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.
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