2024-12-28 10:39

The 3rd set of bowls are over.
The number of games is heavy, and the big flood of bowls is still coming.
I wish they would half the games, so they are something special again, but likely that will not happen.

Let's review the last set of bowls.

THIRD SET OF BOWLs

Thursday, December 26
GameAbove Sports Bowl
Pitt vs Toledo
This game became one of the strangest bowl games so far his season.
It started with a Toledo TD, after which the extra point was blocked, and Pitt was able to take the ball after the block and run it all the way to the other endzone for 2 points.
Then a bit later did Pitt score a TD to take the lead, extended it with a field goal and did then Toledo allowed to score a TD again a few drives later.
On the next drive and the 1st play of that dive did then Pitt throw an INT and Toledo scored a TD on the return, to take a 20:12 lead to the locker room.
That shift of the lead did happen within less than 1 and a half minute.
After the break did Pitt throw another INT but prevented some scoring by Toledo and a few drives later did Pitt score a TD and tied the game.
A Rockets fumble and a Rockets INT gave the Panthers a chance to take and extend the lead to 30:20.
But that game was far from over.
Early in the 4th quarter did Pitt throw another INT, which was again returned to the house and a few plays later did Toledo again get the ball for a long drive to tie the score with a field goal.
Pittsburgh tried to win the game on their last drive, but failed to get into field goal range and the game went to OT.
Both scored a TD on the 1st OT, both a field goal on 2nd OT.
Now it's always do or die with just one play on each drive.
And the teams did Keep on scoring, until in 6th OT Toledo scored and Pittsburgh did throw a bad pass to a WR, too short to catch.
The Rockets won this 48:46.
The Panthers were very error prone and did play poorly, while Toledo looked really like fun.
Jacks BOWL Score: 7-4

Rate Bowl
Rutgers vs Kansas State
Rutgers had a great 1st half and led 27:17, thanks to a KSU INT late in the 2nd quarter, which did prevent a Wildcats score and gave Rutgers the chance to extend the lead.
After the break did Rutgers had the better start in the 3rd quarter and stopped the Wildcats on their 1st drive and scored on the 1st Knights drive a TD to have 17 points lead.
But after an exchange of punts did Kansas State have a big play on their 1st play and ran for 65 yards and a TD to cut the lead. The 2-pointer-try failed.
But no problem, Rutgers turned the ball over and Kansas State scored again, failed again the 2-pointer. Now down by 5.
Early in the 4th did then Rutgers score, but Kansas State answered right away and kept the 5-points deficit alive.
Rutgers got the ball back, but failed to produce something, KSU got it afterwards and needed just 3 plays to score another TD and this time the 2-pointer was good.
The Wildcats now in the lead by 3 Points.
The Knights tried to get back on the board, but failed to get into kicking range, which gave the Wildcats the chance to run down the Clock to win 44:41.
The Wildcats running game was great, even without their starter, the backup ran for a record 196 Yards and the whole team for 347 in total.
Big win for Kansas State.
Jacks BOWL Score: 8-4

68 Ventures Bowl
Arkansas State vs Bowling Green
Bowling Green had some critical errors in this game, which helped Arkansas State to win here.
After the 1st Falcon drive did the Red Wolves return the punt 60 yards for a TD.
Then, after a few scoring drives on both sides, did Bowling Green get a 43-yarder blocked.
And after an Arkansas State INT did Bowling Green only get a field goal try and missed a 39 yarder.
Bottom line of those issues, the Falcons were behind, 21:24.
But that was not enough.
Start of the 3rd quarter and Bowling Green did fumble the ball away on the 1st play.
Arkansas State scored a TD and Bowling Green did answer with a field goal.
Later, after a missed field Goal by the Red Wolves did Bowling Green take the momentum and turned the games? No.
They took the ball, yes, marched over the field, yes, but failed on any-down-and-goal and did then miss a 32-yarder on top.
When Arkansas State then scored another TD with 3 minutes left to play, it did start to look grim for the Falcons.
They took the ball and finally scored a TD again on their own, 100 seconds left to play.
Did they get the on-side-kick? Of course not and so the Falcons did had to watch the seconds going away.
The Red Wolves won this, 38:31, thanks to a Falcons team, which had bad luck or not enough passion to play here.
Jacks BOWL Score: 8-5

Friday, December 27
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Oklahoma vs Navy
What I really hate on Bowl games is, that you never know, what team does show up.
Oklahoma had so much time to prepare on this game and it just did not show up, from my point of view.
Yes, they started strong and scored 2 touchdowns on the first 2 drives, but then ... almost nothing until late in the 4th quarter on offense.
And on defense, man, what a disappointment.
Navy is playing option-football, they did pass for less than 70 yards.
Still, that SEC defense, allowed 226 yards rushing, while they only needed to put in 8 or even 9 guys in the box and kill the run.
I don't get it.
Congratulation to Navy on THAT accomplishment, because you did let that big school look foolish and bad.
To make this short, Navy did overcome the 14-point deficit in the 3rd quarter, took the lead mid-4th quarter and did then allow a last strong Oklahoma drive to score a TD with 6 ticks left to play.
And Oklahoma thought they can win on the momentum, tried a 2-pointer for the win and that dump o-line did collapse like a Swiss-cheese-Jenga-tower on which you take away that last piece holding it all together and the QB was sacked for the win.
The QB was helpless, because the play selected was as stupid as it can be, he did extend the time as long as possible, but the receiver had so long and complicated lanes to run, time was up before anyone was free to pass to.
Man, those coaches ....
Navy won, 21:20 and can be proud, while Oklahoma has from my point of view a problem on motivation and coaching.
Jacks BOWL Score: 8-6

Birmingham Bowl
Georgia Tech vs Vanderbilt
This I will make short.
Both teams came to play, and it was a hell of a fight, decided by 2 turnovers, which did gave Vanderbilt the edge to win this, 35:27.
Great season for Vanderbilt, but also a good one for Georgia Tech, even the wins did not line up as they would have deserved them.
Both teams, traditionally more the losing teams, than the winning teams, seem to be on the right track to become teams you don't like to play.
Jacks BOWL Score: 8-7

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Texas Tech vs Arkansas
Texas Tech a Chance for the 1st half and then did Arkansas pull away and playing catchup did not work out good for the Red Raiders.
Turnovers, Safeties, Texas Tech did have it all and gave by that Arkansas more scoring chances and ball possessions than usual.
At the end did Texas Tech correct the score a bit in garbage time, but Arkansas did win clearly, 39:26.
I like it, how Arkansas did develop during the season, maybe next year they can make some more noise.
But with the transfer portal and money on players, this can go any way.
Jacks BOWL Score: 9-7

DirecTV Holiday Bowl
#21 Syracuse vs Washington State
Washington State has still not found their new HC, but the coach here would have been the interims coach anyway.
Syracuse had a big 2nd quarter and did pull away, leading 35:21 at the half.
Then did Washington State found their balance again, but that was only enough to equal the 2nd half more or less out, so Syracuse did win 52:35.
Overall, did not much decide the game, both teams were almost even, but small errors on the 2nd quarter did give Syracuse the chance to score a lot of points and then the game was over.
I hope both teams do get some additions in off-season, I like their offense power and hope they can play on national level next season.
Jacks BOWL Score: 10-7

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
USC vs Texas A&M
USC did play not good here, but the Aggies played bad.
Still did USC need a big 4th quarter to game in their favor.
We had in total 5 INTs combined, 2 missed field goals combined and at the end had USC just the smarter time management to win the game with a score on their last drive, 35:31.
Both teams will get a big makeover during the off-season, USC because the win total was unacceptable to keep the job, A&M, because the coach had the 1st full off-season and will adjust the roster to get better.
Jacks BOWL Score: 10-8

That brings us to the next round of bowls.

The FOURTH SET OF BOWLs is all on Saturday 28th of December.

Saturday, December 28
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
UConn vs North Carolina
@Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
A quite new bowl, with its 3rd game now.
The game is in the stadium of the Boston Red Sox, a team from the MLB.
Fenway Park is a very old Baseball Stadium, which many Americans like a lot, because it's some sort of history.
It has those strange circumstances that there are external viewing sites on the houses next to the stadium.
The matchup was planned as ACC/AAC/Notre Dame.
We got an Indy Team vs an ACC team.
UConn has the best season regarding wins since 2010. They are right now 8-4, but if you look a bit deeper, the record is a bit tarnished.
The best win was against Buffalo from the MAC, the rest are all against teams with sub-.500-record and no win against any power 4 School.
They had close games against Duke, Syracuse and Wake Forest, but all losses.
I'm not saying that the team did not play good this season, but they are not as good as other 8-4 Teams from stronger conferences.
They do play a team in transition.
UNC did play a bad season, compared to the last years, finished 6-6 and the HC was fired, even he was hired a few seasons ago with so much hurray.
His successor is not in charge yet, so an Interims Coach will do the Job in the bowl.
Still, UNC should have the strength and power to win, if the team wants to play is something I cannot judge.
Vegas is not certain and gave UNC a 2.5 points favorite role, but in best case, this should be shattered by a mile and in worst case, it is not worth anything.
What speaks for UConn is, that their teams seem to be intact and therefore I assume they are willing to play, but UNC faces a massive makeover and how that does influence the players ... we will see,
I'm torn between the dismiss of UConns strength and the idea of a Tar Heels Teams, which is not in this game at all.
Huskies win.

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Boston College vs Nebraska
@Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
The Pinstripe Bowl is played since 2010.
It should feature an ACC team against a BIG 10 team.
This matchup is valid since 2014 and of 9 games, the BIG 10 has won 8, including last seasons win.
Played inside the Baseball stadium of the NY Yankees, this should draw some attention by that already.
And the matchup is interesting, because Boston College (7-5) had a very good season under their new HC and is longing for more, I think.
On the other hand, did Nebraska (6-6) start great, but lost too many games during the season inside the conference.
They had high hopes to have a big breakthrough season finished so far with only 1 win more than last year.
Still, they are favored by 4.0 points.
I personally think, Boston College is responding very well to their HC and the team has the ability to win one more.
Nebraska had issues on all sides of the ball and sure, they can try to fix stuff until this game here happens, but on both sides of the field will be ex-NFL-HCs stand, so BC will prepare also.
My gut does prefer BC to come in and excel, while Nebraska might come in and win or do again show issues.
Eagles win.

Isleta New Mexico Bowl
TCU vs Louisiana
@University Stadium , Albuquerque, New Mexico
Played on campus of the New Mexico Lobos, where it is played since the start at 2006.
It's a ESPN operated bowl and usually fields teams from MWC and CUSA.
The MWC did send a team in 18 of 18 games so far and did record 12 win and 5 losses, including last seasons win.
The CUSA had 7 games with 1-6, including last seasons loss.
But of course we did get something different with BIG-12 vs Sun Belt, with no team ever from those conferences played in this bowl.
TCU (8-4) did start with some trouble but finished strong with 5 wins in 6 games. But with their schedule (what we know now) there could have been more.
Losses to UCF and Houston (both 4-8) were not really understandable but happened.
On the other side is Louisiana (10-3), which did start strong, lost only to Tulane in week 3, but lost 2 more in the last 4 games, including the Championship game.
Naturally, a Sun Belt team is the underdog in a game against a power 4 team, here TCU is favored by 10.0 points.
With the lack of performance by the Cajuns in the past weeks, they need a clumsy playing TCU team to win, I think.
Horned Frogs win.

Pop-Tarts Bowl
#18 Iowa State vs #13 Miami
@Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida
This bowl here is operated since 1990 and had so many names during that time it is useless to write them all down.
Another 'Sponsor buys the naming rights'-bowl.
Usually, it's ACC vs BIG-12 matchup.
The ACC did play already 29 games in this bowl and has a 17-12 record, including last years loss.
The BIG-12 had so far 13 games and a 5-8 record, including last years win.
The stadium is only used for Citrus Bowl and this you-name-it-bowl (Pop-Tarts Bowl) and is also the home field of the XFL team Orlando Guardians since 2023.
Iowa State (10-3) was close to do something, which is not common with the school, winning a title.
But they lost against Arizona State and have to settle with this bowl, instead of playing for a National Championship on top.
Miami (10-2) did not even had a chance to win a championship, because they lost steam on the last 3 week and won only 1 of those games, which did put them behind Clemson and out of the Championship game and out of the playoffs.
Of course, they were whining about their #13 spot on the committee ranking, how unfair that is and so on, but get balls boys, you lost to Georgia Tech and Syracuse and want to play for a National Championship? Pffff.
Regardless, the betting line is Miami -4.0, which seems OK, but it is actually unknown, how Iowa State will fair against Miami and vice versa.
Iowa State did show issues on the lines against ASU, so maybe they will be again overpowered.
But on the other side they have many time to prepare and to adjust and did also show great defense in the past.
Miami on the other side did show signs of offense trouble against good defenses, so if Iowa State brings in good pressure, Miami might collapse and lose.
I hope for a great and close game here.
My heart says Cyclones, by gut says Hurricanes.
I go with the gut.
Hurricanes win.

Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice
Miami (OH) vs Colorado State
@Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona
The Bowl exists since 2015 and is supposed to field a Mid-American team against a Mountain West team.
The contest is played on the home field of the Arizona Wildcats.
And yes, Snoop Dogg did let his alcohol brand sponsor the bowl.
Quite new, the bowl did feature in all bowls so far (no contest in 2021) a Mountain West (9) team and they have a 5-4 record, including last seasons win.
But in 2015 did TWO MWC teams fight against each other .... so the stat is a bit tainted.
MAC Teams did play 3 games so far here and have a 2-1 record.
We got the anticipated matchup and Colorado State (8-4) had already played in this bowl an lost.
The Rams had a rough start into the season on non-conference games but did prevail inside the MWC until they lost to Fresno State on the 2nd to last gameday, which did push them out of the Championship game.
Miami (8-5) had a bad season start in non-conference games, lost also early a game inside the conference, but then did win all games from there onwards (7 in a row), including a win against Ohio, reached the Championship game and lost there big time against Ohio.
Regarding level of strength CSU should be a favorite here.
The MWC is on a higher level than the MAC, but Vegas favors Miami (OH) by 2.5 points.
Both teams had their bad days on the field, so hard to predict, how the teams will come here.
My feeling is, with the preparation time Colorado State should be able to be ready, so I do pick them to win a close game.
Rams win.

Go Bowling Military Bowl
NC State vs East Carolina
@Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland
Created in 2008 this should feature until 2025/2026 season an ACC vs AAC matchup (or Notre Dame).
It's played on the homefield of the Midshipmen.
Both conferences did send so far, the most teams, ACC 11 times, won 7, including last seasons win, the American 8 times, won 3, with last season a loss.
You could add 1 appearance and win to the American, since Navy did play in 2008 as Indy and won and is now part of the AAC, but that would statistically not be correct.
NC State had a rough season in the new ACC without divisions and ended up with a 6-6 record.
The team did lose mostly against better teams, as it turned out, but also to Wake Forest.
East Carolina did start actually bad and at 3-4, after a loss to later AAC Champ Army, the program did fire the HC and the DC got the Interim HC Job handed to him.
He did not hesitate the challenge and won 4 in a row, only to lose on the last gameday to Navy, ending the Season overall 7-5 and with a bowl bid.
The Interims tag was removed after that.
NC State is favored by 7.0 and maybe that is right, given the different level of strength between the AAC and the ACC, but in bowls like this, everything is possible.
On paper, NC State should be able to get the game under their control, slowly maybe, but step by step.
In reality, it will come down to the effort everyone put on the field and that I can not predict.
I think East Carolina has a case regarding motivation, with the new HC taken over during the season and saving the season together with the team.
Is that enough to overcome an experienced ACC coach with a power 4 talent level roster?
I don't know, but my gut feeling is, the Wolfpack will do this.
Wolfpack win.

Valero Alamo Bowl
#23 Colorado vs #17 BYU
@Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
The dome in San Antonio is the home of the San Antonio Spurs, the Basketball team, and they play in only half of the dome as far as I know.
Initially the dome was built to get an NFL team to San Antonio, but they still wait for that and with new build domes are now way fancier, I guess they will never see an NFL team playing there regularly. It's right now also the home field of the UTSA Roadrunners and the UFL team San Antonio Brahmas.
The Alamo bowl is played since 1993 and does feature BIG 12 vs PAC-12, but with the PAC-12 having only 2 teams, this could be tricky. They did the tricky by adding a FORMER PAC-12 Team.
The BIG 12 did send so far, the most teams, 28 and has a record of 15-13, including last years loss (now 2 in a row). The PAC-12 did play 16 games so far and has a 7-9 record, including last years win (2 in a row now).
So, 2 BIG-12 teams, who did not play against each other this season. Colorado (9-3) is one of the most hyped teams this season, because their HC got much media attention, and his son is the QB and one of the WR does also play DB (and won the Heisman at the end). But the team did fail to get to the Championship game, because they were not able to win against Kansas State during the season and Kansas on the last gameday.
BYU (10-2) on the other hand was not on many radars at the start of the season, but got ON the radar fast, by winning the 1st 9 games. They then lost 2 in a row afterwards and did sink out of the Championship participation places by that.
So, 2 contenders, not playing against each other, both with a miss on their great ambitions.
My feeling is, Colorado has all the tools to dominate here, if the team comes intact.
The coaches son and the Heisman winner did get major insurance added to them to play.
Vegas has Colorado ahead by 3.0 points. We will see.
Buffaloes win.

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
#22 Army vs Louisiana Tech
@Independence Stadium, Shreveport, Louisiana
Played since 1976 and current tie-ins are Big 12 vs PAC-12.
The alignment does change from time to time and honestly, I think they grab what's available, leaning maybe towards some teams more than some others.
The stadium is usually only used for this bowl on sports, beside some event games.
Record holder on this is the SEC, but their last game here was 2016.
Army (11-2) won the AAC and had a great season, came to the conference new this season, got to the Championship game and won it. But the last sweet bonus, or some might say, the lone purpose of the season, was denied, when Navy did dominate them in the Army-Navy-game and took home the Commander-In-Chief-Trophy.
Well, at least Army can play a bowl game on top here.
And their opponent is screwed, for sure.
Planned was the Sun Belt Champion Marshall, but they had trouble with outgoing transfers and decided not to participate. Pffff.
Now a new team had to be found and since no additional team was eligible, a 5-7 Team was selected, with the highest APR (academic progress rate).
The fun fact is, LT was also hit by outgoing transfers, almost on the same level as Marshall, but that school took the opportunity and said yes.
The result is a massive mismatch here, at least on paper.
Vegas does think the same and made Army a 14.0-point favorite, which is one of the biggest lines so far.
Not much to preview here on top.
Army is full intact and is not hit by transfers, since they do work different at the academies, and LT is a mediocre team at best this season, hit by transfers, from a weaker conference.
Black Knights win.

That's it for the 4th set of Bowl games.
Next blog post on 30th of December.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

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