Opinion: Is the NHL’s Winter Classic Losing It’s Appeal?

Some, depending on who they are and where they’re from, would answer yes to the above question.

They say that after a season where the National Hockey League played a Winter Classic, four Stadium Series games – two in Yankee Stadium, one at Chicago’s Soldier Field and one in Dodger Stadium – as well as a Heritage Classic game in a covered stadium in Vancouver (that still counts, right?) the usual magic just isn’t there ahead of the Washington Capitals clash with the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on New Year’s Day.

Maybe they’re right, and only television ratings will tell the true story about those non-diehard fans who tune in often only once a year, at midday (or thereabouts) on New Year’s Day for the spectacle of outdoor hockey.

Let’s for a moment say I agree with those who say the concept is tired – I don’t, not completely – and so turn my attention to a handful of reasons why, maybe, possibly, in 2014/15, the NHL’s premiere product has lost a little of it’s gimmicky spectacular.

Here are just a few possibilities as we wait to see what the game and what NBC’s ratings will deliver:

Road to the Winter Classic Documentary

Yes, it’s on and it’s as good as ever, but the problem is that the warts-and-all documentary annually featuring the two teams in the Winter Classic for a few weeks before and during the game is on EPIX this year, rather than it’s regular home, HBO, and most hockey fans I’ve surveyed don’t even know that the channel existed, let alone have it in their cable package. Disappointingly, FOX Sports in Australia isn’t broadcasting the excellent documentary series this year.

Ever since it’s debut year in 2010, Road to the Winter Classic has always been a big part of the lead-up to the game itself, and there’s no doubt that the series doesn’t have as many eyeballs this year as it has in previous years. That’s a shame, because the series is as strong as ever, despite the absence – so far, anyway – of quirky guys, the likes of Ilya Bryzgalov, who stole the show ahead of the 2012 game.

Aside from being great television for hockey fans, the documentary series also ropes in fresh sets of eyes on HBO each week and at least helps make them aware that there’s an outdoor game on New Year’s Day, with a cast of players and coaches that the average fan, through watching the show, know pretty well. The NHL needs to get the series back on a more accessible channel.

College Football

Ever since the first Winter Classic was played in a blizzard in Buffalo, the monopoly that college football once had on New Year’s Day disappeared. The thing is, college football roars back into prominence this year with two semi-finals ahead of the sport’s National Championship Game on New Year’s Day. It may not have been a deliberate move to squash the Winter Classic momentum, but it’ll have that affect regardless.

There’s saturation coverage of the four teams and two Bowl games they’ll contest on the first of the year, and, of course, that’s taken away some eyes and ears from the Winter Classic.  After all, football is king in America.

Venue

Last year, the NHL could trumpet the arrival of hockey at Michigan Stadium. Of course, the Big House is one of those great sporting arenas, and the challenge was to pack more than 100,000 hockey fans into the venue. The Maple Leafs and the Red Wings took to the ice in front of a mammoth crowd in a snowstorm and the pictures, beamed around the world, were spectacular.

Sad to say, this year’s Winter Classic will be played at a venue with far less tradition. In fact, there’s very little history to speak of in Nationals Park, which was opened only in. It’s not just the same, and you can’t create tradition.  It just doesn’t work like that.

There’s always been loose talk of a game on the National Mall in downtown Washington D.C. – a great spectacle, for sure, but how many people could you realistically get into a venue there? – and at FedEx Field, where the Washington NFL franchise is based, but neither of those came to fruition, and given the NHL clearly wanted a Winter Classic in the nation’s capital, Nationals Park was the next best solution.

They have to play it somewhere, right? The thing is, going from the Big House to Nationals Park isn’t like going from Wrigley Field in ‘09 to Fenway Park a year later. I’ve written previously about sending the Winter Classic to new markets and featuring new teams and new venues.

As an aside, Minnesota deserves an outdoor game, such is the great hockey history up there. Target Field in Minnesota could work, and the Gophers successfully staged an outdoor NCAA game last year in their football stadium. There are choices aplenty. Truly, though, the League needs to look for a venue with history and plant the Winter Classic there next year. The concept’s always worked best when it’s held in a place like Wrigley or Fenway or the Big House.

Teams

Given that NBC came up with the idea of the Winter Classic, it’s not a huge surprise that they dictate who gets to play, and we’ve seen a string of teams who bring with them huge ratings – Washington with Ovechkin, Pittsburgh with Crosby, Chicago with Toews and Boston with Chara – taking the game outdoors. The thing is, people are starting to tire of seeing the same faces. In fact, after the Capitals/Blackhawks game, we’ll have seen the Caps, Hawks, Penguins, and Red Wings twice.

It’s way past time to bring in new players and teams to the spectacle. Toews, Chara, Ovechkin and Crosby became stars by way of television coverage of their early exploits, and the same could happen to regional superstars like, say, Zach Parise or Ryan Suter of Minnesota, Tyler Seguin of Dallas or, hell, even the raft of young talent on the New York Islanders roster.

The way to make the entire League stronger is to include smaller teams in the sport’s biggest spectacle. It’s a sure-fire way to make an inclusive event even more so.

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15: Day Eight Review

Three more games today and, for the time being, the last of the prelim Bowl match-ups, because tomorrow is the beginning of the much-hyped New Year’s Six. Before we get into the Peach, Fiesta and Orange Bowls, here’s a quick recap of what you need to know the day’s action:

Music City Bowl

Louisiana State and Notre Dame, two famous college football brands, and a big crowd inside LP Field in downtown Nashville – the Music City Bowl had all the makings of a classic, and we were treated to one of the better games of the season, won, as are all good football games, late and on the boot of a kicker.

Notre Dame’s Kyle Brindza was the hero of the 31-28 victory, booting the winning field goal from 32 yards out, after a powerful final drive from the Irish, who played with far more heart and spirit than in their last regular season game, a 49-14 thumping at the hands of the USC Trojans. It might as well have been a different team.

Led by redshirt freshman QB Malik Zaire, making his first career start, the Irish went to-to-toe offensively with a good LSU team, and it was the new man under centre, getting the start ahead of the erratic Everett Golson, who also saw some time in the game. Zaire was pretty good, given his situation, throwing for 96 yards and a touchdown and also rushing for 96 yards and a score.

Then, Zaire would go out of the game, and in would come Golson. It worked well for Notre Dame, who rolled up 449 total yards of offense, and easily won the battle for time of possession, 37:00 to 23:00. The key for the Irish was that neither quarterback threw an interception, which had been a real problem late in the regular season.

Yet, the Tigers didn’t roll over and let the Irish have this one. Particularly not another true freshman, RB Leonard Fournette, who seemed to enjoy a big play every time he touched the football. And touch it, he did: often. The 230-pound back, who has incredible speed for a guy his size, ran back a kick-off 100 yards to tie the game at 14-14, and had an 89-yard touchdown run. Fournette ran for 142 yards, two scores and added 121 yards on 5 kick-off returns for a personal total haul of 253.

It wasn’t enough for the Tigers, who couldn’t combat the duel-quarterbacked final drive to set Brindza up for the game-winner, capping a great game. As much as I don’t like them, this was a good win for the Irish. One that Brian Kelly and his team really needed after really falling in a heap halfway through the season.

Belk Bowl

The first game between two ranked teams turned out to be a mismatch. Georgia were simply too good for Louisville, winning 37-14 in chilly Charlotte, North Carolina, and it was all thanks to their freshman running back Nick Chubb. Whilst Georgia fans will bemoan the loss of Todd Gurley for most of the season, the efforts of Chubb will at least make them feel good about the future, and with Sony Michel in the Bulldog backfield as the second half of a double-punch for the ground game, SEC defenses should be worried.

Chubb was the top dog in this game, running for 266 yards and two scores. Most of the night, he couldn’t be touched. It was just as well that Chubb, who ran for 1,550 total yards this year, the second-best season total in Georgia history behind Herschel Walker (who owns the top three in that category), was on point, because the Dawgs lost their quarterback, Huston Mason, to injury late in the first half – after a strong first half, including a 44-yard touchdown strike to Chris Conley – and were also without leading receiver Michael Bennett as well.

None of that mattered. Despite Louisville having a fair idea of Georgia’s game-plan, Chubb ran over, around and through Cardinals defenders, notching touchdown runs of 31 and 8, the last capping a 45-yard drive at the death, in which Chubb ran the football on all four plays, the finale being his touchdown, and a little icing on the Bulldog cake.

It didn’t help Louisville that they couldn’t get anything going on offense. Running with two quarterbacks, Kyle Bolin to start and Reggie Bonnafon at times, didn’t help Bobby Petrino’s team. Bolin threw two interceptions in the first half and was yanked for Bonnafon, who had a chance to complete only three passes – one an interception – before he was yanked, and Bolin finished out the game. The Cardinals have some quarterback questions to be answered during spring ball and into summer. Suffice to say, the Belk Bowl wasn’t their greatest offensive night.

Foster Farms Bowl

The mismatch of the day took place inside the new Levis Stadium in Santa Clarita, California, home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. A middling Big Ten team, Maryland, against a Pac-12 team in Stanford who came off a big win in the last game of the regular season against a good UCLA team, and it wasn’t hard to know how this would go.

Playing less than twenty miles from their campus, the Cardinal were kings in this one. They led the Terps 28-7 at half time and 35-7 at three-quarter time, eventually pulling away for a win that most of America had probably turned off by the time the final quarter began. Stanford ran out winners, 45-21, and nearly doubled Maryland’s total yardage (415 to 221).

It’s worth noting that the Terrapins second touchdown was a special teams effort – a 100-yard kick-off return by William Likely – and that, for the majority of the evening, one of the nation’s stingiest defenses kept Maryland at bay, limiting them (with sack yardage lost included) to just 7 rushing yards. That’s insane! If Stanford can get their offense clicking like their defense is, they’ll be a dangerous team in the Pac-12 next year.

Stanford QB Kevin Hogan basically throws to set up the ground game for the Cardinal, and where he’s been erratic at times this season, he was superb tonight, completing 14-20 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. He also scrambled 7 times for 50 yards, part of a Stanford backfield that helped itself to 207 rushing yards. There’s a lot of bruising downhill runners on the Cardinal roster, and they blunted that Terrapin defense tonight.

At least Maryland can lay claim to more offense – and points – than the vaunted University of Texas managed yesterday.

2015 College Football National Championship Game - Australian Foxtel / ESPN TV Guide

Hot off the press, here are all the details of ESPN's programming for the 2015 College Football National Championship Game that takes place Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015.

Something interesting to note: guides currently suggest the game will be broadcast on both ESPN and ESPN2 concurrently, so there's a good chance that Australians will get to see at least a small slice of the MegaCast that's being planned in America, where fans at home can access a number of different feeds of the game, some with radio calls, others with coaches breaking down X's and O's, and more. It was premiered to rave reviews during last year's BCS National Championship Game, and ESPN have recently announced they're bringing it back again. More details as they come to hand...

All times AEDT

Tuesday 13 January 2015

College Football Live (7.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
College GameDay - Arlington, Texas (8.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Championship Drive (10.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
National Championship Game (12.30pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
National Championship Game [Alternate Feed TBC] (12.30pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
SportsCenter (4.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
National Championship Game [Replay] (5.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
National Championship Game [Replay] (9.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

College Football #BowlMania 2014-15: Day Seven Review

Three interesting games today! Here’s a quick recap of what you need to know from a day most of us didn’t see coming, a day in which all three Big XII teams – all given at least some chance to win their match-up – lost:

Liberty Bowl

Sadly, the 45-37 Texas A&M victory over a plucky West Virginia Mountaineers team that featured a quarterback, Skyler Howard, making only his second career start, will likely be overshadowed and tarnished by the ridiculous and stupid actions of a student assistant on the Texas A&M staff, a former player named Michael Richardson.

The game was chippy right from the outset, with Aggie defender Howard Matthews ejected early for a vicious hit that was deemed helmet-to-helmet contact by the on-field officials and upheld under replay scrutiny. But that is absolutely no excuse for the Richardson’s actions. He was seen, twice, to physically interfere with West Virginia players. The first time, he threw an elbow at WVU running back Andrew Buie, who had run out of bounds. Then, there was something even more shocking: a blatant punch to the head – helmet, actually – of cornerback Daryl Worley, who was also well out of bounds.

When Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin learned of these indiscretions, he ensured Richardson didn’t return to the sidelines for the second half, and we can only hope that the former linebacker has his position on the Aggie staff terminated as soon as possible. There’s no room for that behaviour in football.

Richardson’s actions were a blight on an otherwise positive day for the Aggies, and for freshman quarterback Kyle Allen, who was named the Liberty Bowl MVP for what was, other than one bad throw resulting in a defensive touchdown for the Mountaineers, a poised and polished game. He threw four touchdowns and ran for a fifth, helping the Aggies out of a 10-point hole to post pretty good numbers: 22-35 for 294 yards and the four passing scores.

Allen’s favourite target was senior receiver Malcome Kennedy, who snagged two touchdown passes and running back Tra Carson had a career day, rushing for 133 yards on 25 carries. Trey Williams ran for 86 and a touchdown.

With so many freshmen on an A&M squad that struggled mightily at times, the future in College Station looks pretty bright.

Russell Athletic Bowl

Not sure where to start with this, except to say that Oklahoma were terrible and Clemson, who were excellent in every possible way a football team can be, made them pay for insipid, uninterested and sloppy play en route to a 40-6 victory that actually probably flattered the Sooners a little.

Basically, Clemson did whatever they wanted inside the renovated Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando and Oklahoma either couldn’t stop them, or simply weren’t interested in doing so. The irony is rich, given that it was the Sooners who took advantage of an Alabama team who obviously didn’t want to be playing in last year’s Sugar Bowl and scored an impressive, dominating win. Now, the shoe is on the other foot, and Bob Stoops’ men know how the Tide felt in New Orleans last January. Coming on the heels of West Virginia’s loss, the Big XII took a big hit.

Clemson QB Cole Stoudt took full advantage of five Oklahoma turnovers and played the game of his life, in a season where the Clemson quarterback situation has chopped and changed like the pages of a calendar. It was all Stoudt all the time in the Citrus Bowl tonight, and he was brilliant. It started with a 65-yard receiver screen for a touchdown on their very first offensive snap. That was the tenor of the night set right there.

Stoudt threw for 306 yards, and three touchdowns and even ran another in, delighting the rabid Tigers fan-base down from Clemson, South Carolina. I mean, he looked like Peyton Manning out there, making all the throws, leading Clemson to their third-straight ten-win season.

As for Oklahoma, whose own quarterback Trevor Knight played terribly, throwing three picks and completing just 17 of 36 passes, the drubbing ends a disappointing season in which expectations were through the roof after the afore-mentioned Sugar Bowl triumph over Alabama, but this loss and the previous one, to in-state rivals Oklahoma State, will leave a sour taste in the mouths of Sooner players, coaches and fans over summer. So much for the Sooners being a Top 5 team. Not a good way to go out.

Independence Bowl

Speaking of horrible, the University of Texas offense just about re-wrote the book on horrible in NRG Stadium tonight. The Longhorns were only able to amass – and, my friends, I use that word loosely – 59 yards of offense as they fell to Arkansas 31-7.

No, that’s not a mistype. Read that again. Let it sink in. Texas managed only fifty-nine yards. Their only touchdown came on an eight-play, 44-yard drive late in the second quarter, that had been set up by a good kick return. The yardage totals for their other possessions? 2, 11, 3, -4, -3, -4, -19, -8, -7, -2, -4 and 29.

Every drive after the sole Longhorn possession went backwards until the last drive of the day, one that ended in a 46-yard interception return for an Arkansas touchdown. The worst moment of the night was a hand-off near the Texas goal line that was fumbled into the end zone and recovered by Arkansas for a touchdown.

I don’t care how you try to spin those numbers – they are almost historically bad. In fact, it was just 9 yards more than the worst UT offensive performance of all time, which came back in 1943 in a 14-7 loss to Southwestern University. The loss was Texas’ fifth of 2014 by 20 points or more. A rough start to the Charlie Strong era in Austin, and the giant Longhorns fan base will be restless, to say the very least.

Take nothing away from a brilliant Arkansas team, whose defense and ground attack won them this football game. QB Brandon Allen was dependable, passing for 160 yards and two touchdowns, but it was the running game – 191 yards in total – that kept Texas’ defense on the field.

The Razorbacks win was as dominating and impressive as the one Clemson served up over Oklahoma in the night’s previous contest. And another bad advertisement for Big XII football: this is the first time since 1977 that the Longhorns and Sooners both lost Bowls by 20 or more points in the same season.

NHL News & Notes – 29 December 2014

Lots of news doing the rounds in the hockey world today, so here’s a quick recap of the most important headlines:

New Jersey

Not surprisingly, given their tired roster and insipid performance, the New Jersey Devils have fired their head coach Peter DeBoer, who was never able to recapture his first-season genius, the year that the Devils, with Martin Brodeur in goal, went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in six games to a very good Los Angeles Kings outfit.

Long-time General Manager Lou Lamoriello – who some believe is the real problem in Newark, and should be following DeBoer out the door – has decided to fix the situation by hiring three coaches. Yep, that’s right, three. He’ll do some of the work himself, his third stint behind the Devils bench, and has recruited Devils legends Scott Stevens and Adam Oates, former assistant coaches in NJ at one time or another, to help shoulder the load.

Apparently the rest of this season is an audition, not just for the coaches, but for the players as well. The Devils have one of the worst rosters in all of hockey, with very few star players and not much in the cupboard in terms of young guns coming through the AHL. When your best player, Jaromir Jagr, is well into his forties,  you know you’re not doing something right. Interestingly, Lamoriello plays a major part in the make-up of the roster, and he’s still hanging around…

New York Rangers

Just quietly (and pleasingly for me), the Rangers might be the best team in the NHL at the moment. Certainly, they’re right in the upper echelon. Henrik Lundqvist celebrated his 600th game in the Rangers net with a 3-1/19-save victory over the reeling Devils last night, thanks to a hat trick from Derek Stepan. That means the Broadway Blueshirts have won eight in a row, the longest Rangers winning streak in 40 years!

Barry Melrose, speaking on ESPN last night, thinks that this Rangers squad is a team of destiny – so there goes any chance we had of winning anything this year!

Washington

The Capitals are hitting their stride days before the Winter Classic outdoors at Nationals Park, beating their modern-day rival, Pittsburgh, 3-0 on Saturday, thanks to a rare two-goal game from Eric Fehr (who also did it against the Pens in the 2011 Winter Classic, so he’s a Pittsburgh specialist, apparently!) and a not-so-rare solid game between the pipes for Braden Holtby, the Capitals net-minder who is slowly becoming a real key part of this team. It’s the first time Washington has beaten Pittsburgh in nine attempts, dating right back to January 22, 2012.

There’s a lot to like about the Caps at the moment. Barry Trotz has got his team humming along on all cylinders, and if they continue in this vein, we could be watching the Caps deep into spring’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. I wouldn’t mind seeing Ovechkin hoist Lord Stanley.

As good as the Capitals look, the Chicago Blackhawks appear just as ominous, so the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day should be a corker. Speaking of...

Chicago

The Blackhawks saw defenseman Brent Seabrook break a second-period tie against Colorado on Saturday, and Patrick Kane scored twice in what was eventually a 5-2 win, and the Hawks continue to roll nicely as they head towards an outdoor collision with Ovechkin’s Capitals on New Year’s Day.

The fact that Seabrook, perhaps the team’s best blue liner – or certainly tied with Duncan Keith for that honour – is jumping into the offense is a scary proposition for other teams.

Indeed, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville thinks Seabrook is in career-best form. He has two goals and four assists in his last six games, and, like just about everyone else on the roster, is rolling. The Hawks might be the best team in the NHL at the moment.

Johnny Gaudreau

The kid they knew as Johnny Hockey when he was a Boston College Eagle winning Hobey Baker Awards is on a tear for the Calgary Flames. He’s netted six goals in the last three games, including his eleventh and twelfth of the season in a 4-1 victory over Edmonton, condemning the woeful Oilers to their ninth-straight loss. This kid has all the moves. He’s going to be a star.

Dallas

The Stars, who were tipped to be Western Conference contenders this season, had a shocking start to the season, but are now starting to turn things around. They’ve won five or their last six, and had won four straight before a pre-Christmas loss to Toronto.

Dallas’ latest win was a 4-3 triumph over St Louis (who have troubles of their own), and with the defensive end of the ice starting to play solidly to complement the ridiculous scoring power of Tyler Seguin, this is a team to keep an eye on heading towards April.

NHL Road To The Winter Classic

Sure, it’s no longer on HBO and people around the hockey world are searching high and low for the Epix Channel, but the signature Road to the Winter Classic documentary series, four episodes following the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks in the lead-up (and immediate aftermath) of the Winter Classic game is nothing short of spectacular. It’s the sort of warts-and-all documentary series that other sports should learn from and emulate wherever possible.

The fact that cameras take fans everywhere, from medical rooms to inside players’ homes, putting us right amongst their family, helps turn guys like Ovechkin and Toews from just great hockey players into normal guys. Okay, maybe not normal like you and me, but the cameras show these superstars being themselves away from the rink, and it’s a great way for the NHL’s players to connect with their fans.

Special mention for the great unfiltered on-ice audio. You hear pretty much everything, and, for hockey nerds like myself, it’s fantastic. I can’t get enough of this doco. It’s one of the best parts of the Winter Classic.

Opinion: USC’s Future Is In Good Hands

A year ago, there was an incredible amount of uncertainty around the University of Southern California’s football program. Lane Kiffin had been fired mid-season, leaving interim head coach Ed Orgeron to lead the team for the rest of the year, which he did spectacularly, winning more games than most expected. But Orgeron wasn’t retained for 2015, with Trojan Athletic Director Pat Haden instead opting to bring in former assistant Steve Sarkisian, then the Washington Huskies coach, to take over the program.

So disappointed was Orgeron, he didn’t even coach the Trojans in their big Las Vegas Bowl win against Fresno State. It seemed like every player loved Coach O. Hell, there was scarcely a USC fan who didn’t, for Orgeron bled cardinal and gold, and loved USC football more than pretty much anyone else, and that’s saying something.

Despite a mediocre head coaching record, Orgeron was our guy. People wanted him to coach full-time, including me. Why? Because he seemed to be able to milk every ounce of passion out of the team, which was something Kiffin simply couldn’t achieve. He taught those kids about how much fun football could be, after Lane seemingly did his level best to take all the fun out of it.

I still remember where I was when the Sark hire broke: it was the Monday after Thanksgiving, and I was about to board a train from Chicago to San Francisco. Walking across the Chicago River towards Union Station, my phone beeped. It was a friend from the West Coast. The text said only, “Sark”. That’s all it needed to say.

Talk about mixed emotions. I wasn’t sure how I felt. It felt like, maybe, Haden was destined to repeat the Lane Kiffin error, bringing in another assistant from the Pete Carroll glory days, and that was concerning, given the Kiffin-sized hole Coach O had just brought – no, actually, dragged – the Trojans out of. Had Haden lost his mind? I remember a pit forming in my stomach. 51 hours on a train gave me a lot of time to think about Sark’s new gig, and I didn’t alight in San Francisco feeling any more positive about it than when I’d boarded in the Windy City.

Flipping our calendars forward twelve months – give or take a few days since that Las Vegas Bowl win – and it’s fair to say that I, and many, many others was wrong.  Where I had worried the Trojans might stumble and crash some more, the opposite happened. And now, a few hours after an impressive offensive performance in a 45-42 Holiday Bowl win over a motivated Nebraska team, I can honestly say that the trajectory of the University of Southern California’s football program is only headed in one direction – the right direction: upwards.

An assessment of where the program currently sits and what’s to come in the near future, seasons that won’t be plagued by drastically limited scholarships, was provided by the Trojans head coach, Steve Sarkisian, when he gave something of a ‘state of the union’ address following USC”s 49-14 demolition of Notre Dame last month: "Our future is ridiculously bright. We're going to be really good, and we're not going anywhere."

Sarkisian, derided by some as Seven Win Sark until, naturally, he won 9 games with USC this year, is dead-on. Other teams around the Pac-12 conference – and, indeed, the entire college football nation – should be worried, because the Trojans are coming. Yeah, I know we told you that a few years ago when Lane Kiffin ruled the roost, and when USC turned a #1 pre-season ranking into the most disappointing season in recent memory, but we mean it this time.

With major scholarship restrictions coming to an end, the Trojans can build up the defensive depth they’ve been lacking – and depth that might’ve cost USC in those close, last-gasp losses to Utah and Arizona State. A few more battle-tested, scholarship players and things could’ve been really different. Two more wins and suddenly you’re looking at an 11-2 record and, most probably, a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game. USC’s greatest inability in Season 2014 was being able to close games out late.

Depressingly, the Trojans were blown out by UCLA, never competitive on a disastrous night at the Rose Bowl where the 38-20 score line flattered the Trojans a bunch more than they deserved, but they were right up to their necks in every other game, despite those scholarship restrictions, and that’s enough reason to believe that next year there’ll be more close wins than close losses.

It’s considered fairly likely that star defensive lineman Leonard Williams will depart to the NFL Draft – though, based on some quotes, he hasn’t completely shut the door on a senior year run with the Trojans – and despite that, and the loss of a good crop of senior defensive players, the excellent Hayes Pullard amongst them, the underclass talent should be able to step up.

Offensively, there are even fewer problems. QB Cody Kessler might go, but most believe he won’t, and if RB Javorious ‘Buck’ Allen departs, his understudy, Justin Davis, should slot in nicely. Kessler, the most underappreciated quarterback in the nation this year, threw over 3500 yards, with just five interceptions against 36 touchdowns, completing passes at 70.7%, and will benefit from another year at USC before going pro. He’s considered less likely to graduate than Matt Barkley was at the same time, and Barkley ended up coming back, so we’ll wait and see.

Even if Kessler goes, whoever slots into the quarterback position will have a host of talent to throw to, led by a trio of impressive players, all sophomores next year, in receivers JuJu Smith and Adoree’ Jackson and tight end Bryce Dixon. George Farmer seems set for a break-out year after too many injury-riddled seasons.

Also, there’s a chance Kessler’s favourite target, Nelson Agholor, returns to school for one last roll of the dice, and if he does – as well as Buck Allen – then, watch out world. USC will be red-hot offensively regardless, but the addition of Agholor and Allen will push them to an even higher plane. That’s without accounting whatever talent the 2015 recruiting class will bring in.

For all the derision aimed at Sarkisian, the guy has actually done a good job. It isn’t easy coming from Washington into the pressure-cooker environment that is USC football, and Sarkisian acquitted himself well at all times.  He’s certainly been a breath of fresh air compared to Lane Kiffin.

Of course, Sarkisian – like every USC coach before him, and those who will inevitably come after him – will be judged on wins, particularly against UCLA and Notre Dame, and championships, both in the Pac-12 and nationally. The thing is, with the talent and football infrastructure behind him, Sarkisian is well placed to shake that ‘Seven Win Sark’ moniker forever.

Fight On!

College Football #BowlMania 2014-15: Day Six Review

A huge slate of games today, all over the country! Here’s a quick recap of what you need to know as we head towards a giant slate of games tomorrow:

Military Bowl

For the twenty-second consecutive season, the Virginia Tech Hokies, under long-time head coach Frank Beamer, have recorded a winning season, thanks to a dominating 33-17 victory over Cincinnati in Washington D.C.

Beamer was so enamoured with the victory – one that’s come at the end of an up-and-down campaign for the Hokies, during which his job security was brought up – that he led his players through some outrageous dance moves in the locker room after the game.

J.C. Coleman was the star of the show offensively for the Hokies, carrying the ball 25 times for 157 yards and a score, kicker Joey Slye added four field goals and the defense provided a fumble return for a touchdown as Tech reached 7-6, extending a streak that began way back in 1992.

Cincinnati lost their quarterback, Gunner Kiel, who was injured on the Hokies’ defensive score, and didn’t return to the field afterward. The Bearcats lost a giant cog in their offensive machine, and simply couldn’t recover. They finish their season 9-4.

Sun Bowl

This was a wonderful football game! Arizona State had what seemed a game-winning lead over Duke, up 30-17 heading into the fourth quarter, but were forced to withstand a furious comeback from a Blue Devil team searching for the school’s first Bowl win in many, many years.

The Sun Devils actually lost the lead when – running trickery like they were Boise State or something – Duke receiver Jamison Crowder found Isaac Blakeney in the end zone for a touchdown that gave them an improbable 31-30 lead. That trick play came after Duke’s punter threw a pass to convert on a 4th-and-11.

Just as quickly as they regained the lead, Duke lost it again. On the ensuing kick-off return,  Kalen Ballage took the football 96 yards down the field, and Arizona State’s quarterback Taylor Kelly did the rest, shovelling a pass to Demario Richard for a four-yard score.

ASU missed the ensuing two-point conversion, but had done enough for an important win, capping a 10-win campaign for the third straight season, whilst denying the perpetually-unlucky Duke the same honour.

Independence Bowl

Down in Shreveport, Louisiana, it was the Dylan Thompson Show for South Carolina. The Gamecock quarterback passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third, as Steve Spurrier’s men overcame a slow start and a feisty Miami team to cap a season of missed opportunity with a win, and a 7-6 record.

Thompson was 22-34 for 294 yards and two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. The beneficiary of his strong arm was receiver Pharaoh Cooper, who caught nine passes for 170 yards. His biggest play also happened to be his longest: a 78-yard strike from Thompson that got the Gamecocks on the scoreboard.

Despite the loss, Miami’s star running back, Duke Johnson, had a typically strong game. He ran for 182 yards and had 51 receiving yards, but it wasn’t enough for the Hurricanes, who finish the year 6-7 and you can bet there’ll be some conversation regarding the status of head coach Al Golden, who just isn’t winning games and titles like Miami thought he would when they hired him.

Pinstripe Bowl
An epic in Yankee Stadium saw – fittingly – a Boston team lose by a single point. This wasn’t a walk-off home run by the Yankees over the Red Sox, but a missed PAT in overtime that meant all Penn State needed to do to grab a win over Boston College was score a touchdown and convert the extra point. They did it, by way of sure-footed kicker Sam Ficken, who, earlier, had converted on a long field goal to take the game into overtime, and, it later emerged, used Derek Jeter’s locker in the Yankee clubhouse.

What was a fairly pedestrian 7-7 tie at half time exploded into one of the best games we’ve seen so far this Bowl season.

After Boston College got out to a 21-7 lead with 2:12 to go in the first quarter, things didn’t look good for the Nittany Lions, who were featuring in their first Bowl since the Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky scandal gripped the sport and the school, took over, and brought about unprecedented sanctions that were later lifted.

Enter, sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg took over, and on a season where we’ve seen more of the bad Hackenberg than the good – he’s thrown far more interceptions than touchdowns this year – the strong-armed signal caller showed us a glimpse of the star freshman we knew a year ago. His poise and decision-making during the comeback explain why so many NFL scouts rate this guy so highly.

This was a victory for a team and a school who needed it desperately, though Boston College can definitely think themselves unlucky to lose the game. I don’t think there are many crueller ways to throw away a football game than miss the point-after in overtime. A strange ending to a brilliant game.

Holiday Bowl

Love defense? You came to the wrong place. There wasn’t much on show as USC (whose coaching situation is set) and Nebraska (who is transitioning from Bo Pelini to Mike Reilly, and had neither on the sideline tonight) traded big plays back and forth for most of the game, which stayed close despite the Trojans threatening, at various times, to pull away. In the end, USC managed one or two more defensive stops – including some key ones on fourth down – but at times found it tough going.

A lack of defensive depth didn’t help the Trojans in containing the double threat of Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong and running back Ameer Abdullah, who were both brilliant on the day. Armstrong threw for 381 yards and three scores, and ran for a fourth, and when he was able to set his feet in the pocket, and not be monstered by USC’s Leonard Williams, he was great. Abdullah had 88 rushing yards and 61 receiving.

USC can thank Adoree’ Jackson, the freshman defensive back/receiver, who added kick-off return specialist to his CV, running one back 98 yards, with an end zone backflip to boot, after Nebraska opened with a field goal. He also had a 71-yard touchdown catch from Cody Kessler, who had three on the night, and a rare interception. It only was USC’s twelfth of the year. Running back Javorious Allen was the real star, ripping a suspect Nebraska run defense that’s been suspect all year for 152 yards and two scores, including a 44-yard gallop in the third.

In the end, the two teams combined for more than one thousand yards of total offense, and 87 points. It was a wildly entertaining game – unless you’re either team’s defensive coordinator, of course. Still, fun for us fans, and another great advert for this event. Routinely, the Holiday Bowl serves up great drama, and this year was no different.

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15: Day Five Review

After a day’s break for Christmas in the northern hemisphere, we saw a pretty interesting triple header of Bowl games today, and here’s a quick recap of what you need
to know as we head towards a giant slate of games tomorrow:

Heart of Dallas Bowl

There was some speculation that Illinois might be left at home this year due to more teams than Bowl affiliations for the Big Ten, and after succumbing to Louisiana Tech at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Fighting Illini might well have preferred sitting at home and watching football on TV in Champaign.

Instead, they were La Tech’s punching bags, losing 35-18 because they could not stop Tech rolling up big plays.  Amongst the biggest plays: Kenneth Dixon made an 80-yard touchdown reception, Xavier Woods intercepted a pass and took it 69 yards back the other way for a defensive touchdown, and running back Blake Martin scored on a 28-yard run.

Making matters worse, the best Louisiana Tech defensive player, Houston Bates, used to be an Illini. He transferred south to finish out his college career closer to family, and with 4.5 sacks in the game – 1.5 sacks more than his total in three seasons in Champaign – earned himself the Heart of Dallas MVP. He might’ve had another late in the game, were it not for a penalty against Tech for too many men on the field.

Still, it was an imposing performance from Bates, who seemed to spend about as much time in the Illini backfield as Illinois QB Reilly O’Toole did, and was a big reason why O’Toole had a subpar day. He barely had a chance to get his feet set before Bates was after him, and there was the interception return by Woods. The Tech defense also forced two Illini turnovers, and can lay claim to having turned 40 turnovers – 25 interceptions and 15 fumbles – into 198 points.

Quick Lane Bowl

All things considered, it’s been a pretty solid debut Big Ten season for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Yeah, sure, Jersey’s team is only a part of the Midwest conference so that the Big Ten Network can expand into the mid-Atlantic region, but the Knights were far from the worst team in the conference, and showed enough against North Carolina in Detroit today to suggest that there’s a bright future for football in Piscataway.

Rutgers jumped out to a 23-0 lead at half time, and ran out 40-21 winners, thanks largely to the timely emergence of freshman running back Josh Hicks who notched an impressive 202 yards on 19 carries against a statistically horrible North Carolina defense, which lived up to it’s dismal reputation. Hicks’ lone touchdown was a 21-yard scamper to the left side, and his running mate, Robert Martin, contributed two scores and had a 100-yard day himself.

Scarlet Knights quarterback Garry Nova had one of his better days, completing 9-20 for 184 and two touchdowns in a game whose final score definitely flattered the Tar Heels, who were inept throughout, and seemed fairly uninterested in proceedings inside Ford Field. From bad turnovers to botched fake field goal attempts…nothing went right for Larry Fedora’s men today.

It was a reasonable ending to Nova’s college career, which has certainly had it’s fair share of ups and downs. The future at Rutgers, however, is a good one, with the two freshman backs Martin and Hicks poised to take the Scarlet Knights into a bold new era. The fact that star receiver Leonte Carroo is coming back for his senior season won’t hurt, either.

St Petersburg Bowl

Whilst not quite as spectacular as Central Michigan’s comeback bid in the Bahamas Bowl, Central Florida stormed back into the St Petersburg Bowl – sponsored by Bitcoin, the controversial internet currency – scoring two touchdowns in the fourth, but they couldn’t quite get over the hump, losing to North Carolina State 34-27.

The Wolfpack offense had unprecedented success against a stout Central Florida defense, managing 486 total yards against a squad giving up just 283 yards coming in.

The Wolfpack passing game did most of the damage, but it wasn’t just QB Jacoby Brissett (15-26 for 262 yards and a touchdown) who was flinging the ball downfield. Running back Shadrach Thorton threw NC State’s first touchdown of the game, and 18-yard pass to Jaylen Samuels and Brissett caught a 20-yard pass from receiver Bo Hines.

Thanks in large part to falling behind three scores in the second half, Central Florida QB Justin Holman ended up throwing the football 53 times, completing 23, for three touchdowns and an interception.  Their running game was non-existent: just 82 yards on 28 carries.

The loss means Central Florida miss out on a third consecutive ten-win season. For North Carolina State, the St Petersburg Bowl triumph means they finish with eight wins, the best return for the Atlantic Coast Conference program since 2011.

College Football 2015: January Bowl Games Australian Foxtel / ESPN TV Guide

We're down to the business end of the season, and over two days - January 1 and January 2 in Australia - we'll see the biggest teams in the country matching up against one another. Chief amongst these mouth-watering match-ups are the two National Semifinal games (Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl) that will determine the first ever College Football Playoff Championship Game that'll be played on January 13.

At this stage, it seems like ESPN is showing as much football as they can. The only exception seems to be the Citrus Bowl, which is on at the same time as both the Outback and Cotton Bowl games, and (forgive me, Missouri and Minnesota fans) I think we're getting the two better match-ups beamed in.

Five straight days of Bowl football. Here we go!

All times AEDT

Thursday January 1

Peach Bowl: No. 9 Ole Miss vs. No. 6 Texas Christian (4.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Fiesta Bowl: No. 20 Boise State vs. No. 10 Arizona (8.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Orange Bowl: No. 7 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech (12.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Friday January 2

College GameDay On ESPN Radio (10.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
College GameDay (2.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Outback Bowl: No. 19 Auburn vs. No. 18 Wisconsin (4.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Cotton Bowl: No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 5 Baylor (4.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Rose Bowl Game: No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 2 Oregon (9.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Alabama (12.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Saturday January 3

Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. Pittsburgh (4.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Taxslayer Bowl: Iowa vs. Tennessee (7.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Alamo Bowl: No. 11 Kansas State vs. No. 14 UCLA (10:45am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Cactus Bowl: Washington vs. Oklahoma State (2.15pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Sunday January 4

Birmingham Bowl: East Carolina vs. Florida (4.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Monday January 5

GoDaddy Bowl: Toledo vs. Arkansas State (1.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15: Day Four Review

Merry Christmas! The fourth day of Bowl games is in the books, and here’s a quick recap of what you need to know from a Christmas Day double header:

Bahamas Bowl

I think we’ve already got a winner for craziest ending to any football game – NFL, CFL, NCAA, whatever – and it came at the end of an improbable comeback by Central Michigan to close out the Bahamas Bowl.

The Chippewas were down 49-14 entering the final quarter, and scored 34 unanswered points to storm back into the game – and they might have beaten Western Kentucky had it not been for a failed two-point conversion that came after a touchdown that made Boise State’s incredible Fiesta Bowl hook-and-ladder shocker seem tame by comparison.

That last touchdown, which seems destined to live in highlight reels for eternity, was 75 yards’ worth of laterals, bad tackling by WKU defenders and a serious amount of Christmas luck all rolled into the most extraordinary six points you’re likely to see. Indeed, the ESPN broadcast crew were so dazzled at times during the improbable extended play that they forgot to talk.

With a second remaining, Central Michigan had the ball on their own 25-yard line, trailing 49-42. Quarterback Cooper Rush threw deep to Jesse Kroll, who caught the ball in a crowd at the 20, and lateraled to Deon Butler, who just managed to get the ball on to Courtney Williams before being tackled.

Williams then got the ball out to Titus Davis. Davis made the reception at the 15 and outran three WKU players, managing to knock the football against the pylon – all he needed for the score – as he tumbled out of bounds.

Impossible, but somehow, not so impossible. It’s almost a shame that Central Michigan didn’t win the game. Especially after Rush had thrown seven touchdowns and 485 yards to drag his team back into the contest.  Across the way, Western Kentucky quarterback Brandon Doughty threw for 486 yards and five scores. I’d say the inaugural Bahamas Bowl was a success. For the record, the Hilltoppers won 49-48.

Do yourself a favour and YouTube the ending – it’s worth your while!

Hawaii Bowl

The traditional Christmas Eve game in America – or Christmas Day in Australia – was far less exciting than it’s predecessor, with Rice dominating Fresno State in an old Western Athletic Conference match-up in the islands for an easy and anti-climatic 30-6 win.

Rice QB Driphus Jackson threw two touchdowns in the space of just 19 seconds with a Fresno State interception in between, and the Owls defense did the rest, to end their season 8-5, a pretty good mark considering they opened 0-3. Jackson was 15-24 for 318 yards and three scores.

Fresno State was stymied through the air, with QB Brian Burrell held to 10-20 for just 44 yards, and didn’t get a pass completion longer than eight yards. It was a return to form for the Rice defense, after the Owls were embarrassed 76-31 to Louisiana Tech, in which they gave up 677 total yards of offense.

The Bulldogs found themselves on the wrong end of a lopsided Hawaii Bowl result. They were beaten soundly by SMU two years ago, and scored less points this year than in that game. But perhaps Fresno should consider themselves lucky to even be playing in the post-season this year, coming in with a 6-7 record, and a received a waiver because their final loss was in the Mountain West Championship Game. It’s been a down year for the Bulldogs after losing star quarterback Derrick Carr to the Oakland Raiders, and Fresno State never quite found the same offensive production they had a season ago.

A day off for Christmas in the northern hemisphere, then we wade deep into the bigger Bowl games after that, leading up to New Year’s Day (or 2 January in Australia) and the two semi-final games.

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15: Day Three Review

A Christmas Eve serving of Bowl games is in the books, and here’s a quick recap of what you need to know from the pre-Christmas double header:


Boca Raton Bowl

It seems like there are about 45 new Bowl games this year. Picturesque Boca Raton in Florida is the site of another one, following on from yesterday’s much-talked-about Miami Beach Bowl, and it saw the Marshall Thundering Herd of Conference USA against the Huskies of Northern Illinois, out of the Mid-American Conference.

Going in, one of the players to watch was Marshall QB Rakeem Cato, who was being mentioned earlier in the year as a potential Heisman bolter, and it was all Cato, all night as the quarterback tied an NCAA mark for touchdowns, including three against the Huskies as he farewelled college football with an emphatic 52-32 win over NIU. The game extended Cato’s NCAA-record streak of throwing at least one touchdown per game, pushing it out to a whopping 46.

Cato was 25-37 for 281 yards and three touchdowns passing, and added two more rushing, as the Thundering Herd ran up 505 yards of total offense. The major beneficiary of Cato’s big night was another Marshall senior, receiver Tommy Shuler, who made a whopping 18 catches for an equally-whopping 185 yards, breaking the Conference USA record for career receptions, finishing with 322.

Marshall finish the season 13-1, just a 67-66 overtime loss to Western Kentucky standing between them and a likely appearance in a New Year’s Six Bowl Game, and Northern Illinois close out 2014 at 11-3, a down year after scaling recent heights with QB Jordan Lynch running their prolific offense.

Poinsettia Bowl

It wasn’t pretty, and at times it was downright excruciating, but Navy have won their third-straight Bowl game 17-16 over San Diego State in San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium to avenge a 35-10 loss in the same Bowl to the same school four years ago. Navy are now 2-2 in Poinsettia Bowls contested.

It was a night where turnovers and missed opportunities were key. Indeed, the Aztecs had a chance to win, but their kicker, Donny Hageman, pushed a 34-yard attempt with twenty seconds left, after his opposite number on the Midshipmen sideline, Austin Grebe, kicked a go-ahead field goal from 24 yards away.

There were seven turnovers in the game, four fumbles lost by Navy and three San Diego State turnovers, and it was the final turnover, a forced fumble by the Midshipman’s Chris Johnson that set up what was the eventual game-winning score.

San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey had 112 rushing yards on twenty-one carries, and now owns a school record for most rushing yards in a season, finishing with 1867 total, breaking a record that’s stood since 1995.

Navy’s QB Keenan Reynolds ran for three touchdowns, and furthers his own NCAA record for quarterback scores to 84, and completed three of seven attempted passes for a paltry 17 yards. That’s the norm for Navy, who rely on a triple option running attack to get their yardage, and get yardage they did, managing 254 on the ground.

The Middies won their fourth straight game, though it was definitely one that won’t be labelled any sort of classic. Reynolds admitted it wasn’t pretty, and that’s putting it nicely. His defense came up big when it counted, and Navy finish the season 8-5. San Diego also record a winning season in 2014, finishing 7-6.

College Football News & Notes – 24 December 2014

Lots of news doing the rounds in college football today, so here’s a quick recap of the most important headlines:

Miami Beach Bowl Aftermath

I wrote yesterday about the shocking violence that had engulfed Marlins Park following the end of the 2OT Miami Beach Bowl, and this morning comes more news: clearly, the American Athletic Conference commissioner is unhappy (as are the Athletic Directors from Memphis and Brigham Young) and there will be a raft of official investigations to determine the ringleaders.

Honestly, it shouldn’t be too hard to work out who started everything, given the seven billion cameras ESPN had – and, by now, you, me and everyone else in the football world had seen multiple replays. The vision certainly doesn’t get better with age. Like I suggested yesterday, there should be at least a few Cougars and Tigers players not making it onto the field for their respective 2015 season openers.

Jameis Winston

The Florida State quarterback, who will lead his team against Oregon on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl was – predictably, I must say – cleared of any wrongdoing or misconduct by retired Supreme Court Justice Major Harding. Only, perhaps, because there was a lack of sufficient evidence to satisfy the necessary burden of proof.

Not exactly shockingly, the attorney representing the woman who accused Winston of sexual assault, Blaine Kerr, declared that “the fix was in” on this case, and there’s enough at stake to understand where Kerr is coming from with that quote. I mean, if Winston had been found guilty of a violation, he would probably have been banned for the Rose Bowl Game, and maybe the National Championship game as well. If FSU win, that is.

Now, a cynical observer might suggest that Florida State has too much at stake with their football program to have undeniably it’s best player on the sideline for the biggest game of the year. Because of that, there’ll always be a shadow of doubt as to whether the entire proceeding was rigged, fixed or otherwise manipulated. I doubt Winston’s popularity will rise much. Many are going to see this as an escape, rather than a solid declaration that he’s not guilty.

Marcus Mariota

The Oregon Ducks’ Heisman-winning quarterback was named the Associated Press Player of the Year overnight – becoming the first Oregon player to achieve that honour – and he did it in resounding fashion, too: he netted 49 of the 54 votes submitted by the AP Top 25 media panel. Alabama’s star receiver Amari Cooper finished second (with three votes) and there was a tie for third between Jameis Winston and Wisconsin back Melvin Gordon, both players receiving a vote each.

Frank Beamer
 
The Virginia Tech coach who underwent throat surgery in early December has been cleared to coach as the Hokies take on Cincinnati at the Military Bowl on Saturday, but will do so from the coaches box upstairs, rather than the sideline, in the same vein as Joe Paterno, who coached Penn State from above the field at the 2009 Rose Bowl Game.

Jimbo Fisher

Florida State have given National Championship-winning head coach Jimbo Fisher an extension through 2022. That’s to be expected, given Fisher is 58-10 in Tallahassee since replacing the legend Bobby Bowden before the 2010 season.

You win big, you get paid big, and this re-up comes on the back of another extension signed just a year ago.

Doug Nussmeier
 
Former Michigan offensive coordinator under Brady Hoke, Nussmeier, has been hired by Jim McElwain at Florida (per a Sports Illustrated report), and will resume SEC duties after making his name at Alabama under Nick Saban.

As bad as Michigan were offensively this season, you can’t lay all the blame on Nussmeier. He’s a good OC and this year was but an aberration. Look for him to bounce back with the Gators. Florida could do with some competent office – they haven’t seen much of it in recent years. Not since the glory days of Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow and Aaron Hernandez.

Jim Harbaugh

49ers GM Trent Baalke added fuel to the Jim Harbaugh-to-Michigan fire, admitting that the University of Michigan has reached out to their former quarterback, which is yet another hint that what every Wolverine fan wants is going to happen: that is, Harbaugh will leave the NFL and coach at Ann Arbor, likely for an obscene amount of money. I mean, there’s more upside at Michigan than there would be at the NY Jets or Oakland – the two teams Harbaugh has been linked to within the NFL – and with the money they’re willing to throw at him, why not go? He might also go down in history for being able to turn a reeling program around.

Merry Christmas!

There are Christmas greetings, and then there are Christmas greetings. I think Kevin McCalister says it best of all... Hope everyone has a wonderful day with friends and family!

Hard to believe Christmas is here again, and with it comes - nearly - the end of another year. This time 365 days ago, I was feeling pretty crappy, having picked up some sort of nasty stomach bug from America and Christmas Day ended up being a rather miserable affair.This year, I'm good to go - so I'm gonna eat and drink twice as much as usual to make up for it!

Thanks for reading BlogKitch in 2014!

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15: Day Two Review

The second day of the 2014-15 College Football Bowl season is in the books, and here’s a quick recap of what you need to know from today's game:

Miami Beach Bowl

Just the one game on Monday, another new addition to the line-up of Bowl games, though it will be one remembered for a long time – and remembered for all the wrong reasons. Yes, the Memphis Tigers stormed home to beat Brigham Young 55-48 in double overtime after leading 38-28 at three-quarter time.

It was the Tigers', more known for their basketball prowess, first ten-win season since 1938, after winning a combined total of ten games in four previous campaigns. No wonder Memphis signed their head coach Justin Fuentes to a new-five year contract after unprecedented success in 2014, including a share of the American Athletic Conference championship.

Alas, it will be the post-game events that marred the exciting game that will be most analysed and scrutinised in the coming days and weeks. During their celebration, Memphis players ran towards the BYU sideline. Now, that’s generally a no-no at the best of times, and, when tensions are high, not the best course of action a player could take.

Cougars players reacted angrily to what was seen as a slight, and suddenly there were players coming from everywhere – the benches were cleared – and victory celebrations descended into an ugly melee, with cheap shots on both sides. The footage, grim stuff, shows players trading punches, stomping on each other…and suddenly SportsCentre had it’s headlines.

No matter that Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch accounted for seven touchdowns (four passing and three rushing), tying a Bowl record set by Geno Smith for West Virginia in the 2012 Orange Bowl. No matter that the Cougars came storming back into a game most thought to be a foregone conclusion entering the final term. None of that matters. Not when there’s footage of guys taking cheap shots, swinging helmets, stomping and punching for sports websites and media to show again and again – as FOX Sports Australia has already done.

There seems to be a prevalence of fighting in football recently. We’ve seen it too often in the NFL and that it’s spilling over into the college game isn’t a good look at a time when football is a controversial game due to head-high contact and concussions. This sort of violence is just playing into the hands of those who say football has no place on the sporting landscape.

Those BYU and Memphis players involved turned from football players to two-bit thugs at the end of the game, and no matter how or why the melee started, those involved should be ashamed of themselves. There's no excuse for what happened on that field. None at all.

As far as incriminating footage goes, there’s plenty for schools and the NCAA to mull over during the off season, and you can safely bet that there’ll be at least a few players on both squads riding the pine during their 2015 season opener.

Two Bowl games tomorrow – the Boca Raton Bowl between Marshall and Northern Illinois and the Poinsettia Bowl that pits Navy against San Diego State – so hopefully we can actually have the main focus of a football game being football itself.

College Football Bowl Season 2014-15: Day One Review

Day One of the 2014-15 College Football Bowl season is in the books, and here’s a quick recap of what you need to know from the opening slate of five games:

New Orleans Bowl

Home cooking is king yet again for the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette. They won the New Orleans Bowl in, aptly, the New Orleans Superdome, defeating a disappointing Nevada Wolf Pack, 19-3.

The star for ULL was QB Terrance Broadway, who opened the game by completing fourteen passes, which is an NCAA Division One Bowl record. He finished with 227 passing yards and a touchdown, kicker Hunter Stover made three field goals – including a career-long of 46 yards – and running back Elijah McGuire was just one yard shy of crossing the century mark on the ground.

On the other side of the football, the Ragin’ Cajun defense held the Wolf Pack to just 215 total yards, and just 89 rushing, after Nevada had rolled up 200 or more rushing yards each for their last five games. This game also marks the first time the Wolf Pack have failed to score a touchdown since a 2009 shut-out at the hands of Notre Dame.

It’s a satisfying end to a season where Louisiana-Lafayette opened 1-3, and 2014 marks their fourth straight nine-win campaign, and their fourth straight New Orleans Bowl triumph.

New Mexico Bowl

Utah State needed to throw it’s fifth-string quarterback into the action when starting QB Kent Myers went out of the game injured near the end of the first half, and had contributions from the Virgil brothers, Nick and Zach, on both sides of the football en route to a 21-6 victory over the University of Texas-El Paso in Albuquerque. It was a dour game, with neither side passing for a touchdown.

Linebacker Nick Virgil ran for a touchdown on offense and his brother, Zach, also a linebacker, was selected defensive MVP. The Aggies relied on a combined 16 tackles against the Miners, which takes their combined career total to 551 – a FBS record amongst active brothers. One of the better defenses in the nation, Utah State held UTEP to 149 rushing yards and no touchdowns.

The Aggies won their fourth straight Bowl game, completing a 10-4 season, and extending UTEP’s post-season record to 0-6 since winning the 1967 Sun Bowl. The Miners finished their season 7-6, their first positive finish since 2005.

Las Vegas Bowl

With Colorado State’s former head coach, Jim McElwain, now down at Florida, it was anyone’s guess as to how the Rams would come out in Las Vegas against Utah, an old-school Mountain West match-up. As it turned out, they were mostly uncompetitive, falling 45-10 to a Utes team that saved it’s best offensive performance of the year for their last game.

Utah QB Travis Wilson led the way as the Utes rolled up 548 yards of total offense. He was 17-26 for 158 yards, a touchdown and an interception passing, and added 91 yards and three touchdowns on eleven carries. RB Devontae Booker also had himself a big day, rushing for 162 yards and a score on twenty six carries.

The Utes were dominant on both sides of the football, restricting a pretty good Colorado State offense – at least, good against their schedule – to 278 yards, and the Rams were just 1-10 on third down. Nor did they do much on the ground, amassing only 12 yards on 19 carries. You won’t win football games like that.

Speaking of winning, the Utes have tasted victory in 11 of their last 12 Bowl games, and the Las Vegas triumph. They handed Colorado State their sixteenth consecutive loss against a ranked team.

Idaho Potato Bowl

The most waterlogged came of the day came from the blue turf of Boise State University, where the Air Force Falcons, despite soggy conditions, executed their ground game to perfection (and picked up a key defensive touchdown) as they defeated Western Michigan 38-24.

Shayne Davern ran for 101 yards and a score – a career-high for him – and also converted on a fake punt that helped the Falcons go out to a 20-10 halftime lead, and they weren’t headed from there.  Defensively, Air Force limited what WMU could do, allowing just 79 yards on 26 carries. That’s a huge effort, considering Western Michigan had come into the game averaging 178.5 yards per game on the ground.

Saturday night’s win for the Falcons was remarkable because it capped a 10-3 season that came on the heels of a very disappointing 2-10 effort in 2013. They become the first team since Miami-Ohio to enjoy a 10-win season after a 10-loss season. WMU saw improvement in 2014, also: they finished 8-5 after going 1-11 a year ago.

Camellia Bowl
A new Bowl game, owned and operated by ESPN, at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama saw a close 33-28 victory for Bowling Green over South Alabama, one that wasn’t decided until almost the final seconds – and easily claims the title of most exciting game of the day/night.

In a frantic finish, South Alabama came from 27-14 down in the third quarter to lead the Falcons with 1:45 to play in the final frame, but a 78-yard pass from Bowling Green quarterback James Knapke to Roger Lewis gave them a 5-point cushion, that might’ve been more had a 2-point conversion been successful.

There was offense a-plenty in this one, with Bowling Green amassing 503 total yards, and South Alabama 415. Knapke was 25-39 for 368 yards and two touchdowns passing, with an additional 24 yards on the ground to be named the game’s MVP. Turnovers doomed the Jaguars: they committed four on the night in the first Bowl game since the program’s inception in 2009.

Kitch's Top 5 Christmas Movie Countdown - #1 Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

Starring: Macaulay Calkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern & Catherine O’Hara

Director: Chris Columbus

Producer:  John Hughes

Writer: John Hughes

Music By: John Williams

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

My favourite Christmas movie ever – I know, most people prefer the original to the sequel – has Kevin McAlister (Calkin) at the centre of another McAlister family travel stuff-up, and this time he is in the Big Apple at Christmastime, and so are his old foes, the Wet Bandits. Marv (Stern) and Harry (Pesci) have managed to escape from prison, and have reinvented themselves as the Sticky Bandits.

The fact that Kevin now has the entirety of New York City to play with makes Home Alone 2 funnier than the first, because the possibilities are endless, and some of New York’s most famous locations – Rockefeller Centre, Central Park, Carnegie Hall and even the World Trade Centre Towers, depending on what version you watch – get a run as Kevin continues to outwit Marv and Harry. And earn the grudging respect of his family again, after being on the outer after punching his brother, Buzz, at a Christmas pageant.

Because of a power outage at the McAlister home in Chicago, Kevin and his family are running late for a flight to their holiday destination – again. And Kevin isn’t happy with their holiday destination, wanting to go somewhere other than Miami, somewhere where there are Christmas trees rather than palm trees – and, following a man he thinks is his father, ends up on a plane to New York City, arriving at LaGuardia International Airport, in disbelief.

Kevin has his father’s credit card, and manages to rent a room at the exclusive Plaza Hotel, where he must outwit the suspicious desk attendant (Tim Curry) and a young bellhop (Rob Schneider), in between getting directions to the lobby from the one and only Donald Trump. He also finds out that the Sticky Bandits are planning to rob Duncan’s Toy Chest, and after being chased from his hotel when his father’s credit card is cancelled, Kevin must use his uncle’s partly-renovated house, amongst other places, to trap and defeat Marv and Harry. He receives some timely assistance from an old park dweller (Brenda Fricker), who loves pigeons, and is clearly the sequel’s equivalent of Old Man Marley.

Meanwhile, Kevin’s family are en route from Miami to the Big Apple, and his mother decides to go out looking for him. Like the original, despite the amount of comedic violence throughout, the ending is warm and happy, with the bad guys defeated, and the entire extended McAlister family residing in a mammoth suite inside the Plaza Hotel for Christmas morning, with a truckload of presents.

Some of the great bits from the first film are duplicated here, but not in a way that makes it boringly repetitive. The scene where Kevin uses a videotape of the ‘Angels With Filthy Souls’ “sequel” to convince the hotel staff that there’s a madman with a gun loose – “I believe you, but my Tommy Gun don’t – is hilarious, as is the scene where a blow-up toy and a handheld cassette recorder called a ‘Talkbox’ is used to scare Tim Curry’s character out of the room that is purportedly occupied by Kevin and his father. The booby traps are bigger and better than before.

John Williams’ score is a good here as it was in the original, and a song written by Steve Van Zandt, “All Alone on Christmas” was released as a single, sung by Darlene Love and backed by Van Zandt and the rest of the E Street Band, is probably my favourite Christmas song. The promotional video features Macaulay Calkin riding on the shoulders of Clarence ‘Big Man’ Clemons during the epic sax solo in the middle of the song.

Despite negative reviews – that I don’t understand – Home Alone 2: Lost In New York was a major box office success, taking $31.1 million USD on opening weekend. The US boxoffice total was $173,585,516 with an international total of $358,994,850.