Eight 2009 Bowl Teams Lose by 20 or More Points, None Worse Than Nevada - Part 2

Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley

Houston blew into the Armed Forces Bowl with its quarterback Case Keenum, the nation's leading signal-caller with 5,671 passing yards, 44 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions.

Houston had earned a right to swagger—the Cougars' led the nation in offensive production, averaging 563 yards a game, and also were tied with Boise State for the nation's top scoring offense, averaging 42 points a game.

Unfortunately, Houston was playing Air Force. Do you how quickly a fighter jet can destroy an offense on the ground? The Air Force Academy Falcons came into the game with the nation's 5th best passing defense.

And the result? Air Force dissected Houston, 47-20. The Air Force secondary held Houston and Keenum to 222 yards passing and intercepted 6 passes. Defensive back Chris Thomas ended up with a busted-up nose, but he also had two picks and 12 tackles. Teammate Anthony Wright had 3 picks. Keenum had only 6 picks in the first 12 games this year.

The Air Force running game was led by Jared Tew with 173 yards on 26 carries (6.65 ypc), and Asher Clark with 129 yards on 17 carries (7.59 ypc). Both Tew and Asher scored twice.

I was the least surprised guy on the face of the Earth that Houston took a beating. The Cougars are ranked 111th among 120 teams in total defense, and only 95th in scoring defense. A quote by Keenum after the defeat was hilarious: "We're going to take this into the off-season and we're going to use it as motivation."

Here is a better idea, Case. Tell your coach, Kevin Sumlin, to recruit some high school kids that can play defense.

Houston football is going nowhere at 1,000 miles an hour. Unless Kevin Sumlin figures out that he needs to play defense to win big time, he may win some games but his Cougars will not be a serious contender for anything worth talking about. Houston ended the season at 10-4; Sagarin had them ranked at 53rd in the country. Even Mississippi State with a 5-7 record was ranked higher at 45th.

Oregon State had its own problems. The Beavers never recovered from their Civil War showdown against Oregon, losing to the Ducks 37-33, and losing the right to play in the BCS Rose Bowl. They had to settle for the Las Vegas Bowl and getting clubbed by Brigham Young, 44-20.

This was a huge surprise, not the loss, but the loss by 24 points. The Beavers are one of the dirtiest teams in the country, and have been known to be downright vicious on the field. BYU's Max Hall had his way with them, going 19-of-30 for 192 yards and 3 TDs. BYU ended the year at 11-2; Oregon State was 8-5—I would not want to be the team that plays them in their opener next year.

South Florida's Mike Ford ran for 207 yards (10.4 ypc) and a touchdown, and freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels went 14-of-22 for 217 yards and 2 TD passes as the Bulldogs tore through Northern Illinois, 27-3, in the International Bowl at Toronto, Ontario, Canada's largest city.

The bowl win was the second straight for the Bulls, who beat Memphis 41-14 in last season's St. Petersburg Bowl. This year's game was tied 3-all at the half, but South Florida won the 2nd half, 24-0.

Freshman running back Ryan Williams ran for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead 12th-ranked Virginia Tech past Tennessee, 37-14, in the Chick-fil A Bowl, boosting the Hokies to 10-3 and giving them their 6th straight 10-win season. Virginia Tech outrushed Tennessee (7-6) in the game, 229 to 5.

Williams became the Hokies' single-season record-holder with 1,655 yards, and also set Atlantic Coast Conference records with his 21 rushing TDs and 22 total TDs. Virginia Tech won the Orange Bowl last season, and now has back-to-back bowl victories for the first time in school history.

Tennessee was out to lunch in this game, and its first-year coach—Lane "Here Again, Gone Again" Kiffin—promptly dumped Tennessee for a better gig at Southern California. Peter Carroll left USC to take the coaching job with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. There is nothing like loyalty to build a little trust and confidence, or so they say in Tennessee.

Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers' freshman multi-threat receiver, scored twice from a wildcat formation and caught a touchdown pass to lead the Scarlet Knights over the University of Central Florida (UCF), 45-24, in the St. Petersburg Bowl. Tom Savage, another freshman, threw for a career-best 294 yards and 2 TDs.

Their coach, Greg Schiano, was effusive in the victory, "That's 4 straight bowl wins, 5 straight bowls," said Schiano, who has brought Rutgers from nothing back to contention during the last 9 years.

Sanu is the first Rutgers player in 17 years to run for a TD, pass for a TD and catch a pass for a TD in the same season. When you can run, pass and catch for touchdowns, you are a legitimate triple threat.

UCF coach George O'Leary said after the game that the Rutgers defense was better than his offense. The Scarlet Knights held Central Florida to 35 yards rushing and allowed only 4-of-15 third-down conversions, forcing Central Florida to punt 8 times.

(Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of a 2-Part Article.)