Summaries
Oregon 49- UCLA 31: The sham of a Pac 12 Championship Game went to the Ducks in a runaway. The Ducks did commit 10 penalties and turn the ball over twice, but it didn't matter as the UO offense still put 49 points and 571 yards of offense on the bRuins. The bRuins did manage to make the game reasonably close at times, but the outcome was never really in doubt. UO RB LaMichael James gashed the UCLA defense for 219 yards on 25 carries and 3 TDs to lead his squad to the Rose Bowl. UCLA QB Kevin Prince threw for 164 yards and 2 TDs in a losing effort.
Telling Stat: Quick Ducks; UO's longest scoring drive lasted just 3:55 and covered 73 yards.
Observations
...Don't pack those bags; 74 teams ended up being eligible for the 70 bowl slots this year. Yes, that includes UCLA's cheesy waiver from the NCAA. USC, Miami, Ball State, and Western Kentucky will be home for the holidays. USC due to sanctions, Miami by choice, and Ball State and WKU didn't get invited.
...Won't even turn on the TV; The BCS National Championship Game should be called, The Nobody Wants to Watch this &@%#&$ Rematch Bowl.
...Another ACC trial run; After going 3-0 v. the ACC in the regular season, Notre Dame gets Florida State out of the ACC in their bowl game. The Irish are just glad they aren't facing a Pac 12 school after being whipped by USC and Stanford this year.
...Joke bowl; The UCLA-Illinois matchup in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is a joke. Both teams are looking for head coaches after playing miserably down the stretch. UCLA's struggles have been well chronicled here, but Illinois gets a bowl bid after losing six straight games to finish 6-6 on the year. Pretty sad, folks.
...A goat, not a hero; My heart goes out to Michigan State Safety Isaiah Lewis. He's the kid who drew the penalty for running into the punter that snuffed out the MSU's last chance at a comeback in the Big Ten tittle game. One single play isn't the sole reason a game is won or lost, but this kid's name will stick with MSU fans like Bill Buckner with Red Sox fans. Sad.
...One for the losers; Why is Alabama's entire argument based on who they lost to, rather than who they beat?
...The unkindest (non) cut of all; Don't blame Utah and Colorado for not getting happy about the Pac 12 getting two BCS bowl bids. As part of their agreement to join the league, they are not eligible for a cut of the bowl money earned from the rest of the league this season. They don't get any dough until the 2012 season.
...Getting defensive; The SEC loves to boast how they have these great and powerful defenses that allow them to be in the title game. USC had the best defense in the nation in 2003 and 2008, but that didn't seem to sway the discussion USC's way.
...looking towards 2012; Michigan v. Alabama at Jerry's House, Cal at Ohio State, Nebraska at UCLA, Oklahoma at Notre Dame, and LSU-Washington all look like fun next year.
...Pac 12 Coaching Carousel; Mike Stoops is out at UofA and Rich Rodriguez is in, Paul Wulff is out at Wazzu and Mike Leach is in, Dennis Erickson is out at ASU and it looks like June Jones is in, and Rick Neuheisel is out at UCLA and nobody wants the job. bRuin AD Dan Guerrero must feel like a Microsoft rep trying to sell the Zune.
...Short term memory; Most of the Heisman voters cited the last game they saw as the determining factor in making their vote for the stiffarm statue. It's amazing how guys like Luck and Barkley can get shafted in the vote just because they didn't play last weekend. I guess an entire season of work doesn't matter anymore.
...Quietly making noise; SDSU RB Ronnie Hillman ran for 178 yards and all 4 of the Aztecs TDs in their 28-21 win over Fresno State. HIllman finishes the regular season with 1656 yards rushing and 19 TDs without much fanfare. Oh, and Keith Jackson would say, He's just a soph-o-more.
...Ambush bowl; Washington garnered an Alamo Bowl bid, but this neutral site is anything but as their opponent is Baylor. The Alamo Dome is only about 110 miles from the Baylor campus. It's fair to say that the Huskies won't be seeing much purple in the stands.
...Diggin' the Roses; It's really gonna be fun to watch Wisconsin's big bruisers take on the lighting speedsters of Oregon. Heck, I just get excited watching an O-line as big as Wisconsin's warmup. That's some serious beef there.
...The last is important; The last FBS regular season game is this week as Army takes on Navy at FedEx Field. It's a game steeped tradition that lives up to the ideal of pursuing victory with honor. In this season of more horrible football stories about the excesses of sport, this game lets you experience what's still right about the college game.
Great Stats Department
Team
...What a wall; USC led the nation with only 8 sacks allowed in 12 games.
...Luck of the Irish; Notre Dame went 6 for 6 on fourth down this year.
...Cardinal Red Zone; Stanford score on 63 of their 64 Red Zone trips this season. They ran for 24 TDs, threw for 26 and kicked 13 field goals.
...Academy discipline; Navy was penalized only twice a game for only 20 yards a game, without a personal foul being called.
...Drive stoppers; Alabama allowed teams to convert on third down only 25% of the time.
Individual
...Who? An owl, that's who; Temple's Bernard pierce led all RBs with 25 rushing TDs. Leading all backs period was Kansas State's Colin Klein with 26.
...The Wishbone is so yesterday; The Big XII had four QBs ranked in the top 10 in passing yards per game this season. From 3rd to 6th were OSU's Brandon Weeden, OU's Landry Jones, Texas Tech's Seth Doege and Baylor's Robert Griffin III.
...Don't even look; Once again USC's punter didn't qualify for NCAA ranking due to not enough punts.
...Lighting up the scoreboard; Wisconsin's Montee Ball led the nation with 228 points scored this year. That's 78 more the the second place kid.
...A one man Wolfpack; North Carolina State DB David Amerson intercepted 11 passes in 12 games this year. That's more picks than half the schools in the BCS had as a team this year.
Until next year folks remember, National Letter of Intent Day is just around the corner. It's funny how much I love this game with the funny bouncing ball. Chris Schenkel was right when he said watching college football is "a great way to spend an autumn afternoon."
-The Commissioner
