Bowl Day in Review

What a great day for college football, probably for Boise State more than anyone else. I still can’t believe they how they won the Fiesta Bowl. The hook and ladder to tie the game was one thing, but the Statue of Liberty to beat Oklahoma was simply amazing. I rewound the game about five times looking at how they pulled that off. Congratulations to the Broncos for pulling that win off. Their undefeated season will likely add more fuel to the fire over getting a playoff system in the “Bowl Subdivision,” though I can't imagine a mid-major would ever be good enough to win a playoff.

The Gator Bowl between Georgia Tech and West Virginia was another great game. Calvin Johnson really put on a show in the first half with 100-some receiving yards and a pair of TD catches to help give GT a 28-17 lead at the break. Of course, GT blew it all later when they allowed WVU to score 21 unanswered points in the third after opening the quarter with a TD drive. The Mountaineers scored their first TD on a a trick play where none of their offensive linemen moved after the snap. Of course, every GT defender was confused and Pat White found a wide open receiver for a 50 yard score. And naturally, after scoring more than 70 points in the first three quarters, no one scored in the fourth and WVU won.

So the Gator Bowl was exciting, through the first three quarters, and the Fiesta Bowl ended up being incredible, but the Rose Bowl was the game that most people were looking forward to watching. If you were a USC fan or Michigan hater, the Rose Bowl sure didn’t disappoint.

USC 32, Michigan 18
Just a dreadful start to this game. Neither team could score or move the ball in the first half and it was only 3-3 going into the third quarter. That was when the light went on for USC. Given how good the Michigan run defense had been, they abandoned the run and went balls to the wall with passes. Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith took over from that point and embarrassed the Wolverine secondary. Leon Hall was one of the better corners in college football this year and Jarrett made him look like a little girl with 205 receiving yards and a pair of TD catches. When Jarrett is healthy, he's the best receiver in the country not named Calvin Johnson. After watching Johnson have a monster game earlier in the day, it was nice to see Jarrett follow suit with the biggest game of his of his career. Now it looks like Jarrett can leave USC and compete with Johnson to be the first receiver taken, though Johnson will likely win that competition easily. (Note to Matt Millen and Detroit: Don't draft another receiver, even if it is someone as good as Johnson or Jarrett.) Smith also went over 100 yards with a TD and John David Booty ended up with almost 400 yards and four TDs. Of course, these kind of numbers are only possible if your O-line gives the quarterback time to throw. Sam Baker and Kyle Williams looked nothing like the tackles they were against UCLA, choosing this week to keep LaMarr Woodley and Co. at bay, which was the key to winning this game.

Aside from giving the Michigan defense a real pounding, USC's defense also made Mike Hart look ordinary. For the first time all year, he was held below 90 rushing yards and never had an impact on the game. He finished with only 47 yards and didn't make it to the end zone. But, the Wolverines did get some offense from Chad Henne, who threw for more than 300 yards for the first time all season and almost made the game interesting in the fourth quarter. But he and Steve Breaston proved to be too little, too late and Michigan couldn't come back from a 21 point deficit. The Trojan defense harassed Henne all day, with Brian Cushing leading the charge with a couple sacks and a forced fumble.

The Rose Bowl also wrapped up the bowl season for the Pac-10, which finished with a 3-3 record. Thankfully, our three best teams this season all won their games. Even though it was weak to watch Oregon, ASU and UCLA all lose by at least 17 points, Cal and USC were dominant in their games, while the Beavers won one of the more exciting bowl games with the gutsy 2 point conversion call. Not a horrible showing for the Pac-10, but it should have been better.

All in all, a very nice rebound from the December disappointment at the Rose Bowl. It also kept alive USC's streak of not losing back-to-back games for the last five years. A great season for the Trojans; we lost two Heisman Trophy winners and nine others to the NFL, watched our fullbacks get stricken with Ken Griffey/Fred Taylor disease, played the toughest schedule in the country and throttled a team in the Rose Bowl that many thought had earned a spot in the national championship game. Now, it's likely that USC will be ranked #1 to start next season. Fight on!