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Busting the Bowls
by Mike Neri
You can't look solely at season stats during the bowl season, as that can be
extremely deceptive. Season stats and matchups are worth examining, of course,
to give a sense of where a betting number should be and what might happen. But
the bowl season is so much about emotion and interest. Who wants to be here?
Who wants to play?
Some bowls are seen as a reward, especially for small schools or ones that weren't
expected to get this far. Miami of Ohio, for instance, won the MAC and will
be playing in a bowl this week, off a 1-11 season in 2009. Making ANY bowl has
to be a huge honor (and surprise) for everyone involved in the football program.
Central Florida out of Conference USA took on Georgia of the SEC in the Liberty
Bowl. Georgia, off a disappointing 6-6 regular season, certainly didn't look
like they were into playing the game. Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, wearing
gloves for the first time in a game, had two critical interceptions and struggled
overall. Georgia finished with 280 total yards, more than 100 less than its
season average in a 10-6 upset loss.
"It's embarrassing to be part of a losing season, it absolutely is,"said
kicker Blair Walsh. Walsh said several times that the Bulldogs, in taking on
a team from Conference USA, might have felt "entitled"to win because
they are an SEC team.
Central Florida, on the other hand, played like it was the Super Bowl, getting
their first bowl victory ever. UCF's defense led the way, frustrating a Georgia
offense that entered the bowl game ranked No. 23 nationally in scoring with
34.3 points per game.
Even BEFORE the game Central Florida players were talking about how much the
game meant: "That's something that would just be awesome," sophomore
cornerback Josh Robinson said of beating an SEC team.
"A win over a Southeastern Conference team like Georgia would make a big
statement about how much UCF has grown and how good this team can be,"
senior linebacker Derrick Hallman said. "It would be big. Really, really
big for this school. And that's all that the seniors and really this whole team
wants to deliver. We want to finish this journey."
And how about Maryland? Think they approached the bowl game as if it were just
any old game? Maryland was playing an East Carolina team that, like Michigan,
doesn't know how to play defense. And the players were really focused because
the school had announced the firing of Coach Ralph Friedgen. King Ralph had
done a lot for his alma mater over the last decade, but was surprisingly forced
out. But what a sendoff he had as Maryland's 51-20 victory over East Carolina
in the Military Bowl provided solace for Friedgen, who had likened his final
days at his alma mater to a "slow death."
Friedgen choked up when telling how he lingered after the game because "I
just wanted to savor being in the locker room with the kids." Many of his
assistant coaches will not be returning. Friedgen and assistants Don Brown,
Dave Sollazzo and Charles Bankins were all doused by players on the sideline.
"We pretty much gave everybody we could a Gatorade bath," said one
player. "They had incentive," said East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeil,
who said it was evident how badly the Terps wanted to win for Friedgen.
This happens often, where some teams have extra focus for a bowl game and others
could care less. Virginia Tech rides an 11-game win streak when they face Stanford
this week. You have to wonder about the focus of the Stanford team, with rumors
flying about whether QB Andrew Luck will declare for the NFL draft and whether
Coach Jim Harbaugh is going to leave for the NFL. Let's face it: he's the hottest
college coaching prospect out there and a LOT of NFL head coaching vacancies
will be opening up over the next week.
Miami of Ohio (9-4 SU/7-6 ATS) will also be playing in a bowl this week against
Middle Tennessee. But second-year Coach Michael Haywood accepted the head coaching
position at the University of Pittsburgh, so defensive backs coach Lance Guidry
will become interim head coach for the RedHawks' game against Middle Tennessee
State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Sophomore QB Zac Dysert (13 TDs, 12 picks) is
battling a ruptured spleen and won't play this game, so redshirt freshman Austin
Boucher (4 TDs, 1 INT, 831 yards) has started the last three games.
The school Heywood is heading to, Pitt, lost Coach Dave Wannstedt and they will
be playing on Saturday in the Birmingham Bowl. That's quite a bit of change
for the players and coaching staff to deal with. Many times handicapping football
requires looking beyond the stats, especially during bowl season.
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