Bowl Season, What We Learned:
I often preach that bowl season is the best time of the year as I can park myself on a couch for hours and watch teams duke it out for one last time. There is something about college football that makes it special. From the atmosphere, to the marching bands, to the tradition, to the school pride it is hard not to love it.
Take the underdog. As my colleague and I bantered back and forth about what to call this blog (it took days) we were perplexed by the amount of underdogs pulling out huge wins. A ravaged defensive Minnesota team with 5 suspended DBs held a prolific Washington State Offense to 12 points. Temple’s storybook ending to a terrific program defining year was handled by a 6–6 Wake Forest team. Colorado’s rise back to relevance was out shadowed by the embarrassment of a performance vs Oklahoma State. Finally Ohio State and there 31–0 beat down at the feet of Clemson rose the question that many had wondered. How did they get in?
What is the criteria? How do you take a team that 1) did not make the conference champion game 2)lost to the conference champion Penn State Nittany Lions during the regular season. Two of the four criteria were unfilled by Ohio State. I imagine money played a factor, the large alumni fan base guaranteed tickets to be sold and ultimately college football is a money making machine. Potentially Urban Meyer a well respected coach had some words to say. Also, it was evident the college football playoff committee for whatever reason fell in love with the Big 10 with 4 teams in the top 8 but how did that play out?
The Big 10 went 3–7 in bowl games this year. With the exception of Wisconsin(who barely beat a non big 5 school) the two wins were by a 6–6 Northwestern team and Minnesota. The big bad Michigan lost a close one without their best player Jabrill Peppers who suffered a questionable injury before the game (probably for draft reasons). Nebraska and Iowa got dismantled by an average Tennessee team and Florida team respectively. Penn State and USC played a game for the ages with USC winning on a last second field goal. Ultimately bowl season was a bad look for the “best conference in America.”
Lets touch on the greatness that was The Rose Bowl. First of all, what a game between two teams riding a lot of momentum. I was on the edge of my seat from the start of the game to the end. Of all the Big 10 teams, Penn State was the most impressive by far. There ability to rally after being down early with their offense in the dumpster was an impressive feat against arguably the hottest team in college football. More to come from my colleague Bursh as he praises the USC win.
2017. Kirk Herbstreit said it best yesterday. “The future of College Football is Sam Darnold and Saquon Barkley”. Sam Darnold will win a Heisman trophy before his tenure is all said and done. Between his arm strength, pocket presence, poise, mobility the guy makes plays like not many can. Although I despise of the University of Spoiled Children (USC) this guy is special and a joy to watch play the game. Saquon Barkley was putting defenders on skates the entire game. Even on a noticeably slick surface, Barkley scuttled for 194 yards and a tremendous 79 yard touchdown. I’d like to put Trace McSorley in this conversation and although I think the guy looks like a major frat boy douchebag, he made play after play yesterday.
Long live bowl season and go Clemson Tigers.
