Music City Bowl/Sun Bowl

Bowl favorites are not favorites to win.  Seems to be the way this bowl season is playing out.  Between coaching changes, failed season expectations, injured players and utter indifference, being favored to win means nothing in these games.  Add in a heaping helping of too many games and you get the abundance of bad football that's been played out over these games so far. 

North Carolina State vs. Vanderbilt

I started this game with the boys at the Gaslight Cafe in Pleasant Ridge.  This was an abbreviated version our annual Christmas tradition we call Man Day.  Just the guys out for lunch, shopping and maybe a few beers for Dad along the way.  We couldn't get it in this earlier because they didn't get off from school until the Friday before Christmas and Mrs. Keith and I were out of town that weekend.  So today was the last chance.

The Gaslight Cafe was the destination because the Gaslight burger is ranked as the #4 burger in town by Cincinnati magazine.

Boy #2 and I went for it while Boy #1 must be watching his figure and went for the quarter pound burger.  It's one tasty burger.  And if you go, stick with the chips.  The large crinkle cut fries were a disappointment. The house made chili wasn't bad but too much alongside this monster.

Turns out the Gaslight didn't have the bowl game, favoring the U.C. basketball game.  No problem, these games drag on so I'd catch a quarter of the second half at home.  As noted many times, I've been subbing for my morning show, so the belly buster of a burger combined with mild exhaustion equaled me laying on the couch for the third quarter.

Blah.  Vanderbilt put up 21 points in the second quarter and that's all she wrote in this one.  This game was another with a coaching change, with Jim O'Brien getting the boot in Raleigh so we'll chalk up the Wolf Pack's poor play to that.  As is common in these games, turnovers are a huge factor and NC State's Mike Glennon had three of them with interceptions.

North Carolina State outgained Vanderbilt by 214 yards.  That's seriously inefficient.  

Vandy 38  NC State 24

Game Notes:

-This was Vanderbilt's first 9-win season since 1915.  1915.  They didn't wear helmets that far back.  Commodores coach James Franklin certainly deserves some votes for coach of the year.  He's turned a doormat program into a solid second tier player in the S.E.C.

-Another quarterback hurting his draft stock with lackluster to poor play, this time NC State's Mike Glennon.  Three picks isn't going to get you paid come April, Mike.

-The highlight of NC State's season was ruining Florida State's season when they beat them in October.  That win gave us my favorite football fan picture of the year.

I'm guessing that guy would really enjoy the Gaslight Cafe.

Swag bag for players:  Just like this game, blah.  A trip through the gift suite and a Fossil watch.  Fossil, the official watch of bowl game gift suites.  Bowl sponsor Franklin American should at least offer players parents a discount on a re-fi.

Of course, I picked NC State to win.  Bowl record started to swirl.

The Sun Bowl is sponsored by Hyundai but I like this Vitalis logo better.  I'm taking the Sun Bowl as seriously as the Trojans of USC did.

Southern Cal vs. Georgia Tech

What an embarrassment for Southern Cal, a team that was a preseason favorite to play for (and win) a national championship.  Obviously that didn't happen as they found themselves in El Paso on December 31st.

I put this game on after it was clear the Music City Bowl was a done deal.  I had doubts about Southern Cal in this game because of starting quarterback Matt Barkley being out with a case of "I don't want to get hurt in this meaningless game" and the Trojans being relegated by their own doing to this game instead of something on New Year's Day or later.

Another turnover plagued game with a real lack of effort and game planning by Southern Cal.  They had no  answer to Tech's triple option attack and couldn't find a way to get the ball to their two soon-to-be-NFL playing wide receivers.  No one on offense really seemed to be trying. 

USC head coach Lane Kiffin was dressed as the Unibomber, in a hoodie and shades, maybe hoping no one would recognize him and the awful job he and his staff did all season and for this game. Here's Lane looking thrilled to be part of some pregame folderol.

George Tech 21  USC 7

Game notes:

-This is the only bowl game on CBS because ESPN loves showing crappy football.  Vern Lundquist and Gary Danielson, the SEC A-Team, are called in to do this game yearly.  These guys get to be in El Paso every New Year's Eve day.  Lucky them.
 When it was clear that USC had no intention of making a real effort, they told the story of how Kiffin and his team blew off the bowl game dinner that is planned for both teams.  El Paso takes a lot of pride in this game, their only time each year in the annual spotlight.  They were both obviously disgusted with the team's lack of manners and consideration for the people that put on this game and were waiting to tell this story to shame USC. That they did.

-If they don't jump on a private jet to go home, what can Vern and Gary do on New Year's Eve in El Paso?  Well, the "stars" of American Idol are performing at the nearby Inn of the Mountain Gods.  Yes, that's a real place.  There is an outdoor ball drop at the Lotus club including a performance by the band Biscuit Roller.  Or they can go R&B at the Sunland horse race track with the velvety sounds of Sha'Vone.

-Player swag:  Timely watch, Majestic fleece, Top of the World cap, coin, Helen of Troy hair dryer.  The only game that gives away a hair dryer.  Maybe a late Christmas present for mom, yeah?

Got this one wrong too, picking Southern Cal.  I probably shouldn't gamble.

Finishing the Liberty Bowl now and on to the nightcap, hopefully a good game between Clemson and LSU.  Aw, who am I kidding, it's the ACC vs. the SEC, it will likely be a beat down. Maybe I can pick one game correctly. 

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

After a day of games that started at 11:45am, we hit the Saturday night finale.  Serious doubts about reaching the final whistle.

Before my scattered memories of this game, props to the Buffalo Wild Wing folks who gave a clinic on in-stadium branding.  They left no doubt what company was sponsoring this game.  Beef 'O' Brady's could learn a thing or two from BWW.

TCU vs. Michigan State

From the outset, all bowl predictions were for a close game dominated by defense.  That's been the forecast for every single MSU game this season so why change now?

But oh my.  The Spartans offense looked like it somehow regressed since their last game in November, and there wasn't much room to move backwards.  And despite how good MSU's defense has been, they must also lead the NCAA in giving up a big play followed by a crushing penalty to add 15 yards.

They did all that in the first half and more.  Quarterback Andrew Maxwell looked completely lost, they couldn't get Le'Veon Bell and the running game going and when the receivers did get near the ball, they dropped it as often as they caught it.

Despite a shank, punter Mike Sadler was the first half MVP, pinning the Horned Frogs deep a number of times.  There was also possibly the worst trick play ever in MSU history - an attempted half back pass that wound up going back to Maxwell who almost threw an interception.  Oh for the days of George Perles.

Instead of seeing that play one more time, how about Little Giants?  

13-0 TCU after two quarters and it could have been much worse.

(At this point I'll be honest, it was well past 12am and I had been up since 6am to drive my daughter to work.  My eyes, having seen enough horrible football during the day, could not stay open much longer.)

The MSU offense continued to misfire to start the third quarter.  Fortunately MSU's defense knows how to play games like this and kept TCU out of the end zone.  Finally, the Spartans shook up the offense and put freshman Connor Cook in at QB, leading to the Spartans longest touchdown drive in their bowl history.  13-7 and there was life.  The drive did include a drive saving pass not from Cook, but Bell.  One can only imagine what this season would have been without him. 

Was there a fourth quarter comeback in store for Sparty?  Evidently so but I didn't see it.  Fell asleep.  Just could not keep my eyes open, and no, I wasn't boozing it up.  I even had some iced tea for a bit of caffeine to try and help the cause.  I have no idea what ESPN was thinking other than wanting a prime time game for the west coast.  This game could have been on ABC at 8pm, you know, like every week during the regular season.  I think our local ABC affiliate was showing an infomercial for the Schtickie.  

Punting hero Mike Sadler, who will play on Sundays, sent a 55 yarder back to TCU after another stalled MSU drive and finally, a break!  Muffed punt, Spartans recover.  Bell takes it in and it's 14-13.  But  it's the Spartans so count on more drama.  TCU manages a drive and a field goal from kicker Jaden Oberkrom.  No, he did not Oberkrombie and Flinch!  (That's some Berman-like top dollar humor right there.)

Since I wasn't awake, the finish from the AP:  Starting at their own 25-yard line, the Spartans moved 45 yards in eight plays, setting up Conroy for his second game-winner in a bowl after beating Georgia with a 28-yarder in the third overtime of the 2012 Outback Bowl.

A nice way to wake up Sunday morning.  MSU 17  TCU 16.   NO WAY did I see the Spartans coming back to win after the putrid first half performance.  Credit to Mark Dantonio for not letting the team give up but there are a lot of things that need to be addressed for next season. 

Game notes:

-MSU is the only team in the calendar year to punt 11 times and still win.  Key point, better to punt than turnover the ball not that Spartans didn't try.

-Nice game for Le'Veon Bell in what's likely his final game in green and white.  32 carries, 145 yards, a touchdown and that pass.  We'll just forget about that trick play in the first half.

-Also, a good end after a shaky season for kicker Dan Conroy.  For a guy who was great his junior year, Conroy's misses this year probably cost MSU a 9-3 record.

-A tiger at the Phoenix Zoo picked the Spartans to win, so did I.

-Not much in the way of swag for players:  Gift suite, Fossil watch, Ogio Mercur backpack. Hopefully a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card was in there.

-Did you know Buffalo Wild Wings is the number one account for Dos Equis and Guinness beer in the U.S.?

-Pretty excited about MSU's victory that gave them a winning record?  Maybe you should pop for this smart looking Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl sweater vest. 

 Too Tressel like for you?  Maybe this neon green BWW Bowl lanyard is more your speed.

Me either.  A positive note to the end the season and a break in the bowl games until Monday. 

Alamo Bowl

First match-up of ranked teams.  After three games in the day and the MSU game coming up around 2am, I had zero interest in this one.

#23 Texas vs. #13 Oregon State

Hey, no coaching changes.  But player changes galore for Texas, suspending two players a week or so back and then sending quarterback Case McCoy and another player home for violating team rules.

The roster shake up seemed to have the Longhorns on their heels in the first half, leaving them down 20-10 at the half.  It could have been worse as the Beavers settled for a couple field goals.

Second half, the Alex Okafor show.  Second half beast mode for defensive players has been a growing theme through these games.  The Texas defensive lineman finished with 4.5 sacks (a new Alamo Bowl record!), leading the team that sacked the Oregon State QB 11 times.  Okafor, like Kyle Van Noy from BYU and the Estonian kid of SMU, made a lot of money thanks to this performance.

Back to the Texas QB situation.  David Ash, who replaced McCoy (Colt's little brother), rallied the Longhorns in the fourth quarter.  This is when I turned the game back on after watching an episode of Boardwalk Empire.  I'm just starting to get into the HBO show.  Moves kind of slow but captures the period.

Anyhow, Ash hit for a touchdown pass with a couple minutes to play to give Texas their first lead of the game and it stuck.

Oregon State did have one more shot but their QB continued to get pummeled into the turf in San Antonio.

Texas 31  Oregon St. 27

Game notes:

-A whole lot of orange in San Antonio. 

-Great security there in the Alamodome. At least the guy kept his clothes on.

-Players make out with the bowl swag, one of the best hauls of any game:  Apple iPad mini, Fossil watch, $100 Best Buy gift card, panoramic team photo, Schutt mini helmet.  I'd like to find one of these bowl game mini helmets on ebay.

I had Oregon State in this one, drifting to .500.  Need the Spartans to win in Tempe.  I'm sure their offense will look razor sharp...

Pinstripe Bow/Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

Second and third games of the day.  Why in the world the San Francisco based Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl isn't played after 10pm is beyond me.

Great logo for the game at Yankee Stadium.  This is everything the Holiday Bowl logo is not.  Not so great weather.  And yet the NFL agreed to play the Super Bowl here, in February.  Enjoy that. 

West Virginia vs. Syracuse

Renewal of an old Big East rivalry, but no more thanks to WVU moving to the Big 12 where they found the playing wasn't as easy as they thought.  After a few games this season where they threw up a ton of points the Mountaineers game back to Earth and wound up losing five in a row.  Some "experts" were pushing West Virginia as a national title contender.

And then today's game happened.  A complete mess as Syracuse ran roughshod over the porous West Virginia defense like so many others did this season.  I foolishly chose West Virginia to win this game instead of looking at stats to see Syracuse was scoring a ton of points during the second half of the season.

Former Heisman hopeful Geno Smith may have hurt his draft stock the way he played for WVU today.  He made Gary Nova of Rutgers look competent.  Okay, it wasn't that bad, but it was bad.  Somehow Syracuse lost to Nova and Rutgers earlier this season.

Syracuse 34  WVU 14

Game notes:

-It's really hard to pick winners in these games but I should have seen this one coming.

-They get a good crowd for this lower tier game, over 38,000 for this one.  Being in New York City doesn't hurt.  I doubt that many would turn up for a game in Buffalo.

-I like the cold weather bowl game idea but it was snowing most of the game and this happens.

Not exactly fan friendly in person or on TV.

-Bowl swag:  The players clean up at this game.  Bowl committee would not disclose details about participants’ gifts, but last year’s gifts included a Sony video camera, Armitron watch, Balfour ring, New Era duffle bag, New Era caps, a winter hat, hoodie, sweatpants, thermal, polo and crew shirt.

If you hadn't figured it out by now, I had West Virgnia to win.

Navy vs. Arizona State

I only watched the second quarter of this beat down.  The Sun Devils scored touchdowns on their first nine possessions.  I don't think it took Arizona State more than three or four plays to score in the quarter I watched.

The game is still going on as I write this.  I didn't feel like creating a separate page for this game.

Done.

I had Arizona State with a fairly high confidence pick.  Should have made it higher.

Bowl record now (or will soon be) 9-7. 

Armed Forces Bowl

Time wise, the longest stretch of any day during the BowlQuest, starting at 11:45am with this game.  The games will go on until after 1am tonight.  Great for the west coasters, but too bad the late game doesn't feature west coast teams. 

Rice vs. Air Force

The day starts in Fort Worth with this less than exciting match up.  It was supposed to be battle between Air Force's option run game and Rice's defense.  I'm not even sure what conference Rice plays in (Conference USA?) and I'm positive I did not see Rice play once this season.

I was on the air at work while the first half of this game played out.  The Owls opened with the first touchdown followed by a couple scores for the Falcons.  This game was pretty much going as planned until both starting quarterbacks were knocked out the game with injuries.  Uh oh.

No starting QB to run their option attack, no more scoring for Air Force.  Meanwhile for Rice, freshman Driphus Jackson came in and lead the Owls to 26 straight points.

Rice wins 33-14.  They take a pretty cool trophy back to Houston, made from fragments taken from battle fields.

Game notes:

-Air Force only had 48 yards passing.  Air Force?

-Driphus Jackson has become the front runner for best name of BowlQuest. 

-Does Rice University have any famous alumni?  How about Howard Hughes?

 When told he had to leave the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Hughes did what only a crazy billionaire would do, he bought the hotel.  While living at the Desert Inn, he bought several other hotels including the Silver Slipper just so he could reposition its lighted sign, which bothered him at night.  We need more guys like Howard Hughes.

-Bowl swag:  Sony gift suite, Fossil watch, Dakine backpack, Big Game football.  Not just a football, but a Big Game Football.

-Bell Helicopter is the sponsor of this game, which means they like you to think about them when you're shopping for your next helicopter.  Maybe the 525 Relentless?  It's a nice ride.  If Howard Hughes were around, he'd buy one, or twelve.

I picked Air Force to win, so another loss the bowl record, down to 8-7.

Independence/Russell Athletic/Meineke Car Care

Way too much bad football in one day.  Took in complete games on the first two (plus a nap) and half of the nightcap.

Ohio University vs. One of the Louisianas (Monroe)

Blow out.  Louisiana Monroe was favored but acted like they were unfamiliar with covering looping passes.  Bobcat receivers had no problem running past War Hawk defenders for huge chunks of yardage.

The final score was 45-14 but it was over at the half.  Ohio has some serious alliteration going on with quarterback Tyler Tettleton, running back Beau Blankenship (who scored four touchdowns, a new Indy bowl record) and wide receiver Chase Cochran (not really alliteration but I threw it in anyhow.)

Advocare is a multi-level marketing brand (pyramid scheme) for energy drinks and work out products featuring spokesperson Drew Brees of the Saints.  He claims other top athletes use the products.

The game is in Shreveport and the tourism board tries its best to drum up some visits by saying it's the other side of Louisiana.  Geographically, it certainly is.  Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover appears in the ads and seems like an affable fellow, who bears a resemblance to a certain comic book villain. 

                                                                     Cedric Glover

                                                                           Kingpin

 This game has a serious trophy.  Here's a couple happy Bobcats holding it.  It appears to be a two man job.

I was way off on this pick, taking the War Hawks.  By the way, if you say that team name quickly it sounds like Warthogs, which I think we be a better name.

On to the second game of the day, the Russell Athletic Bowl, formerly the Champs Sports Bowl.

Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech

A match-up of former Big East foes.  Both teams play good defense.  To say they were offensively challenged would be an understatement.  This was easily the worst bowl game I've seen since the 2008 Sun Bowl when Oregon State beat Pittsburgh 3-0. 

I could run down the statistics of offensive futility in this game but you can look for yourself right here.  All you really need to know is that there were 21 total punts in this game.  Virginia Tech made their field goal in overtime while Rutgers missed, final score 13-10. 

In the second half, Mrs. Keith asked why I was watching this wretched game.  I really have no good answer.

ESPN stuck us with Matt Millen as analyst with play by play man Joe Tessitore.  Millen must have called him "Tess" more than 500 times during the game. I've never heard one announcer refer to the other by nickname like Millen did.  He is the absolute worst.  You get a lot of this with Millen, "Uh, Uh, Uh, Uh."  He's also calling the Orange Bowl next week, you've been forewarned. I guess it was appropriate he was calling this game.

The trophy presentation should have been someone throwing said trophy into a dumpster.  Neither team deserved an award for anything that happened.

Another missed pick for me, taking Rutgers. 

And the final game of the night.

The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.  Couldn't they have come up with a longer name?

Minnesota vs. Texas Tech.

Coaching change alert.  Tommy Tuberville left the Red Raiders in the lurch to take the Cincinnati job.  There are stories suggesting Tuberville took the U.C. job in the middle of recruit visit at a Lubbock restaurant and actually left in the middle of the dinner without saying a word to the kids who came for the visit.  Classy guy, but you knew that already by the pleather sports coat he was wearing at the Belk Bowl.

At least this game had some scoring after the mess that was the previous game.  Minnesota put up more offense in their opening drive than Rutgers and Virginia Tech combined in the second half of their game.

To be honest, I really had no interest in this game, having been up since 3:15am.  I stuck around to the half and went to bed.  Both teams were really chippy with each other because who doesn't remember the great Gopher/Red Raiders game of yore? 

Texas Tech kicked a field goal with time expiring to win the game 34-31.  At least Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill didn't collapse on the sideline like he did twice during the regular season.  The man should seriously consider another line of work.

Game notes:

-Here's a picture of some of the game t-shirts that have been sold the last couple years.  Notice anything strange about them?

That's not the Texas state flag.  That's the flag of the country of Chile. Here's the Texas flag.

Nice.

-Despite the game logo being a belt buckle you cannot buy an actual belt buckle as a souvenir from this game.  This bowl game needs to find a new marketing firm. 

I picked this one correct - yeah me!  My record stands at 8-6. 

Big load of games today, five total starting at 11:45am.  Hopefully they'll be better than the hot mess that was Friday.

Belk Bowl/Holiday Bowl

The most Belking bowl game ever.  This was supposed to be a game that favored U.C. but another coach departure, the No. 1 story of bowl season, would come into play. 

U.C. vs. Duke

Butch Jones left his head coaching job at Cincinnati after the regular season and took some of his assistants with him.  It's the third time in less than 10 years this has happened at U.C.  The fans are complaining again about coaching loyalty yet students and alums regularly don't show up for games.  How's that for loyalty?  Maybe if U.C. could fill its stadium on a regular basis they might convince a coach to stay longer than three years.  Done soap boxing.

Well, the coaching bereft Bearcats weren't ready for the punch Duke threw at them in the first quarter, rolling up a bunch of yards on the ground and grabbing a 16-0 lead.  Blame all the departed coaches you want but the players didn't forget how to tackle. 

U.C. woke up in the second quarter, remembered how to play football and wound up leading 17-16 at the half.  This also happened in the second quarter. 

Will Monday with maybe the best play of the bowl season.  79 yards, turned left and ended at the one.  But being Duke, they let the Bearcats pinned back at their one to storm down the field in a few plays to score.

Having to work early on the air again, I only made it through the third quarter with the score 27-24 favoring U.C.  Too bad I couldn't stay awake.  A wild finish with the Bearcats scoring two touchdowns in the final 44 seconds including an 83 yard touchdown and a then an pick six.

Four turnovers for Duke, none for U.C., there's your game. 

48-34 U.C.

Game notes:

-Credit to U.C. for overcoming that awful first quarter.  They could have packed it in but the make shift coaching staff didn't let it happen.  Maybe they reminded the players the knew how to play football and Duke stinks.

-Tommy Tuberville did show up in the ESPN booth, wearing something he evidently picked up before Chess King went out of business.

That jacket appears to be made of pleather and part of the Burt Reynold's Sharky Machine collection. I half expected Tuberville to leave that interview for another about halfway through.

-Bowl swag:  Teams get a shopping trip to a Belk department store. And the Fossil watch. Who wears these things? A lot of Fossil watches are given away this time of year.  Maybe someone can find a pleather blazer like Tuberville's on sale at Belk.

-This was Duke's first trip to a bowl game since 1995.  They haven't won a bowl game since 1961, so that streak continues.

This game was the Belkiest of Belk Bowls.  I had U.C. to win with high confidence points, so thanks for the comeback Bearcats.

Boy #1 took in at least a quarter of this one to keep the BowlQuest alive.  I was out cold readying myself to talk to Bootsy Collins on the radio.  (He never says much but is a nice guy. Wears a lot of cologne.  A lot.)

UCLA vs. Baylor

An all Bear match-up of mascots and the Bears beat the Bruins 49-26 in a stinker following a riveting Belk Bowl.  They really Belked it up.  This game also has kept its logo intact, mistake.  Worst logo of all Bowl Games.

I had UCLA in this one but with very low confidence points, thankfully.  Record drops to 7-4.

Three games today and then five tomorrow including Michigan State late, really late.  This stretch will test the BowlQuest mettle.

Military Bowl

These are some of my favorite games during the bowl season.  A lazy Thursday afternoon a couple days after Christmas with college football on TV and no one bugging me to do anything.  Bliss. 

#24 San Jose State vs. Bowling Green State University

Another game with a school losing their head coach, San Jose State.  Seems like there isn't an early game without someone jumping on or off the coaching carousel. 

The Spartans show up with a high scoring offense while the Falcons look to keep it close.  Close it was with SJSU getting the first score, a couple field goals for Bowling Green and another Spartan field goal to end the half 10-6.  Just the kind of game Bowling Green needed.

Special teams in this game were horrendous, especially punting.  The SJSU punter was hit hard on a play and was ranting at the officials for not getting a flag.  Turns out the guy was more than hot, he was hurt and had to leave for the locker room by the half.

Bowling Green moved ahead 13-10, both teams playing good defense but not able to take advantage of punting mistakes.  The Falcons punter had kicks of 12 and 15 yards in the second half while they blocked a punt to set up a score.

Another blocked punt for SJSU that turned into a safety (a break for BGSU) and then, finally a touchdown following the safety kick off.  Bowling Green answered thanks to a long run to go up 20-19.  More shaky special teams play helped SDSU grab the two final scores including a late touchdown for the 29-20 win.

SDSU won despite having -17 yards rushing.  QB David Fales was the difference, passing for 395 yards and two touchdowns.  A lot of yards considering the Spartans didn't have an offensive series of more than five players until midway through the third quarter. 

There will not be a game this bowl season with worse special teams play. 

Game notes

-Not exactly a big crowd for this tilt.  That's not a practice, that's the game at RFK Stadium. 

-San Jose State's Cullen Newsome was pretty excited to be at this game. That had to take a while.

-Bowl swag:  Apple iPad mini, Timely watch, beanie. The iPad alone makes this a winner.  A whole lot better than a commemorative football.

-Northrop Grumman is the sponsor of this bowl.  I like to patronize sponsors of the games as much as possible so this year I'm looking at picking up one of these.

It's an LEMV Airship built for the Army.  Should look pretty spiffy putting this down in the work parking lot in Norwood.

I had San Jose State in this one, upping my bowl record to 6-3.  High confidence points on this one. 

Two more games today, Belk Bowl and Holiday Bowl.

IRead more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/12/21/4502702/exceptionally-gifted-rating-bowl.html#storylink=rss#storylink=cpy

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl

Not much interest in this one after I did mornings on my radio station.  With approximately three hours sleep the night before and a short nap I wasn't in tip top bowl watching condition.

Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan

This was supposed to be a game featuring a Big 10 team against the MAC but since Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible for the post season and the league didn't have another team with at least a 6-6 record, the Sun Belt picked up extra bowl spot.

Sparse crowd on a Wednesday night in Detroit.  Shocking.

We did get a rousing pregame speech from WKU's interim head coach Lance Guidry who was leading the Hilltoppers before Bobby "Motor-cicle" Petrino takes over in 2013.  Guidry fired up Miami University in the Go Daddy.com bowl a couple years ago and he had me ready to run through a brick wall, especially if that brick wall was made with bricks of Little Caesar's pizza.

I guess the rousing speech from Guidry didn't help much because CMU took the early lead on a 69-yard touchdown pass.  WKU answered and CMU grabbed a 17-14 lead at the half.  That was it for me for the night with the alarm set to go off at 3:17am for the next day's show.

But sleep would not find me for a while because boy #1 decided he would go AWOL with one of our cars instead of picking up his sister from work on an icy night in northern Cincinnati.  He also wasn't answering his phone, as it turned out, on purpose.  So Mrs. Keith had to make the pick up trip and then track him down.  To say she wasn't happy is an understatement.  When things finally settled down, I hit the sack and got the outcome of this game this morning.

Guidry made the most of his one time shot at coaching and went for the win on a late 4th-and-2 instead of tying the game and going for overtime.  Maybe not the brightest move if you're looking to keep your job but its only Western Kentucky so he'll probably find another gig if Petrino shakes up the coaches.

CMU 24  WKU 21

Game notes:

-The Hilltoppers mascot is this thing, kind of like a red Grimmace.  Surprising McDonald's has issued a cease and desist.

-This game itself has not one but two mascots, Little Caesar and Crazy Bread, the chain's doughy, garlicy add on for when pizza crust isn't enough dough.

-Ironically, Central Michigan has no mascot because of their native American themed team name. 

-All of Michigan's teams are in food related bowl games this season:  Pizza Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl and Outback Bowl.

-Little Caesar's pizza was served at the game, which can't be said for when Papa John's hosted their bowl game in Birmingham.  Domino's and Pizza Hut really need to get in the bowl sponsorship game.

-One of the cheaper games when it comes to bowl swag for the players.  Only items listed are a Timely watch, leather travel sports bag, football.  What football player doesn't want another football?  Need to try and find one of those on ebay.

I had WKU in this one so my bowl record drops to 5-3.  Had this one pretty low on confidence points.

BowlQuest kicks into gear today with three games; the Military Bowl, Belk Bowl and Holiday Bowl.  No way I can catch that third one so rule two will be activated again.

Hawaii Bowl

Christmas Eve with the Mustangs and Bulldogs, what could be more traditional?  Just about anything but the Quest carries on.

Fresno State vs. SMU

This is always one of the least looked forward to games not only because of the holiday but because the less than interesting match-up. The Bulldogs were heavily favored and I was ready to go for at least a quarter of the game at 8pm but Mrs. Keith was not.  So, after an outstanding prime rib dinner, I decided to work a bit of it off with a walk to look at lights in the neighborhood.

Much like passing out candy on Halloween, it seems like there are fewer people who decorate their homes.   Still some decent ones in the neighborhood to look at on a brisk 30 minute walk.

Back in time to catch the start of the second quarter.  Game tied 0-0 but not for long.  SMU's defense jumped all over Fresno State, forcing a couple turnovers and getting the scoring going.  I don't actually think I saw Fresno run more than a couple plays without turning the ball over.  22-0 and Fresno blew a chance to score at the end of the half.  Boy #2 called this one over and he was correct.

SMU's Margus Hunt was the Kyle Van Noy (Poinsettia Bowl hero) of this game, with a couple sacks, forcing a fumble and a safety.

We switched over to NBC for "It's A Wonderful Life" where I had to explain the back story of George Bailey to the boy.  It never fails, the end of that movie works up a little mist.  Mrs. Keith wanted to know what kind of name is Zuzu and what was going on with her hair.

Can't disagree with her.  Maybe George should have got off the phone with her teacher and let the Bailey family hair stylist have it.  Then the stylist's husband could have punched him in the mouth at Martini's.

Switched back to the game during one of the many commercial breaks in the movie's final hour, all over.  43-10. Fresno State was a pretty heavy favorite so this is the first real upset of the bowl season.

Game notes:
-Former Hawaii head coach June Jones was back at Aloha Stadium with his Mustangs to earn his 75th win there.  It's the second time in a few years that SMU has knocked off a heavily favored opponent.

-Boy #2 gives props to the bowl game logo.  It is football-centric but I think I'm partial to the Pineapple Bowl of yore.  I don't recall the mainland conference. Attendance at this game in 1948 was 12,000 which was about 12,000 more people than at this year's Hawaii Bowl. 

-Game hero Margus Hunt is from Estonia.  Hunt may become the most famous Estonian man since Fabian Gottlieb Von Bellinghausen, a sailor who was the first person to see Antarctica. He has an island in the Atlantic Ocean and a crater on the moon named after him.  

-The win will be SMU's last in Conference USA as they get ready to move to the Big East.  Or not. Who knows.  The conference has installed a revolving door for teams coming and going.

-Bowl swag:  Fossil watch, Oakley backpack, Tori Richard aloha shirts, custom beach towel, Pro Athletics shorts, T-shirt, performance T-shirt, hat/visor, calendar.  A calendar! The bowl game in stride with today's youth.  Kind of a weak swag bag but they do get a trip to Hawaii.

I took Fresno State, so my record drops to 5-2.

No games today.  Pizza Bowl tomorrow night. Merry Christmas!

New Orleans/Las Vegas Bowls

BowlQuest is alive despite being on the road all afternoon Saturday so Mrs. Keith and I could be in Pittsburgh to catch the Bengals/Steelers game. 

A few thoughts on the NFL game before the bowls.

-People are out of their minds for paying $260 per ticket for club level seats for a product that is as dull and poorly played as many NFL games are, including this one.  We were lucky to get the seats thanks to a real estate client of my mom, the reason we went to the game.  Great seats, great view but I can't imagine shelling out over $5,000 a year for a pair of tickets. Outside of the ticket price, we paid $40 to park and stadium prices for some food and a few drinks.  Mrs. Keith muled in her own hooch so that saved a few bucks.

 What's more amazing is people who bring small children to the game using these tickets.  There is no way I can imagine thinking of bringing a four year old to a game on a $260 ticket.  At least the crowd in our area was pretty tame compared to what you usually run into at NFL games.  No many f-bombs for junior.

-Mrs. Keith was happy her Bengals won over the hated Steelers and got to see it in person.  That being said, the Bengals are a hugely flawed team and will get mowed down in the playoffs again.  The Bengals defensive line is very good as is A.J. Green.  After that, they're mediocre at best.  It will be one and done again in the playoffs, probably the Patriots, maybe the Texans.

-The Steelers have been a mess all season and continue to make a mess today.  The have zero identity on offense and despite the defense's high overall rank, they blow plays on important downs. Mike Tomlin is going to find himself on the coaching hot seat next season because of the idiotic decisions he makes.  53 yard field goal try into the open end of the stadium late instead of punting?  Forcing passes with 44 seconds to play that gave away the game instead of playing for overtime?  Moronic.

-Steelers fans have had enough of Big Ben and his terrible decision making.  He doesn't know when to throw the ball away, where to throw the ball and when not to be a "hero."  He's also at odds with the offensive coordinator and today was like giving the finger to Todd Haley. Add in his missing games to injury and the times they could be changing.  The Steelers need to draft a quality quarterback and running back.

Okay, venting over. 

East Carolina vs. Louisiana Lafayette.  I invoked BowlQuest rule two and Boy #2 caught this game while I was on the road to Pittsburgh for my Sunday of hell.  His observation:  It was a good game once East Carolina scored a couple touchdowns before halftime. Pretty boring with Louisiana scoring easily to start but it got better.  Good, but not good enough as he turned it off in the 4th quarter.  Final score 43-34.

Kind of wish I got to see this one but instead I was driving past an R&L Carriers hub on I-71. This has actually been one of the more stable bowl games, keeping this sponsor for 10 years.  And it's in New Orleans.  Big plus. Nice holiday time off for the R&L guys to party on Bourbon Street. 

The night before the game the fans were treated to a concert from The Beach Boys (Mike Love only version) and Bad Company.  Once again, seems like the R&L guys are throwing a party for themselves.

Boise State vs. Washington.  We were in Pittsburgh by the second half and I watched the complete second half of this game.  Boise State won.  ESPN's A-Team of Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit called this game.  Oh yeah, it was in Las Vegas.  The Broncos won on a late field goal and that's all I really cared about. 

Got both games right but the bowl picks bowl game I'm in has some gamblers who have put all these early games high in their confidence picks. 

Bowl record, 5-1. 

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl coming up for Christmas Eve. 

Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl

Always looking for new ways to spice up BowlQuest, boy #2 and I decided to watch a game while at the bowl sponsor location.  This wouldn't work so well with the San Diego County Credit Union or Fedex but with Beef 'O' Brady's, it's a possibility.

Of course, there needs to be a Beef 'O' Brady's somewhat close to bowl watching headquarters, which it turns out, we now have.  It was our plan to do this last year but the closest Beef 'O' Brady's was about 40 minutes away.  But lo and behold, a new Beef's just opened a mere five miles from the house, so off we went.

What's a Beef 'O' Brady's?  Your typical O'Charley's/TGIFriday's/Applebee's style place with more emphasis on sports viewing.  Kind of like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's had a baby and named it Beef 'O' Brady's. 

Our waitress, Kim, was either new to the waitressing game or was really bad at it but this brand new Beef's must have needed staff.  Kim was also a "toucher", tapping on everyone's arm.  She was also slurring her speech pretty badly, giving us the idea she might have had a few.  

Kim brought us our menus and did ask for our drink order right away, the boy getting a Coke and me a draft beer.  When I asked Kim what beers were on tap, she said "A lot," and then touched my arm again.  She mentioned an IPA (explaining what IPA meant in her slurred speech) but didn't know what IPA was on tap.  It turned out to be Henry Weinhard, which was fine.

We decided to go with Beef's Cheesy Bacon Pub Chips as an appetizer because the boy and I are always health conscious. The picture below is what the menu indicates the item will look like.

This is what ours looked like.

I guess it was a pretty close facsimile.  A fairly dense chip with a smattering of bacon and cheese, with ranch and sour cream on the side.  This could have used some green onions scattered on top for color contrast and a bit of zip.  Pretty dull item.


For entrees, I took the the wings basket as Beef's menu claimed they were "award winning" while the boy went for the Buffalo chicken sandwich.  The only award I could imagine the wings winning would be for being pretty bland despite claiming to use Chef Paul Prudhomme's spice blend.  I also ordered "hot" and these definitely were not.  No pictures of the wings because my fingers were messy and I didn't want to get grease on my phone.  And they weren't worth the effort anyhow.  Also, no offering of blue cheese instead of the bland ranch dressing on the side.  Mistake. 

The boy said his sandwich was "okay" but was dry and needed more sauce.  Both meals came with fries which were fairly limp.  Beef's should swap out their pub chips in place of fries or at least make it an option. 

One thing the boy liked was the Coca Cola Freestyle machine that gives thousands of drink choices.

Kim didn't mention the machine when he ordered his drink originally.  We found it pictured in the gate fold of the menu.  They also didn't have it out for diners to use, for portion control reasons I'd imagine, so Kim offered to take the boy back to the machine so he could mix up a concoction.  The boy came back with something red and said Kim kept touching his arm.  The should definitely put the machine out so people can make their drinks.  Five Guys does it and they manage to stay in business.

I wanted a second beer and had to flag down Kim who was flitting around the place although she didn't seem to be waiting on too many tables.  I also had to hand Kim our appetizer dishes to take away and a manager stopped by to take our entree dishes but didn't bother to ask how our meal was.  I also had to flag down Kim to get our bill.  I don't foresee a long future at Beef's for Kim.

Of course, the main reason for going was to watch the game.  Not difficult.  Every big flat screen in the place had the bowl game on as you'd expect.  No shortage of TV's in the place either. 

Ball State taking on Central Florida in a snoozer.  The Knights and running back Latavius Murray ran right over the Cardinals piling up a 28-7 halftime score.  (We were home from Beef's by half.)  The game was over when Ball State opted to kick a field goal to make the score 28-10 in the third quarter.  I guess Ball State's coach thought his defense would eventually show up, which it did not. Gutless call.  I never understand coaches who do this when their team is getting whipped.

A lousy game that ended 38-10, so yeah, that field goal really helped.  Ball State averaged 35 points per game this season so a big disappointment for the faithful in Muncie. Second bowl win for UCF.

Game notes:

-UCF's quarterback is Blake Bortles, which is fun to say and the ESPN crew said it a lot.  He played well (22-32, 271 yards, three TD's) and for some reason, every time they said his name I kept thinking of basketball player Al Attles.

(I like how Attles name is on the front of his San Francisco jersey, like he plays for the Attles.)

-ESPN decided a three man booth was necessary for this game and had Heisman winners Andre Ware and Desmond Howard analyzing. Sometime less is more.

-Bowl game swag for the players:  Jawbone Jambox, Oakley Dispatch II sunglasses, Oakley backpack, Schutt mini helmet.  Mini helmet!  (A Jawbone Jambox is a wireless, blue tooth speaker system, by the way).

-The game is played at Tropicana Filed in St. Petersburg.  The artificial turf is a patchwork to cover the baseball diamond and also looks horrible on TV.  It looks like huge portions of the field are wet, maybe from Tropicana juice seeping up through the floor.  It's Florida, play the game outdoors.

-This game has been tarnished by pregame player competition controversy in the past (the great dance off fight of 2010) but not this year.

Yeah, shirtless linemen hula hooping.  They also had a belly flop contest and best legs competition among the coaches.  I can only imagine what the searing white legs of UCF's head coach George O'Leary look like.  

-I have no idea why Beef 'O' Brady's feels the need for two apostrophes around their O.

-One last Beef's note.  A large group was about three tables away from us with four small children.  As a parent of three, you should really avoid taking kids to a sports bar environment after 7:30pm on a Friday night.  With kids under a certain age, speed in food delivery is a major factor in eating out.  Beef's wasn't moving all that fast with a new crew on the floor to begin with and the menu really didn't scream 2-year old either.  The kids were squirming, squawking and more or less ruining everyone's bowl game good time.

I chose Ball State in this game with a low confidence score, my record moves to 3-1.  So much for a perfect BowlQuest.  Thanks a lot Ball State.

Today, the New Orleans bowl followed by the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas.  Boy #2 will pay for his dinner by watching some of the first game while Mrs. Keith and I drive to Pittsburgh for the Bengals/Steelers game tomorrow.