoy,
Travis LaTendresse and Paris Warren, Utah has unleashed a volatile offense which
erupts for points in bunches against every team it plays. Utah has won 15
straight, posted back to back MWC titles and authored a 21-2 record in Meyer's
two-year run in Salt Lake City. He'll head for the warmer climes of Florida
after the game to become the new coach of the Gators.
The 16 1/2 point margin by which Utah is favored is the largest in Las Vegas
gaming houses in advance of the December 14th start of the cavalcade of
postseason festivities. Utah is one of only four teams averaging in excess of
500 yards of offense per game. The Utes have scored 40 or more points nine times
this season and in posting an undefeated record haven't won a game by fewer than
14 points (49-35 versus Air Force). Yes, Utah has allowed 21 or more points
seven times this season, but in many instances the majority of an opposing
team's points came after the outcome of the contest had long since been decided.
A Panthers' offense that averages nearly 150 yards less per game than Utah and
scores seventeen fewer points per contest is ill-equipped to match offensive
thrusts with the Utes. Fans, whose attention was focused elsewhere this fall,
may get to see QB Alex Smith in his last college game--he's eligible to leave
for the NFL this spring if he so chooses--and Urban Meyer for the first time
this year. After catching a glimpse of the Utes' diversified attack those fans
may bemoan the fact that Utah didn't get a chance to play a more prominent team
in the postseason, say perhaps, Auburn.
BOWL
STROLL.
Marketers
for the Orange Bowl were having no trouble selling the appealing match-up
between USC and Oklahoma for the mythical national title on January 4, 2005 and
now the public relations' mills will be grinding into overdrive. Heisman Trophy
winners QBs Matt Leinart and Jason White will lead their respective squads in
the postseason showdown.
Fans who want QBs with high passing efficiency ratings, offenses ranked in the
top fifteen, undefeated teams, lengthy intact winning streaks and a likely
winner-take-all-scenario where the national title is concerned have it all in
this game.
Elsewhere…a Texas team ranked second in rushing and ninth in total offense will
be tested by a Michigan team ranked 27th in total defense. The Longhorns' Cedric Benson and the Wolverines' dynamic freshman duo of QB Chad Henne and RB Michael
Hart will provide the offensive highlights.
Bobby Bowden has been coaching Florida State for so long that fans may not know
or remember that he came to the Seminoles from West Virginia, FSU's opponent in
this year's Gator Bowl. With the 'Noles ranked 7th in total defense and the
Mountaineers a solid 29th in the category the offenses may be challenged to move
the ball with any consistency in this meeting.
Neither Texas A & M nor Tennessee are riding the crest of a wave of success
heading into their Cotton Bowl game. The Aggies have lost three of four, while
the Vols have dropped two of four. This pairing won't do little to help the
Cotton Bowl recapture its fading and faint New Year's Day prominence.
Auburn coach, Tommy Tuberville, will need to convince his Tigers that strange
things can, and do, happen in the world of sports. A convincing win over
Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl coupled with a sloppy game between USC and
Oklahoma might somehow get Auburn a national title from a media outlet, but it's
an extremely long shot. For Tech's part, season ending wins over Miami and
Auburn would be a most impressive conclusion to the 2004 campaign.
The Sun Bowl would have been an aerial circus featuring Purdue's Kyle Orton and
Arizona State's Andrew Walter, but a season ending shoulder injury to the Sun
Devils' QB has short-circuited that would-be orgy of offense.
This seems only fitting: Miami began the season by playing Florida State and
will close it by facing Florida. The Gators will wrap up their season by having
played Florida State and Miami back to back. The Hurricanes and Gators will
cross the state line to Georgia to play in the Peach Bowl. You can bet that
Urban Meyer will be paying close attention to this one on the tube in Arizona as
he and Utah ready themselves for the Fiesta Bowl.
In what will be a little watched and lightly regarded minor holiday skirmish,
Navy
will face New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. The Lobos' DonTrell Moore may be the best running back in division 1-A most fans have never seen
play. Navy FB Kyle Eckel is a load to tackle and will key the Middies' rushing
attack. Neither team passes well and if either should generate an uncustommarily
good day through the air it may savor a rare postseason victory.
One of the first games being played in the coming postseason will be the Las
Vegas Bowl between UCLA and Wyoming. The Cowboys were picked to finish dead last
in the Mountain West Conference this year. Coach Joe Glenn may have done the
best coaching job in the country, period, in leading Wyoming to a 6-5 record and
its first bowl bid in 11 years. UCLA is likely to win the game, but before the
coaching carousel stops turning this off-season in division 1-A, don't be
surprised if Glenn winds up leaving Laramie for a much higher profile job.
Bruins' TB Maurice Drew and 'Pokes QB Corey Bramlet will lead the teams'
offenses.
