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The bowl season is upon us. But if you’re a fan of the SEC, you’re going to have to wait a little longer before throwing on your jersey, grabbing your giant foam “we’re No. 1” finger, and preparing your favorite bean dip — or whatever your pregame ritual might be — to watch the conference in action.
And while we have to wait 10 days before LSU and Texas Tech clash in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 29 in Houston, there’s plenty of “other” football to watch in the interim.
Here are 10 things around college football to watch for prior to the first SEC kickoff on Dec. 29.
The Richt Get Richt-er
While he won’t be coaching in Miami’s Sun Bowl matchup against Washington State, the Mark Richt era is underway for the Hurricanes. Richt took over as Miami head coach after 15 seasons guiding Georgia, where he amassed a 145-51 record. It’s the first trip to the Sun Bowl for the Hurricanes since 2010, when interim head coach Jeff Stoutland guided Miami in a loss to Notre Dame while then newly-hired Al Golden, the man Richt replaces, watched from the luxury boxes. Miami’s opponent, Washington State, is led by Mike Leach, a coach who needs no introduction to the SEC. The former Kentucky offensive coordinator and his offenses set 114 Wildcat school records during his two-year tenure in Lexington.
Snub This
Keenan Reynolds might be the best player in the pre-SEC bowl games. The Navy quarterback will lead the Midshipmen up against Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl on Dec. 28 in their Annapolis backyard. Reynolds is considered one of the Heisman pseudo-snubs this season, after throwing for 964 yards and six touchdowns and rushing for another 1,093 yards and 19 scores. With 81 yards on the ground against the Panthers, Reynolds will eclipse Denard Robinson’s 4,495 yards for tops all-time among scrambling quarterbacks. The senior signal-caller averages 89.1 yard per game.
Which Ball We Using?
Here we go. Christian Laettner vs. Isiah Thomas. Bobby Hurley vs. Calbert Cheaney. Quinn Buckner vs…err…hold on a second. My apologies. I’m being told that this year’s Pinstripe Bowl matchup between Indiana and Duke will actually be contested by the schools’ football teams, rather than their vaunted hoops squads. Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld has led the Hoosiers back into a bowl game for the first time since 2007 and just second time since 1993. What could be better than watching two traditional basketball powerhouses play each other in football on the most storied baseball field (Yankee Stadium) off all-time?
PS – please don’t send me hate mail, anti-Yankees fans. I’m well aware they tore down the old Yankee Stadium.
Trouble Bruin
Hey, Nebraska, this is how you defend a Hail Mary. Sincerely, UCLA. The Bruins fended off BYU’s walk-off attempt in September, two weeks after the Cougars ripped out the hearts of the Cornhuskers and week after doing the same to Boise State. This year’s Foster Farms Bowl will be a rubber match of sorts between UCLA and Nebraska, who have split the dozen games they’ve played against one another dating back to 1946.
Everyone Gets a Trophy
The best thing about the bowl season is that just about everyone gets a chance to play these days. OK, so maybe that’s not so great. It’s kind of like doling out participation trophies to all Little Leaguers, even to that kid in right field who did nothing but stare at clouds and eat grass all season long. This year marks the first time that we have a sub-.500 team in the bowl season, three of them to be exact, simply because there are too many bowls and not enough teams hitting the requisite number of six wins for bowl eligibility. This year’s five-win bowl squads include the aforementioned Nebraska (5-7) against UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl, Minnesota (5-7) against Central Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl, and San Jose State (5-7) versus Georgia State in the Cure Bowl. The names of those bowl games alone should tell you that there’s a systematic problem here that needs to be addressed.
Time to Kill
Jerry Kill only went 52-45 at Minnesota, but the former Golden Gophers coach, who abruptly retired at the end of October after a very public battle with seizures and kidney cancer, is quite revered in Minneapolis. The Gophers play their first bowl game without Kill since 2009 when they take on Central Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl.
Not So-Sinful City
Get ready Las Vegas, here comes the fan bases of the BYU Cougars and Utah Utes. Oh, right. Prepare for the least sinful week in Vegas history as the Cougars and Utes square off in the Royal Purple Bowl. Any religious over-or undertones aside, BYU and Utah promises to be an excellent game between two programs that were ranked in the AP poll and made some serious noise early on in the season. No. 20 Utah (9-3) has to enter the game with a major chip on its shoulder, being relegated to the Royal Purple Bowl after ranking as high as No. 3 in the nation in late October. It’ll also be the last game coached by Bronco Mendenhall, who has become an institution in Provo, going 99-42 since taking over at BYU in 2005 and leading the Cougars to a bowl appearance every year during his tenure. Mendenhall surprised everyone this month, accepting the job as Virginia’s new head coach.
Albu-quirky
If you recall your Gildan New Mexico Bowl history — and who doesn’t — then you recall Rich Rodriguez’ first bowl game at the helm of Arizona in 2012. RichRod and the Wildcats make a right turn toward Albuquerque three year later to face New Mexico on the Lobos’ home turf. Back in the 2012 contest, Arizona quarterback Matt Scott scored led the Wildcats on two touchdown-scoring drives in the final 46 seconds to stun Nevada 49-48. Arizona disappointed this season, failing to repeat as Pac-12 South champs, as injuries devastated the Wildcats, relegating them to 6-6 on the year and prompting RichRod to interview at South Carolina — which he eventually turned down.
Hilltop This
Western Kentucky enters the postseason with the best record (11-2) among teams playing prior to the SEC taking the field for its first bowl game. The Hilltoppers’ reward is a trip to South Beach to face South Florida in the Miami Bowl. Seems fair. Brandon Doughty is second in the nation in passing, tossing for 4,594 yards and a national-best 45 touchdowns. Of that impressive tally, 534 yards and four touchdowns came against the SEC (vs. LSU and Vanderbilt), including a 325-yard, three-touchdown performance in a loss to the Tigers in Death Valley.
Goodbye, Frank
The year’s Independence Bowl will mark the final game in the career of fabled Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer. The 69-year-old Beamer is 237-121-2 at the helm of the Hokies and can up that record to 238 wins with a victory over Tulsa in the Shreveport, La.,-based bowl contest. Beamer took over in Blacksburg in 1987 and didn’t qualify for the postseason until his seventh season — demonstrating an incredible amount of patience for a coach by Virginia Tech that’s unheard of in today’s quick-fire college football coaching carousel. Interesting note, Beamer played defensive back for the Hokies in the late 1960s, but accrued one career rush that went for 11 yards.
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
