2012 NEW ORLEANS BOWL

2012 NEW ORLEANS BOWL

vs.

 

Recap:

The Rafin Cajuns roared out to an early lead in a bowl game that was a de facto home game, but the East Carolina Pirates were game enough to pull back to tie the game with 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. 

ULL had to make a tough choice due to their embarassment of riches at quarterback with last year's New Orleans bowl MVP Blaine Gautier going out with an injury early in the season and sophomore Terrance Broadway coming to lead the team back to the post-season.  From what I saw in this game, they couldn't lose either way.  Gautier is a more polished passer, but Broadway is one of the better dual threat QB's in the country and is nearly as effective from the pocket as he is on the run, which is saying a lot for his passing ability.  He led the Rajin Cajuns to a 28-7 lead with 7 minutes left in the first half.

East Carolina launched their comeback with a 14 point burst in 13 seconds powered by Shane Carden passing and a superlative special teams play by the Pirates.  Though they lost, how the Pirates responded to a mountain of momentum against them should have solidified Ruffin McNeils job at East Carolina. 

Players of note:
Louisiana-Lafayette:
QB Terrance Broadway: In the last 8 weeks, Broadway has averaged nearly 280 yards passing and 71 yard rushing with 19 combined touchdowns.  He peaked late in the season and this is his team and his best weapons are young and will be coming back with him.

QB Blaine Gautier: The veteran QB is a good athlete with and explosive left arm to sling the ball around the field.  He looked to be himself against in the few snaps they gave him, and he should get a change to make a roster. 

RB Alonzo Harris: Harris is a power back who gives a nice contrast to the speed of Broadway.  The sophomore ended the season with 3 consecutive 100 yards games, giving him 881 yards and 10 touchdowns in a season that should solidify him as the starter to pair with Broadway in the backfield for ULL. 

WR Jamal Robinson: Robinson is a big receiver who is a very real downfield threat.  Early in the season, he was merely a field stretcher who got a deep shot thrown his way.  Later in the season, he gained Broadway's trust and got targeted more, with one of his best games of the season coming in the bowl game.  As a freshman, he is an exciting talent for the Rajin Cajuns and should be another weapon for Broadway and the ULL offense.

East Carolina:
QB Shane Carden: As should be expected from a QB playing for the former assistant to Mike Leach, Shane Carden piles up passing statistics.  He did everything he could to pull the Pirates back into this one, but came up a bit short.  But, as with most of the other stars of this game, Carden is an underclassman, which is very exciting for East Carolina fans.

RB Reggie Bullock: This Senior running back exploded for what was, easily, his best game of the season rushing the ball.  He is a small back, and this may have been his swan song, but it was a dynamic and explosive performance and a nice way to end his careero

Interesting Notes:
It is terribly interesting to met that last year's MVP was a healthy scratch behind this year's MVP.

2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard

2012 BEEF O'BRADY'S BOWL

2012 BEEF O'BRADY'S BOWL

vs.

 

Recap:

Blake Bortles and Latavius Murray led a dominating performance by the Knights of Central Florida against an overmatched Ball State squad.

Murray capped off 2 early drives with touchdowns and Bortles made play after play showing why George O'Leary is so excited about the future of his program.

Ball State and Keith Wenning couldn't get traction against the Knights defense who looks forward to their move to the Big East, regardless of who left waiting when they get there.

Players of note:
Central Florida:
QB Blake Bortles: Blake Bortles put out one of the best performances by a quarterback that I saw all season.  Admittedly, Ball State's defense did that for a lot of quarterbacks this season, but Bortles has the tools.  He is 6'4 221.  He has the arm that you expect with that size and the speed of a man much smaller.  It's going to fun watching him develop.

RB Latavius Murray: Murray is a horse of a running back.  He is a punishing back who loves to go between the tackles and who has shown the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.  He is not a guy who is going to hit a lot of home runs, but could get a shot as a power back option in the NFL.  Course, he is only a junior, so he gets to beat on the Big East for a year first.

Ball State:
QB Keith Wenning: Wenning is a solid QB with a strong, accurate, arm.  He didn't have the weapons to do much against the Knights, but he did show the ability to fit the ball into some small windows.  He is a big strong pocket passer, that looks to have decent athleticism.

RB Jahwan Edwards: Edwards is a thickly built back, who gave us a taste of what he can do against UCF with 87 yards on 14 carries.  He is only a sophomore, and has a 1410 yard season to build off of. 

Interesting Notes:
Jeffrey Godfrey caught 3 balls in this game.  He was the starting QB in Central Florida's last bowl game.  That is how much faith the coaching staff has in their sophomore quarterback.

2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard

2012 POINSETTIA BOWL

2012 POINSETTIA BOWL

vs.

Recap:  

This was a defensive battle, which was a not a huge surprise.  BYU has had one of the top defenses all season long and San Diego State has built a physical defense under Brady Hoke and now under Rocky Long, who was the Defensive Coordinator under Hoke. 

You have to feel for that Aztec defense though, as the final score does not reflect the way they played. 

It was 6-3 SDSU with 13 minutes remaining in the game when Kyle Van Noy and the Cougar defense took over.  Van Noy scored 2 defensive TD's in the 4th and the Cougar defense gave their offense a short field in between for the their only offensive TD of the game.  Both of these teams have issues, but if you like defensive football, this was a game to see.

Players of note:
Brigham Young:
OLB Kyle Van Noy: Van Noy changed this game, and turned it into a convincing Cougar win after they had struggled all season.  His is, to my mind, the best performance of the Bowl season on the defensive side of the ball in the bowl season...thus far.  He is not going to leverage this performance towards the NFL quite yet though as he has declared that he will be coming back for his senior season. 

DE Ezekiel Ansah: Ansah is new to football, but he is one of the best athletes on the defensive side of the ball in the country.  He didn't have the stats that Van Noy did this season, but he was dynamic and disruptive all game long with 5 solo tackles and an interception.  He moved between D-End and OLB in the Cougars 3-4 defense and is going to be drafted high in this year's draft.

San Diego State:

RB Adam Muema: Muema was the lone bright spot on offense for the Aztecs.  He ran for 1458 yards this season and 16 TD's this season, capping it with 95 yards and a TD against the Cougars.  It was not nearly enough for his team to come out victorious in their bowl game, but the sophomore accounted himself well and should be the focus of the Aztecs offense as they prepare to move into the Big East.

Interesting Notes:
This game was boring if you like offense, but keep your eyes on this BYU team going forward.  They are consistently recruiting athletes, and if they can find a decent answer at QB, they are going to have something.

2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard

2012 Idaho Potato Bowl

2012 IDAHO POTATO BOWL

vs.

Recap: This game was billed as a battle between 2 good defensive teams like to run the ball and have solid dual threat QB's at the helm.  In the end, that was half true.  The Utah State Aggies multiple front defense shut down running back David Fluellen and the rest of the Toledo offense while the Utah State offense ran wild.

The scoring started early for the Aggies when QB Chuckie Keeton broke loose for a 62 yards touchdown run.  From there, the Aggies showed their physicality as their defense kept the Rockets offense out of the endzone while their own offense wore down the Rockets until the 4th quarter.  Once they got to the 4th quarter, the Rockets defense was exhausted and the Aggies exploded for 4 rushing TD's.  Three of those TD's were by Kerwynn Williams on his way to a 235 yard day running the football. 

Players of note:

Toledo:


RB David Fluellen: Ran for 1498 yards and 13 TD’s this season. Fluellen was shut down by Utah State’s defense in the bowl game, as they held him to less than 40 yards.

WR Bernard Reedy: Small, speedy receiver totaled up 1113 yards and a half dozen TD’s in his junior season. Reedy had a decent game in the Potato Bowl with a half dozen catches. His 87 yard kickoff return was the Rockets only touchdown of the game.

Utah State:

RB Kerwynn Williams: Williams is a very good back who is likely to get looks as a change of pace back in the NFL.  He is likely to be no better than a mid-round pick, but he dominated this game as he exploded in the 4th quarter for 3 TD’s and 235 yards rushing.

QB Chuckie Keeton: Keeton is a balanced and effective, dual threat, quarterback.  He completed a very good junior season leading the Aggies to this bowl win after he busted loose for a long run early in the game to put the Aggies ahead. He has not gotten much publicity as an NFL prospect at this point, but is an interesting athletic prospect.

Interesting Notes:
Utah State, who also payed in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, losing to Ohio in the closing seconds, is appearing in back-to-back bowl games for just the third time in school history joining the 1946 Raisin Bowl and 1947 Grape Bowl teams.  Also, the 1960 Sun Bowl and 1961 Gotham Bowl teams.  Overall, it is Utah State's eighth bowl appearance in school history and Utah State had won just twice.

2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard.

2012 Belk Bowl

BOWL GAME

vs.

Preview/Recap: The Duke Blue Devils were good enough to win a bowl game against a very good Cincinnati team in the 2012 Belk Bowl.  Despite being led by the talented passing connection of Sean Renfree and Connor Vernon, this Blue Devil team showed the fruits of the hard work of a the ACC coach of the year and his staff.  They are a young team, full of talented skill position players on offense.  That's the good.

The bad is that it takes more than a good recruiting class to build a solid defense and it takes time to teach young talented kids how to win against good competition.  Their young running backs had 2 fumbles inside the 5, one just before the goal line when a score would have made it 23-7.  The second was inside 2 minutes with the score tied when a few snaps and a field goal would have likely finished the game with the Blue Devils winninng their first bowl game in years.

Instead, the physical Bearcat team stole a victory despite playing with half a coaching staff behind a gutsy performance from their dynamic quarterback Brendon Kay who hit star Tight End Travis Kelce for the go-ahead score from 83 yards away.

Players of note:
Duke:
QB Sean Renfree: Renfree is a very accurate, drop-back, passer who David Cutcliffe has used to kickstart the Blue Devil program.  Having watched several of his games, I have very serious concerns about his arm strength.  He throws with great touch and his reads are above average, but he has trouble fitting the ball into tight windows.

WR Connor Vernon: Vernon is the best receiver in the history of the ACC, statistically.  He has decent size at 6'1" and 200 lbs, and is expected to run a sub 4.4 40.  If he can do that, he will be an early pick in the coming draft.  He performed well against the Bearcats despite being the obvious #1 option for the Blue Devils.  He caught 10 balls for over 100 yards and a TD. 

WR Jamison Crowder: This is one of the guys to keep an eye on in the ACC.  He is a smaller receiver, but I lost count of the guys he made miss on his half dozen catches.  He is cat-quick and is only a sophomore.

K Ross Martin: I hate to note a kicker as a player of note, but Martin is as good as anyone in the country, and he is only a sophomore.  He has a big, accurate leg and has a very good chance to play at the next level. 

RB Josh Snead: Snead's night ended badly as he fumbled the ball, and the game, away at the 5 yard line of the Bearcats, but prior to that he was a force in this game.  This was eaily his best game of the season as it was his only 100 yard rushing game of the year, but I expect to see more of this out of him going forward.  He is nimble and decisive while catching the ball well out of the backfield.

Cincinatti:

QB Brendon Kay: Kay didn't get the starting spot until halfway through the season, but he is a big physical quarterback who throws a great deep ball and can be very dynamic, and effective, in the running game.  In 5 games, he threw for 1298 yards with  10 TD's against only 2 INT's.  He is going to be an interesting case for for the scouts to evaluate coming out of his senior year with so few starts, but I would not be suprised to see someone take a chance on him.

TE Travis Kelce: The younger brother in a family with and NFL pedigree is just as talented as his older brother.  He is an excellent blocker who the Bearcats move all over the field to create both blocking and receiving mismatches.  He opeed holes for George Winn all game long and then finished it off by running away from the Duke secondary for the long touchdown.  He may be the best Tight End in the country.

RB George Winn: Winn is a one-cut downhill runner who has good acceleration who delivers the blow to defenders.  He is well suited to a zone scheme and will be a mid-round grade for teams who run that kind of blocking scheme.  He did not show the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, but a team like the Texans may see good depth in a player like Winn.

Interesting Notes: Duke was driving with the ball and the score tied late.  They had first a goal with 2:10 left but fumbled trying to push the ball into the end zone. 

2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard.

2012 Bowl Season

2012 BOWL SEASON

Here is the scoreboard for the 2012 bowl season.  Below are my synopsis for each game.

New Mexico Bowl

Nevada Wolfpack 48

       vs.

Arizona Wildcats 49

Idaho Potato Bowl

Toledo Rockets 15

       vs.

Utah State Aggies 41

Poinsettia Bowl

Brigham Young Cougars 23

       vs.

San Diego State Aztecs 6

Beef O'Brady's Bowl

Ball State Cardinals 17

       vs.

UCF Black Knights 38

2012 New Mexico Bowl

NEW MEXICO BOWL

Arizona Wildcats vs. Nevada Wolfpack

49       -       48

Recap: This was your classic game of swings between 2 teams who are both decidedly unbalanced teams.  Arizona came out flat, falling behind early after giving the ball away 3 times and falling behind 21-0.  They answered that with a 21-0 run of their own and from there we had a shootout for the last 3 quarters.  Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, it took them 19:37 to scored 42 points. 

After that , Nevada had a 17 point advantage built up by the 4th quarter behind their talented backfield of QB Cody Fajardo and RB Stefphon Jefferson.  From there is was the Matt Scott show as he threw 3 TD's in the final quarter, including 2 in the final 46 second of the game to steal a win to seal the first year of the Rich Rodriguez era.

Players of note:

Arizona:
QB Matt Scott: The senior quarterback showed his intelligence matched his natural ability this year by picking up a brand new offense and leading a rebuilding Wildcat squad to a bowl win with a clutch performance.

RB Ka'Deem Carey:  This is the best running back in the country, and he's a sophomore.  You can say what you want about him being a product of the system because he is in the system, and he is producing at a nation leading rate.

WR Austin Hill: 1364 yards receiving for this 6'3" 211 lb receiver.....who is also a sophomore.  RichRod was happy to find out that the cupboard was not entirely bare in the desert. 

Nevada:
QB Cody Fajardo: Fajardo is perceiving to be the future of the Wolfpack program, much as Colin Kaepernick is its past.  He is the engine that makes this offense go, and he dominated the Arizona defense early in this game.  Again, a sophomore.

RB: Stefphon Jefferson: He tore through the Arizona defense just like he did most every other team that the Wolfpack faced this season.  His 175 and 2 TD's finished up a season with 1883 yards and 25 rushing TD's, and he might be coming back.

Interesting Notes: This was one of the best matchups of running backs we are likely to see this season and thanks to 2 explosive offenses and porous defenses was likely the best example of a  shootout of the bowl season.  I recommend that you keep you eye on both of these teams over the next 2 years.  They are both led by young players and aren't likely to be any worse than they were this year, though both need to have drastic improvement on the defensive side of the ball to make big strides.

2012 Bowl Season Scoreboard.

College Football: Arizona overcomes Nevada 49-48 in New Mexico Bowl / Utah State routs Toledo 41-15 in Idaho Potato Bowl

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Matt Scott watched helplessly as Nevada kicked a field goal to pad its lead. The Arizona quarterback had already thrown two interceptions, and now needed two quick scores and some luck — in a hurry, too — to somehow win the New Mexico Bowl.

Scott even admitted he didn’t have “positive” thoughts before returning to the field.

But in the final 46 seconds, Scott threw two short touchdown passes and college football’s postseason started with a wild one as Arizona rallied past Nevada 49-48 Saturday.

Overcoming a slow start and three big turnovers, Arizona (8-5) recovered an onside kick in the last minute, setting up Scott’s 2-yard toss to Tyler Slavin with 19 seconds left for the winning score.

“It’s not easy to come back from that situation,” Scott said. “You’re not necessarily going to think the most positive thing at the time, but we went out there and took care of business. It was just a big drive. I still can’t believe it.”

Arizona trailed 21-0 in the first quarter and was down 45-28 entering the final period. Scott threw for 382 yards and marched his team back into the game despite those two earlier interceptions.

“I mean, it’s improbable,” first-year Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said.

“Certainly, I’ve had some games come down to that end,” he said. “But to have everything, the defense making the stop, to the field goal, Matt leading the quick drive down there, getting the onside kick … and then Matt leading down again. It just doesn’t happen very often.”