CAPITAL ONE BOWL
11) Louisiana St. vs. 12) Iowa
Jan-1 1:00/ABC
SO WHAT’S THE STORY WITH THIS ONE?
As usual, the Citrus Bowl will host one of the best games of the year. Iowa and LSU are two of the hottest teams in the country as both are coming off long win streaks. They are also two of the best defenses in college football so if you love a field position game, this is it! It is the first time these teams will be playing each other in a bowl game and also marks the first appearance at the Citrus Bowl for both these teams.
WHO THE HELL ARE THESE TEAMS?
Iowa makes their fourth bowl appearance in a row. After lopsided losses to Arizona St. and Michigan, Iowa won their next seven games beating Ohio St., Purdue, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Throughout the season, the Hawkeyes lost three running backs and their offense to be successful lies solely on QB Drew Tate who has been able to make the best out of a bad situation. Their defense is led by LBs Chad Greenway and Bdul Hodge who combined for 205 tackles. On the line, DT Jonathan Barbineaux and DE Matt Roth have done a fine job spearheading quarterbacks this year. Some are saying this is one of the top teams in the country while others are saying they overachieved. We shall see.
LSU has won the last six out of seven bowls they have participated in and come in winning six in a row this season. They boast victories over Oregon St., Florida, Troy, Alabama, and have done it mostly with their defense. They may have two of the best cornerbacks in the game, Corey Webster and Travis Daniels and Daniels can also play the nickel back when asked. On the line, LSU was the top rushing defense in the SEC with senior DE Marcus Spears who has a knack of being wherever the football is. They also lead in rushing offense with four players carrying the ball over 70 times. The quarterback position has been shared all season long by Marcus Randall and Je Marcus Russel and their passing game has been mediocre.
WHAT THE HELL IS THE CAPITAL ONE BOWL OR THE CITRUS BOWL OR WHATEVER YOU CALL IT?
Often called the ‘fifth major’ (sorry cotton), this bowl game spent over 50 years climbing the ladder. From the very bottom to almost the top. It started in 1947 as the Tangerine Bowl (the original one) and hosted bowl games to schools you never heard of. Catawba, Maryville, Sul Ross St., Emory & Henry, Juniata etc. Slowly but surely, throughout the 1960s and 1970s it scored the eventual top tier college team. In 1983, the bowl became sponsored by the Florida Dept. of Citrus and renamed it the Citrus Bowl. It became a fixture on New Year’s Day and would regularly be an exciting showdown between two top teams. In 1993, the Citrus Bowl cemented their place in Bowl World by signing a deal with the Big Ten and the SEC, having their runner-ups face each other. Since them , it has been considered one of the big time bowl games and currently gives the fifth highest payout. In 2003, they changed the name to the Capital One Bowl, But people seem to refuse to call it that. They are currently bidding to be the fifth BCS bowl.
IOWA-30
LOUISIANA ST.-25
MVP-DREW TATE
WHAT HAPPENED?
Does it matter? This game will be remembered for the last play. Coming off an offensive penalty, no time outs, and the clock quickly winding down Drew Tate throws a perfect 56 yard pass to Warren Holloway to win the game. One nightmare of an image for Nick Saban to go to Miami with. Drew Tate didn’t have a wonderful game and with two interceptions plus little action in the first three quarters would not be my MVP choice. But the tenacity he showed for that last play when all seemed to be lost earned him the right to be called one. As for the rest of the game, the first the quarters was the defensively strong field position game most thought it would be. And the end of three, it was 17-12 Iowa. The hawkeyes were never down in the game until the last minute after a 1-2 touchdown punch by the Tigers to take the lead 25-24.
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
There is just something about two angry runner-ups from premier conferences going at it that makes for great football games. The Citrus/Capital One/whatever you want to call it Bowl once again gives us one of the best games of the season and they seem to do this every year.
