Champions have been crowned, Bowl eligibility sorted, and we have a pretty fair idea of which programs will make up the final four in the College Football Playoff bracket. That can only mean one thing: the final weekend of the regular season has come and gone. Not without drama, though. Here are some heroes from the weekend just gone before we look ahead to Bowl season:
Tom Hackett: the Australian punter who covered himself in all sorts of glory during his long career at Utah was this week named as the punter in the very prestigious Pac-12 All-Time team. That’s no small feat, and surely one of the more impressive feats by an Australian athlete on the world stage. Sadly, it’s also likely to be one that doesn’t get nearly enough coverage back at home.
Alabama: proved on Saturday afternoon that they’re by far and away the best (and, importantly, consistent) team in the country’s best conference – as their dominant victory over Florida in the SEC Championship Game will attest – and will be tough to beat in the college football playoff. As long as Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa, I really can’t see the Crimson Tide not being serious contenders.
Christian McCaffrey: the Stanford running back broke an NCAA mark held by the great Barry Sanders during the Pac-12 Championship Game, and is now the single-season all-purpose yardage record holder with a whopping 461 in the 41-22 conference championship-clinching win over Southern California.
Levis Stadium was McCaffrey’s playground: he notched 207 rushing yards and 105 receiving yards, adding 120 on kick-off returns and 29 on punt returns. Oh, and he threw an 11-yard touchdown to Kevin Hogan, too. USC couldn’t stop him. They’re not alone. McCaffrey is surely headed to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City next weekend, and may well walk away with the big prize, too. A stunning year.
Michigan State: the Big Ten champions showed us exactly what ground-and-pound football is all about, with a 22-play drive that ate clock and yardage and won them a tight game over Iowa. The end result of that mammoth possession was a three-effort touchdown from running back L.J. Scott, who barged his way into the endzone on a third-and-goal play to seal a memorable victory for the Spartans. Mark Dantonio’s team is headed to the college football playoff.
Virginia: lured Bronco Mendenhall away from Brigham Young to be head coach in Charlottesville for the next five years. I never saw this coming – and I’m willing to bet that I wasn't alone in that – but the hire is a good one. Brilliant, even. Mendenhall is a very good coach with a proven track record: he was 99-42 in Provo, including five straight seasons with at least eight wins. Without question, Cavaliers fans should be very happy with this hire.
Houston: A good weekend all around for the American Athletic Conference champions, who beat Temple 24-13 for that honour – and a trip to a New Year’s Six Bowl – a day after the school signed it’s impressive first-year coach, Tom Herman, a five-year extension that. It seemed a long-shot that Herman would remain in Houston, given how much interest there’s been after such a brilliant start to his coaching career.
With South Carolina and Rutgers still needing coaches, I figured Herman would head to one of those Power 5 vacancies. Instead, he’s remaining down in Texas, which can only be a good thing for the Cougars, who haven’t enjoyed this much national prominence since Case Keenum was breaking records left right and centre a few years back. Houston is one of the feel-good stories of the season.
Derrick Henry: the star of the Alabama offense ran for 187 yards and a touchdown in the Tide’s 29-15 win over Florida in the SEC Championship Game, and, in the process, broke Herschel Walker’s single-season conference rushing record. Henry is probably a narrow Heisman Trophy favourite ahead of Saturday night’s ceremony in New York City.
Texas: the Longhorns took a 17-0 lead on the road against Baylor and managed to hang on for a memorable 23-17 win to cap a mostly-disappointing season. All eyes will be on UT’s young talent and head coach Charlie Strong for vast improvement next year.
Bowling Green: the Falcons won the Mid-American Conference crown in emphatic fashion, defeating Northern Illinois 34-14 on Friday night in Detroit. Running Back Travis Greene was the hero, amassing 183 yards and two touchdowns as the BGSU offense notched 501 yards of total offense.
Western Kentucky: the Hilltoppers rallied from fourteen points down to win the C-USA championship against Southern Mississippi 45-28. It was a big day for senior quarterback Brandon Doughty, who threw for 410 yards and three touchdowns. An unanswered 24-point run in the third quarter made all the difference in this one, and WKU get their first conference championship in their third season in the league.
San Diego State: the Aztecs claimed their first outright conference championship in school history with a dramatic 27-24 victory over Air Force in the Mountain West Conference championship game. Kicker Donny Hageman was the difference, booting a 46-yard field goal with less than six minutes remaining to give SDSU their win.
Arkansas State: a 51-17 thumping of Texas State gave the Red Wolves the Sun Belt Conference title and an undefeated season. It’s their third conference title since 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment