Football Wrap-Up 1/3/2022: Bowl Season is Over
Holy cow! So much to unpack after a long holiday weekend of football. I don't even know where to start!
I guess lets get the bad stuff out of the way first. Someone mentioned in one of the comments the other day that they love coming here each week to see what I have to say about the Lions.
Well, they still suck.
What more can I say than that. I tried to watch the game yesterday, I really did, but when they quickly found themselves down by 28 points or something like that and it wasn't even halftime yet I knew there was no point. I figured my time would be better spent watching the latest season of Grey's Anatomy with my wife.
Turns out I was right.
I had a feeling it wouldn't be pretty given the fact that they were playing in Seattle, but come on, 51 to 29? Did the defense even try? I think the most important thing to note about that score is the fact that Seattle allowed them to even score 29. That would indicate Boyle was at least doing something right while he stood in for Goff. I don't know.
I just don't even know.
Meanwhile Stafford and the Rams had a close but important victory. It looks like they have clinched a spot in the playoffs. Congrats to them on that. Here's hoping Stafford can have his first ever playoff win. Too bad it was with someone besides the Lions.
Enough of the depressing stuff, let's talk about the college bowls that took place over the last couple of days.
We managed to make it out of the year with only four bowl games being cancelled. I think that is pretty good considering everything that is going on.
This is another case where I am not really even sure where to start...
Michigan State won their game against Pitt. It wasn't pretty. I was actually not sure how it was going to all play out towards the end there. It definitely wasn't he defensive powerhouse that we saw go up agasint Michigan earlier in the season.
It is important to note that Pitt was on their third string QB since their starter decided not to play. On the same token, we had our offensive trump card sitting on the bench as well with Walker III deciding not to play.
It is important to note that the defense did step up when it really counted. That last minute interception sealed the deal. It was a magical thing to watch!
Despite the two playoff games happening this weekend (I will get to those in a bit), the two most exciting games I watched were the Ohio State/Utah game in the Rose Bowl, and probaby the Oklahoma State/Notre Dame game in the Fiesta Bowl.
A close third to those two would be the Music City Bowl with Tennessee losing to Purdue in overtime.
Oh, I also forgot to mention the Sun Bowl. Remember that bowl game that Central Michigan picked up at the last minute becuase their bowl game was cancelled? Yeah, well CMU won. They came out really strong and dominated the first quarter. Then Washington State came back and made a game of it.
It was tight, but Central Michigan game out on top. Talk about an awesome road to victory...
Being honest, I didn't watch the Notre Dame/Oklahoma State game. I really can't stand Notre Dame, and I am indifferent about Oklahoma State, so it wasn't really on my radar. I did see the score from time to time and it appears there was a pretty epic late game comeback that led to the Cowboys victory.
Kudos to them for that. Any day Notre Dame loses is a good day in my book.
But yeah, back to that Rose Bowl game. It was nothing short of epic. I am not a Ohio State fan, I was kind of hoping they would come out and crush Utah just to prove that they deserved to be in the playoffs more than Michigan.
Instead, we were treated to an old fashioned shoot out that ended with two teams leaving absolutely everything out on the field. It honestly could have went either way. It was just an absolute joy to watch. If you can go back and watch the highlights of this game, absolutely go do it.
Finally, let's talk about the college football championship. Yep, it is an SEC rematch. You can not like that fact all you want, but the truth is, they just do football better down south. I hate to admit it, but the record speaks for itself.
Perhaps one day that will shift, but for now, that is the world we live in.
Georgia absolutely destroyed Michigan and it was so fun to watch that happen. Meanwhile Alabama similarly destroyed Cincinnati, that was a bit sad, but still not unexpected. I guess it just goes to show that strength of schedule does have something to do with it.
I said to my wife the other day I would rather watch two SEC teams in the championship game than see Michigan in the championship game. I got my wish.
Did you watch any bowl games this past weekend?
What was your favorite one?
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Baylor beating Ole Miss was a good one.
The stats showed how desperate Ole Miss was in the second quarter.
Completing 5 of 7 4th down attempt was not enough to save them. Baylor won 21-7.
Ah yes, I remember saying to my wife Baylor and Ole Miss are playing, who cares. I think that was actually the night we started getting caught up on the current season of Grey's. :) Maybe that was later in the weekend, I honestly don't remember.
I have heard of the Rose Bowl but none of the others and why are their so many as surely it takes away from whatever bowl they are playing for.
Yeah, there used to be a lot less of them, but then the corporate sponsorships got a bit out of hand and now there are a lot more of them. It used to be pretty prestigious to get selected to play in a bowl game (plus there is usually a payout to both teams), but now a lot of players don't even play in them because they don't want to get hurt and ruin their chances in the professional world.
Can i get a bit of backstory as to why this is the case? I went to a Catholic school as a child so we were basically obligated to support ND.
I think that is part of it. It's not that I don't like Catholics, my wife is one. I think it is just the idea that people love Notre Dame even though they don't know a thing about sports. Part of it is Lou Holtz. He drove me crazy when he was a commentator/analyst. I've never seen Rudy. Perhaps I would have a different opinion if I had :)
Rudy is a pretty great film... you should definitely see that if you get the chance.
I share your sentiment with Holtz, there's just something about his voice that gets under my skin. His relative Skip Holtz got a job in football based solely on his surname and he was just terrible and one Lou was out of the picture at South Carolina he quit before they had a chance to fire him.
Nepotism at its finest! I am sure he was a great coach (maybe), but I just couldn't stand his drunken slur of a voice during commentary. Watch it is some kind of disability and now I am just a jerk...
Didn't have the time to watch unfortunately, but your recap helped me fill some of the void. Thank you!
Glad I could help! There were a lot of really great games. I was a bit nervous with all of the omicron stuff going on we might get cheated out of some good match-ups.