| Music City Bowl, 5 p.m.
EST, Dec. 28, at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville Boston College (7-4) vs. Georgia
(8-3)
Two of college football's top running backs will be on display. One's an old hand
finally getting his due, one's a superstar who might be playing his last college football
game.
From out of nowhere, Georgia senior Verron Haynes has caught fire, rushing for 531
yards the last three games after running for 160 in the first eight games. The 225-pound
fullback became the workhorse when sophomore star Musa Smith was hampered by injuries, but
now the two form a deadly tandem. Boston College's William Green might be the nation's
best running back after tearing off 1,559 yards and 15 touchdowns by combining a
frightening mix of power and speed. Green, a junior, has said he's coming back for his
final season, but that doesn't appear to be set in stone.
As strange as this may sound for a program of Georgia's magnitude, we never really
thought the Bulldogs got their due this season. After an early tough loss to South
Carolina, a game the Bulldogs really should've won, everyone seemed to dismiss them. The
Dawgs rebounded by beating Arkansas and Tennessee, but losses to Florida and Auburn
knocked them back in the pack of the SEC. Even so, this is a tremendous young team coached
by one of college football's bright coaching stars, Mark Richt.
Boston College's game of note was a nail-biting loss to Miami in which the Eagles,
without Green, who was suspended, fought gamely and were driving for potentially the
game-winning score, but couldn't get it done. The Eagles were 1-4 against bowl teams, only
beating Pittsburgh, and had little trouble with the mediocre teams on their schedule. They
weren't even close to beating Stanford, Syracuse and Virginia Tech.
Players to watch: While the Georgia running game is its bread and butter, the
passing game has been stellar as well with two great young receivers. Junior Terrence
Edwards didn't have the huge season many thought he'd have, but he was decent,
catching 39 passes for 613 yards and six touchdowns. He was unbelievable in last year's
bowl win over Virginia as he ran for 97 yards and a touchdown and caught eight passes for
79 yards. The emerging superstar is 6-4 freshman Fred Gibson who averages a whopping 23.4
yards per catch. He only played in seven games this year, but he went over the 100
receiving yards mark in five of them.
In charge of slowing down the Georgia receivers will be one of the Big East's best
corners, senior Lenny Walls. At 6-4, he has the size and the sprinter's speed to handle
Gibson one-on-one if necessary. If the Bulldogs choose to not throw at Walls, it'll be up
to junior Trevor White on the other side to make plays. He isn't Walls, but he's been
steady all season.
Georgia will win if... they don't try and do too much. The formula that got
Georgia here, solid running helping to open up the passing game, should work just fine
against BC. The Eagles failed to handle the power of the Syracuse, Notre Dame and Virginia
Tech running games and were beaten by the balance of Stanford's offense. Georgia doesn't
need to try trick plays or get too fancy to beat BC.
Boston College will win if... QB Brian St. Pierre has the game of his life. The
Georgia pass defense has been lousy all season and with star CB Tim Wansley hobbled with a
knee injury, the Dawgs will be even more vulnerable through the air. Pierre has been
steady all season long and almost pulled off the Miami game with his grit, but even though
he's pitched 25 touchdowns this year, he has yet to throw for more than 250 yards. He
hasn't had to with Green as the No. 1 option on offense, but Georgia's run defense is good
enough to keep him in check. That means St. Pierre has to shoulder the offensive burden.
Our Prediction: Georgia 35, Boston College 24
Boston College needs its passing game to work and must get a rush on Georgia QB David
Greene to stay in the game. Antonio Garay and Sean Guthrie are solid pass rushers who
should hurry Greene, but we're not sold that the BC defense can stop the Georgia running
AND passing attacks. Georgia is too good a team and deserved to be in a higher profile
bowl game.
Holiday Bowl, 8:30 p.m. EST, Dec. 28 at
Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego
Washington (8-3) vs. Texas (10-2)
You can call this the Wait Until Next Year Bowl as both Washington and Texas are still
young, extremely talented and ready to get the 2002 season going. Each team has a bright
star to build its future on as Washington WR Reggie Williams and Texas RB Cedric Benson
are two of the most exciting players in college football.
Along with Williams, former RB-turned-WR Paul Arnold has blossomed into an exciting
weapon. A junior, Arnold gives the Huskies serious speed on the outside and between the
two Washington stars and Texas' Roy Williams, Sloan Thomas and B.J. Johnson, there are
five NFL-caliber receivers on the field. Add the two tight ends, UW's Jerramy Stevens and
UT's Bo Scaife, and you'll see seven pass catchers who'll be playing on Sundays.
Texas brought all its talent to the Holiday Bowl last year against a decent Pac-10
team, Oregon. Several dropped passes later, the Longhorns went home 35-30 losers. Two
years ago, Texas swaggered into the Cotton Bowl looking like it would easily take care of
Arkansas. A 27-6 loss and a Major Applewhite knee injury later, Texas left with its tail
between its legs.
This is a no-win bowl for the Longhorns. After blowing a chance to play for the
national title, a win over Washington will hardly be a consolation prize. On the other
hand, Texas could very easily lose this game if the Longhorns don't bring their
"A" game. Considering the expectations coming into this year, a loss could turn
this season into a total failure.
This was a slight rebuilding year for Washington after losing QB Marques Tuiasosopo,
the heart and soul of last year’s team that ended up ranked No. 3 in the country.
Sophomore Cody Pickett has had a very good season lighting up Arizona for 455 yards and
Washington State for 371, but misfiring against Oregon State and Miami. Much of the
publicity will be about the Major Applewhite/Chris Simms debate, but Pickett might just
turn out to be the best quarterback in the game.
The last time anyone saw the Huskies they were being wiped off the Orange Bowl turf by
Miami. The Huskies never had a chance in their three losses, getting steamrolled by UCLA
and Oregon State, but if this is a close game, Washington will be the better team with the
pressure on after pulling out wins against Michigan, California, USC, Arizona and Arizona
State by a total of 16 points.
Players to watch: If the Texas offense is going to be slowed down, it'll be up
to two key Huskies. DT Larry Tripplett postponed his NFL millions by coming back
for his senior year and had a great season despite being the focus of every offensive
line's blocking scheme and getting double-teamed on every play. Junior LB Ben Mahdavi led
the Huskies with 85 tackles and was outstanding at getting into the backfield. He's not
huge, but he's extremely active and will butt heads with Benson early and often.
Offensive coordinators are so afraid of Texas' star CB Quentin Jammer that they rarely
threw at him this year but when they did, they had little success as Jammer broke up 23
passes and picked off two. It'll be up to Jammer to handle UW’s Williams as he's one
of the few college cornerbacks big enough, at 6-1 and 200-pounds, to handle the 6-4
Williams. If Jammer is able to beat up Williams on the line, it will throw off the timing
of the Washington passing game. When quarterbacks don't go at Jammer, they've had to go at
sophomore Nathan Vashar, who's made teams pay by picking off seven passes.
Washington will win if... Texas doesn't come in fired up. This is a good Huskies
team and they know that a win will take them into the offseason with something huge to
build on for 2002. If Texas is moping over not being in Pasadena, the Huskies will shock
the Longhorns with their physical defense and decent running game. Washington doesn't have
Colorado's running attack, but RBs Rich Alexis and Willie Hurst aren't bad. The Texas run
defense is suffocating, but as Colorado showed, it has some holes.
Texas will win if... they don't screw up. This is still one of the two or three
most talented teams in America and with senior QB Major Applewhite starting, he'll bring a
sense of urgency that might not be there if Chris Simms got the nod. Texas would've beaten
Colorado if Simms hadn't kept giving the ball away and the Longhorns are complete in all
phases, but they must be fired up and can't let down if there's a little bit of adversity.
Washington is going to be loose and playing like there's nothing to lose, but Texas needs
to treat this like the national title.
Our Prediction: Texas 41, Washington 17
There are two ways we see this game going. Either Texas wins in a blowout playing like
it did the last month and a half of the season, or Texas sleepwalks through this and a
fired up Huskies team embarrasses them. With Applewhite starting, we're going with Texas
as we think he's been waiting too long for an opportunity like this to screw it up. As
much as we like Applewhite, why is he starting?
Texas is so loaded that it has to be thinking national title, or at least Big XII
title, in 2002. Their franchise quarterback, Simms, is going to have to sit for the next
nine months being haunted each and every day by his performance in the Big XII title game.
Talk about pressure! When you fall off a horse, you jump right back on and Texas, if it
really wants to think about its future, should be starting Simms and hope he plays well
and pulls out the win to quiet the doubters.
Motor City Bowl, Noon, EST Dec. 29, at
Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.
Toledo (9-2) vs. Cincinnati (7-4)
After four years of being the "Marshall" City Bowl, Toledo is this year's MAC
representative. This is Cincinnati's second straight trip to the MCB after falling to the
Herd 25-14 last season. Both teams put up plenty of points and pile up tons of yards.
Toledo runs the ball and Cincinnati has a hard time stopping the run. Cincinnati throws
the ball and Toledo has a hard time stopping the pass. So, what else are you going to do
on a Saturday afternoon?
Toledo started the season on fire by blowing up preseason top 25 pretenders Minnesota
and Temple before getting into the MAC schedule. The Rockets' dream season took a hit when
Ball State returned a late fourth-quarter kickoff 100 yards to pull off the upset. A 56-21
loss to a hot Bowling Green team late in the season shook their confidence, even though UT
was without starting QB Tavares Bolden, and spotting Marshall 23 points in the MAC title
game didn't help. After pulling off the comeback win over the Herd, Toledo got its groove
back and is looking to put on a show in Detroit.
Not much was expected of Cincinnati this season, at least by us. After losing their
offensive stars, much of the defense and six assistant coaches, the Bearcats have to
consider this season a success just getting back to a bowl game. UC didn't just rebuild,
the Bearcats became a real nasty club to face. After having a chance to win late, but
losing, against Purdue 19-14, true freshman QB Gino Guidugli took over and was better than
even the most hopeful UC fan could've dreamed. He threw for 2,573 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Cincinnati lost 21-14 to Miami in Guidugli's second game, then won six of eight, only
losing to C-USA champion Louisville and to GMAC Bowl-bound East Carolina, 28-26.
Players to watch: Toledo's senior stars are looking to cap a championship season
by beating Cincinnati and ending up in the final top 25 polls. The hugely talented
backfield of Bolden and RBs Chester Taylor and Antwon McCray rolled up 2,187 rushing yards
and 29 touchdowns. The star of the show is Taylor who ran for 20 of those touchdowns and
scored 23 times on the season. When healthy, and he will be healthy for this game, there
are few running backs in the nation with his power and quickness through a hole.
Cincinnati DE Antwaan Peek is one of the nation's premier pass rushers with 11.5 sacks
and 18.5 tackles for loss. At 235 pounds he isn't huge, but he's got ridiculous quickness
and if Toledo tries to win through the air, Peek will be in Bolden's ear all game long.
Linebackers Willis Edwards and Lewis Carter will be in charge of stopping Taylor. If
you're not hearing their names called very much, chances are good that Taylor is having a
huge game. UC WR LaDaris Vann only scored three touchdowns, but he's a huge part of the
Bearcats’ offense, catching 73 passes. Toledo doesn't have a corner who can stop him
one-on-one.
Toledo will win if... the Rockets can prevent Guidugli from having a huge game.
In the three games Cincinnati lost with Guidugli at the helm, he threw one TD pass and
five interceptions. In Cincinnati's six wins under Guidugli, he threw for 15 scores and
four picks. UC RB DeMarco McClesky is solid, but he's not going to be the difference if
the freshman isn't rolling.
Cincinnati will win if... the Bearcats win the turnover battle. Toledo lost to
Bowling Green by forcing the Rockets to cough up the ball six times while BGSU didn't give
it up. In the loss to Ball State, UT gave it up three times, BSU zero. Simply put, Toledo
usually wins easily when they win the turnover battle. The Rockets have more weapons and
Cincinnati needs Toledo to make mistakes to win.
Our Prediction: Toledo 44, Cincinnati 38
If nothing else, there should be lots of scoring and plenty of big plays. The two teams
know how to rack up yards and neither defense is exactly stingy. We like a healthy Toledo
squad to control the game on the ground and keep Guidugli off the field. Taylor is a lock
to run for at least 125 yards and he'll break off at least one big play.
Alamo Bowl, 3:30 p.m. EST Dec. 29, at the
Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Iowa (6-5) vs. Texas Tech (7-4)
We guarantee one thing out of this game, you won't be bored. Few teams are more fun to
watch than Texas Tech with its quick-hitting passing attack and fun n' gun offense led by
its brilliant junior QB Kliff Kingsbury. Iowa has stars of its own with a power running
game and thrilling WR Kahlil Hill. Texas Tech is a relatively young team and looking to
2002 as its season to really step up and shine. Iowa's top players, at least on offense,
are all seniors and need this win to complete the turnaround to respectability under head
coach Kirk Ferentz. Few programs will build on the momentum of a bowl win going into the
offseason more than these two.
Iowa was deadly in Iowa City, going 5-1 at home, but stunk on the road with a 1-4 mark.
After starting the season with a strong 3-0 start, but road losses to Purdue and Michigan
State knocked the Hawkeyes back in the Big Ten pack. The offense was beginning to rock
late in the season using as many as five, six and seven running backs and spreading the
passes around to several different receivers. Then they ended the season on a down note
unable to catch any breaks against Iowa State. This is a veteran team on both sides of the
ball that won't panic if things get tough.
Texas Tech was 2-2 after being wiped off the field by Texas and collapsing against
Kansas. Up 24-13 with just over four minutes to go against the Jayhawks, the Red Raiders
couldn't stop them as KU closed out regulation by scoring 11 points and then winning in
overtime. Then Tech turned its season around with a win over Kansas State and gave
Nebraska all it could handle in a 41-31 loss. There's no real middle ground to this Red
Raiders team. Either they're firing on all cylinders and the offense is unstoppable, or it
sputters and wheezes like it did against tough defenses like Oklahoma's and Texas
A&M's. However, Iowa doesn't have a defense like those two.
Players to watch: Texas Tech's offense is as fun to watch as any in America as
Kingsbury and the multi-talented RB Ricky Williams, who caught 93 passes for 700 yards and
two touchdowns and ran for 726 yards and 14 scores, are nearly unstoppable weapons. The
defense has two superstars as LB Lawrence Flugence made 134 tackles and might be the best
player on the field. Safety Kevin Curtis is a regular on all the All-Big XII teams and
some All-America squads. While Oklahoma's Roy Williams gets all the publicity in the Big
XII, Curtis hits just as hard and might be an even better run stopper, making 99 stops. He
also picked off four passes.
The most thrilling player in the game is senior WR-KR Kahlil Hill. He made 53 grabs
this season for 792 yards and eight touchdowns, but he really shines on special teams as a
brilliant punt and kick returner. From out of almost nowhere, sophomore S Bob Sanders had
a brilliant season as he led the Hawkeyes with 111 tackles and three interceptions.
Against the quick-hitting Tech offense, look for Sanders to be in on at least 10 tackles.
Iowa will win if... the Hawkeyes can get pressure on Kingsbury. When Kingsbury
has time to throw, forget about it. Iowa doesn't have the secondary to handle the Red
Raiders’ receivers if Kingsbury has six seconds to throw, but if DEs Aaron Kampman
and Colin Cole can get into the backfield, Kingsbury will rush his throws and the offense
won't run nearly as well. Williams is a fine runner, but if the passing game isn't
working, Iowa will stuff the Tech running game.
Texas Tech will win if... its ball control passing game keeps Iowa off the
field. With a battering ram like Ladell Betts running the ball and an experienced
quarterback like Kyle McCann, Iowa will control the ball and the clock if given the
chance. Betts has been on a roll, running for an average of 132 yards over the last four
games and if he goes off, we don't think Texas Tech's offense is quite strong enough to
overcome.
Our Prediction: Texas Tech 38, Iowa 31
Iowa State QB Seneca Wallace is hardly a pinpoint passer and he picked apart the
Hawkeyes’ secondary. Iowa didn't face a team all year who could pass all that well
and even then, the Hawkeyes failed to stop anyone's air attack cold. Iowa didn't beat
a bowl team this year, going 0-4 against bowl teams, and while the Hawkeyes show great
heart in every game, they're overmatched against the Red Raiders’ explosive offense.
Insight.com Bowl, 5:30 p.m. EST Dec.
29 at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix
Kansas State (6-5) vs. Syracuse (9-3)
Normally you'd think two teams who exclusively run the ball would make for a bowl game
as exciting as a getting a pair of socks for Christmas, but we sort of think this might be
fun. Syracuse probably belongs in a bigger bowl game but for some reason, this program
doesn't get much respect from the bowls. Kansas State is just happy to be in a bowl game
after a disastrous early part of the season. These teams aren't getting much national
publicity, but they're both playing very well right now and this matchup is much bigger
than the goofy name of this bowl would indicate. We dig power runners and Syracuse's James
Mungro and Kansas State's Josh Scobey are two backs who are both going to be the focus of
their respective offenses. With the way these two teams run, this should be over in about
two hours.
Syracuse lost three games this year, but there's not much shame in losing to Georgia
Tech, Tennessee and Miami. The Orangemen proved they were a team to be reckoned with by
beating, at the time, No. 4 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and finishing the regular season
with a surprisingly easy win over Boston College. While Mungro is the offense, the
maturity of sophomore QB R.J. Anderson made the SU offense an efficient machine. Known
more for his running, Anderson only threw two interceptions in 144 pass attempts.
This was a tale of three seasons for Kansas State. Over the first three games, KSU was
trying to find its identity with budding young QB Ell Roberson using its punishing running
game to beat USC and New Mexico State. Roberson put on a show in a one-point loss at
Oklahoma and it looked like KSU would be in the Big XII title hunt all season. Then
Roberson hurt his ankle and KSU lost a home game to Colorado, at Texas Tech and a home
game to Texas A&M. All appeared lost for the struggling Wildcats, but they got their
swagger back by winning four of their last five games by a total score of 146-19. There
can be no more getting on Kansas State for its schedule after this season as the Wildcats
faced eight bowl teams.
Players to watch: Syracuse DE Dwight Freeney was a terror this season with 17.5
sacks and 27 tackles for loss. If you haven't seen him yet, you'll be amazed at how fast
he is. One player who'll be involved in just about every running play is FS Quentin Harris
who led the team with 124 stops. He's great in coverage, but against Kansas State and its
111th-ranked passing offense, his primary job will be to stop Scobey and
Roberson.
Kansas State's linebackers got stronger and stronger as the season went on and if
Syracuse is going to run the ball, they'll need to contend with senior Ben Leber and
sophomore Terry Pierce. The two combined for 141 tackles, seven sacks and 26 tackles for
loss. Both are big and strong and won't be bowled over by a back like Mungro.
Syracuse will win if... it can score. In Kansas State's six wins this season,
the Wildcats gave up a total of 25 points and only one touchdown. If you can score more
than ten points on KSU this season, you'll win. In order to do this, Anderson will have to
have a decent day throwing as the Kansas State run defense is one of the best in the
nation.
Kansas State will win if... Scobey is running wild. In KSU's five losses, Scobey
averaged 60 yards per game and he ran for four scores. In KSU's six wins, he averaged 161
yards and ran for 11 touchdowns. While Syracuse has a decent run defense, stopping
Virginia Tech cold, the Orangemen couldn't contain most of the top backs they've faced.
Boston College's William Green (182 yards, two TDs), Miami's Clinton Portis (128 yards,
one TD), East Carolina's Leonard Henry (177 yards, one TD), Tennessee's Travis Stephens
(111 yards, one TD), West Virginia's Avon Cobourne (109 yards) and Georgia Tech's Joe
Burns (113 yards, one TD) all had big days against the SU defense. If Scobey runs for at
least 100 yards, we think Kansas State will win.
Our Prediction: Kansas State 31, Syracuse 20
This should be interesting as Syracuse probably earned the right to play in a bigger
bowl game and Kansas State ended its season as one of the strongest teams in the Big XII.
Both teams will be trying to run and neither team can throw, but we like the KSU run
defense more than Syracuse's and that'll be the difference. We also can't help but think
that Kansas State is back to being, well, Kansas State and is one of the better 6-5 teams
you'll see.
Humanitarian Bowl, 12:30 p.m. EST
Dec. 31, at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho
Louisiana Tech (7-4) vs. Clemson (6-5)
From the screaming blue Boise State field to the lovely Idaho weather in December, this
is always one of the more unique bowls of the season. It's always entertaining because the
representative from the west is always fired up to play and always brings its
"A" game. Neither team has much of a defense and both can score points so look
for a fun shootout.
Clemson comes in as the second choice after UCLA declined the invitation. No matter,
we'll always enjoy another chance to watch QB Woody Dantzler do his thing. The two main
storylines for Clemson will revolve around Dantzler's last game and the arrests that
rocked the team. Clemson's second leading rusher, RB Travis Zachery, and OT Akil Smith
were arrested and kicked off the team on drug charges, which puts the pressure on Bernard
Rambert to step up and take the pressure off Dantzler. How will the Tigers handle the cold
weather? Many Clemson players have never seen snow and even though they've played in cold
weather, this might be interesting if winter weather kicks in.
There aren't that many snowstorms in Louisiana either as the Bulldogs will have to deal
with the cold weather as well. The Bulldogs took advantage of some huge breaks in not
having to play Hawaii and getting Rice and Boise State at home to win the WAC title. Even
though they gave Auburn all it could handle, the Bulldogs lost a non-WAC game to Oklahoma
State and got pummeled late in the year by Kansas State. QB Luke McCown leads an
experienced offense that had little trouble scoring all season, but misfired late in the
year only putting up 26 total points against Kansas State and Tulsa. A sophomore, McCown
is one of the nation's brightest young stars throwing for 3,337 yards and 28 scores.
Players to watch: Obviously, Clemson’s Dantzler is the main man and
worth the price of admission. Louisiana Tech doesn't have anyone on defense who can stop
him so look for one last huge performance. The star on defense is senior SS Charles Hafley
who does it all. He led the team in tackles with 121 and in interceptions with three. The
Tigers’ defense doesn't have much to write home about, but Hafley and LB Chad Carson
are worth watching.
The Louisiana Tech passing game is its bread and butter, but the Bulldogs have a nice
running back in Joe Smith to take the heat off McCown. The junior ran for 874 yards,
including a 188-yard performance against Tulsa in the last game of the regular season.
Senior John Simon is supposedly a running back, but he's used as a receiver out of the
backfield and caught 74 passes for 743 yards and four scores. On defense, senior rover
Bobby Gray is the main man, leading the team with 103 tackles. NT Jamie Nichols, a
306-pounder, is great at getting into the backfield and is a load in the middle against
the run.
Clemson will win if... Woody Dantzler throws a TD pass and the Tigers need
Rambert to be a stud. Dantzler threw at least one scoring pass in every Clemson win and
didn't throw a scoring strike in four of Clemson's five losses. Without Zachery, it'll be
up to Dantzler to be razor sharp with his legs as well as his arm. Tech only faced one
multi-dimensional quarterback this season, Kansas State's Ell Roberson, and he racked up
159 yards of total offense because RB Josh Scobey was running so well. Don't be shocked if
Rambert has a big day against the porous Tech run defense.
Louisiana Tech will win if... this gets into a shootout and McCown doesn't throw
an interception. The Bulldogs are at their best when the points and the yards are flying
and if the game bogs down, it'll favor the better running team and that's Clemson. In
Tech's four losses this year, McCown threw 11 interceptions. In Tech's seven wins, he only
gave it away three times. Clemson doesn't force turnovers so if McCown is playing well,
the Bulldogs should put up a ton of points.
Our Prediction: Louisiana Tech 41, Clemson 38
Forget running the ball. These two teams are going to throw, throw and throw some more
and each team's defense is powerless to stop the other's passing attack. In this bowl, the
more fired-up team generally wins and with this being its first bowl game since
1989, we think that'll be Louisiana Tech. We're not sure Clemson is handling the
adversity of the loss of Smith and Zachery all that well. If this becomes the scoring fest
we think this will be, Tech simply has more weapons.
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