SB Nation 2011 College Football Bowls
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Boise State should've been in one of the season's top five bowls for Kellen Moore's last game, but instead they were stuck splattering the Sun Devils in Sin City.
The amateur career of Boise St. Broncos passer Kellen Moore, the winningest quarterback in college football history, ends in appropriate fashion: a complete dismantling of a mediocre western team. The final score was 56-24, and if you weren't reminded the Arizona St. Sun Devils are a BCS conference team, you'd be tempted to think of it as just another Broncos trampling of some WAC team.
Said it before, saying it again: the Las Vegas Bowl is beneath these Broncos. For the second year in a row, they've come to Sin City to obliterate an inferior opponent instead of a legitimate challenger. We get to complain about it frequently.
Moore finished with 266 yards, two touchdowns and a handful of turnovers, so the game ball goes to Doug Martin, who turned in 151 yards rushing, 26 yards on catches and a 100-yard kick return. Receiver Gerell Robinson was pretty much ASU's entire attack, gaining 241 of their 384 yards.
In other news, the career of Dennis Erickson, which includes two national titles and lasting contributions to offensive strategy, likely comes to a close.
Still, the story is Boise State, and you better put on a great show in that Sugar Bowl, Virginia Tech.
For more on the Broncos, check out Boise State blog One Boise Nation Under God. For more on the Sun Devils, visit Arizona State blog House of Sparky. Stick around for more college football news and so forth.
The Arizona St. Sun Devils showed signs of life early in the second half of the 2011 Las Vegas Bowl. Very early, in fact, as Rashad Ross ran back the opening kickoff to give ASU its first touchdown of the game, mirroring Boise St. Broncos running back Doug Martin's game-christening kickoff touchdown. It was then 28-10 Broncos, but reached 35-10 shortly after.
On the next drive, Kellen Moore was picked off and nearly pick-sixed by Colin Parker thanks to some pressure:
ASU made a little progress before facing a fourth down. Soon-to-be-ousted coach Dennis Erickson sent out the punt team, but Brock Osweiler responded by forcibly waving the special teamers back to the sideline. Boise State brought the house and hurried his throw, but it was a fine show of spirit for the quarterback of a team getting buried by a superior squad.
Moore fumbled away a ball on Boise's next effort, setting up an ASU march to the goal line. On that fourth down, Osweiler attempted a fade that was picked off by Jamar Taylor and run back 100 yards -- with Erickson clearly calling for a time out well before the play began. Dennis Erickson may be some sort of ghost only visible to television cameras.
The game's ACC officials took a look and evidently saw nothing to overturn.
For more on the Broncos, check out Boise State blog One Boise Nation Under God. For more on the Sun Devils, visit Arizona State blog House of Sparky. Stick around for more college football news and so forth.
Despite being up by plenty, Boise State added a touchdown just before halftime of the 2011 Las Vegas Bowl, converting a fourth down and setting up a touchdown pass from freshman receiver Matt Miller to Kyle Efaw. If you think Chris Petersen is using Arizona State as his personal BCS stand-in this evening, you might be onto something. It's 28-3 at the half.
The lowlight for Boise State: a previous pass on a reverse by Kirby Moore, relation of Kellen. The warbling trembler had Chris Fowler chuckling for at least two minutes afterward. Fowler's been entertained all evening, adding a "Why not?" to a late-half holding penalty against ASU.
Boise State has 269 yards worth of offense, plus a 100-yard kick return. The Sun Devils have 106, plus 54 yards worth of penalties. This game is beneath Boise State.
ASU's first real chance at points ended with a 32-yard field goal. While down by 21 in a bowl game during Dennis Erickson's last day on the job. To put it in Vegas blackjack terms, the Sun Devils are standing at 12.
This is how things were going a while ago:
For more on the Broncos, check out Boise State blog One Boise Nation Under God. For more on the Sun Devils, visit Arizona State blog House of Sparky. Stick around for more college football news and so forth.
The Boise St. Broncos are now up 14-0 on the Arizona St. Sun Devils, tacking a Tyler Shoemaker touchdown onto their early lead. Kellen Moore hit a wide-open "SHOOOOOOE" (as the many traveling Broncos fans bellowed) for the 14-yard score, concluding a 54-yard drive.
So far, neither team looks terribly motivated, but the Broncos are so well-oiled they could put up points in their sleep. Not to say they're playing without effort by any means -- witness guard Chuck Hayes leading Geraldo Boldewijn 44 yards down the field on a screen. Shoemaker did drop a pass, but that's about it.
With ASU, drowsiness doesn't quite come off so well. They have a scant 24 yards after 10 minutes, which is barely more than three Brock Osweilers worth of yardage (we're up to two mentions of his height so far). Their response drive has opened with consecutive penalties. Oh me.
For more on the Broncos, check out Boise State blog One Boise Nation Under God. For more on the Sun Devils, visit Arizona State blog House of Sparky. Stick around for more college football news and so forth.
Just getting settled in here and ready to update some Las Vegas Bowl scores. Let's see, on this side we have the Boise St. Broncos, and on that side there are the Arizona St. Sun Devils. Brock Osweiler is tall, yes, yes, everything is in order and OMG there goes Doug Martin with a touchdown on the opening kickoff.
It was officially a 100-yard return, removing just 15 seconds from the game clock. At this rate, BSU will score upwards of 50 points easily. Arizona State special teams! But then Boise State special teams, as the Broncos kicked off out of bounds.
We've had one mention so far of Osweiler being six-foot-eight. Kirk Herbstreit was the culprit. We'll be keeping track.
For more on the Broncos, check out Boise State blog One Boise Nation Under God. For more on the Sun Devils, visit Arizona State blog House of Sparky. Stick around for more college football news and so forth.
TheToday's Rootability index helps the uninvested fan decide who to pull for in a contest where they have no clear interest. Tonight's quarry: the fascinating matchup between Boise State and Arizona State in MAACO Las Vegas Bowl. You'll watch, because Vontaze Burfict will be playing his universal antipodes, Kellen Moore. If the two destroy each other, the universe as we know it ceases to exist. This is the exact plot of a Nicolas Cage movie coming out in five months.
ROOTABILITY FACTORS. For perspective, remember what an achievement it is to become a bullish favorite in ten years, Boise.
Participating in the postseason for the 10th straight year, the Boise St. Broncos find themselves locked up against the Arizona St. Sun Devils in the 20th annual Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium in Sin City.
Already 1-0 in this particular bowl, the Broncos had hoped for a better placement in the postseason seeing as how they finished with a record of 11-1, are ranked eighth in the AP poll and seventh in the BCS standings, but once again Boise State had to bow to the powers that be and accept an invitation to a game that doesn't truly reflect their accomplishments on the field in 2011.
Over on the other side, a team like the Sun Devils has to be happy just to be asked to participate in the postseason, given what has gone on in Tempe during the course of this season.
Arizona State appeared to be well on its way to making a big splash during 2011, winning six of the first eight games on the schedule, but then the bottom fell out and the squad limped to a mediocre 6-6 finish following four consecutive defeats to Pac-12 Conference opponents. Playing in their 25th bowl game since 1940 and sporting a record of 12-11-1 after losing the most recent postseason outing, 52-34 to Texas in the 2007 Holiday Bowl, the Sun Devils are trying to close out the campaign on a positive note and send head coach Dennis Erickson, who was fired at the end of November, out with one last victory.
Game date, time: 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, December 22nd
Location: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
TV channel: ESPN
Odds: Boise St. favored by 11.5
For more on the Broncos, check out One Boise Nation Under God. For more on the Sun Devils, visit House of Sparky. For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs.
The No. 7 Boise St. Broncos have made their feelings about being left out of the BCS no mystery, and they can translate that attitude into one of two outcomes against the 6-6 Arizona St. Sun Devils in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl. They can use it as motivation to decimate an inferior team and try to show everyone they deserved to be included over Virginia Tech or Michigan, or they can succumb to the disappointment and open themselves up to one of the biggest potential upsets in bowl season.
Many of the bowls are between evenly matched teams, but this isn't one of them. The Broncos' lone loss was to the TCU Horned Frogs, a bowl team themselves, and beat SEC East champs Georgia in their season-opener. Here's what head coach Chris Peterson said after discovering the Broncos weren't chosen for the BCS:
"I think everybody is tired of the BCS," Peterson said. "Everybody's frustrated. Nobody really knows what to do anymore. It doesn't make sense to anybody. I don't think anybody's happy anywhere. The whole thing needs to be changed, no question about it."
The Sun Devils will be playing under head coach Dennis Erickson for the last time after he was fired last month, due in large part to his team not being much good despite a weak Pac-12 South and high preseason expectations. If they can pull off the upset (they're 14-point underdogs), it would be hard to top as the biggest in any bowl.
For news and information regarding all things Arizona State, please visit House of Sparky. To inform yourself about the ins and outs of Boise State, please visit One Bronco Nation Under God. The full bowl pairings can be located right here.
Three down, 32 to go.
For college football bowl bettors, the time for cherry-picking easy profits hits its second week with the Beef O Bradys Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl and Maaco Las Vegas Bowl.
So far, two underdogs have won outright in three bowl games (Ohio over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and UL-Lafayette over San Diego State in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl).
Can more underdogs bite the favorites this week?
Beef O'Bradys Bowl
Florida International won its first bowl game ever last year and are favored to make it two in a row in the Beef O Bradys St. Petersburg Bowl. They were 4.5-point chalk against Marshall, a team that has thundered its way to 6 bowl wins in seven tries lately. The favorite has won all three previous games and nearly 65% of the wagering public in the OddsShark.com bowl game consensus are on FIU.
Poinsettia Bowl
The champions of the WAC and the Mountain West clash in San Diego and the Poinsettia Bowl odds have favored the TCU Horned Frogs from the outset of betting. They face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs with both teams riding 7-game win streaks.
The Bulldogs are on a 7-0 ATS run and the Mountain West has won five straight Poinsettia Bowls, according to the college football scores database.
If you like trends, try this one on for size. The bowl game has alternated overs and unders every year since its inception. And the OVER is due for the 2011 edition of the Poinsettia Bowl.
Maaco Las Vegas Bowl
One of the biggest early bowl point spreads sees the Boise State Broncos favored heavily on the Las Vegas Bowl odds menu. The No. 7 ranked Broncos face Arizona State Sun Devils, a team that finished 6-6 on the season and who seem overmatched here.
But does BSU have motivation to excel here, knowing they blew their shot at a BCS bowl? This often leads to a letdown spot and a surprise ATS result. The Las Vegas Bowl odds show nearly 67% of the public on the Broncos, even with a 14-point spread.
Of note, favorites are 4-1 ATS in the past 5 Las vegas Bowls while 10 of past 13 Las Vegas Bowls played UNDER the total, which was sitting at 66 at shops such as Bovada.
Check out full previews and college football bowl matchup reports on every bowl game when you visit SB Nation’s odds partner Odds Shark.
The Arizona State Sun Devils will enter the 2011 Las Vegas Bowl without a starter on the defensive side of the football. As first reported by Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic, a Sun Devils defensive player has been suspended for the game due to a verbal altercation with ASU head coach Dennis Erickson.
ASU coach Dennis Erickson has suspended defensive end Junior Onyeali for the Vegas Bowl. He is not with the team.
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) December 19, 2011
You were surprised it wasn't linebacker Vontaze Burfict, weren't you?
Onyeali was just a part time player for the Sun Devils, but they'll need all the pass rushing help they can get against the Boise State Broncos and quarterback Kellen Moore. On the season Onyeali had just a single sack in the five games he played in 2011.
For news and information regarding all things Arizona State, please visit House of Sparky. To inform yourself about the ins and outs of Boise State, please visit One Bronco Nation Under God. The full bowl pairings can be located right here.
The Boise State Broncos will meet the Arizona State Sun Devils in the 2011 Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas, NV. The Broncos however, aren't happy with the bowl game they made and head coach Chris Peterson voiced his displeasure with the current system. "I think everybody is tired of the BCS," Peterson said. "Everybody's frustrated. Nobody really knows what to do anymore. It doesn't make sense to anybody. I don't think anybody's happy anywhere. The whole thing needs to be changed, no question about it."
The Sun Devils on the other hand will enter the game against Boise State without head coach Dennis Ericson, who was fired after the disappointing season that had most people picking the Sun Devils as a possible Pac-12 championship contender.
For more on the Arizona State Sun Devils visit SB Nation's Sun Devils blog House Of Sparky. For more on the Boise State Broncos visit SB Nation's Boise State blog One Bronco Nation Under God. Also stay tuned to SB Nation’s 2011 college football bowl game bids coverage.
This is about as worked up as Boise State coach Chris Petersen gets. In the past, he's accepted the BCS for what it is, but this time around he's one of many who's especially dismayed by the state of the postseason.
Look what you've done now, BCS:
I'm really tired of the BCS, even [its] name ... I think everybody is just tired of the BCS. Everybody's frustrated. I don't think anyone is happy anywhere ... The whole thing needs to be changed, there's no question about it.
Probably the best model is something like the basketball guys do, where you get a committee ... And then you play a plus-one, you get the top four teams. That's subjective, but at least it's closer ... 6, 7, 8, and 9? Why are we even voting?
Nobody likes it, nobody understands it, everybody thinks it needs to be changed, so hopefully it will be.
It just seems like each year it's getting further and further away from anybody understanding what's going on.
The Boise State Broncos will return to the Las Vegas Bowl for the second time in two years and will face the Arizona State Sun Devils, according to Collin Fleming of Channel 3 in Phoenix.
The 2011 Las Vegas Bowl marks the 20th anniversary of this game. The very first game saw the Bowling Green Eagles overcome the Nevada Wolf Pack, 35-34. Neither school will be participating in this year's edition since the Mountain West and the Pac-12, though in 2012 Nevada does join the Mountain West.
This game will actually feature one of the better broadcast crews ESPN can put together. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Tom Rinaldi will provide the call.
Game date, time: 8:00 p.m. ET, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011
Location: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
TV channel: ESPN
2010 winner and loser: Boise St. Broncos def. Utah Utes, 26-3
For more on each bowl game as it’s announced, stay tuned to SB Nation’s 2011 college football bowl game bids coverage. And visit our many college football blogs.
Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson was formally fired by the university on Monday, confirming earlier rumors that the coach's departure was imminent. Erickson will reportedly be allowed to coach the Sun Devils in their upcoming bowl game.
Arizona State rose to as high as 18th in the AP Poll following a 5-1 start. The Sun Devils would go 1-5 the rest of the way, with four straight losses to close the season. Erickson took over at ASU in 2007, earning a piece of the Pac 10 championship in his first season. In four seasons since, his teams went 21-27, a disappointing result that ultimately sealed his fate. Despite a solid reputation among the coaching ranks, Erickson's teams were notorious for making persistent mental mistakes.
According to SB Nation's Bill Connelly, Houston coach Kevin Sumlin could be a potential candidate to take over the program, along with former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach. The Sun Devils are expected to lose a lot of talent off of a veteran-laden squad, but will return quarterback Brock Osweiler for the 2012 season.
For more on the Sun Devils, visit Arizona State blog House of Sparky.
Kellen Moore Exits: Will We Ever See Another 50-Game Winner?
by Jason Kirk
Kellen Moore's career wins record* is going to stand for a long, long time. This much we can all agree on, especially since it's Christmas and we are all best friends. Only Texas' Colt McCoy (45) and Georgia's David Greene (42) have come close, and Greene finished an entire respectable season short**. Both also got to play in conference championship games, unlike Moore.
But will it last for 100 years, as Moore's final downed counterpart speculates?
Continue reading »
Dec 23 2:39p