We beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, evidence as to why title games are a bad idea. We beat them 47-45 on a last second field goal. We were up by 15 going into the half, they came back, of course and managed to get ahead by 1 with about 2 minutes to go in the game.
I honestly thought, "well, at least you were *this* close. I mean, I just didn't have any expectations. But I think all of the work I've put into trying to figure out how to win with this team has paid off. We drove down the field, by mixing it up.
I used to be a very pass-oriented guy. People stop that, they stop me. Then I integrated the run better and now, I've figured out how to really leverage the play-action to help my offense move forward. It's a small thing for people who do this naturally, but for me, it's a huge evolution in the way I manage a game, because it makes me feel more confident about how to play, etc., and my teams do better as a result, it seems.
In any case, we got close, got the clock down to 4 seconds and kicked a 29-yarder to win the game.
That got us a date with Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl, our own version of crashing the BCS party.
For their party, Oklahoma was booted from the title game, but will still play in a BCS game, as they fell from #1 to #4 in the rankings after the loss.
Here are the bowl matchups and results:
Quote:
NEW MEXICO BOWL: Hawaii (11-2) 34, Baylor (6-7) 13
ST. PETERSBURG BOWL: UMASS (8-5) 41, Colorado (6-7) 28
EAGLE BANK BOWL: Toledo (7-6) 38, Western Kentucky (7-6) 31
NEW ORLEANS BOWL: Florida Atlantic (9-4) 19, UCF (7-6) 14
LAS VEGAS BOWL: Washington (9-4) 23, Kansas State (8-5) 13
POINSETTIA BOWL: Texas Tech (8-5) 27, Arizona (6-7) 20
HAWAII BOWL: Vanderbilt (10-4) 37, San Diego State (10-3) 28
MOTOR CITY BOWL: Appalachian State (12-2) 34, Illinois (7-6) 31
EMERALD BOWL: USC (8-5) 39, Miami (6-7) 21
MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL: NC State (8-5) 24, Air Force (6-7) 16
CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL: Purdue (7-6) 27, USF (9-4) 21
INDEPENDENCE BOWL: BYU (8-5) 45, Indiana (10-3) 28
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL: Central Michigan (10-3) 28, Louisiana Tech (9-4) 27
HUMANITARIAN BOWL: Virginia Tech (7-6) 35, South Dakota State (7-6) 24
GMAC BOWL: Youngstown State (10-3) 17, Houston (9-4) 3
TEXAS BOWL: TCU (7-6) 35, Marshall (7-6) 7
HOLIDAY BOWL: Texas (10-3) 35, Utah (8-5) 14
ARMED FORCES BOWL: Washington State (7-6) 34, UCLA (6-7) 31
SUN BOWL: Oregon (9-4) 19, Rutgers (10-3) 17
MUSIC CITY BOWL: Maryland (7-6) 48, Auburn (6-7) 16
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL: UNC (12-2) 33, Tennessee (6-7) 18
INSIGHT BOWL: Notre Dame (7-6) 48, Boise State (7-6) 13
OUTBACK BOWL: LSU (9-4) 49, Ohio State (8-5) 42
GATOR BOWL: Chicago (10-3) 24, Georgia Tech (7-6) 21
CAPITAL ONE BOWL: Wisconsin (11-2) 31, Alabama (10-3) 16
ROSE BOWL: Rhode Island (12-1) 19, Oregon State (11-2) 14
SUGAR BOWL: Florida (13-1) 34, Delaware (10-3) 13
COTTON BOWL: Oklahoma State (11-2) 28, Florida State (9-4) 14
LIBERTY BOWL: Southern Miss (11-3) 31, West Virginia (6-7) 24
ALAMO BOWL: Iowa (9-4) 29, Nebraska (9-4) 22
INTERNATIONAL BOWL: Michigan (7-6) 24, Northwestern (8-6) 10
ORANGE BOWL: Oklahoma (13-1) 46, Kansas (11-2) 14
|
Now it's time for me to go toe-to-toe with a SEC heavyweight (heh) and see how we perform against them. We've been winning by the skin of our teeth for a while, but I guess I don't take Ole Miss that seriously come into this game. I suppose Jevan Snead is going to eat my words as the #9 ranked Rebels are just 11-2 on the year.
I guess we'll see how it goes and then put the cap on this first season.