ALAMO BOWL
24) OKLAHOMA ST. vs. 25) OHIO ST.
Dec-29 8:00/ESPN
SO WHAT’S THE STORY WITH THIS ONE?
How’s this for a “brand name” match up? Oklahoma St. started 5-0 only to tailspin and go 2-4 the rest of the way with their last game being a bad 31-15 loss to Texas Tech. Ohio State after going 3-3 went 4-1 leaving off with an ‘upset’ over Michigan. Whether the momentum of either team will carry onto the bowl game remains to be seen. But the winner is guaranteed a final spot in the Top 25 and the loser is out.
SO WHO THE HELL ARE THESE TEAMS?
This is the Cowboy’s second trip to the Alamo, the first being a 33-20 loss to Purdue. They also lost their last bowl game against Ole Miss at the Cotton. So with that plus their losing ways at the end of the season, things could be mentally tough for them. Oklahoma has had some good wins against UCLA, Iowa St., and Colorado but all four losses come from Top 25 teams. Many feel they just don’t have it to play a competitive team. If they do have ‘it’, then ‘it’ will have to come from QB Donovan Woods who thrw for 1,491 yards and 13 touchdowns while rushing for 364 yards and 10 touchdowns. Don’t let the lack of passing yardage fool you, this is a rushing team which includes himself and Vernard Morency who ran for 1,454 yards and 12 touchdowns. Their O-Line is an experienced troupe as well led by future NFLer Sam Mayes and TE Billy Bajema who is a full time blocker making for a six man fence to guide the run. The cowboys defense is quite shabby and the coaching abilities of Les Miles and his staff have been questioned lately.
Ohio St. has a tradition of showing up on Bowl Day and have won their last two bowls (including a championship, but you know that!) The Buckeye’s best win was of course the Big One but they also have notable victories over Cincinnati and Marshall. Outside that, they haven’t lost to any of the bad teams in the Big Ten, but outside the Wolverines haven’t won against any of the good teams either. This bowl will show what was the true mirage: The Michigan Game or the Rest of the Season. The defense led by DE Simon Fraser will chase the QB around, but if the QB can escape through a hole or find a receiver, the linebackers and secondary are jut not talented and/or mature enough to do anything about it. They are very prone to the big play. There offense is just average and Jim Tressel has been rotating two quarterbacks and four running backs trying to find spark. Their biggest strength is the special teams. WR/PR Ted Ginn has returned four punts for touchdowns and WR/KR Santonio Holmes is the best athlete on the team. The team MVP is PK Mike Nugent who is 20/23 on field goals including 5 of them over 50 yards.
SO WHAT THE HELL IS THE ALAMO BOWL?
The first Alamo Bowl was in 1947 with Hardin-Simmons vs. Denver. It drew barely over 3000 fans. So it was scrapped. In 1993 the Alamo Dome decided they would give it a try. It has been very successful and is one of the more well-attended of the ‘mid-major bowls’ averaging around 60,000 a game.
OHIO ST.-33
OKLAHOMA ST.-7
MVP-Bobby Carpenter
WHAT HAPPENED?
The pre-game show was filled with scandal and outrage. The situation is getting bad for Ohio St. with more players rolling over and turning in boosters and more suspensions. The situation will also get worse before it gets better. A suspension is likely. But in the Alamo Bowl, there was a game. And the Cowboys got stuffed. The Ohio St. defense stonewalled them and i gave the MVP to LB Bobby Carpenter who had an interception and seemed to be everywhere on the field. The offense was led by Ted Ginn Jr. who ran for 40 yards and recieved for 78 yards. It was over by the first quarter and Oklahoma St. just got shell-shocked. Woods did his thing passing for 137 yards and running for 72 yards but no one else was helping him. Intriguingly, many thought the opposite could happen and Ohio St. would get blown out but as the preview stated Oklahoma St. was going down by the end of the season, and the Buckeyes were looking up.
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
It took 11 games but Ohio St. finally figured out who their starting 22 were and now they look like a Top Ten team again. And kudos to Tressel, can this guy focus his team or what? As for Oklahoma St., they were expected to do big things and laid an egg at the second half of the season. Expect Les Miles to be on the hot seat for next season.
