Alabama, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Maryland and Illinois All Earn Victories in Bowl Games
Oppressive and relentless might be two good adjectives to describe what Alabama, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Maryland and Illinois did to their college football bowl game opponents this season. Let's start with Alabama, which body-slammed Michigan State 49-7 in the Capital One Bowl.
The 15th-ranked Crimson Tide players reeled off a 49-zip lead before the 7th-ranked Michigan State Spartans could figure out how to tie the laces on their cleats.
Not only were the Spartans two steps behind at every turn, they missed 6 tackles on one play when Mark Ingram, the Tide's 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, bulled his way through what was supposed to be Michigan State's defense on a 30-yard reception in the 2nd quarter.
Ingram would score 2 rushing TDs and break Shaun Alexander's career touchdown mark (41) with 42 at game's end. Greg McElroy went 13-for-17 (76%) for 220 yards and a 37-yard scoring pass to Marquis Maze.
The Crimson Tide offense scored touchdowns on their first 4 possessions, and their defense - led by Courtney Upshaw (a 6-2, 263-pound linebacker) and Marcell Dareus (a 6-4, 306-pound defensive end) - held MSU to 171 total yards and sacked Kirk Cousins 4 times. Alabama dominated in every phase of the game.
Coach Nick Saban's team, the defending national champions, would finish the year at 10-3. Saban and Spartan coach Mark Dantonio have coached together and are good friends. Saban did not want to run up the score, so he pulled most of his starters in the 3rd quarter. The Crimson Tide was able to keep on scoring anyway.
Even though they were trounced, do not feel to bad for the Michigan State players. The Spartans came into the game at 11-1 and ended their season at 11-2. They tied for the Big Ten title and had a very successful season. Dantonio has Michigan State on the fast track to success; the loss to Alabama in a high-profile game will not dampen the Spartans recruiting effort.
One reason excellent recruiting will continue at Michigan State is because its chief rival - Michigan - has had a really medocre season. The Wolverines (now 7-6) were beaten senseless by the 21st-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, 52-14, in the Gator Bowl.
Mississippi State scored on all 5 possessions in the 1st half and led 31-14 at halftime. Bulldog Chris Relf went 18-for-23 (78%) for 281 yards and accounted for 4 touchdowns, 3 passing and 1 rushing. Vick Ballard ran for another 3 TDs. Mississippi State rolled up 485 yards of offense, and had five 4th-down conversions.
Michigan's non-existent defense made the middle-of-the-pack SEC Bulldogs look like champions. The Wolverines specialize in a "sieve" defense - they have given up 34 or more points 8 times in their last 9 games, and have lost 6 of their last 8 games.
The 38-point beat-down was the worst bowl loss in Michigan's storied history. Wolverine coach Rich Rodriguez might want to use some of his big salary to hire a security team, if nothing else, he should lock all of his doors at night.
Rodriguez has raised losing seasons to an art form at Michigan. This matters to the Michigan fan base because the Wolverines have college football's winningest program. No school has won more games than Michigan. In 3 seasons at Michigan, Rodriguez is 15-22 overall and 1-11 against ranked teams.
The 16th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys had a lot of fun running past the Arizona Wildcats 36-10 in the Alamo Bowl, and no one ran faster or had more fun than the nation's top receiver, Justin Blackmon.
Blackmon caught 9 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, with one for 71 yards. The Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation's top receiver set an NCAA record with his 12th straight game with at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown. Blackmon won the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Award, and has surpassed former Pittsburgh star Larry Fitzgerald for the most receiving yards as a sophomore.
The only question is, will Justin Blackmon leave for the NFL?
Oklahoma State (11-2) led the nation in total offense, scoring 33+ points for the 11th time this season. The bowl win also gave the Cowboys their first 11-win season. Unfortunately, the Cowboys will lose their offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, who is leaving to become the coach-in-waiting at West Virginia.
Arizona (7-6) started the season at 7-1 and has since gone 0-5.
Ralph Friedgen and his Terrapins went 2-10 in 2009, and things were not looking good for the Maryland football program. This season Maryland would go 9-4 after steamrolling over East Carolina 51-20 in the Military Bowl, the highest point total Maryland has ever scored in a bowl game.
D. J. Adams scored 4 short-yardage touchdowns for Maryland, and Da'Rel Scott had 61 and 91-yard TD runs while rushing for 200 yards on 13 carries (15.38 ypc). It should be noted that East Carolina has the worst total defense among 120 major college teams.
Friedgen's rebound from 2-10 to 8-4 was the second-biggest regular season turnaround among major colleges this season. He was selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year. In his 10th year at Maryland, Friedgen's record is 75-50 (60%) and the Terps have a 5-2 mark in bowl games.
Friedgen's reward for the turnaround was being fired by Kevin Anderson, Maryland's athletic director.
Against East Carolina (6-7), Maryland rolled up 478 yards of offense. East Carolina was totally inept. The Pirates had 15 penalties, 4 turnovers, a blocked extra point, and missed a 25-yard field goal.
Illinois got great performances from junior running back Mikel LeShoure and freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase as the Illini exploded against the Baylor Bears, 38-14, to win the Texas Bowl.
LeShoure picked up 184 yards on 29 carries (6.34 ypc) and scored 3 touchdowns. LeShoure set single-season school records for rushing yards (1,697), points (122), touchdowns (20), 100-yard rushing games (9), and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (5). He was the Texas Bowl's Most Valuable Player.
Scheelhaase completed his first 13 passes (most ever in school history) on his way to an 18-for-23 performance (78%) for 242 yards and added a 55-yard scoring run.
Illinois' great win spoiled the Baylor Bears first bowl appearance in 16 seasons. Both teams finished the year at 7-6.
The 15th-ranked Crimson Tide players reeled off a 49-zip lead before the 7th-ranked Michigan State Spartans could figure out how to tie the laces on their cleats.
Not only were the Spartans two steps behind at every turn, they missed 6 tackles on one play when Mark Ingram, the Tide's 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, bulled his way through what was supposed to be Michigan State's defense on a 30-yard reception in the 2nd quarter.
Ingram would score 2 rushing TDs and break Shaun Alexander's career touchdown mark (41) with 42 at game's end. Greg McElroy went 13-for-17 (76%) for 220 yards and a 37-yard scoring pass to Marquis Maze.
The Crimson Tide offense scored touchdowns on their first 4 possessions, and their defense - led by Courtney Upshaw (a 6-2, 263-pound linebacker) and Marcell Dareus (a 6-4, 306-pound defensive end) - held MSU to 171 total yards and sacked Kirk Cousins 4 times. Alabama dominated in every phase of the game.
Coach Nick Saban's team, the defending national champions, would finish the year at 10-3. Saban and Spartan coach Mark Dantonio have coached together and are good friends. Saban did not want to run up the score, so he pulled most of his starters in the 3rd quarter. The Crimson Tide was able to keep on scoring anyway.
Even though they were trounced, do not feel to bad for the Michigan State players. The Spartans came into the game at 11-1 and ended their season at 11-2. They tied for the Big Ten title and had a very successful season. Dantonio has Michigan State on the fast track to success; the loss to Alabama in a high-profile game will not dampen the Spartans recruiting effort.
One reason excellent recruiting will continue at Michigan State is because its chief rival - Michigan - has had a really medocre season. The Wolverines (now 7-6) were beaten senseless by the 21st-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, 52-14, in the Gator Bowl.
Mississippi State scored on all 5 possessions in the 1st half and led 31-14 at halftime. Bulldog Chris Relf went 18-for-23 (78%) for 281 yards and accounted for 4 touchdowns, 3 passing and 1 rushing. Vick Ballard ran for another 3 TDs. Mississippi State rolled up 485 yards of offense, and had five 4th-down conversions.
Michigan's non-existent defense made the middle-of-the-pack SEC Bulldogs look like champions. The Wolverines specialize in a "sieve" defense - they have given up 34 or more points 8 times in their last 9 games, and have lost 6 of their last 8 games.
The 38-point beat-down was the worst bowl loss in Michigan's storied history. Wolverine coach Rich Rodriguez might want to use some of his big salary to hire a security team, if nothing else, he should lock all of his doors at night.
Rodriguez has raised losing seasons to an art form at Michigan. This matters to the Michigan fan base because the Wolverines have college football's winningest program. No school has won more games than Michigan. In 3 seasons at Michigan, Rodriguez is 15-22 overall and 1-11 against ranked teams.
The 16th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys had a lot of fun running past the Arizona Wildcats 36-10 in the Alamo Bowl, and no one ran faster or had more fun than the nation's top receiver, Justin Blackmon.
Blackmon caught 9 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, with one for 71 yards. The Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation's top receiver set an NCAA record with his 12th straight game with at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown. Blackmon won the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Award, and has surpassed former Pittsburgh star Larry Fitzgerald for the most receiving yards as a sophomore.
The only question is, will Justin Blackmon leave for the NFL?
Oklahoma State (11-2) led the nation in total offense, scoring 33+ points for the 11th time this season. The bowl win also gave the Cowboys their first 11-win season. Unfortunately, the Cowboys will lose their offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, who is leaving to become the coach-in-waiting at West Virginia.
Arizona (7-6) started the season at 7-1 and has since gone 0-5.
Ralph Friedgen and his Terrapins went 2-10 in 2009, and things were not looking good for the Maryland football program. This season Maryland would go 9-4 after steamrolling over East Carolina 51-20 in the Military Bowl, the highest point total Maryland has ever scored in a bowl game.
D. J. Adams scored 4 short-yardage touchdowns for Maryland, and Da'Rel Scott had 61 and 91-yard TD runs while rushing for 200 yards on 13 carries (15.38 ypc). It should be noted that East Carolina has the worst total defense among 120 major college teams.
Friedgen's rebound from 2-10 to 8-4 was the second-biggest regular season turnaround among major colleges this season. He was selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year. In his 10th year at Maryland, Friedgen's record is 75-50 (60%) and the Terps have a 5-2 mark in bowl games.
Friedgen's reward for the turnaround was being fired by Kevin Anderson, Maryland's athletic director.
Against East Carolina (6-7), Maryland rolled up 478 yards of offense. East Carolina was totally inept. The Pirates had 15 penalties, 4 turnovers, a blocked extra point, and missed a 25-yard field goal.
Illinois got great performances from junior running back Mikel LeShoure and freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase as the Illini exploded against the Baylor Bears, 38-14, to win the Texas Bowl.
LeShoure picked up 184 yards on 29 carries (6.34 ypc) and scored 3 touchdowns. LeShoure set single-season school records for rushing yards (1,697), points (122), touchdowns (20), 100-yard rushing games (9), and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (5). He was the Texas Bowl's Most Valuable Player.
Scheelhaase completed his first 13 passes (most ever in school history) on his way to an 18-for-23 performance (78%) for 242 yards and added a 55-yard scoring run.
Illinois' great win spoiled the Baylor Bears first bowl appearance in 16 seasons. Both teams finished the year at 7-6.
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