Bowl News and Notes

NEW MEXICO BOWL
BYU continued their impressive finish to the season with a 52-24 rout of UTEP. Jake Heaps became the first BYU frosh QB to start a bowl game and hit 25-34-264. This one was a demolition as at one point in the 1H BYU had a 228-(-1) yd edge and led 31-3. UTEP had a shot to get back in it trailing 31-10 as they had a FD at the BYU3 with :04 left in the half but their pass fell incomplete and their scoring opportunity was lost. Trailing 38-17 UTEP was int’d and BYU drove 46/5pl for a TD to make it 45-17. For the game BYU had 28-13 FD and 514-233 yd edges. Another key for UTEP was the fact that QB Trevor Vittatoe was playing on a left ankle in need of surgery which he postponed until after the game and clearly was hobbled. His ankle was taped and he wore a shoe 3 sizes bigger. Also RB Donald Buckram was supposed to be close to 100% but got only 6 carries for 10 yds.

HUMANITARIAN BOWL
Northern Illinois’ interim HC Tom Matukewicz stepped into a tough situation as HC Jerry Kill left for Minnesota and took both OC and DC with him and he was coaching against Pat Hill. Things did not look great early as FSU marched 69/13pl for a TD and a 7-0 lead but after that NI played with more passion and fire and dominated Fresno. They scored TD’s on their next 2 poss. Their K had missed an xp but then nailed a 45 yd FG which would have been good from 60. FSU at the end of the half drove 54/6pl trailing 23-10 and missed a 43 yd FG. At the half NI had a 283-164 yd edge. K Michael Cklamovski hit a 51 yd FG to open the 3Q for NI making it 26-10 that once again would have been good from 60. FSU on 3&6 at the NI8 fmbl’d and NI went 89/8pl for a 33-10 lead. After FSU was SOD at the NI38, NI went 62/4pl for a TD, 40-10. FSU went on a 71/13pl drive for a garbage TD with 5:31 left, 40-17. FSU’s top RB Robbie Rouse played with a huge cast on his hand which made him largely ineffective as he had just 32 yds on 14 carries and only 1 rec.

NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Troy set a New Orleans Bowl record with 602 yds offense. Troy did not punt until the 4Q scoring on their first 8 poss. OU was int’d on their first series then each team went on a long TD drive to tie it at 7. After that Troy simply dominated. They finished their 1H with a 385-79 yd edge with almost all of OU’s yds coming on their 2nd series. Each team opened the 3Q with a TD then Troy added another to lead 48-14. OU took over with 10:47 left and gained 54 of their yds on a 9pl drive for a garbage TD with 5:07 left. OU QB Jackson did not come in until the 2Q after an off field incident which resulted in him not practicing with the team.

BEEF ‘O’ BRADY’S BOWL
Louisville and Southern Miss players got into it in some pregame festivities. Southern Miss felt disrespected and came out strong as UL (without starting QB Froman) went 3 & out on their first 3 series. SM went 57/4pl for a TD and then got a 62/1pl TD run by Johnson for a 14-0 lead. SM had a snap to the punter mishandled and he fell but UL fmbl’d at the 3. UL got their first FD and punted but their next drive went 45/8pl for a TD. SM QB Davis made a great 1-handed catch on a WR pass for a 17 yd TD and SM led 21-7. UL went on an 80/9pl drive to make it 21-14 then with 3:16 left in the half. SM fmbl’d at their own 27 and UL got a TD to tie it. At the half SM had a 217-159 yd edge. SM went on a 69/13pl drive but had a 29 yd FG blk’d. 3 punts. SM faked a punt for a FD and went 51/11pl for a TD with 14:55 left to lead 28-21 but UL got a 95 yd KR TD. UL went 68/12pl for a 36 yd FG with 6:30 left. After SM punted with 4:41 left, UL got 1 FD then on 3&7 another FD allowed them to punt with :07 left. UL won despite being outFD’d 24-15 and outgained 396-287 vs their old CUSA rival.

LAS VEGAS BOWL
If you look at a box score, Boise St dominated Utah with 23-8 FD and 543-200 yd edges. There were many key plays however which upon Utah could have made a game of it and in fact, Utah controlled the 1Q and could have been up as much as 20-0. The Utes were playing without starting QB Jordan Wynn and while Terrance Cain hit 10-24-93, he was plagued by dropped passes and pen’s that wiped out long gains and could have easily had a 300 yd passing game. After recovering a Boise fumble at the 20, Utah missed a 39 yd FG. Utah had a FD at the Boise 34 but Cain was sacked and fmbl’d on their 2nd drive. On their 3rd drive, on 1&10 from the Boise 37, Smithson dropped a sure TD pass. On 3&16 Brooks dropped another TD pass and Utah punted. Utah’s next poss resulted in a 44 yd FG and after 1Q Utah led 3-0 blowing opportunities for 17 additional points. The key play of the game happened 2 poss later. Boise was back at their own 16 when a simple handoff to Martin went 84 yds for a TD and stunningly Boise, which could have been down by 3 scores, led 7-3. Boise added a 29 yd FG on its next poss and then a 25 yd TD pass (2ptng) to lead 16-3 at the half. After recovering a Utah fumble at the Boise 39, Boise had a pass that was going to be for a TD knocked out of the rec’s hands for a TB. Boise scored a TD on its next drive to lead 23-3 (8:18 3Q). Two poss later Utah went on an 8pl drive but missed a 36 yd FG. Boise went on a 14 play drive for a 21 yd FG and Utah dropped consecutive passes which would have resulted in FD’s from the Boise 40, and Cain was SOD on 4&9 at the BSU36 with 6:25 left. Kyle Brotzman became the NCAA’s all-time leader in kicking points with a 29 yd FG in the 2Q but will probably be remembered more for his miss vs Nevada. He also dropped a 2 pt conversion on an open pass in the 2Q but had an outstanding career.

POINSETTIA BOWL
The grounds crew in San Diego did a wonderful job. The night before the Navy/San Diego St game the field was flooded with 1.5 million gallons of rain water. Not only did they pump all of the water out, the field was in remarkably good condition although there was some slipping throughout the game. SDSt frosh RB Ronnie Hillman ran for 228 yds and had 4 total TD’s. The Aztecs jumped out to a 14-0 lead getting 3 FD’s on their first drive on 13, 12 and 23 yd passes to Brown before punting then going 59/5pl and 93/6pl for TD’s. Navy on 3&19 got a 30 yd TD pass with 14:10 left in the half. After the Aztecs drove for another TD with 3:15 left, Navy got a 40 yd pass play down to the 11 then with :07 left in the half got a 1 yd TD run to get back in it at 21-14. In the 3Q Navy was SOD at the SDSt 3 and the Aztecs got 2 FD’s and punted. SDS then went 74/7pl. Lindley made a great play action fake hiding the ball behind his back and hit Hillman for a 15 yd TD pass with 14:56 left, 28-14. The Aztecs then went 80/13pl and had another TD with 6:07 left. SDSt’s final drive started at their 22 and they would get 3 FD’s to the Navy 19 yd line where they took a knee. Despite the fact this game was played in SDSt’s home stadium, Navy may have had a slight crowd edge due to their area bases.

HAWAII BOWL
Tulsa came in with the NCAA’s #119 rank in pass D but opted to aggressively rush the def front 4 and drop their LB’s back into coverage and the result was five 1H int’s vs Hawaii which was the key to the game. In fact, at the half UH had 14-5 FD and 273-94 yd edges but trailed 27-14. Tulsa ret’d the first int 52 yds to the 3 setting up a TD. UH went on a 64 yd drive and was int’d in the EZ. TU had what looked like a TD pass to Clay but the ball was punched out from behind and into the EZ for a TB costing Tulsa 7 pts. After an 8 yd UH punt, TU settled for a 42 yd FG. UH had backup QB Austin in (Moniz inj’d back) and went 59/10pl for a TD, 10-7. TU then got a 54 yd IR TD by Flanders, 17-7 and LB Arnick added his own 54 yd IR TD to make it 24-7. UH got as close as 27-21 (7:28) and 34-28 (5:47) in the 3Q but TU got a 67 yd TD run, forced a punt, then drove 57/2pl for a TD to lead 48-28 and coasted. TU scored the game’s final TD after UH was SOD at the TU26 with 4:47 left. WR Damaris Johnson had a career high 326 all-purp yds and broke the NCAA record for all-purp yds in a career. Johnson led the NCAA in all-purp yds raising his total from 191.8 to 202.2 ypg after the game.

LITTLE CAESARS BOWL
There was 32,431 on hand with about 300 FIU fans as Toledo fans packed the house (hr drive to Detroit). The first 3 poss were punts. After a 21 yd PR, TU went 36/5pl for a TD, 7-0. UT fmbl’d at the FIU31. 3 punts. UT got an 87 yd TD run by Adonis Thomas who rushed for 193, 14-0 (10:45 2Q). FIU went 87/8pl and Perry’s 1 yd TD made it 14-7 (6:25). UT went 63/8pl and got a 10 yd TD pass with 2:56 left in the half, 21-7. FIU got to the UT27 but on 4&2 fired incomplete with :58 left. At the half TU had a 260-186 yd edge. UT went 38/11pl for a 29 yd FG to open the 3Q, 24-7 (9:44 3Q). Hilton ret’d the KO 89 yds for a TD, 24-14. UT was int’d and ret’d 11 yds to their 23 and 3pl later FIU had another TD and the momentum to only trail 24-21 (6:45). 2 punts. TU was int’d at their own 41 but FIU on FD from the UT21 was int’d at the 5. UT was int’d again and ret’d to their 37 and this time FIU needed just 2 plays for a TD to lead 28-24 with 7:34 left. FIU blk’d a punt and rec’d at the TU19 but settled for a 31 yd FG with 3:18 left, 31-24. TU went on a 62/9pl drive and converted on 4&1 for a FD at the FIU26 and then got a 14 yd TD. They opted to go for the win and got the 2 pt conv with 1:14 left to apparently pull out the 32-21 win. A squib kick was ret’d 20 yds by Ellington out to the 48. The key play happened on 4&17 when FIU ran a hook-and-ladder to Hilton. Watching the game it appeared he was OOB early but the review could not overturn it and he was given the FD. They got a 20 yd pass to the 22 and then on the final play a 34 yd FG for the 34-32 win.

INDEPENDENCE BOWL
You would think a bowl game contested between 2 option teams who had the entire month to prep for each other would be a low scoring match and that is precisely what happened. There were some key plays as Air Force was SOD on 4th down 3x in the 1H and GT fmbl’d a pair of punts costing them 80 yds. After a 43 yd PR, AF got a 42 yd FG to lead 3-0. GT went 69/12pl for a TD, 7-3. AF was SOD at their own GT36 but GT on 4&6 was SOD at the AF32. AF went on an 11pl drive but was SOD at the GT26 on 4&5. AF went 56/9pl but was SOD on 4&1 at the GT20 (3:11). AF went 57/8pl and got a 41 yd FG on the final play of the half to pull within 7-6. AF had a 201-141 yd edge. GT opened the 3Q with a 77/18pl drive that ate up 8:35 but they fmbl’d at the AF5. GT fmbl’d a punt at the AF47 and 2 punts later GT fmbl’d another punt at their own 14 setting up an AF TD and 2 pt conv and the Falcons led 14-7 (13:24 4Q). AF went 71/18pl and missed a 37 yd FG with 1:48 left. GT went on a 13pl drive to the AF21 but on 3&3 was int’d at the 2.

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL
W Virginia hired an OC in Dana Holgorsen who was the coach in waiting giving this one some interesting dynamics. NCSt finished with a 378-326 yd edge. Russell Wilson hit 28-45-275 yds with 0 int’s and rushed another 41 and was the bowl MVP. 5 TO’s were the key here, all in the 2H for W Virginia. The teams also missed numerous FG’s. NCSt took their 2nd drive 86/10pl for a TD, 7-0. NCSt’s next drive went 50/12pl. They faked a 35 yd FG and the holder threw the ball over his shoulder but the K could not handle it and WV took over at their own 32. WV went 42/8pl but missed a 43 yd FG. WV went 64/8pl and got a 32 yd TD pass by Bailey where he took the away from the DB, 7-7. NCSt got a 46 yd KR to the WV48 and after a 3&11 FD pass got a 45 yd FG with :26 left in the half, 10-7. At the half NCSt had a 194-182 yd edge. WV fmbl’d at their own 26 and NCSt got a 38 yd FG. WV was SOD on 4&10 at the NCSt34. NCSt went 43/9pl for a 40 yd FG. 2 punts. WV got a 28 yd gain by Devine but he fmbl’d at the end of it. NCSt (WV44) got 1 FD & missed a 27 yd FG (11:24). WV went 41/5pl and had an open rec for a TD on FD from the NCSt39 and it was overthrown and int’d at the 10. WV’s next drive went 8pl but they missed a 42 yd FG. WV then fmbl’d a punt at their own 7 with 5:02 left and NCSt got a TD on 3&gl from the 7, 23-7. WV was sk’d & fmbl’d at the NCSt47 with 2:19 left.

INSIGHT BOWL
Iowa was playing without 2 susp’d players but Coker (replaced Robinson at RB) actually had a higher PS# out of HS and rushed for 403 in six games prior to the bowl. Coker had a big game with 219 yds rushing. Iowa opened with a 67/8pl TD drive. MO went 75/17pl for a 23 yd FG. 2 punts. Coker got a 62 yd TD run, 14-3. Iowa went 69/9pl and got a 34 yd FG and appeared in control leading 17-3 (7:28 2Q). MO converted on 3&9 and went 82/9pl for a TD with 4:51 left in the half. After Iowa punted with 2:42 left MO went 70/11pl but on 3&10 from the 14 was int’d on a tipped pass in the EZ with :28 left 1H. At half thanks to those final 2 drives MO had a 297-267 yd edge. MO opened the 3Q with a punt and Iowa went 93/10pl but settled for a 21 yd FG, 20-10 (7:03 3Q). MO went 77/8pl for a 7 yd TD run. Iowa was then int’d and MO went 57/9pl for a TD, 24-20. Iowa went on a 7pl drive but punted. MO punted. Iowa got to the MO48 but was int’d at the 31 with 8:25 left. MO went 40/6pl but then on FD from the Iowa29 was not only int’d but Hyde broke back across the field and ret’d it 72 yds for a TD with 5:32 left. MO went 38/10pl. On 4&6 a pass to WR Moe was orig ruled FD but replay showed the ball hit the ground and it was incomplete with 2:15 left. Iowa got 1 FD & on 3&3 a rollout pass to Reisner saw him break toward the EZ. He was flipped in the air and it appeared the ball broke the plane but they marked him down at the 1 and Iowa took a knee.

MILITARY BOWL
The key to this one was that ACC Coach of the Year Ralph Friedgen was in his final game and the team was very motivated to play for him. MD had a 478-343 yd edge. MD was int’d on a deep pass on the first play and EC started at their 30 but was SOD on 4&inches at the 50 and MD got a 45 yd TD pass 3pl later, 6-0 (xp blk’d, 10:35 1Q). EC was int’d at the MD27 then fmbl’d at their own 28. MD missed a 25 yd FG (13:02 2Q). MD, after a punt, started at the EC43 and after 2 FD’s to the 7, settled for a 23 yd FG, 9-0. EC went 37/10pl. On 4&4 they fired incomplete but roughing the QB gave them a FD to the 22. They got a 37 yd FG, 9-3. MD went 66/6pl for a TD, 16-3 (2:57 2Q). EC fmbl’d at their own 48 but MD punted (:38). At half MD had a 202-127 yd edge. MD got a deflected int and ret’d it 34 yds to the EC1 setting up a TD, 23-3. 2 punts. EC got a 36 yd PR to the MD15 and then on 3&15 a 20 yd TD pass beat an all out blitz, 23-10 (9:51 3Q). MD went 69/11pl for a TD and EC 56/10pl for a 31 yd FG. The FG came 4pl after a 4&6, 31 yd pass to the 11, 30-13. Scott got a 61 yd TD run and finished with 200 yds on 13 carries. EC went 63/12pl but on 4&gl from the 2 had a delay and was tkl’d for a 2 yd loss back to the 9. On the next play, Scott got a 91 yd TD run, 44-13 (11:20). MD was int’d on a deep pass at the EC2 and then went 40/7pl for a 4 yd TD run with 4:41 left, 51-13. EC brought in backup QB Wornick and went 61/9pl getting a 14 yd TD pass with 1:43 left.

TEXAS BOWL
It was Baylor’s first bowl in 16 years. They opened with a solid drive but Griffin fmbl’d and it was ret’d 46 yds to the BU28. IL settled for a 38 yd FG. IL drove 57/11pl and settled for a 28 yd FG then went 65/7pl but settled for a 43 yd FG. Despite dominating they only led 9-0. IL went 86/7pl for a TD and Mikel LeShoure rushed for 184 yds and set 5 single season school records incl the single season rushing yards at 1,697 for IL. LeShoure’s 5 yd TD run made it 16-0 (9:42 2Q). 2 punts. BU went 61/10pl but fmbl’d at the IL32 (1:39) and BU missed a 57 yd FG on the final play of the half. IL had a 252-150 yd edge. IL opened the 3Q with an 87/9pl drive for a TD. BU went 73/11pl for a TD, 24-7 (8:03 3Q). 3 punts. BU went 81/8pl and on 4&14 Griffin got a 39 yd TD pass to pull them within 24-14. They forced a punt but on 3&1 were stuffed and opted to punt with 10:15 left. IL went 66/7pl for a TD with 7:14 left to ice it. BU went on an 11pl drive but on 4&5 was SOD at the IL9 with 3:34 left. IL not only got 2 FD’s but they got a 55 yd Scheelhaase TD run, 38-14. Scheelhaase completed all 13 of his passes in the 1H and IL had a 533-437 yd edge.

ALAMO BOWL
Arizona had 6 poss inside Oklahoma St's terr in the 1H result in just 1 TD and UA had a 209-168 yd edge at the half yet trailed 23-7. For the game UA had a 25-17 FD edge and held the potent OSU offense to just 312 yds while rolling up 370 yds but lost by 26. UA fmbl’d a punt at their own 26 setting up a short OSU TD. UA was SOD at the OSU29 and on the next play, OSU got a 71/1pl TD pass, 14-0. UA went 63/8pl for a TD, 14-7. 2 punts. OSU went 30/9pl for a 40 yd FG, 17-7 (:06 1Q). UA went 33/7pl but was int’d and ret’d 62 yds for a TD and trailed 23-7 (12:33 2Q, xpng). UA went 45/9pl but was int’d at the 2. UA went 36/8pl but missed a 47 yd FG (2:26). UA went 43/9pl and on 3&10 got a FD to the 3 but it was called back for off pass interf and after a 13 yd gain, they didn’t call time-out and ran out of time at the 41. UA took their 2nd 3Q poss for a 42 yd FG, 23-10. OSU went 71/11pl for a TD, 30-10 (5:16). UA was int’d and OSU, 8pl later, had a 50 yd FG, 33-10. UA went 54/17pl but missed a 34 yd FG. OSU went on a 10pl drive for a 44 yd FG with 5:53 left, 36-10. UA went 70/14pl but on 4&1 was SOD at the OSU10.

The Bowl confidence contest is winding down and so far thru 30 games only 2 people of the 3000 have a greater than 80% mark with 25-5 in picking the winners.

Last year we expanded the contest to nearly 1200 contestants, which was double from any other previous season and this year we more than doubled the number of contestants with nearly 3000 entries!

Top 10 Overall Standings

Last year we had four different radio stations participate with their own groups and this year we expanded to a dozen different groups.

Here are the total number of contestants for the major groups and the current leaders.

WKNR Cleveland, Ohio w/Michael Reghi
(236 Contestants)

WVSP Virginia Beach, Virginia w/Tony Mercurio
(202 Contestants)

STO Cleveland, Ohio w/Bruce Drennan
(172 Contestants)

Erik Kuselias (114 Contestants)

KMBE Houston, Texas w/Charlie Pallilo
(94 Contestants)

WDFN Detroit, Michigan w/Sean Baligian
(53 Contestants)

For complete overall standings or each individual group click here.