New Year's Eve Bowl Questions
Because what says "finish off this year on a high note" like a nice pit beef sandwich and eleven consecutive hours in front of the TV?
Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl (12 ET, ESPN) Was Ike to Blame? Air Force and Houston actually played each other in a rare MWC-CUSA showdown earlier this season, with Troy Calhoun's Falcons coming out on top 31-28 in a game that was overshadowed by the arrival of Hurricane Ike in Texas. The arrival of the Ike aside from providing a likely distraction to the Cougar coaching staff and players, also forced the game to be played off campus and in less-than-ideal conditions. Houston ended up finishing the year strong after the game, going 6-3 down the stretch under the leadership of quarterback Case Keenum, who has thrown 43 TDs to only 10 INTs this season. With a dynamic offense that was arguably sabotaged earlier in the year by the hurricane, I'm interested to see if the outcome of this rematch is totally different.
Brut Sun Bowl (2 PM ET, CBS) How will the Beavers perform without Jacquizz Rogers? Both Pittsburgh and Oregon State have relied heavily on the run game this year, but where the Panthers have a fully healthy LeSean McCoy leading their stable of backs, the Beavers will likely be without their leading rusher in Jacquizz Rogers. The Beavers are 7-0 this season when the freshmen sensation has rushed for more than 100 yards, but lost their season finale against Oregon without the speedy tailback. Equally pressing for Oregon State may be the presumed absence of Jacquizz's older brother James, who is also expected to sit out the game because of injury. With their biggest offensive playmakers grounded it will be up to Oregon State's defense to carry the team to victory, a point not totally inconceivable considering how much of an idiot Matt Cavanaugh is as an offensive coordinator.
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (3:30 PM ET, ESPN) Will either offense score? It's no secret that both of these teams got to this game on the heals of fantastic defensive play. I've been singing the praise of BC's defense all year, but surprisingly the Eagles were not able to defeat what had been a struggling Virginia Tech offense in the ACC Title Game. Vanderbilt's offense has been anemic all year, but like BC they are well schemed on defense and take advantage of other teams' mistakes. Typically in a game like this I'll say whatever team can score defensively will carry the day, but with two of the best takeaway defenses in the country it should come down to which offense can generate more points.
Insight Bowl (6 PM ET, NFL Network) How big of an impact will Eric Decker have? The two-sport Minnesota standout wide receiver was a huge part of the Gopher offense early in the year, catching at least five balls per game in each of the Gophers' first eight contests. Minnesota was 7-1 in that stretch, but finished the year with four straight losses in which an injury hobbled Decker had a combined 10 catches for just 84 yards. The 6'2, 215-lb Decker has had a month to heal the sprained ankle which has kept him down since the Northwestern loss, and could be the difference maker for Tim Brewster's offense if fully recovered.
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (7:30 PM ET, ESPN) Will this be the death of the myth of SEC speed? In 2002 they said Paul Johnson's triple option offense could not work at the FBS level. Then he took Navy - a team that at the time was equivalent to an Idaho or Utah State - to five consecutive bowls. Before this year they said his offense could not work at the BCS level - too much speed, supposedly, to contend with on defense. Then he took Georgia Tech to a 9-3 record with wins over Florida State, Miami, and Georgia. Whether people want to admit it or not there has been a long held conception that SEC and in general "southern" defenses are too fast for option based offenses to exploit, a conception which may soon take on the role of myth if Johnson's offense can run wild on LSU.
