Breakouts, bad breaks highlight telling bowl season
A month ago, Mike Leach, Urban Meyer and Jim Leavitt were in their old jobs, Terrelle Pryor was a question mark and the only thing Colt McCoy pinched was some pennies.
My, how times have changed. The 2009-10 bowl season taught us these aren't mere exhibitions. Our opinions likely have changed about the fortunes of several programs heading into the 2010 season based on the conclusion of 2009.
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| 'Bama running back Mark Ingram shakes the Heisman jinx and leads the SEC to another title. (Getty Images) |
SEC, SEC, SEC: No other conference has fans chant its name at big games.
It happened in Atlanta at the SEC title game and it happened again in the Rose Bowl after Alabama won its first national championship in 17 years. The league won its fourth consecutive national title and fifth in the past seven years.
No truth to the rumor that next year's championship game in Glendale, Ariz., has been renamed the SEC Invitational.
A broken down Colt: Five snaps into his team's first possession, McCoy suffered a pinched nerve in his right (throwing) shoulder and was done for the BCS title game.
Alabama cruised 37-21. Still, it was an unsettling end to a season where most of the news was made off the field. Some questioned why McCoy, who felt no pain after the initial hit, didn't gut it out and try to come back. Texas felt compelled to release a statement from its trainer describing the extent of the quarterback's injury.
Folks, it's hard to throw when your arm is numb.
"It wouldn't have even been close," had McCoy played, according to Mack Brown.
As for life without Colt? Garrett Gilbert, his replacement in the game, is projected to be a future star.
End of the Heisman curse: Seven Heisman winners have played in BCS title games from 2000-2009. Six of them lost their games.
Alabama's Mark Ingram ended the jinx for now with 116 yards and two touchdowns against Texas.
Bobby goes out with class: Why did it take the Gator Bowl to give Bobby Bowden the send-off he deserved?
From throwing Chief Osceola's lit spear into the turf to being carried off the field by his players, Bowden received the goodbye his administration stupidly bungled.
The line of the year comes from CBSSports.com Senior Writer Steve Elling, who recounted a conversation between the coach and play-by-play guy Gene Deckerhoff. Deckerhoff asked Bowden if he had ever Twittered.
"I might [have]," Bowden said, "in my sleep."
Shining a light on player safety: Usually that means concussions, helmets and shoulder pads. It still does, except that players have to watch out for right crosses from their coaches.
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The departures of Mark Mangino, Leach and Leavitt since early December no doubt will have every AD in the country revisiting coaching conduct. The only circumstance under which a coach should lay a hand on a player is to congratulate him, position him or hug him.
Everything else is off limits. You might think college football is turning P.C., but the situations at Kansas, Texas Tech and South Florida shed light on a problem that has festered too long. Coaches don't need to humiliate or physically abuse players to get their point across.
For too long buzz words like "discipline" have been used as excuses for mistreating players. For too long players (and assistant coaches) have stayed silent because they were worried about losing their scholarships or jobs. No more. Thankfully, parents and players have become empowered by recent events. Look for more cases to surface.
Leach didn't make it to his bowl game with Texas Tech. Leavitt lasted until Friday. Mangino made it to early December after his team lost its final seven in a row.
Welcome to the 2010 Heisman race, Mr. Pryor: Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor might have had the single best performance of the bowl season. It was his arm and legs that beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Now we're waiting to see if Pryor really has turned the corner or if this was a spike in an otherwise average career.
The Boise saga: The season started with Byron Hout instigating an ugly near-brawl in the Oregon game.
It ended with the Broncos' second Fiesta Bowl win in four seasons. A surprisingly strong defense (and a late fake punt) carried Boise over TCU. The momentum could carry the Broncos all the way to No. 2 in the preseason polls. Boise has the team (21 of 22 starters back) and coach (humble Chris Petersen) to make a run to the BCS title game if it can beat Virginia Tech and Oregon State in September.
Who says playing for all the Tostitos isn't a big deal? The Fiesta Bowl trophy weighs 200 pounds and costs an estimated $1.25 million.
Conduct unbecoming of an officer: What kind of world are we living in when a Navy player can miss a bowl game for being ruled academically ineligible? That's exactly what happened to Navy center Eric Douglass.
The Return of the Children of the Corn: Anybody doubting that Nebraska will start next season in the top 10? The shutout of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl was the program's first in 46 postseason appearances. Ndamukong Suh, by the way, had only three tackles. Projected over a full season, that kind of performance will get you all-conference mention. For Suh, it was subpar for this season's Superman.
Nebraska will be favored to win the Big 12 North next season. If Bo Pelini can find a couple of playmakers on offense, the 'Skers might even win the conference.
Who says the bowls don't matter? It looked like Middle Tennessee had won the national championship after it beat Southern Miss 42-32 in the New Orleans Bowl.
Quarterback Dwight Dasher accounted for 363 yards, becoming the ninth player in history to pass for 2,000 and run for 1,000 in a season. The Blue Raiders became one of only 21 teams to win at least 10 games.
Best game: Idaho's 43-42 win over Bowling Green in the Humanitarian Bowl.
Best game (team): How about Michigan State, which was missing 14 players who were suspended or kicked off the team for their part in a dormitory brawl? Texas Tech, dealing with its own issues, rallied from a 31-27 deficit to win 41-31.
Best game (individual): Lost in the frantic Humanitarian Bowl finish was All-American Freddie Barnes' performance for Bowling Green -- 17 catches for 219 yards and three touchdowns. Barnes set the single-season record for catches with 155.
Best, um, set: Idaho's Robb Akey in going for the win with four seconds left. The raspy Akey is beloved by Vandals everywhere. He will endear himself to thousands more Potato Heads for going for the two-point conversion to win the game. Can't think of a single BCS conference coach who would do the same thing (except one, more on him later).
Best play: Boise's aforementioned fake punt 67 yards from TCU's end zone in a 10-10 game in the fourth quarter. Petersen has this innate sense of when to go for it.
The difference this time is that the play merely set up the game-winning touchdown. Three years ago, Petersen needed three trick plays to work to perfection to beat Oklahoma in overtime.
Pony-ing up: Twenty four years after its last bowl, SMU found some closure.
A berth in the Hawaii Bowl finally closed the book on the NCAA death penalty from 1987 (the school dropped the 1988 season on its own). In June Jones' second year, the Mustangs won eight games, beat Nevada in the bowl and emerged as a possible favorite next year in Conference USA.
A Sunny future: In beating Stanford in the Sun Bowl, Landry Jones broke Sam Bradford's freshman passing record with 3,198 yards. Jones replaced Bradford during the season after the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner separated his shoulder.
Receiver Ryan Broyles became the first receiver in the 72 years Oklahoma has tracked statistics to lead the team in scoring (17 touchdowns).
Winners: Tim Tebow, whose 500-plus yards in total offense were a Sugar Bowl record ... Alabama coordinators Jim McElwain and Kirby Smart, who were being courted after 'Bama's championship run ... The Mountain West, which finished 4-1 in its bowls ... Pat Fitzgerald, for running a fake field goal and going for the win against Auburn in the Outback Bowl. It failed, but who cares? Fitzgerald played the game in the spirit it is meant to be played ... Oregon, which despite its Rose Bowl loss will start next season in the top 10 ... Cincinnati, which played in a BCS bowl for the second consecutive year but faces an uncertain future without Brian Kelly ... Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour, who finished with 15,583 career yards, second on the all-time list ... Nick Saban became the first coach to win national championships at different schools in the wire-service era.
Losers: The MAC, which finished 1-4 and the Pac-10, which finished 2-5 a year after going 5-0 in the postseason ... Missouri's defense, which never could figure out Navy's option in an embarrassing Texas Bowl loss ... Only Southern California could make a nine-win season seem like a losing season. The Pete Carroll dynasty crumbled. The next coach faces a massive cleanup, especially if the NCAA weighs in with penalties ... The Big 12, which lost the championship game for the second consecutive season. The Large Dozen had to ask itself a tough question: Would it have been better for Nebraska to beat Texas in that conference title game and have two BCS teams, or have that second remain on the clock and the 'Horns play for the national championship? ... In the December ramp up to the championship game, Saban forgot his anniversary with wife Terry.
A final goodbye: This is what hurts most about seeing Tebow end his career: The possibility of arguably the greatest college football player ever carrying around a clipboard for the next 10 years.
