In a recent article in the Macon Telegraph:
Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson expects one-on-one coverage from West Virginia’s secondary, which allowed 236 passing yards per game this season.
“We see opportunities there,” Johnson said of watching film of WVU’s cornerbacks, “so yeah, we’re looking forward to it.”
Opportunities indeed. Hopefully we can take advantage of them.
Couple of news items of interest to, well, me before I talk about tomorrow’s bowl game.
So, the Las Vegas Bowl: BYU-Oregon. Oregon is an okay Pac-10 team, meanwhile, BYU is the best Mountain West team. It’s hard to get a read on that, though. BYU lost to both of the BCS conference teams they played (Boston College and Arizona), but if there were any justice in this world Oregon would be 6-6. Oregon has also lost 3 straight games, including a loss to their rival. Meanwhile, BYU hasn’t lost since September 16th and beat their rival. The edge, for me, has to go to BYU – these are two teams heading in completely opposite directions. That said, I only like the Stormin’ Mormons by a touchdown, so I’m not certain of this one.
Also, my completely bowl predictions have been uploaded, and the link to your right is updated with the new URL.
Because no one asked for it, I’ll be talking about the game for the rest of the night, just for no other reason than because I can. The comments will be in the, well, comments.
There are less than two hours left before the bowl season starts, but I guess now is as good a time as ever to make my predictions on the first week and a half of the postseason. Here are my thoughts (all times Eastern)…
TCU vs. Northern Illinois, The San Diego County Credit Union Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 19, 8 PM): The CFP picked TCU, and I don’t see why to go against it. Northern Illinois lost to Western Michigan, Iowa, and Toledo. Ouch.
BYU vs. Oregon, The Pioneer Pure Vision Las Vegas Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 21, 8 PM): Oregon’s only marquee win was the non-win against Oklahoma. BYU looked better in comparison. The Mormons, I mean, Cougars will continue to an 11-2 season.
Rice vs. Troy, The R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 22, 8 PM): Man, how do teams like Rice and Troy get to play in December? There are definitely too many bowl games. I don’t even know who the R&L Carriers are. I’m so annoyed that I’m not going to make a prediction here.
Is college football related to highway transit? Not really.
South Florida vs. East Carolina, The Papajohns.com Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 23, 1 PM): South Florida beat West Virginia and was very close to doing the same to Rutgers. East Carolina lost to Navy, UAB, and Rice. Also, East Carolina’s mascot is a pirate. I’m definitely picking South Florida.
New Mexico vs. San Jose State, The New Mexico Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 23, 4:30 PM): New Mexico lost to Portland State, a Division I-AA school. Even with New Mexico’s home-field advantage, I’ll stick with San Jose State.
Utah vs. Tulsa, The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 23, 8 PM): Tulsa at BYU, 25-49. BYU at Utah, 31-33. Go Utes!
Hawaii vs. Arizona State, The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 24, 8 PM): Hawaii will probably beat lackluster and quarterback-less Arizona State (I bet the Sun Devils wish they hadn’t let Rudy Carpenter go). Hawaii QB Colt Brennan will throw for 1,424 yards in the first half out of frustration with the awards committees. In the second half, he will throw a pass around the world into the end zone, just for kicks.
Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee State, The Motor City Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 26, 7:30 PM): This matchup is so uninteresting that it can only be described by the tagline for Alien vs. Predator: “Whoever wins, we lose.”
UCLA vs. Florida State, The Emerald Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 27, 8 PM): This is the first bowl game of the season that I am actually going to try to watch. UCLA just came off a huge defensive win against USC, the greatest offense of all time. Florida State just came off a moral victory against Florida, holding the Gators to only three touchdowns and scoring two of their own. I think the Bruins will turn their momentum into bowl season victory, but it will not be easy.
I’ll be back the night of the 27th to close out the calendar year.
That’s right folks, it’s bowl time! I’m looking forward to it…since it’s exceedingly likely I won’t be able to upload the predictions anytime soon, I’ll say it here:
Garret Wolfe nonwithstadning, TCU has a good football team this year. Teams from the MAC usually don’t. I say 28-21 in a shootout for TCU, which is basically my way of saying “I don’t really know who’s going to win, but I like TCU better for whatever reason.”
More to come in a few days, hopefully.