Film history is littered with bad sequels to fantastic movies – Godfather, Caddyshack and The Matrix come to mind as examples of producers who didn’t know when to stop.
You have no doubt seen this analogy heading in to the 2012 BCS Title Game between the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide but it has two flaws – 1) the original game was not entertaining nor played at a high level, and 2) there is always the chance we will get a “Wrath of Khan” or a “Dark Knight” followup.
Defense. Honey Badger. Trent Richardson. The verbal stylings of Les Miles. Here is the SportsCentral Preview:
GoDaddy.com Bowl, Arkansas State (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (10-3), Mobile, Alabama Ladd Peebles Stadium- Kickoff 2100 ET (9pm)
Arkansas State
Sun Belt offensive player of the year Ryan Aplin is a dual threat QB passing for 3,235 yards with 18 touchdowns and running for a team-high 605 with nine scores for the Red Wolves. ASU has averaged over 38-points per game over the past six contests.
Aplin’s favorite target is senior Dwayne Frampton, who set a school record with 1,125 receiving yards on 90 catches.
Sun Belt defensive player of the year Brandon Joiner ranks among the national leaders with 12 sacks. The senior defensive end paces a unit that gives up 19.3 points per game.
The Red Wolves hope to continue their success without coach Hugh Freeze who left to take the head coaching job at Mississippi. While former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was named Arkansas State’s next coach last month current assistant coach David Gunn will guide the team in Mobile.
Northern Illinois
NIU features versatile QB Chandler Harnish, the MAC offensive player of the year who owns 20 school records. Harnish completed 63% of his passes for a career-high 2,942 yards while rushing for 1,382 and having his hand in 37 touchdowns – 11 rushing and 26 passing.
The Huskies rank 10th nationally with 481.8 yards per game and ninth with an average of 247.6 rushing yards.
Three Huskies receivers have caught at least 39 passes, led by senior Nathan Palmer, who set career highs with 46 receptions, 683 yards and seven TDs.
The Huskie defense has had its share of problems ranking in the bottom third of the nation allowing 31.1 points per game. However, they did not give up a second-half point in rallying from 20 down to beat Ohio 23-20 in the MAC championship game
NIU has a 4-7 bowl record while ASU is 0-1; these teams have met seven times with NIU holding a 6-1 edge winning most recently in 1996 31-30.
Comment: This will be a fun game to watch after the low-scoring NFL Playoffs. Considering their recent ASU coach change give the edge to NIU and pushing the MAC to an unprecedented 4-1 bowl record this year.
Discover Orange Bowl: Predicted Finish – Clemson 45 vs. West Virginia 35
Clemson tried to do it. They tried to have another epic meltdown late in the season just like they do every year. In fact, if they would have lost to Wake Forest, like I think they should have (they got lucky with some typically shoddy ACC officiating), they would not have made it to the ACC title game, and thus would not be in a BCS bowl. In fact, we probably would have seen the end of Dabo Swinney. But somehow, after back-to-back losses to close out the regular season, the Tigers managed to come out swinging against Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game and cruised to an easy victory right on into the Orange Bowl. Read the rest of this entry →
Allstate Sugar Bowl – predicted finish: Virginia Tech 19 vs. Michigan 24
What type of team is best suited to stop a running QB? I’d say a team that has arguably the best running QB in the entire NCAA; Michigan. Virginia Tech finally figured out that they could use their big 260 lb QB as a rusher by mid-season which got the Hokie’s stagnant offense clicking. But Michigan experienced a resurgence toward national relevance under new HC Brady Hoke, and they will know how to handle a QB with wheels.
Tech will look to use their rushing attack and solid defense to control the clock. Look for QB LoganThomas and RB David Wilson to run close to 40 plays on the ground. The Hokies has a pair of stud WRs in Danny Coale and Jarrett Boykin that struggled to live up to much this season, and a national stage could be just what they need for a breakout game. Wolverine QB Denard Robinson was asked to stay in the pocket more and learn to pass first. The offense struggled because of it. But once the coaches opened up the playbook a little and allowed Robinson to just make some plays, the offense began to really take off. The emergence of sophomore RB Fitzgerald Toussaintand WR Junior Hemmingway kept opposing defenses honest enough for Robinson to rush for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns.
This is going to be a little more defensive of a game as I would have hoped. Honestly, both teams have solid defenses and when you don’t play for a month, it tends to favor the defensive side of the ball more than the offense. This will be a relatively close game for most of the time so it should be a good one to watch.
Grasp this. Oregon and Wisconsin are two of 12 teams since 1996 to score at least 80 touchdowns in a season. In a season! Now Oregon has done it twice along with Oklahoma. Take your seat folks, please fasten your safety belts as this one could be a fast paced game that gives you a thrill ride like you have not seen in years. The Badgers average 44.6 points per game. The Ducks average 46.2. The Badgers give up an average of 17 points per game while the Ducks yield 23.6. Both teams are loaded and both teams have great offenses. Both these teams had visions of playing for the bigger prize this season but the Rose Bowl is still a great place for these teams. It is a game that should delight football fans everywhere. Read the rest of this entry →
