So Much for Southern Speed

First of all Happy New Year to everyone! I hope everyone had a safe a happy holiday. Let's look at the early action on Jan 1st. I got home early to catch the kickoff of the Outback Bowl and I heard one thing over and over, the Big Ten won't be able to match up with the speed of the SEC. In the early game, power won over speed. Penn State used a steady diet of Tony Hunt. The senior Hunt playing in his last game at Penn State ran for over 150 yards as the Nittany Lions beat Tennessee 20-10. This might have been the most complete game the Nittany Lions have played all year. Morelli was calm in the pocket and threw for 198 yards and a score. Tennessee had 2 turnover which led to 10 points for Penn State. One came as the Vols were in the red zone ready to score. Tony Davis picked up a fumble and scored for the Lions to make it 17-10 in the 4th quarter. In the Cotton Bowl, the Cornhuskers put on a good showing but it was the Auburn Tigers that used a late field goal to win the game 17-14. The Tigers held Nebraska's QB Zac Taylor to only 126 yard receiving with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. On side note, I really hope that Fox cleans up their coverage. The coverage of this game was about as exciting as watching a bridge game. I finally agree with my fellow podcast partner Chris and believe that Chan Gailey is an idiot. Taylor Bennett should've played over Reggie Ball all season and if the Yellow Jackets would've won they should've presented Ball with the Game Ball. Taylor Bennett has a good day throwing for 333 yards and he completed 9 passes to Calvin Johnson for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns. Tashawn Choice also added another 169 yards on the ground. But that wasn't good enough for the Yellow Jackets. Pat White did it mostly on his own for the Mountaineers. Slaton left the game early but White filled in by running for over 140 yards and throwing for another 131 with a combined 3 touchdowns. Owen Schmitt replaced Slaton and ran for 109 and 2 touchdowns as WVU rallied to win 38-35. The Mountaineers were down 35-17 in the third quarter but scored 3 TDs to win the Gator Bowl. Wisconsin finally showed that they can beat someone worthy as they beat Arkansas 17-14 in the Capital One Bowl. This was built as a matchup between two great sets of running backs. But it was John Stocco who led the way for the Badgers. Stocco threw for 207 yards and 2 touchdowns. For the Razorbacks Felix Jones stole the show from Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden rushing for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns. McFadden added another 91 yards. If Arkansas wants to be a contender they need to settle on a QB and not keep doing this Dick (MU)Stain rotation. Now on to the Rose Bowl. This should be a good one.