SB Nation - Oregon St. Beavers

Ranking the 2009 Pac-10 Football MVPs: Honorable Mention and #30-21

Avinash — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:00:29 -0000

by Ben Margot - AP

Mike Mohamed had some big plays this season. Was it enough to be a Pac-10 MVP?

In case you missed it, here's Part 1: the LVPs of their respective teams.

This post got too long, so I had to split it into three. Here are the honorable mention categories and the Pac-10 players and units ranked #30 thru #21 (#20-11 coming this afternoon, #10-1 coming Friday morning). Let's dive into it.

Honorable Mention

Jeff Locke, Reid Forrest: You know your team's in trouble when your punters are higher than anyone on your offense. And in Forrest's case, you know your team is royally fucked when your punter is the only one on your team who appears on this list.

Donald Butler: Didn't really do anything spectacular this year, but 96 tackles will get you on this list.

Daniel Te'o-Nesheim: So will 9.5 sacks and 12.5 TFL. Too bad the Huskies defense ranged from 'sheer brilliance' to 'human atrocity'

Ed Dickson: I'll be nice as possible about this--FUCK ED DICKSON. AGGGGGHHHHHHHHH.

Damola Adeniji: Despite all the production of James Rodgers, he wasn't Canfield's main target on 3rd down. Probably because secondaries keyed in on Rodgers, Adeniji racked up 27 catches in that situation, 21 for first downs, 5th in the country. Only 49 catches overall, but considering he only had 1 last season, I'll say this is a slight upgrade.

Chris Polk: Finished this season on a tear: Five ninety+ yard games and a 1000 yard season overall. Hard to measure his impact though, since the Huskies lost three of those games and Locker and the defense were the focal points of the other two.

Trojan offensive line: Lost season for these guys. 17 sacks allowed, 40 tackles for loss allowed, only a top 40 rushing offense. Ho-hum for them. I would've dreamed of something like this for the Bears.

Mike Mohamed: Cal's most productive defensive player on a not-so-great defensive unit. You have to give massive props for a 100 tackle season (his 104 tackles were tops in the Pac-10). And he saved another Cal season from sliding into disaster with a crucial interception in the Big Game.

Kyle Williams, Dmitri Nance: Solid production considering their quarterback struggled to complete half of his passes. Plus I feel bad for Williams ending his career like that.

Syd'Quan Thompson: If Cal had ONE guy (Hagan, Hill, Nnabuife, Conte, Rope Guy, someone) step up at corner on the other side of the field, who knows how our season turns out. We sure as hell don't get lit up by Oregon, USC or UDub on defense (Syd's limited ability in the final game pretty much assured we were screwed against Locker).

He was still a fabulous open field tackler when he got the chance, and when quarterbacks threw to his side of the field, he usually shut down. Like Asomugha in Oakland, that kind of effort only gets rewarded with first team All Pac-10, and minimal impact on the box score. So while his talent is easy enough to gauge, it's really hard to measure his value. Which is why he's honorable mention and not on the top 30.

After the jump, here's #30-21. If there are any thoughts of players or units left off, or guesses as to who will end up in the top 20, leave them in the comments.

#30 Damian Williams, #29 Joe McKnight

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These two are actually the first since Bush and White to break 100+ all-purpose yards a game since Bush and Leinart. Solid seasons, but other than McKnight on the final drive against Ohio State and Williams tearing up Notre Dame, how many moments do you remember concerning these two? That kind of year for the Trojans. It's up in the air whether either will return too.

#28 Ryan Whalen

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6th in the Pac-10 in receptions, turned into Luck's best passing threat when Owusu went Section Eight in the biggest games. Thought about ranking him higher, but I don't have any Whalen moments to really justify putting him further up. Perhaps the Cardinal fans can refresh my memory...oh, wait, there are no Cardinal fans. #28 it is.

#27 Arizona's receiving corps (Turner, Criner, Roberts, Dean, Douglas)

via www.azstarnet.com

Five guys with 30 catches or more? Now that's spreading the wealth around. By contrast, Cal had only one receiver (Jones) catch more than 30. Obviously, Cal isn't built to be a passing offense, but still, this is a far cry from two-three years ago. Sigh.

#26 UCLA's secondary

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I know Rahim Moore led the nation in picks, and Alterraun Verner had another fine year--but how good are these guys? Other than shutting down Jonathan Crompton and whoever the hell Kansas State's quarterback is, the Bruins pass D has been surprisingly average. Even Kevin Riley burned them deep. I repeat, KEVIN RILEY BURNED THEM DEEP. Does this happen to good secondaries?

Oh well...at least Moore is capable of that "deep, longing, alluring, penetrating, soul-piercing, heart-tugging look".

#25 Tyson Alualu

via cache.daylife.com

Kind of hard to say how bad the Bears defense would've been without Alualu cracking apart the line. His efforts alone helped shut down Minnesota's passing game in a tight 4th quarter. Extra linemen often were forced to commit to him, and it opened up the rest of the front to get after Arizona and the Furd's high powered offensive attack.

Unfortunately, he never really had a Mebane-like force on the line--he couldn't really disrupt the passing attacks the way his predecessors did How much of that was dictated by scheme or by his own pass rush methods is beyond my knowledge, but Cal's pass rush was far weaker than anticipated, far weaker than the 27 sacks they put up this year.

Still a great season for Tice though--Cal's run defense was top-tier, and a lot of that had to do with #44.

(Story that really depressed me this week: Bear Insider's look at how close Ndamukong Suh came to being a Golden Bear. Imagine Alualu and Suh coming together in the 3-4 the last two seasons, particularly last year. I'm getting bummed out now.)

#24 Jahvid Best

via www.pe.com

For a guy who was supposed to be a Heisman hopeful, it's shocking to see Best not even crack the top 20. But that's how it is in a frustrating season for Jahvid, whose season seemed to peak in Minneapolis. Still had some spectacular runs, but running behind the crappiest offensive line in the Tedford era, it could've been way, way better.

#23 Chris Owusu

via a.espncdn.com

A menace for us, and a big game-changer for the Furd, having huge returns on almost every opponent this year. Surprisingly (and stupidly), everyone in the Pac-10 continued to kick to Owusu long after he demonstrated he would outrace their coverage to the end zone. The Furd ranked 3rd in the country in kickoff returns, mostly due to Owusu's skills.

He gets bumped down a bit because if he could just hang onto a few passes (he dropped big catches in EVERY conference loss), the Furd are going to Pasadena.

#22 Kai Forbath

via tnjn.com

Laugh all you want that a kicker cracks the top 25. When a Bruins fan describes him as your most consistent player...well, that says a lot.

Take a look at the games Forbath swung this season.
~13 of UCLA's 19 points in a 4 point win over the Vols in Rocky Top
~11 of UCLA's 23 points in a 10 point win over the Sun Devils
~6 of UCLA's 24 points in a 1 point win over the Huskies
~11 of UCLA's 23 points in a 14 point win over K-State.

Add in these stats
~26 field goals, second most in the country behind Alabama's Tiffin
~99th scoring offense in the country

Not hard to say Forbath was UCLA's offensive MVP this season, isn't it? Switch Forbath with an average kicker and the Bruins win four games? Three?

#21 Shane Vereen

via dlerium.smugmug.com

(Image from dmo580)

Surprisingly had more impressive performances than Best this season, cementing away a Cal victory in Pasadena and being the workload in two upsets over the Wildcats and the Cardinal. Best racked up big numbers against two of the worst teams in the country and an FCS opponent, managing only one great game this season against a bowl-eligible team. Although Best ended up with more rushing yards, Vereen had more all-purpose yards thanks to his kickoff returns and his own pass-catching abilities. Most importantly, when the offensive line collapsed, Vereen had more of the elusiveness to slip away from encroaching defenders.

Best might be the better talent, but Vereen was the more valuable Bear for this Cal squad...but only by a little.

Coming this afternoon: #20-11.

TCU and Oregon State are Very Close to Play the 2010 Opener at Jerry World

Jeremy Mauss — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

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Jerry Jones -- owner of the Dallas Cowboys-- is at it again with the help of ESPN to bring a showcase event to his still usponsored palace in Arlington, TX. The game is rumored to be Oregon State to take on TCU with The Portland Tribune saying this is basically a done deal:

"We’re still negotiating with ESPN, but I would hope in the next two weeks we’ll be able to get this thing accomplished," Oregon State Athletic Director Bob De Carolis said Monday.

The game set to be on opening weekend September 4th, and will be similar to the BYU-Oklahoma tilt. The only challenge is that TCU is currently scheduled to play Baylor and Oregon State is set to play Eastern Washington, but ESPN is helping the Beavers find Eastern Washington an opponent. The Baylor game might be able to be moved, because even if TCU adds this game they still need to fill one more non-conference game.

The pay out is anywhere from $300,000 to $1,000,000 for this game. Another reason for Oregon State to play this game is to give brothers James Rodgers and Jacquizz Rodgers who are from the area a game in front of some fans. If this game is added then Oregon State will play non-conference games against TCU, at Boise State, and Louisville at home. While TCU will be playing Oregon State, SMU, Baylor, and an opponent still not determined.

This would be a daunting game for Oregon State since they will be breaking in a new quarterback in a road game that is being played in close range of the TCU campus. The Horned Frogs will be primed for another shot at the BCS with a possibility of a national title run.

Who Were the Worst Performers in the Pac-10 in 2009?

Avinash — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:30:02 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Meet the Pac-10 MVP of interceptions!

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It's always hard to measure the value of good teams in football. It almost always starts with a good quarterback, followed closely behind by an offensive line and a running back. Then you want a strong front seven, with receivers and secondary coming somewhere after that. You can build a good team around the front four, a great one with everything else coming together

So in determining a football MVP (or I guess for college football, Heisman), we're looking at people from the first three or four categories strongly. In the next two days we'll start counting down the best players and o-line/defensive units in the conference to try and figure out who deserves to be the Pac-10's most valuable player

That's right, instead of doing a national college football consensus (which would be tedious and terrifying), let's go with what we know well. This is all Pac-10.

Because most of us are sick inside, we'll start with the worst Pac-10 performers. What player or unit (offensive line, particular aspect of defense, coach, other thing, etc.) do you feel played the worst this season? Did I leave anyone off that requires mention? Discuss in the comments!

USC--Matt Barkley

Wait a second. Didn't Barkley just beat Ohio State in the Horseshoe? Nothing can stop him now! He's on his way to college football greatness!

Anyway, it seems like Carroll's petty anger at Mark Sanchez was a bad sign of things to come. I'm not saying that Sanchez could've saved USC from the avalanche at Autzen, but he should've outdueled Luck and Foles with essentially the same offense from last year. It would've been a B- version of the 2005 team, all offense and average defense. And they'd probably have ended up in Tempe.

If Sanchez was like an ice cream sundae at Fenton's (a little bad here and there, but still a tasty ride the whole way), Barkley was like a strawberry cream pie shake at Sonic's (tantalizing at first taste, but man would it make you sick down the road). He threw the most interceptions in the Pac-10, more than Sullivan, Prince, and any of the Wazzu troupe. His four turnovers in the Cardinal romp led to 28 Furd points, and he threw another killer pick against Arizona that led to what turned out to be a crucial seven points for the Wildcats. His 4th quarter stats were abominable--50% completion rate, one touchdown, SEVEN interceptions, 83 passer rating, which is good for 117th in the country, only about a drop of about a hundred in the rankings from the season before. His most memorable touchdown throw of the year was only meaningful in the sense that UCLA's defense will be headhunting him in eleven months.

Add in these continuing rumors from Thoroughbred that many of his teammates despise him, and all is not well at Heritage Hall for the first time in...well, a decade. The rest of the Pac-10 couldn't be more delighted.

Note: Thought about the Trojan run defense here, but come on, those guys got DECIMATED (entire front seven gone, plus another four or five guys injured). They had no chance against the Quack Attack or the power run game of the Furd.

UCLA--The entire Bruin offense

via cache.daylife.com

Man, it was brutal watching these guys this year.

Some more fun stats:

There were four teams in the Pac-10 (Oregon, Arizona, USC, Cal) who had two rushers that ran for more than UCLA's leading rusher (Johnathan Franklin)
The Bruins leading man in yards for scrimmage was Nelson Rosario, who finished 19th overall. There were seven teams in the Pac-10 with two or more players with more yards from scrimmage, and four (Furd, Oregon State, Arizona St., Oregon) with three.
Navy threw the ball 96 times this year, Army 161 (http://www.cfbstats.com/2009/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category02/sort06.html), Kevin Prince 267. Navy and Army scored 5 touchdowns apiece on those passes. Prince scored 6. Somewhere Norm Chow is wringing his neck (could be either Prince's neck or his own).
The USC game perfectly encapsulates UCLA's offensive abilities: To prevent from being shutout by their crosstown rivals, the Bruins needed a 13 play, 65 yard, five and a half minute drive that included two fourth down conversions, and two forced fumbles.
Bruins fans are actually calling on Kevin Craft for the bowl game. Yes, THAT Kevin Craft. (Okay, they only want him to start because he wasn't happy at playing hookie, but still). You know your offense is in desperate straits when your fans are ACTIVELY CALLING for Kevin Craft.

Furd--The ENTIRE CARDINAL DEFENSE

via www2.pictures.zimbio.com

Exactly the same thing we did for UCLA. Let's just rattle off the numbers...

A few examples of their defensive fails:

Their defense never forced a fourth down in the first half at Corvallis; five times Oregon State got the ball, five times they marched down the field and put points on the board, 31 in all.
The Cardinal surrendered not one, but two 40+ yard rushing touchdowns to Arizona to blow a two score lead in the 4th quarter, the last one on a 50+ yard scamper by Nwoko on THIRD AND SEVENTEEN.
The Cardinal took a 14-0 lead on the Bears with 6 minutes left in the first quarter; Cal responded by holding onto the ball for 35 of the final 50 minutes, including ripping off 24 unanswered points and scoring on five of their next six drives.

Perfect example of their horrid season came against Notre Dame. Toby Gerhart rushed in the go-ahead touchdown with a minute left in a tied game against an awful Irish defense, and Harbaugh looks about as pleased as Michael Corleone finding out Kay had an abortion. Why? The Cardinal could have kneeled down three times and kicked a chip shot extra point-type field goal at the buzzer to win. The touchdown put the Cardinal defense back on the field against Jimmy Clausen. Sure enough, after getting pinned at their own ten, in TWENTY SECONDS the Irish are at the Cardinal 24 and nearly pull a win out of their asses. All thanks to the Cardinal's hideous defense.

Yeesh. Maybe Gerhart did deserve the Heisman. But we'll get to the MVP candidates soon enough.

Oregon State's September swoon

via blog.oregonlive.com

This isn't really a unit fail as opposed to a team fail; the Beavers suck in September EVERY SINGLE YEAR. They could never get going against Cincinnati even though they were at home. They allowed Nick Foles in his starting debut in Corvallis to complete 74% of his passes at 7.5 YPA with 3 touchdowns and no picks. And they needed a last second Kahut field goal to beat a 5-7 UNLV squad. And these guys plan to play TCU in Dallas and Boise in the Smurf Turf next September?

Cal's pass defense not named Syd'Quan Thompson

via cdn2.sbnation.com

108th in passing yards given up; 103rd in completion percentage; 81st in passer rating. The Bears dropped from 3rd in the country in INTs to 71st, from 1st in the country in passes defended to 47th. So let's say they regressed a little.

(You might say the offensive line deserves this...but Cal still ranked top 40 in rushing yards per game and top 25 in yards per attempt. You might even say the special teams, but they didn't have as much impact as our defense, plus their general incompetence over the past half-decade deserves its own post. A lot of that had to do with Best and Vereen, but that's still only a mediocre unit, not an awful one. Nothing hurt the Bears more in 2009 than their pass defense...the offensive line just exacerbated the situation.)

Washington--Nick Holt

This one's hard to say. Holt's defense was much improved from last year, especially in the run game. USC, Cal, Wazzu, Arizona all fell. On the other hand...his defense still got ripped apart by the Oregon schools and the Furd. They weren't that bad, but they weren't that good either, so it's hard to call them the worst. So I'll go with the easy to hate Holt here.

Ultimately though, Holt's defense still provided us with the most comical college football moment of 2009, which could've been the difference between Locker and his first bowl game...

Arizona State

Only four games into the season, Pitchfork Nation wrote an open letter to his beleaguered starting QB withdrawing his support.

I retract anything positive I said about Danny Sullivan. Not only are you not physically talented enough to start for a Pac-10 team, but as you proved last night, you’re what we call in my family a "mental midget."

..

Instead, you exhibited the same physical problems we saw in each of the Sun Devils first three games. You sailed balls, you completely missed wide open receivers and left your pass catchers out to dry with several horribly thrown balls. Your most accurate pass was one you threw away in the 3rd quarter that perfectly nailed the "C" on the Muscle Milk sign on the side of the east bleachers.

Well, that sucks.

The numbers don't get much better for Sullivan: He never threw better than 56% in any quarter, he threw well on 1st down but didn't make much of a dent otherwise, and he generally struggled with everything. He hit 60% completions in only three of his games, all against bad pass Ds (Cal, Furd, Oregon State). For God's sake, he struggled against Wazzu. Shouldn't there be a shaming list for athletes who struggle against Wazzu?

And it wasn't like he was throwing to turds out there; both Kyle Williams and Chris McGaha notched 57 catches, and Dmitri Nance was a capable runner. No, it looks like most of the wounds were self-inflicted.

Wazzu--Everyone?

via cache.daylife.com

I'll save those poor Cougar fans an explanation; I really don't want to go over this hundred car pile-up, and they've suffered enough. At least they have Klay Thompson.

Oregon: LeGarrette Blount?

via www1.pictures.zimbio.com

He's probably the Ducks Least Valuable Player. I'm not happy stating it since the dude got a huge punishment for a totally surreal moment, but he redeemed himself, so that's always good.

But I put a question mark there...because for not-so-obvious reasons, you could make the case that he's the unintentional Pac-10 MVP. Why?

1) The Punch changed the whole Oregon running dynamic. For nearly a month Oregon struggled to get past the rust, but slowly things started to click and their offense got back in sync for the Utah game; once James and Masoli started operating in tandem the Quack Attack began rolling.

So...does Oregon win close games versus Purdue and Utah if Blount is in the backfield? Do the Ducks slow the pace down against Cal, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon State instead of attacking, attacking, attacking? Does James get going at all? Does Barner break out as a pure speed demon? Would Oregon have gone 10-2 without the Punch? I doubt it. In a strange way, Blount's actions made his team BETTER in the long run--the Ducks were able to play that fast up-tempo offense that Kelly relished, and they blew through the Pac-10 relatively unscathed.

(I will always believe that if the Bears had played Blount and Masoli that we could've snuck that game out--not necessarily won, but the opportunity would've been there. We could've bottled up Blount the way we held Gerhart in check, play deliberate 3-4 football and wait for Blount to find the hole before matching him at the line of scrimmage. Of course, we still wouldn't have been able to defend Ed Dickson, but at least it's a step up from defending no one.)

2) The media hatefest gave the Ducks an 'us against the world' mentality. You can't underestimate the power of ESPN and the Internet on these guys--when Oregon became the dominant storyline of the opening college football weekend, when they heard about how they stunk and that their coach should be fired...it's not implausible they didn't rally around the hate and use it to fuel their overall mission. It's hard for me to say that Chip Kelly didn't use that to motivate the Ducks to play better, execute better, keep the pace going; they only let down once (the Cardinal), rolled everyone else and delivered in what amounted to Rose Bowl quarter and semifinals against Arizona and Oregon State.

If it had just been an awful loss the Ducks would've been forgotten by the national media--the Punch gave it the attention, gave Oregon the fire they needed to run through the rest of the season. It was the perfect black swan event. Everything went wrong on the first day of the season, and the Ducks spent the next three months trying to prove that it was an aberration. Didn't do too shabby, did they?

Of course, you could say he would've been theoretically least valuable; were the Ducks a better team if Blount wasn't playing? We'll never totally know, but the fact they barely missed a beat without him says a lot. They probably beat the Furd with him, but do they blow out USC, Cal, Arizona State, Washington and UCLA? I'm not so sure about that.

So Blount gets his team's LVP...only because the rest of the Ducks played like MVPs the rest of the year. For some reason, I feel he won't mind it that much.

Tomorrow: Pac-10 MVP honorable mentions

Ranking The 2009-2010 Bowls: Part 3

Mark Kieffer — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:00:24 -0000

Here we go! Part 3 of the series. Pushing it out a day earlier than originally planned, with plenty of time to spare before bowl season!

Below is the list of the 9 Bowl Games that I am going to try and do everything in my power to watch. With these 9 games, if I were able to watch all of these, I would be perfectly content with bowl season.

As I've said before, there's a lot of people out there that think there are way too many bowl games. That they are all meaningless for the most part. If you're one of those fans, I'm totally with you, 100%. The main reason why there are so many, is because people are able to make money off of it, and I have no problem with people getting paid money. All I will do as a consumer, is watch the games I care about, and not watch the others. If everyone did that, then you probably wouldn't be as bothered by the Bowl System.

For me, I just pick and choose the matchups that look the most appealing. In some years, it may be just a few bowl games. In others, it might be 10-15. It all depends on how the season goes, and what the match ups look like. These people that try to make a Top 10 list every year are silly. Some years, the number of good games in a given year aren't constant, which is why for 2009-2010, I've got 9 games, as opposed to some round number like 5 or 10.

With that said, click the jump to see how I have my Top 9 bowl games ranked!

#9: Gator Bowl (West Virginia vs. Florida State), 1/1/2010, Noon CST, CBS

A historic game, as Bobby Bowden says goodbye to Florida State and coaching altogether. I'm interested in seeing the kind of pregame CBS will air. I'm sure the Florida State players are going to do everything in their power to come out prepared, and working as hard as they can to get their coach one more win.

#8: Las Vegas Bowl (Oregon State vs. BYU), 12/22/2009, 7:00pm CST, ESPN

I am really looking forward to this matchup. I've had the chance to watch quite a few Oregon State games this year. I will say that although they do not tackle well, they have a good offense, and are a tough opponent. BYU has had some head-scratching performances, like a blowout loss to Florida State at home, but I think a lot of those issues are taken care of, and they are a physical team. I look at BYU trying to pass all over the place, while Oregon State tries to run over BYU. I also think it will likely come down to the final possession or so to win it.

#7: Sun Bowl (Oklahoma vs. Stanford), 12/31/2009, 1pm CST, CBS

This game starts about 4 hours before the Insight Bowl. I'm hoping someone tailgating has a TV setup where we could watch this one as it should be a good one. I'm a big fan of OU's defense, and an even bigger fan of Toby Gerhart. The Sun Bowl did well with this matchup in my opinion this year.

#6: Rose Bowl (Ohio State vs. Oregon), 1/1/2010, 3:30pm CST, ABC

Uber-conservative Ohio State, against a more free Oregon offense. Typically when Tressell has a while to gameplan, he is able to keep the Buckeyes in the game. I also think that he often plays "not to lose" instead of playing to win. If he does that, I think the Ducks make him pay. Either way, I think it's a lopsided game, and Oregon wins by 2 TDs. I just love the way Oregon runs that option-attack, and this is one of the more traditional bowls that I do like to check out.

#5: Orange Bowl (Iowa vs. Georgia Tech), 1/5/2010, 7pm CST, Fox

I know Hawk fans are disappointed in not making the Rose Bowl this year, but it isn't all bad. They are in a BCS game, yet again, and get to face an opponent they actually have a chance at beating. I honestly think that Iowa would have gotten spanked against Oregon this year. If I'm a Hawk fan, I'm happier to see my team have a chance to win on the big stage. Both teams like to run it, and both play decent defense. The Hawks have played close games all year, and I don't think this one is any exception

#4: Sugar Bowl (Florida vs. Cincy), 1/1/2010, 7:30pm CST, Fox

Even though Brian Kelly bolted Cincy, I think these guys play hard in the biggest game in Cincy's history. It's also Tebow's last college game, and I'm interested in seeing how he goes out, after having a bad game in the SEC Championship.

#3: BCS Championship (Texas vs. Alabama), 1/7/2010, 7pm CST, Fox

Usually I find these games disappointing and not living up to the hype. Part of me thinks it will be a good game, while the other part thinks that Alabama is just going to throttle the Longhorns. The fact that Texas nearly lost to Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game suprised me, and I think they are vulnearable. If 'Bama brings that physical play they brought to the SEC Championship game, it's over.

#2: Fiesta Bowl (TCU vs. Boise State), 1/4/2010, 7pm CST, Fox

I feel bad for both of these programs. From everything I've seen, I have no doubt in my mind that both of these teams could compete with anyone in the BCS. I would've like to see Iowa get in the Fiesta Bowl, playing one of these teams, with Georgia Tech playing the other. Regardless, the BCS is going to discount both of these programs, plus they can pat themselves on the back for taking Boise State as an At-Large as opposed to a Virginia Tech.

With that said, I think it's going to be a hell of a game. TCU with their explosive defense, and Boise State with their explosive offense. If I had the ability to stay in the Phoenix area for longer, I would try to get to this game as well, but it's not happening. It should be just as epic on TV!

#1 Insight bowl (Minnesota vs. ISU), 12/31/2009, 5pm CST, NFL Network

If you are not an ISU or Minnesota fan, this game probably ranks the lowest amongst Bowls with teams from 2 BCS Conferences. I get that, so don't rip if you aren't a fan. I am an Iowa State fan, pumped that they made it to a game in a fun location, and looking forward to a great trip down to Tempe! Having a chance to play a team in which I have friends and family that follow that program, make it that much more fun for me.

If you are an ISU fan, and aren't excited about this game, I don't know what to do for you. Realistically, this is closer to the ceiling in terms of Bowl Games for ISU; at least in the near term. If you're a student or on the fence about going to this one because you're "going to wait for the bigger one next year", don't fall in that trap! That is exactly what I did when I was in school! The team went to 3 Bowl Games, and I went to neither, because I was waiting until they made the Cotton, Holiday, or Alamo Bowl. I thought I'd be heading to Big 12 Championship games in the future, and we know how it has turned out. This year the team is bowling. Other than mode of transportation, tickets and hotels are very reasonable. The New Year's Eve Block Party in Tempe is one of the better New Years Celebrations in the US. Don't miss out on this, waiting 4 years for the next time this happens.

That concludes the series. I'd love to hear which games you're most forward to watching this bowl season!

---

Part 2

Part 1

Making the Rounds: Mountain West Bowling Edition

Jeremy Mauss — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:00:22 -0000

New Mexico Bowl

Fresno State extends Coach Pat Hill's contract past 2010, but no details are released. Listen to a preview of this game by The Fresno Bee

Wyoming is excited to be the first bowl game of the season, because people will watch. Dave Christenson's motivation has paid off in the weight room.

Poinsettia Bowl

The Andy Ludwig bowl is really happening Ute fans. Utes will continue to use the momentum killer known as the Wild - whatever you want to call it on offense. A graph depicting the Cal 2009 football season.

Andy Ludwig interview:

Las Vegas Bowl

Oregon State was so close to going to the Rose Bowl. Las Vegas Bowl is 7th best among all bowl games. Building the Dam gives a first look of BYU. The Cougars are taking this game seriously.

Armed Forces Bowl

Houston will not have the distraction of having their head coach decline to take an interview Kevin Sumlin with Cincinatti for their head coaching job. This bowl game is the 12th rated bowl game by ESPN.

Fiesta Bowl

Boise State is one of the most injured teams in the country, and are looking for revenge after last years lost to TCU on the Poinsettia Bowl. Tickets to the Fiesta Bowl are a really hot item. DE Jerry Hughes wins another All-American award.

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl - Oregon St. vs. BYU

utesfan100 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:33:43 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

2 months ago: Oregon State coach Mike Riley indicates a touchdown against Arizona State following an official's review on a ball caught by wide receiver James Rodgers in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. Oregon State won 28-17. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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December 22nd 2009, 8:00 ET - ESPN.

This year's Las Vegas Bowl will face off the Oregon St. Beavers vs. the BYU Cougars.

This will be BYU's fifth consecutive trip to the Las Vegas Bowl and Oregon St.'s second. BYU is tied at 2-2 in Las Vegas while Oregon State's last appearance was a 55-14 beating of New Mexico

Oregon St. leads the all time series 5-3 with the most recent meeting coming in 1986 when BYU fell in Provo 7-10. Two decades later, how do these teams compare now?

General

	Oregon St. Beavers	BYU Cougars
Current Top 25 Faced	#3 Cincinnati (18-28) #7 Oregon (33-37) #20 Arizona (28-17) #21 Stanford (38-28)	#4 TCU (7-38) #23 Utah (26-23 OT)
Ranking	#18	#14
Record	8-4	10-2

Oregon State has played more ranked teams but has more losses to show for it.

Oregon St.'s Ball

	Oregon St. Offense	BYU Defense
Points	32.42	21.67
Yards	419.4	331.1
Per Play	5.96	4.98
Rushing	144.2	112.0
Per Play	4.19	3.40
Passing	275.3	219.1
Per Play	7.66	6.54
Turnovers	8	21

Both teams have played quality opponent with Oregon St. having a slight edge. The performance should be near the middle maybe a touch towards the Oregon St. side of the column.

BYU's Ball

	Oregon St. Defense	BYU Offense
Points	23.42	34.75
Yards	352.9	437.1
Per Play	5.48	6.37
Rushing	114.3	148.2
Per Play	3.48	4.1
Passing	238.7	288.9
Per Play	6.88	8.91
Turnovers	14	22

Again, I expect both teams to be slightly below thier average but not enough to make the other team above thier average, with a slight bump towards Oregon St.

Prediction

One thing that jumps out is Oregon St.'s allergy to turnovers, on both sides of the ball.Both teams will attempt to control the ground game but be free to take to the air if need be.

This game will really come down to which team shows up to play. Both have been solid when the show up and paper thin when they don't.

Somehow I still have last years Las Vegas results in my head, but last year BYU was suffering from Alabama style motivation issues and faced a determined Arizona team. I don't think that factor applies this year. Oregon St. might be at risk of this effect this year.

I've got Oregon St. 28 BYU 27.

Poll

Which do you like more?

Beavers / Frogs Talk

AndyPanda — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:15:03 -0000

Rumors and newspaper columns have been flying for a couple of weeks about ESPN's idea to have Oregon St. ditch next season's home opener against Eastern Washington in order to have the Beavers play a Sept. 4 season opener spectacular in Cowboys Stadium, against the TCU Horned Frogs.

Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis on Monday made the idea seem real, saying "We're still negotiating with ESPN, but I would hope in the next two weeks we'll be able to get this thing accomplished. It's looking good, but there are still some things that need to come together."

The thing that needs to come together is mostly finding someone for Eastern Washington to play.

The reasons for the move are simple, dollars and promises.

The payout is projected to be at least $300,000, with the potential to reach nearly $1 million, which just happens to be the amount DeCarolis projects the school's athletic budget to be deficient in the 2009-10 academic year. Of course, the fact that it could cost some $ to get the Eagles to go away, and the loss of a home game will cost the revenue of an crowd of over 40,000, plus the price of a road trip, will have to be subtracted from that payout.

It's also a way for Oregon St. to get the Rodgers brothers James and Jacquizz an opportunity to play a game in their home state. The Rodgers of course come from Houston suburb Richmond, Texas, about a four hour drive from the Dallas area.

Coach Mike Riley has bought off on the move, saying "We've wanted to take the Rodgers brothers back to Texas for a game before James graduates, and this is our last chance to do that. Plus, I've always liked the big games, and it's a lifetime experience to play in that stadium. I said go for it."

The last chance, unless Oregon St. reaches the Alamo Bowl next season.

The downside is probably the end of any hope of a BCS at-large bid before classes ever start, and yet another slow start to a season, record wise, and the chance of diminished selection for television, and reduced or non-existent rankings, during October, until the regularly scheduled Riley late season surge comes about. That reduced television revenue has to be subtracted from the ESPN check as well.

DeCarolis does consider it a gamble, but feels "If you're fortunate enough to pull off a win, you're in the national conversation. It also helps the players focus in getting ready for the season through the summer."

Considering this a gamble is an optimistic view at best, though.

For those questioning the probability of this gloomy scenario, keep in mind it will mean two road games to BCS bowl teams that return almost their entire roster in the first month.

Undefeated and third ranked TCU is on track to return 18 starters, and any notion that playing the Horned Frogs, who are from Ft. Worth, in Arlington, is a neutral site game is foolish. It's the same as playing the Washington Huskies at Quest Stadium and calling that a neutral site.

And at the end of the month, there is the trip to Boise. The sixth ranked and undefeated Broncos also return almost their entire starting lineup as well, and are 75-2 on their blue turf.

Even though the Beavers return 19 starters, that's a start that will mean the toughest schedule in college football, not just next season, but maybe for several years, as all the national/rational powers try to limit their non-conference schedule to just one game they have a good chance of losing.

The prospect of that start has to make projected new starting quarterback Ryan Katz more than a little nervous.

And while a 1-2 start would limit the BCS options to winning the Pac-10 in order to go to the Rose Bowl, that will be an accomplishment too. With the return of Jake Locker to Washington, it means all nine of the other Pac-10 teams are likely to have a returning quarterback with Pac-10 starting experience.

Makes one wonder how much DeCarolis knows that he isn't saying.

We do know De Carolis, who has repeatedly been identified as a prime candidate for the vacant Michigan athletic director position, knows more about that situation than we do. De Carolis, whose contract at Oregon St. runs through 2011, previously spent 19 years in the Wolverines' athletic department before coming west to OSU in 1998. And his oldest daughter is a junior at Michigan.

But when asked if he had even been contacted by Michigan officials, De Carolis said, "I'm not in a position to talk about that. Let them go through the process, and we'll see what happens."

What we don't know is whether this development is a tip that there is more than yet meets the eye regarding the future status of quarterback Lyle Moevao, who missed all but one play this season, due first to slow recovery from shoulder surgery, and then an ankle injury in practice.

We do know that OSU officials haven't yet filed the formal application to the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee for a sixth season of eligibility for Moevao, who has an 11-4 record as a starter.

The process includes submitting both a letter from the student athlete, and one from the school on his behalf, as well as copies of his transcripts and academic standings to the NCAA. Alex Parker, OSU's associate athletic director for compliance, says the school is waiting for Moevao to complete some paperwork if he decides to go through with the appeal.

Parker said "A decision from the NCAA is usually reached three to four weeks after submission. Most extra years are granted when two different injuries are suffered to cause two seasons lost beyond the control of the student-athlete."

But in Moevao's case, he redshirted his first year at Oregon St. after a season at El Camino Junior College in Torrance, Calif., but has only lost one season due to injury.

With the experienced Moevao behind center, the bold scheduling move, as well as the Beavers' Pac-10 prospects in a year where the conference of quarterbacks will again be loaded with bona fide gunslingers, will look much different.

The prospect of next season's possible schedule with a quarterback, Katz, who hasn't started a game by then in nearly three years, and that a high school game, or perhaps Peter Lalich, who at least has DI starting experience for Virginia, but no game action in nearly two years, harkens back to the dark days.

Not just the more recent days when Oregon St. took on games that produced numerous early season nonconference losses, many of them by lopsided scores, in recent seasons, but also way back in history.

The dark ages known as the nearly thirty years between the original giant killers and the coming of the "Age of Riley" were a direct product of this type of scheduling. Oregon State once would only play only three home games, and one in Portland, loading up with high profile road games. Pull off the upsets, and you are the giant killers.

However, reality was a lot of beat downs, resulting in depressed home attendance (Who are these guys anyway, we haven't seen them around in a month?), and collapsed recruiting (Would a good recruit prefer to win, or get beat in front of a hostile crowd?). And a downward spiral that led to very real talk of dropping down to the Big Sky conference. Where there would be annual opportunities to play Eastern Washington.

When suicide scheduling is something others come to you to do, instead of you being willing to do it, is when your program has truly arrived. Seven home games should be the goal, not a schedule that makes exceeding seven wins a major achievement.

Unless Riley and DeCarolis know something the rest of us don't, it looks like a step back in time, more than a step up in national prominence.

Statistical Comparison of the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl: #20 Oregon State vs. #14 BYU

Jeremy Mauss — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:00:23 -0000

This is the only bowl game outside of the BCS games that features two top 20 teams and only the third of the non-BCS to be between ranked teams. This should be a very good matchup, because first of all Oregon State was a few points away from defeating Oregon and going to the Rose Bowl.

On the other hand BYU is making their fifth straight appearance to the Las Vegas Bowl. Last year BYU only practiced a few times and did not take their practices or in fact the game all that seriously. This time seems to be different because the opponent is a high quality one with 20th ranked Oregon State. Also, a win by BYU could vault them to the top 10.

Now on to statistically break down and blindly judge who is going to win this game:

Category			Edge
Scoring Offense	34.8 PPG	32.4 PPG
Rushing Offense	148.17 YPG	144.17 YPG
Passing Offense	288.8 YPG	275.3 YPG
Total Offense	436.9 YPG	419.4 YPG
Penalties	66 YPG	56.4 YPG
Scoring Defense	21.7 PPG	23.4 PPG
Rushing Defense	112 YPG	114.25 YPG
Passing Defense	219.1 YPG	238.7 YPG
Total Defense	331.1 YPG	352.9 YPG
Turnovers Lost (Season)	22	8
Turnovers Margin	-.08 per game	.50 per game
Third Down Conversions	55.48%	47.31%
Third Down Defense	38.95%	35.95%
Red Zone Offense	87.50%	96.30%
Red Zone Defense	80%	82.50%

Very surprised how much more categories that BYU is ahead of Oregon State. The reasoning could be that the Pac-10 was a tougher league then the Mountain West this year. This should be one of the better bowl games of the season.

Poll

Who wins the Las Vegas Bowl?

Don't Bet On It!: College Football Bowl Edition (Part I)

T Kyle King — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:53:51 -0000

The outcome of this afternoon’s Army-Navy game finalized the Division I-A postseason lineup, so now we are able to begin (albeit not end; there are a lot of these games, you know) taking a look at this year’s bowl pairings. My 4-3 record in last weekend’s predictions brought me to 69-16 (.812) in SEC forecasts, 35-33 (.515) in non-conference prognostications, and 104-49 (.680) in overall picks for 2009. Perhaps now would be a good time to remind you . . . Don’t Bet On It!

Here are the first four games of the 2009 bowl season, the earliest of which will occur only one week from today (which hopefully will keep tankertoad’s Saturday from sucking):

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno St. Bulldogs v. Wyoming Cowboys (Dec. 19): All right, seriously, this isn’t a rematch of a conference game? I genuinely find that hard to believe. The Cowboys will arrive in Albuquerque fresh from a 6-6 season that included losses to the Texas Longhorns, Colorado Buffaloes, Brigham Young Cougars, and TCU Horned Frogs by margins of 31, 24, 52, and 35 points, respectively. Wyoming simply hasn’t so much as shown up against anyone even passably good. The West Coast Bulldogs are passably good.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl: Central Florida Golden Knights v. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Dec. 19): On a day we all spent watching the Army Black Knights put forth a pretty good first-half effort in an attempt to earn a bowl bid, we now find ourselves confronting the prospect of two more groups of color-coded paladins squaring off in the postseason. It’s almost as though the Nike guys in charge of the Oregon Ducks’ uniforms were digitally enhancing the costumes in "Excalibur." I don’t know whether this one will begin with a coin toss or a jousting tournament, but I’m confident it will end with a Rutgers victory.

New Orleans Bowl: Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders v. Southern Miss. Golden Eagles (Dec. 20): Really, now, you can’t be telling me this isn’t a rematch of a conference game, can you? I mean, I’ve been in Sanford Stadium to see the Georgia Bulldogs up the integer in the left-hand side of their ledger against both of these teams. Then again, I’ve also been in the Classic City to see the Red and Black come up short against one of these teams, so that’s the one I’m picking to win. Southern Miss annually opens the season as the No. 25 team on my BlogPoll ballot in a nod to Matt Hinton and the Golden Eagles will end this season with a win.

Las Vegas Bowl: BYU Cougars v. Oregon St. Beavers (Dec. 22): Two things about this game continue to baffle me. First of all, if the bowl in Nashville is the Music City Bowl and the bowl in Detroit used to be the Motor City Bowl, shouldn’t the bowl in Las Vegas be the Sin City Bowl? Secondly, how strange is it that this bowl keeps playing host to Brigham Young, a school whose student-athletes consider caffeine morally objectionable? I’m not sure whether Oregon State’s presence in this game attests more to the depth of the Pac-10 as a conference or the crummy quality of the league’s postseason tie-ins, but, either way, if what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, then what’s staying in Vegas is a Beaver beatdown of the overrated Cougars.

You know, I know, and the American people know that I’m flying blind on these early predictions, so, even if you find that my forecasts make sense to you in the later games, that should not cause you to place faith in my initial set of prognostications. Simply stated, whatever you do . . . Don’t Bet On It!

Go ‘Dawgs!

3rd Annual Rock M Nation Bowl Pick 'Em Contest

The Beef — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:00:18 -0000

UPDATE: BUMPED BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE.

That's right loyal readers...the Bowl Pick 'Em Contest is back for its third season.

It is simple to participate. Simply reply to this thread with your picks. You will need to pick both against the spread, as well as the over/under, so you will have two picks per game. The spreads are LOCKED, so a movement in the line will not be taken into account. The spreads are courtesy of bookmaker.com because...well...that's the one I could find (and unless otherwise noted) They also represent where the lines were when they opened, which was a week ago (had to wait for Army/Navy to be played to determine Eagle Bowl and Texas Bowl line)

Our winner from last year is FSUncensored, who went 39-27 to win by three games over The Cool Alonzo and myself. All time, MU 1839 (our first winner) holds the best two-year record at 18 games over .500 (74-56). Of the "couples" category, The Beef and Tailgate Queen came out 3 game ahead of Bill C and Bill C's wife last year, tying their annual battle at 1-1. Overall, the contest generated a won-loss record of 1066-1244 for a not so good percentage of .461. Over the two years, we currently sit at 1711-1879 for a winning percentage of .477. Yes...I've kept track.

Picks are due by noon on Saturday, December 19th (since the first games are later that evening). Picks are lined up after the jump.

As for prizes...1st prize will get you the Rock M Nation T-shirt of your choice, unless RPT (who somehow is the keeper of the purse strings around here) decides we want to pony up some additional swag.

Anyway, we had a good time with this last year with 35 participants (up from 20 the first year) and somehow I am thinking we are going to have a FEW more than that :-) Come one, come all (and that certainly includes non-Rock M regulars...anyone from SB Nation is welcome to participate)...make me work hard at this. If you were here last season and have changed names, just let me know and I will do my best to give you your two or three-season score when all is said and done as well.

New Mexico

Fresno State -10 1/2 vs. Wyoming

Over/Under - 55 1/2

St. Petersburg

Rutgers -2 vs. UCF

Over/Under - 44 1/2

New Orleans

Sothern Miss -3 1/2 vs. Mid Tenn St.

Over/Under - 59

Las Vegas

Oregon State - 1 1/2 vs. BYU

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Poinsetta

Cal -3 vs. Utah

Over/Under - 53 1/2

Hawaii

Nevada -14 vs. SMU

Over/Under - 73 1/2

Little Caesers

Ohio -2 vs. Marshall

Over/Under - 50

Meineke

Pitt -3 vs. UNC

Over/Under - 44 1/2

Emerald

USC -9 vs. BC

Over/Under - 45 1/2

Music City

Clemson -7 vs. Kentucky

Over/Under - 52 1/2

Independence

Georgia -7 vs. Texas A&M

Over/Under - 64

Eagle Bank (LSVC odds)

UCLA -4 vs. Temple

Over/Under - 46 1/2

Champs Sports

Miami (FL) -3 vs. Wisconsin

Over/Under - 56

Humanitarian

Bowling Green PK vs. Idaho

Over/Under - 68 1/2

Holiday

Arizona -1 vs. Nebraska

Over/Under - 41

Armed Forces

Houston -5 vs. Air Force

Over/Under - 61

Sun

Oklahoma -9 1/2 vs. Stanford

Over/Under - 56 1/2

Texas (LVSC odds)

Mizzou -6 vs. Navy

Over/Under - 54

Insight

Minnesota -3 vs. Iowa State

Over/Under - 48

Chick-Fil-A

Va Tech -4 1/2 vs. Tenn

Over/Under - 50 1/2

Outback

Auburn -8 vs. Northwestern

Over/Under - 54 1/2

Gator

West Virginia -2 1/2 vs. Florida St.

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Capital One

Penn State -3 vs. LSU

Over/Under - 44

Rose

Oregon -3 1/2 vs. Ohio State

Over/Under - 51 1/2

Sugar

Florida -10 vs. Cincy

Over/Under - 55 1/2

International

South Fla. -6 1/2 vs. No. Illinois

Over/Under - 50

PapaJohns

South Carolina -4 1/2 vs. UCONN

Over/Under - 53

Cotton

Ole Miss -3 vs. Okie State

Over/Under -  50 1/2

Liberty

Arkansas -7 1/2 vs. East Carolina

Over/Under - 63 1/2

Alamo

Texas Tech -7 vs. Michigan St.

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Fiesta

TCU -7 vs. Boise St

Over/Under - 54

Orange

Ga Tech -4 vs. Iowa

Over/Under - 51

GMAC

Central Mich -4 vs. Troy

Over/Under - 64

BCS Champ

Alabama -5 1/2 vs. Texas

Over/Under - 45