National Championship Game Preview

National Championship Preview
#1 Notre Dame vs #2 Alabama – 7th January, 01:00 on ESPN

After weeks of talk and preparation it’s come down to this, the Crimson Tide of Alabama take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Miami for the Coach’s Trophy. Here’s my favourite, and last preview of the season, enjoy!

 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 12-0

Key Facts

1.       Have claimed the National Championship 13 times. 
2.       Last won the title in 1988.                               
3.       Has a 4-0-1 record when ranked as #1 and is facing #2.

Best Player

Manti Te’o, LB #5. The undoubted leader of his team and this year’s Heisman runner up, he is a tackling machine in the middle and will be the one entrusted with making those critical on field adjustments.

A site that's imposing for any college QB

Best Team Performance

27^th October @ #8 Oklahoma – won 30-13

Easily the most complete that the Irish looked all season, both running backs had 74 yards and a touchdown whilst the defence held the nations 9^th ranked scoring offence to just 13 points.

Worst Team Performance

3^rd November vs Pittsburgh – won 29-26 (3OT)

Despite securing the win, they were pushed all the way by a Pitt team that finished the regular season at 6-6 and were trailing 20-6 in the fourth quarter. Now the sign of a championship calibre team is that they win these games, but which #1 gets themselves in a 20-6 hole to a .500 team?

Reason to Root for the Irish

Two reasons, tradition and to break the dominance that the SEC has had on the National crown. Not only are the Irish the best representation of the pageantry and tradition of college football to most, but their players are the true embodiment of the student-athlete in the high academics that they ask their players to achieve as well as the high standards on the field.

Do we really want to see an SEC team pick up the 7^th title in a row? Granted, they have the best teams, athletes, facilities and some of the better traditions, but for parities sake it would be refreshing to see a team end this dominant streak.

Why I would like them to win

For me, I saw the Irish open the season in Dublin by putting 50 on Navy, if they managed to pull off the upset it would be extremely gratifying for to have seen a team that went undefeated.

Alabama Crimson Tide, 12-1

Key Facts

1.           14 time National Champions.
2.       A win would make them champions in 3 of the past 4 years.  
3.       Current squad has 5 first team All-Americans.

Best Player

Chance Warmack, OL #65. He’s going to be a top 10 pick in the upcoming draft and if there’s ever a time for him to prove it, it’s against the Irish’s D-line where he’ll have to go up against Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix III. If there’s going to be any running game, Warmack will need to be at his best to shift those two.

Pretty sure they don't make them this size in BUAFL

Best Team Performance

1^st December vs. #3 Georgia – won 32-28.

Tough to pick one game out, and despite giving up 28 points, when I weigh up everything I think it’s fair to say that Alabama put together a very complete performance. Here’s how I see it, McCarron played a solid game, both Lacy and Yeldon had over 150+ yards and the defence played just well enough to stifle a very good Georgia offence. Alabama had wins where they blew teams out, but a win against Georgia in the conference championship game goes down as their best.

Worst Team Performance

10th November vs. #15 Texas A&M – lost 29-24.

In comparison this one was a no-brainer, the teams only loss on the year so far came at home where they were ambushed early on and then never recovered. McCarron threw 2 picks and their RBs didn’t break 100 yards whilst the defence was almost at a loss as to how to handle Manziel, but lets be fair, no ones quite figured that out yet, right Oklahoma?

Reason to Root for the Crimson Tide

To see that third championship in four years and complete that mythical journey to become know as a modern day dynasty. You also have to respect the way the Saban gets the job done, time after time bringing in less heralded players and turning them into stars each year so that his teams can achieve consistency, if you don’t like that, you don’t like football.

Why I would like them to win

Since watching college football, Alabama have always held a certain kind of intrigue for me, whether it was the fanaticism of southern football fans or the fact that they play old school football behind a running game and defense, I just love to watch the Crimson Tide play – and win.

Key Matchups

A.J McCarron vs. Manti Te’o – The junior McCarron now has a lot of trust from his coaching staff and conducts a fair old amount of on field adjustment and he’ll be in a direct chess match with an inside linebacker that will diagnose a lot of what he’s seeing from the offence and adjust. This may not be a Peyton Manning vs. Ray Lewis calibre of matchup but it will certaintly be one of the most important aspects of the game.

Notre Dame’s Run Game vs. Alabama’s Front 7 – Alabama have the number one ranked rushing defence in the country and only allow 79 yards/game on the ground and whilst Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick are very good backs, they lack the size to really push the pile up front. Notre Dame have a varied run game with some fly sweeps and reverses in there to keep defences honest, but you don’t want to be going east and west against the Crimson Tide and the ability for ND’s two backs to get those tough inside yards could decide how the Irish perform on offence.

The 'Bama defenders won't be this soft!

Saban vs. Kelly – What I am most intrigued about here is whether Kelly has the ability to call his best game when it really matters. There’s no doubt that he’s good, but will he make the right decisions under the scrutiny of the Championship game? Saban has been here before and called games against the best through honing his skills in the SEC pressure cooker and has earned the right not to be second guessed, so is Kelly up to the task?

Safe Bet: This is rather bold of me to be even making a call and labelling it a safe bet, but I think that there will be at least one defensive score between these two teams.

Long Shot: Slightly easier to be bold on this one but I think that Tyler Eifert will end up with 2 touchdown grabs tonight against the Alabama secondary.

Irish fans will be hoping to see a lot of this tonight.

Key Stat: At the end of the night I think the telling factor will be how each team has performed in the run game. All stats are relative to how the game is played, but if you see either team crack the 175 yard and over mark then I think you could be looking at the winner.

Pick: Alabama - it's one of those situations where my head says Alabama but my heart says Notre Dame, if I get this pick correct then I win the Pick'em league so I'm backing the favourites!

Confidence: 14.

Sugar and Fiesta Bowl Review

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Louisville 33 - Florida 23

Louisville "shocked the world" and thoroughly deserved to beat the Gators.

So apart from people within the Louisville program, the college football world was shocked to see the Cardinals pull off the upset over Florida in what was a fantastically well executed game plan that left the Gators with no response. If you go back and read my preview (please don't), then you'll laugh at how wrong I was about this Louisville team who out-schemed, outplayed and more importantly wanted to win a lot more than a lacklustre Will Muschamp team. Florida had plenty of opportunity to come back in the game but time and again squandered any momentum they head with bone head coaching decisions and plays (see the not so deceptive onside kick after the half). In my opinion, the Cardinals somehow managed to catch lightning in a bottle and got the rub of the green on many occasions, but I'm not going to take away from what was easily the best performance of the bowl season.

Player of the Game: Teddy Bridgewater. Managed to pick apart the Florida defence with ease and made some terrific throws within a gameplan that had the Gators looking like they were a FCS school.

Players to Watch: As noted, Bridgewater lived up to his billing and put on a stellar performance and outshone my other highlighted player Matt Elam. Elam had a standout performance on defence, delivering 11 bone shuddering tackle, 1 sack and another tackle for a loss, I think he'll be leaving for the NFL come draft time.

Pick: Wrong - 30 point lost. Despite thoroughly enjoying the game, I was super gutted I didn't make those 30 points, this could be the game that costs me the Pick'em title, but there's still more to go yet.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Oregon 35 - Kansas State 17

Chip Kellys last game in charge of the Ducks?

Whilst this was a fantastic game to watch for many, it turned out to be less competitive than most had hoped. The Wildcats hung around valiantly for a little while, but in the end the Ducks kept them at arms length and comfortably took the Tostitos crown. Having said that, the game was highly competitive and featured some amazing plays from either side, in particularly De'Anthony Thomas' opening kickoff return for a touchdown which was featured on our Facebook page earlier on. In the end the Wildcats just didn't have the offence to keep up with the high scoring Ducks, in particular Collin Klein's poor throwing ability was highlighted and if it wasn't confirmed already, I don't think we will be seeing up under centre taking snaps at the next level.

Player of the Game: Marcus Mariota. In my preview I mentioned how mature Mariota was for a redshirted freshman and I think that word perfectly describes his performance. In the end, despite only completing 50% of his passes he accounted for 2 TDs with his arm as well as running one in himself.

Players to Watch: As mentioned, Mariota had a very good night and deserved his accolade as player of the game. Klein on the other had suffered a little as playing from behind is not the style of QB he is, and despite having his own rushing touchdown as well as breaking a couple of big ones, he was by-in-large bottled up by the Ducks D.

Pick: Correct - 25 points won. It's getting tight at the top of the Pick'em league as I lie in second place and am 46 points adrift.

College Bowl Season: Sugar and Fiesta Bowl Preview

Wednesday 2nd January

#21 Louisville vs #3 Florida
Allstate Sugar Bowl - 01:30 on ESPN

Hands up if you think Louisville have a chance... anyone? In my opinion this is a worse matchup than the Northern Illinois game. Florida are the big, bad SEC team and will be looking to crush a Louisville team who lost to UConn and Syracuse and quite simply haven't seen any player, let alone defence with the talent of the Gators. If any Louisville fans are looking for a ray of hope it would come in the form of the performance the Gators had against LA-Lafayette where they only squeaked out a 7 point win and who's offence has been less than impressive throughout most of the year.

Players to Watch

Louisville: Teddy Bridgewater, QB #5. The Florida native has had a stellar campaign in the Big East but has yet to have faced a secondary with the speed and ball hawking abilities of the Gator defence. He has the talent, but can he deliver under the big game pressure?

Florida: Matt Elam, DB #22. He's ranked second on the team in tackles and tackles for a loss from the safety spot and also has 4 INTs on the year. He is a big difference maker for his defence and has delivered some bone crunching hits so far this year, don't be surprised if he makes a momentum shifting play.

Pick: Florida

Confidence: 30

College Bowl Season Week 3 Review: Part 2

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL: Rice 33 - Air Force 14

Rice completely dominated the game and accumulated over 500 yards of offence to put the Falcons to the sword. The telling stat of the day was the a Air Force team that prides itself on running the ball only had 22 minutes worth of possession.

Player of the Game: Driphus Jackson. A very nice day for Jackson who was pressed into action after McHargue went down, he had 264 yards passing and 2 TDs.

Players to Watch: Well, McHargue went down with an injury, but did have one TD pass, whilst Getz’s only had 7 carries and 35 yards. I think I jinxed them!

Pick: Wrong – 16 points lost. Another unsuccessful pick, does anyone else want to be the ‘expert’?

NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL: Syracuse 38 - West Virginia 14

Whatever happened to the Mountaineers I will not know, but they got owned by the men in Orange and Prince-Tyson Gulley’s performance on the ground and looked nothing like the team that was meant to be an offensive dynamo.

Player of the Game: Tyson-Gulley. Accounted for 3 total TDs and had 208 yards on the ground.

Players to Watch: Geno Smith was very average but not poor, whilst Nassib also had a underwhelming performance under center. However, the weather conditions in New York were never going to lend themselves towards stellar QB play.

Pick: Wrong – 22 points lost. I guess I can look at the fact that I expect the game to be dominated by passing, which West Virginia would take 9 times out of 10. As it was, it was all about the run game and a great performance by Tyson Gulley.

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL: Arizona State 62 - Navy 28

The blowout that most expected as the Sun Devils totaled up 648 offensive yards and made quick work of the Midshipmen.

Player of the Game: Taylor Kelly. Four touchdowns and 268 yards with his arm along with another 81 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Players to Watch: Reynolds had a shoddy day but did register a score whilst Magee had 9 tackles and a tackle for a loss.

Pick: Correct – 15 points won. I wonder why I didn’t put more points on this one, but in the end it’s points in the bag and adds to my total.

VALERO ALAMO BOWL:  #23 Texas 31 - #13 Oregon State 27

A fantastic game to watch as the Longhorns kept battling back from behind to win it late in the fourth quarter. Oregon State will be gutted to miss out on a 10 win season for the program but in the end the Longhorns made the plays when it mattered.

Player of the Game: David Ash. Having had a rough season, he accounted for three scores with his two TD passes coming in the fourth quarter.

Players to Watch: Gray didn’t get much of a look in for the Texas offence but did manage to catch the first of Ash’s touchdown passes whilst Mannion didn’t even play because Vaz got the start and had 2 picks. Maybe the Beavers should have listened to me.

Pick: Wrong – 26 points lost. I had a lot on this one and lost out big time.

BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL: Michigan State 17 - TCU 16

The Spartans and Horned Frogs didn’t disappoint me in what I predicted to be a close game by having the contest come down to Birmingham’s own Dan Conroy slot a 47 yard field goal to put Michigan State up by one (note, I know it’s not that Dan Conroy). In what is a rare sight for college football, it’s fun to see a primarily defensive battle turn out to be such a good game.

Player of the Game: Le’Veon Bell. It may have taken him a while to get going but in the end he reached 145 yards and had the touchdown that pulled the Spartans level in the 4^th.

Players to Watch: Boykin had one turnover on the night but didn’t do much to harm his team chances whilst Bell was the player I expected him to be by having a player of the game performance.

Pick: Wrong – 23 points lost. Once again I lost out by a very small margin but it’s still 23 points down the drain.

Bowl Season: 1st January

Mississippi State vs #20 Northwestern
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl – 17:00 on ESPN

The Bulldogs were one of the trending teams in the SEC early on before getting beaten down by the conferences big boys whilst the Wildcats have been a nice surprise in the BIG 10 and have finished a respectable 9-3. Can the Wildcats 15^th ranked rushing attack break the SEC front?

Players to Watch

Mississippi: Johnthan Banks, CB #13. As most corners do he talks the talk, but this guy has the elite talent to back up his big talk. He is excellent in run support so look for him to be flying to the ball tonight.

Northwestern: Venric Mark, RB #5. Dangerous in both the running and return game as he has taken two punts back from punts, he will need to have his A game against an SEC defence.

Pick: Northwestern

Confidence: 9

Purdue vs Oklahom State
Heart of Dallas Bowl – 17:00 on ESPN

One of the nations leading offences in Oklahoma State will take on a Boilermaker team that at one point lost five in a row. The BIG 10 team will have plenty to prove but is likely outmatched by an explosive Cowboys team, but I have been very wrong about these things before.

Players to Watch

Purdue: Robert Marve, QB #9. If Purdue are to have a chance, Marve needs a big game. The senior has been wobbly at times but has never been the reason for a loss, but will likely be playing from behind a lot so could face a lot of pressure.

Oklahoma State: Joseph Randle, RB #1. A big threat with the ball in hand whether it be from a handoff or a pass, his best game came against Texas with 199 yards on the ground.

Pick: Oklahoma State

Confidence: 32

#7 Georgia vs #16 Nebraska
Capital One Bowl – 18:00 on  ABC

After a very disappointing loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game the Bulldogs will look to take down a Cornhusker team that got embarrassed at the hands of Wisconsin in the BIG 10 Championship game. The Nebraska coaches will be glad they don’t have to gameplan around suspended Georgia DT John Jenkins but are still unlikely to have had much sleep thinking about the ferocious Bulldawg defence.

Players to Watch

Georgia: Aaron Murray, QB #11. Murray is the man that makes it all happen for Georgia, over 3000 yards and 30 TDs on the year, Murray will desperately want a big bowl win after how the ‘Bama game ended.

Nebraska: Eric Martin, LB #46. The man that will need to get to Murray has 8.5 sacks on the year and 2 forced fumbles.

Pick: Georgia

Confidence: 35

#10 South Carolina vs  #18 Michigan
Outback Bowl – 18:00 on ESPN

These two teams have a lot to prove in what is for them, a bowl game that may seem a little below where they wanted to end up this season. The best matchup of the day is going to be between Jadeveon Clowney and the Gamecocks D-Line against the QB/WR/RB tandem of Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner. In my opinion Clowney is unblockable, even by big time NFL talent Taylor Lewan, whilst Shoelace is the most elusive QB in the college game, but Gardner has brought a new dimension to the Wolverine offence so it should be interesting to watch how both QBs are rotated.

Players to Watch

South Carolina: With Clowney already highlighted and Lattimore not playing, two key figures to watch are the RB combo of Mike Davis and Kenny Miles who need to pick up some serious slack in the Gamecock running game.

Michigan: Devin Gardner, QB #12. Since replacing Robinson as the teams primary QB, Gardner has impressed, but having never played an SEC defence and struggling against Ohio State, his performance tonight is pivotal.

Pick: South Carolina

Confidence: 28

Wisconsin vs #6 Stanford
Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio – 22:00 on ESPN

Wisconsin are the first every 5 loss team to appear in the Rose Bowl and do so facing off against a near mirror image of themselves on offence. Both teams are known for their power running game and the running back matchup of Montee Ball against Stepfan Taylor is going to be a great one. Given what I just said, we know that both defences will be keying on the run game so this one is most likely to be decided by which QB makes the big play at the right time.

Players to Watch

Stanford: Kevin Hogan, QB #8. Big, strong athletic freshman who hasn’t yet lost a game as a starter, the offence seems to really click when he’s in there and I’ve seen him have the ability to make the big play.

Wisconsin: Curt Philips, QB #10. Hasn’t played in a lot of games during his career and did practically nothing in the BIG 10 Championship game, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts if he does start under center.

Pick: Stanford

Confidence: 31

#15 Northern Illinois vs  #12 Florida State
Discover Orange Bowl – 01:30 on ESPN

Probably the most controversial team selection in a BCS bowl game for quite some time, as the upstart Huskies take on the proverbial Goliath in a Florida State team that might come in a little overconfident. If the Seminoles bring their A-game then I don’t think this is much of a contest I’m afraid, but the beauty of the BCS is that you never know what you might get when a non-AQ conference battles a perennial powerhouse.

Players to Watch

Northern Illinois: Jordan Lynch, QB #6. The man that got the Huskies where they are today. If you’ve watched him you know that he is very Tebow-like (talking college days here) in his play and has the ability to make the play when it matters most.

Florida State: Bjoern Werner, DE #95. The man from Berlin has been so dominant a pass rusher this year, that the ‘Noles have barely noticed the absence of Brandon Jenkins. Look for him to be harassing Lynch all day.

Pick: Florida State

Confidence: 34

Bowl Season: 31st December

North Carolina State vs Vanderbilt
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – 17:00 on ESPN

The Wolfpack were hoping to have had a better season so far, but a win against an SEC opponent would be a perfect way end to the year for them as well as for the beleaguered ACC. Mike Glennon will be looking for a big game against a good Commodore defence whilst Vandy will want to cap off a very good season in the SEC with a bowl win to have them finish 9-4.

Players to Watch

North Carolina State: Mike Glennon, QB #8. He should be a fairly high pick in the NFL draft, but will want to show some consistency in a high pressure bowl game.

Vanderbilt: Jordan Matthews, WR #87. The junior has been the most consistent receiving threat on offence and will look to have a big game against a State secondary that’s been gashed a few times this season.

Pick: Vanderbilt

Confidence: 21

USC vs Georgia Tech
Hyundai Sun Bowl – 19:00 on CBS

Now that Matt Barkly is out, this matchup looks a little more of a even affair. The Yellow Jackets have been fairly poor this year but still rank fourth in the nation in rushing yardage. The key here will be for USC to try and get on top early and force Georgia Tech to try and pass it more.

Players to Watch

USC: Marquise Lee, WR #9. You have to have heard of this kid, very dangerous with the ball in hand and a great route runner. Wittek will be looking for him all day whilst Georgia Tech will push their coverage to his side so it should be a fun chess match.

Georgia Tech: Tevin Washington, QB #13. In the triple option it’s all about the decision making of the QB and Washington has shown he can be one of the best in the past despite struggling a little this year.

Pick: USC

Confidence: 13

Iowa State vs Tulsa
AutoZone Liberty Bowl – 20:30 on ESPN

The question here is, do you go with the Big 12 team that opened up by beating the Golden Hurricanes before having a patchy record, or do you go with the C-USA side that picked itself up again and went a very good 10-3. For me it comes down to the turnovers again, if the Golden Hurricanes play a clean game then I reckon they will take it but Iowa State will hope that their cyclone has more force than a golden hurricane and will once again force a few turnovers.

Players to Watch

Iowa State: A.J Klein, LB #47. The linebacker can go over 100 tackles on the season with two more tonight, he also had a 87 yard pick six early in the year showing he has some good athletic ability.

Tulsa: I would like to highlight one player but with Tulsa it’s all about the running backs; Trey Watts, Ja’Terian Douglas and Alex Singleton, they’re all capable of having a big day it just depends on which one is the hot hand.

Pick: Tulsa

Confidence: 7

#8 LSU vs #14 Clemson
Chich-fil-A Bowl – 00:30 on ESPN

Probably the biggest game of the bowl season so far, it’s strength against strength as the Tigers defence look to solve the Clemson spread. I am really torn on who to take here, but I think the smarts of Les Miles and the steady improvement of the LSU offence will be enough in conjunction with one of the games best defences to pull out the W.

Players to Watch

LSU: Sam Montgomery, DE #99. One of the most disruptive forces in the SEC, complemented perfectly by Barkevious Mingo #49, one of them is bound to have a big game.

Clemson: Tajh Boyd, QB #10. The Clemson offence has so many weapons, but the trigger man is Boyd, he’s going to have to keep the turnovers down and be near perfect to have a chance against the vaunted LSU defence.

Pick: LSU

Confidence: 1

Bowl Season: 28th December Games

Thursday 28^th December

Ohio vs Louisiana-Monroe
AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl – 19:00 on ESPN

Ohio somewhat limped into post season play by finishing 1-4 after winning their first seven games, which included an opening day triumph over Penn State, being lead by the junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton the Bobcats run a solid run game which is backed up by a efficient passing game which has only turned over the ball four times all year. The Warhwaks on the other hand opened up their season by stunning then #8 Arkansas, but ended up dropping games to Arkansas State and Louisiana Lafayette in Sun Belt play and are led by all-passing, all-running Kolton Browning. Look for the Warhwaks to push the pace on offence whilst the Bobcats try to play a controlled offensive game and rely on their defence to make a play.

Players to Watch

Ohio: Beau Blankenship, RB #22. The 5'9", 202lbs Blankenship enters the game at spot on 1500 yards  rushing and averaging 5.1 per carry, he even has a 269 yard game on his resume this year.

Louisiana-Monroe: Kolton Browning, QB #15. Browning has been far and away the offensive star and the reason the Warhawks upset the Razorbacks, he even leads the team in rushing with 441 yards and 7 TDs.

Pick: LA-Monroe

Confidence: 8

Rutgers vs Virginia Tech
Russell Athletic Bowl – 22:30 on ESPN

The Hokies have had one of their most disappointing years in a long time and only just managed to go 6-6 by squeaking past both Boston College and Virginia to end the year. Tech’s chance all fall on the shoulders of Logan Thomas and his play, at times he looks like a top level QB, but far too often he just makes horrible throws.

Rutgers have hung their hats on very strong defensive play, as they rank 5^th in the nation in points allowed, but also have a big play threat on offense in 6”6’ wide receiver Brandon Coleman who can provide a spark with big catches at opportune times.

Players to Watch

Rutgers: Khaseem Greene, OLB #20. ‘Tackle Machine’ Khaseem Greene (think ‘Mean’ Joe Greene), just made that up, but in all seriousness he has 125 tackles on the year as well as 10.5 tackles for loss and 2 interceptions. He is going to be a sneaky high pick in the draft.

Virginia Tech: Logan Thomas, QB #3. Thomas has a huge arm and the ability to make any throw, he just doesn’t do it all the time, and that’s what’s hampered the Hokies offense this season. If he has a good game then Virginia Tech will likely win the game, but more often than not this season he’s been poor.

Pick: Virginia Tech

Confidence: 19

Minnesota vs Texas Tech
Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas – 02:00 on ESPN

Despite losing Tommy Tubberville, the Red Raiders have a great air-raid offence to fall back on and will be looking for Seth Doege to lead as he has done all season and likely add a few more TDs to his 38 passing scores. The Golden Gophers really struggled through Big 10 play but are faced with an unfamiliar proposition in a very pass heavy offensive attack. If Minnesota adjusts to this then they should be able to put up a fight, but I’m not too sure that they will be able to pull off any kind of upset.

Players to Watch

Minnesota: Donnell Kirkwood, RB #20. About the only consistent piece of the Golden Gopher offence, had a couple of poor games to end the season but could find some lanes against a average Texas Tech defence.

Texas Tech: Seth Doege, QB #7. The fearless gunslinger that orchestrates the Red Raiders offence, he’s piled up a lot of yardage through the air, but needs to watch his turnovers.

Pick: Texas Tech

Confidence: 33

College Bowl Season Week 3: Part 1

Now the bowl season really gets into the meat of it's action with a total of thirteen games being played this week! So in the spirit of Christmas and evening out my writing load, you are going to get a few preview presents at a time over the next week, so keep checking back. First up we have the Christmas Eve and Boxing Day games to take care of, and if any of you support one of these four teams (don't know why you would though), then I hope you get all that you wished for off of the BCS Santa.

Monday 24^th December

Fresno State vs SMU

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl @ 01:00 on ESPN

This Christmas Eve clash sees a three loss Fresno team lead by Derek Carr (brother of the infamous David Carr), take on a SMU team, who barely made it into postseason play and are lead by former Texas Longhorns QB Garrett Gilbert. In the end I think this is a rather weak bowl matchup that should see the Mountain West newbies bully their way past the Mustangs of SMU.

Players to Watch

Fresno State: I have already mentioned his name, but he is probably known to most college fans due to his family ties rather than his outstanding play this year, Derek Carr (QB #4). He has a QB rating of 160.6 with 36 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions on the season, so look for him to be slinging the ball all over the field in Hawaii.

SMU: Zach Line, RB #48. This senior will hope to have a big impact in his last game for the Mustangs and he needs to if SMU are going to have any chance against the Bulldogs. It’s the age-old football story of keeping the ball out of the oppositions explosive offense’s hands, Line needs to pound the rock and take some of the pressure off of the shaky Gilbert.

My Pick: Fresno State.

Confidence: 29

Wednesday 26^th December

Western Kentucky vs Central Michigan

Little Caesars Bowl @ 00:30 on ESPN 

How do you choose between two average teams from the MAC and the Sun Belt conference? And no, it’s not a joke. For me, the schedules revealed a lot about both sides with Central Michigan having been beaten up by mostly running teams, whilst the Hilltoppers are a good running offence and have only lost to some of the countries surprisingly good teams this year. If it sounds like I’m clutching a little at straws here, it’s because I am, having not watched either of these teams this season I’m probably in the dark as much as you guys.

Players to Watch

Western Kentucky: Antonio Andrews, RB #5. The workhorse of the Western Kentucky offence, he has amassed 1609 yards on the ground as well as another 411 through the air, showing that he’s a big part of their game plan.

Central Michigan: Justin Cherocci, LB #41. The tackling machine in the Chippewa defense that needs to scythe down Andrews on every play, look for him to always be around the ball.

My Pick: Western Kentucky

Confidence: 3

College Bowl Season Week 2 Review

Thursday 20^th December

San Diego County Credit Poinsettia Bowl: BYU 23 – Sand Diego State 6

The undisputed player of the game; Kyle van Noy.

This game was intriguing to watch play out, it was a messy football for three quarters with the Aztecs looking good but unable to actually break the whitewash, whilst BYU looked sluggish and almost as if they didn’t want to be playing. But luckily for BYU, Kyle van Noy decided to take over the game and accounted for two touchdowns with both a fumble recovery after his own sack in the endzone as well as a pick six. In the end, the game itself won’t be memorable, but van Noy’s performance will be.

Player of the Game: Kyle van Noy. As previously mentioned he single headedly won the game for the Cougars, having a key punt block, big sacks and two scores on defence. A truly dominant performance!

Players to Watch: Ansah had a nice game with an interception as well a forced fumble. Outshone by van Noy in the end, but overall a solid showing. Muema was the only bright spot for the Aztecs on offence, despite not scoring, he had some excellent runs to really help his team out.

Pick: Correct – 6 confidence points won. Once again, my low confidence looked warranted as BYU were really poor to start with, but in the end I managed to pick up another win and kept adding to my points total.

Friday 21^st December

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg: UCF 38 – Ball State17

In the end, Mr. Bortles was too much for Ball State to handle.

Despite my pick going the wrong way for me, this one was fun to watch. Bortles and UCF’s offence put on a show and ran the game from the get go, never giving the Cardinals a look in. If the Ball State's offence had shown some of their form from earlier in the season, the game could have been close, but credit UCFs defence for stifling them and holding Ball State to only 3 from 9 conversions on 3^rd down.

Player of the Game: Blake Bortles: His performance was head and shoulders above the rest as he threw 3 TDs and was also the teams leading rusher with 80 yards off of 9 carries with another score.

Players to Watch: As mentioned, Bortles put in the performance I expected but Ball State’s Edwards didn’t get enough of the ball to make a big impression on the game. I believe this was mainly due to his side playing from behind, but he did average 6.4 yards whilst only having 14 carries, so his production was quite good.

Pick: Wrong – 2 points lost. I felt like this one was a coin flip, hence only 2 points wagered on it, first loss of the bowl season for me.

Saturday 22^nd December

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: LA-Lafayette 43 – ECU 34
 

Despite a solid ECU performance, they trailed LA-La all game.

If I say that there were 45-second quarter points, I think that tells you roughly what you need to know! From 98 yard drives lead by the backup QB for the Ragin’ Cajuns to ECU’s Justin Hardy making a spectacular leaping catch for a touchdown, offensive junkies had a lot to digest. ECU dug themselves a bit of hole, making this game look like one to sleep on before rallying themselves and making a go at but coming up short in then end.

Player of the Game: For me, this could have gone to either Terrance Broadway or Alonzo Harris, but Broadway accounted for 426 yards and 2 scores whilst taking some real punishment, in my eyes, that’s player of the game worthy.

Players to Watch: Broadway certainly did me proud, but Hardy showed glimpses of what he could do without really taking over the game. Carden really shared the ball around the ECU offense so Hardy’s impact was limited, but he did show off his physical talent with the jump he made to haul in his touchdown.

Pick: Correct – 5 points won. My points looked safe early on before ECU found their groove, but UL-La rode the play of Broadway to give me another tick in my ESPN entry.

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas: Boise State 28 – Washington 26

"Wait, you're telling me we're playing them to kick off next year as well??"

The second instalment of bowl play on Saturday night turned out to be another evenly matched encounter that saw the Broncos of Boise narrowly edge the Huskies with a late field goal. There was plenty of trickeration from the Boise offence, which constantly kept the Huskie defence on their heels whereas Steve Sarkisian’s team relied on the more traditional run game, leaving Bishop Sankey to grind out plenty of yards. In the end, despite taking the lead in the fourth quarter for the first time, Washington gave up a big return on the ensuing kick, ultimately making the Broncos offence and Michael Frisina’s job of winning the game a lot easier.

Player of the Game: It’s hard to fault Joe Southwick’s performance, but despite being on the losing team, Bishop Sankey’s performance was the best of the day, keeping his team in the game with 205 yards and a touchdown.

Players to Watch: Sankey’s performance has already been mentioned, justifying my player to watch pick, but Demarcus Lawrence on the other hand let me down massively, so badly in fact that he did not play at all! He was suspended for a violation of team rules late in the week before the game, but at least I was right saying that he was a player to keep an eye on.

Pick: Correct – 18 points won. Boise seemed to be sailing to an 18-point gain for me, but Washington almost threw a spanner in the works at the end, my biggest haul of the bowl season so far!

Double Coverage Bowl Mania Standings after Week 2

With my correct picks in three out of the four games I amassed another 29 points to take my total to 44, but I am still languishing in fourth place. At the top of the league is Zinkus RTR with 71 points after the UCF win netted him 20 points. Next week sees 13 more games being played meaning that the league will really start to take shape.