Summary
Pac 12 Championship Game
Washington 41- Colorado 10: To all those on the east coast who just woke up and saw the score on Saturday morning, it looked like an easy blowout by the Huskies. To those of us who watched it, it was a tough game that saw the Dawgs shut down the Buffalo offense and then grind it out on offense for the big win. The Huskies came out fast and drove 65 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead when RB Lavon Coleman bulled in from a yard out. The Buffaloes then got their first turn with the ball and disaster struck early. On CU's fifth play form scrimmage, QB Sefo Liufau was sacked and injured. The lower right leg injury that knocked him out v. Michigan happened again. Despite being attended to on the sideline, Luifau would go off to the locker room and not be seen ago until the third quarter. Meanwhile backup QB Steven Montez drove the Buffs to a game-tying score. RB Philip Lindsay galloped in from three yards out and the game was knotted at 7-7 at the end of the first period. The Huskies regained the lead when QB Jake Browning hit TE Darrel Daniels with a 15-yard TD pass. The Dawgs carried a 14-7 lead into the half as both defenses controlled the rest of the second quarter. Liufau returned to the game to start the second half much to the delight of the CU faithful. However, that delight turned to misery quickly. On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Liufau's pass sailed through the hands of his target and was picked off by DB Taylor Rapp who took it back 35 yards to paydirt. Then, just four plays later, Rapp picked off another Liufau pass and the Dawgs turned that into a field goal to go up 24-7. The game was essentially over at that point. It was clear that Liufau was not at 100%. His passes were off and he couldn't run the ball. The already strong Husky defense got stronger and totally shutdown what was left of CU's offense. The UW offense took then ran clock and wore out the CU defense. They put 17 more points on the board and took home the Pac 12 crown. With Liufau hurt, the Washington defense held Colorado to just 163 total yards with Liufau completing only three of 13 passes for 21 yards and three interceptions. Browning didn't have a great day either, completing just nine of 24 passes for 118 yards an a pair of TDs. It was the UW rushing attack that shined as the tandem of RBs Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman combined to tote the rock 47 times for 260 yards and a TD.
Telling Stat: A nifty 50; The Washington defense held Colorado to a paltry 50 total yards in the second half. They also outscored the CU offense, 7-3, forced three interceptions, and held the Buffs to 0 yards or less on five of their eight second half posessions.
Bowl Trivia: Michigan is taking on Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Who was Michigan's QB the last time they played in the Orange Bowl?
Observations
...A different west for Brohm; Western Kentucky HC Jeff Brohm is headed to West Lafayette, Indiana. he is the new HC at Purdue. Brohm will try to resurrect a Boilermaker program that has been dormant since some guy named Drew Brees played QB there.
...Feeling directional; In addition to Michigan making a bowl, Western, Central and Eastern Michigan are going bowling too.
...A memo to Westwood; bRuins pay to play at the Rose Bowl, Trojans get paid to play in The Rose Bowl.
...A memo to Westwood; bRuins pay to play at the Rose Bowl, Trojans get paid to play in The Rose Bowl.
...Idaho 2- 0; Idaho and Boise State are going bowling while the state of Oregon stays home.
...Academy Bowling; Army, Navy and Air Force are all going to bowls for the first time since 2010.
...To paraphrase The Bard; A Rose Bowl, by any other path, still smells as sweet.
...Shhhh listen; If you hold a Michigan helmet to your ear you can hear Jim Harbaugh whining.
...Haven't we met?; When Washington takes on Alabama, it will reunite the Huskies with their former HC and now Alabama consultant, Steve Sarkisian. Hmmmmmm.
...Just a rumor; There is no truth to the rumor that Colorado used their all white uniforms as surrender flags in the fourth quarter of the Pac 12 Championship Game.
...Not news; I don't think anybody thought LSU RB Leonard Fournette would stay around another year.
...A huge 180; If Oregon hires current USF HC Willie Taggart, the Ducks would go form a point-a-minute-hyper-speed attack to a ground and pound Stanford style offense. Whoa.
...He's done; Cincinnati HC Tommy Tuberville has retired after four years at the helm of the Bearcats. Trojan fans remember him as the HC at Auburn when USC beat the Tigers in the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
...Three below; Three under .500 teams have made it to bowl games. 6-7 Hawaii will play in the Hawaii Bowl v. Middle Tennessee State. 5-7 Mississippi State will take on Miami (OH) in the St. Petersburg Bowl and 5-7 North Texas will take on Army in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
...Baylor Ruhles; Baylor hired Matt Ruhle away from Temple to be their new HC. Rule took a pretty moribund Temple team and got them playing well, but Baylor will be a different challenge. The stigma of the scandal has created a toxic atmosphere in Waco. Oh, and recruiting has tanked too. Baylor just has one commit in their 2017 class so far. Good Luck, Matt.
...Head Buff Bandied About; You know it's been a good year for Colorado HC Mike MacIntyre when he has to put out press releases saying that he is not leaving CU for another HC gig.
...0 for 2; For the second consecutive season Cal HC Sonny Dykes has tried to leave Berkeley for another HC job. This time he was turned down by Baylor. When will the Cal administration just fire Dykes because he obviously doesn't want to be there?
...Not so hot; Not hearing any of those Jim Mora leaving UCLA to take another HC job stories this year. We'll, thats what 4-8 does for you.
...Pete said it; In his prep for Alabama UW HC Chris Petersen tweeted "Fortunately, the Seahawks are here in town. Maybe they'll scrimmage to get us ready for Bama." On a Seattle radio show Monday, Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said, "Our boys will be ready for them, You wanna bring them out here?. Come on, bring em over here, coach."
Bowl Trivia Answer: Tom Brady led the Wolverines to a win in the 1999 Orange Bowl v Alabama. He threw for four TD passes that day.
...Shhhh listen; If you hold a Michigan helmet to your ear you can hear Jim Harbaugh whining.
...Haven't we met?; When Washington takes on Alabama, it will reunite the Huskies with their former HC and now Alabama consultant, Steve Sarkisian. Hmmmmmm.
...Just a rumor; There is no truth to the rumor that Colorado used their all white uniforms as surrender flags in the fourth quarter of the Pac 12 Championship Game.
...Not news; I don't think anybody thought LSU RB Leonard Fournette would stay around another year.
...A huge 180; If Oregon hires current USF HC Willie Taggart, the Ducks would go form a point-a-minute-hyper-speed attack to a ground and pound Stanford style offense. Whoa.
...He's done; Cincinnati HC Tommy Tuberville has retired after four years at the helm of the Bearcats. Trojan fans remember him as the HC at Auburn when USC beat the Tigers in the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
...Three below; Three under .500 teams have made it to bowl games. 6-7 Hawaii will play in the Hawaii Bowl v. Middle Tennessee State. 5-7 Mississippi State will take on Miami (OH) in the St. Petersburg Bowl and 5-7 North Texas will take on Army in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
...Baylor Ruhles; Baylor hired Matt Ruhle away from Temple to be their new HC. Rule took a pretty moribund Temple team and got them playing well, but Baylor will be a different challenge. The stigma of the scandal has created a toxic atmosphere in Waco. Oh, and recruiting has tanked too. Baylor just has one commit in their 2017 class so far. Good Luck, Matt.
...Head Buff Bandied About; You know it's been a good year for Colorado HC Mike MacIntyre when he has to put out press releases saying that he is not leaving CU for another HC gig.
...0 for 2; For the second consecutive season Cal HC Sonny Dykes has tried to leave Berkeley for another HC job. This time he was turned down by Baylor. When will the Cal administration just fire Dykes because he obviously doesn't want to be there?
...Not so hot; Not hearing any of those Jim Mora leaving UCLA to take another HC job stories this year. We'll, thats what 4-8 does for you.
...Pete said it; In his prep for Alabama UW HC Chris Petersen tweeted "Fortunately, the Seahawks are here in town. Maybe they'll scrimmage to get us ready for Bama." On a Seattle radio show Monday, Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said, "Our boys will be ready for them, You wanna bring them out here?. Come on, bring em over here, coach."
Bowl Trivia Answer: Tom Brady led the Wolverines to a win in the 1999 Orange Bowl v Alabama. He threw for four TD passes that day.
Scandal in Bloomington
Amid all the playoff discuss last week, the resignation of Indiana HC Kevin Wilson almost slipped under the radar. Folks began to question why he would "resign" and take a 500,000 or so buyout on a contract with a few years and several million dollars left on it. The backstory is in not pretty. According to the Indianapolis Star, in an internal investigation by IU, it was learned in 2015 that Wilson's treatment of injured players was not good. Evidently, Wilson demeaned injured players and in a few cases worked worth the trainers to put kids back on the field with serious injuries. After what seems to be a better handling of these problems by the IU football staff, it turned bad again this past November according to Indiana AD Fred Glass. That's what got Wilson released. Heres' the link to the Indianapolis Star article. Hurt Hoosiers
Ugly Uniform of the Week
Western Michigan wins for this grey nightmare. Brown an Gold can be done in such a better way. SMH.
Pac 12 Bowl Quick Takes
12/27- Holiday Bowl- Washington State v Minnesota: Cougar fans are happy that they didn't get stuck in the Sun Bowl after their collapse in the Apple Cup. I think the Cougars speed beats Minnesota's power.
12/28- Foster Farms Bowl- Utah v. Indiana: The Utah Utes are like the Utah Jazz of the 1980s. They can't win ones that really matter. Hence another middle of the pack finish in the Pac 12 South. However, Indiana has had a good year, but with their HC now gone amid a scandal, I think Utah's defense stops the Hoosiers cold while the their offense grinds out a win.
12/29- Alamo Bowl- Oklahoma State v. Colorado: Will CU QB Sefo Liufau be healthy enough to play is the question here. If he is, this could be a tight game, if not CU loses by a bunch. Either way, I see Okie State winning this old Big XII matchup.
12/31- Sun Bowl- Stanford v. North Carolina: This is a matchup of two good, but up and down teams. Stanford comes in up winners of their last four games, while UNC comes down losing two of their last three games. I think Christian McCaffrey sets a couple of Sun Bowl records and the Cardinal knock the Tar out of the Heels.
12/31- CFP Semifnial- Washington v Alabama: Hard to not take the Crimson Tide here. Three things exist that could help UW. One. Alabama has faced one quality QB all year. Two, Alabama's offense is average at best. Three, could the Tide come in overconfident because this UW is a team that USC whipped at home? I think this will be a lot closer game than anyone thinks.
1/2- Rose Bowl- USC v. Penn State: Trojans win a barn burner in Pasadena.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
How long does it take for shutters to arrive?
There are at least four stations playing nothing but christmas music on SiruisXM.
Cold Santa Ana winds mess my sinuses up worse than the hot ones.
Looking Back
This has been quite a season my friends. It started painfully at Jerryworld and ends in the Rose Bowl. The one thing through the whole crazy ride has been that all of you have been through it with me. This was my 43rd season spent watching the Trojans from my seat in the Coliseum. The Coaches, players, wins and losses all come and go. The friends and family that are a part of the tailgates, road trips, watch parties and game texting threads all make this game with the funny bouncing ball that much more fun. So, to my far flung football family, I wish you all Very Merry Bowl Season.
Until next year,
Fight On! Beat The Lions!
-The Commissioner
Ugly Uniform of the Week
Western Michigan wins for this grey nightmare. Brown an Gold can be done in such a better way. SMH.
Pac 12 Bowl Quick Takes
12/27- Holiday Bowl- Washington State v Minnesota: Cougar fans are happy that they didn't get stuck in the Sun Bowl after their collapse in the Apple Cup. I think the Cougars speed beats Minnesota's power.
12/28- Foster Farms Bowl- Utah v. Indiana: The Utah Utes are like the Utah Jazz of the 1980s. They can't win ones that really matter. Hence another middle of the pack finish in the Pac 12 South. However, Indiana has had a good year, but with their HC now gone amid a scandal, I think Utah's defense stops the Hoosiers cold while the their offense grinds out a win.
12/29- Alamo Bowl- Oklahoma State v. Colorado: Will CU QB Sefo Liufau be healthy enough to play is the question here. If he is, this could be a tight game, if not CU loses by a bunch. Either way, I see Okie State winning this old Big XII matchup.
12/31- Sun Bowl- Stanford v. North Carolina: This is a matchup of two good, but up and down teams. Stanford comes in up winners of their last four games, while UNC comes down losing two of their last three games. I think Christian McCaffrey sets a couple of Sun Bowl records and the Cardinal knock the Tar out of the Heels.
12/31- CFP Semifnial- Washington v Alabama: Hard to not take the Crimson Tide here. Three things exist that could help UW. One. Alabama has faced one quality QB all year. Two, Alabama's offense is average at best. Three, could the Tide come in overconfident because this UW is a team that USC whipped at home? I think this will be a lot closer game than anyone thinks.
1/2- Rose Bowl- USC v. Penn State: Trojans win a barn burner in Pasadena.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing
How long does it take for shutters to arrive?
There are at least four stations playing nothing but christmas music on SiruisXM.
Cold Santa Ana winds mess my sinuses up worse than the hot ones.
Looking Back
This has been quite a season my friends. It started painfully at Jerryworld and ends in the Rose Bowl. The one thing through the whole crazy ride has been that all of you have been through it with me. This was my 43rd season spent watching the Trojans from my seat in the Coliseum. The Coaches, players, wins and losses all come and go. The friends and family that are a part of the tailgates, road trips, watch parties and game texting threads all make this game with the funny bouncing ball that much more fun. So, to my far flung football family, I wish you all Very Merry Bowl Season.
Until next year,
Fight On! Beat The Lions!
-The Commissioner
