When the Defense Roars: Missouri Tigers Dynasty

[Kcordloh]

Last week of the regular season

The last week of college football is here. The #3 Missouri Tigers are going to try and finish 11-1 with their only loss being to the #1 Boise State Broncos back in week 1, in Boise Idaho, long before there defense improved.

There are many that feel Missouri deserves a shot at the national championship, and a rematch with Boise State; but that is a long shot. For that to occur, #2 Illinois (11-1) must lose to #9 Iowa (11-1) next weekend, and most likely #6 Oregon State (11-1) must defeat #4 Utah (11-1).

Boise State must defeat San Diego State to finish undefeated and clinch their spot in the national championship.

#17 Nevada (9-1) finishes their season against #25 Fresno State (9-2)

#10 Oklahoma State (8-3) plays #24 Oklahoma (7-4) to finish the season in Bedlam


#11 Idaho (11-0) wraps up their season against LA Tech (7-4)

#12 Kansas (9-2) takes their high powered offense up against Baylor (6-5) to try and cinch a Cotton Bowl berth at the worst

[Kcordloh]

[Kcordloh]

Conference championship week
ACC:
NC State (7-4) at #23 North Carolina (8-4)
Favorite: NC State, they won during the regular season 31-14 and look better than ever lately

Big 1G:
#4 Illinois (11-1) at #8 Iowa (11-1)
Favorite: Iowa. Their defense is better, and they are hungry to prove they are a top tier Big 1G team after being ignored in the polls all season.

C-USA:
#14 UCF (11-1) at SMU (9-3)
Favorite: UCF
UCF's top 20 offense and #2 defense should have no problem dispatching the #21 defense of SMU and their #14 offense in the last C-USA conference championship game.

MAC
Northern Illinois (8-4) at Miami University (8-4)
Favorite: Miami University. The Redhawks played #2 Illinois and #3 Missouri this year, NIU didn't play anyone ranked in the top 25. NIU is not battle tested like the Redhawks are.

PAC-12
#2 Oregon State (11-1) at #5 Utah (11-1)
Favorite: Utah. The Utes won the regular season contest, and they want the PAC-12 title bad. Whoever wins this game will most likely be playing for a spot in the BCS National Championship. Both teams average over 40 pts a game, so it should be a shootout.

SEC
#18 Ole Miss (9-3) at #12 Georgia (10-2)
Favorite: Georgia. They have a better offense, defense, special teams, coaching staff, and player talent. Not to mention they whooped the Rebels 47-13 in the regular season, and look much better now than they did back then.

[Kcordloh]

Conference Championship Weekend Results

The votes are in, and Jordan Webb won the Heisman trophy for Kansas. Webb had a career year, going 376-540 for 5808 yards, and 134 carries for 467 yards, and 68 total TD.

ACC: NC State defeated North Carolina 30-26
Big 1G: #2 Illinois defeated #12 Iowa 45-35
C-USA: #15 UCF defeated SMU 49-20
MAC: Miami University defeated Northern Illinois 35-6
PAC-12: #3 Oregon State avenged their earlier loss in the year with a 48-31 triumph
SEC: #10 Georgia defeated Ole Miss 42-20

[Kcordloh]

Bowl Outlook

BCS National Championship #1 Boise State (12-0) vs #2 Illinois (12-1)
Rose Bowl #5 Troy (11-1) vs #3 Oregon State (12-1)
Sugar Bowl #10 Georgia (11-2) vs #6 Notre Dame (10-2)
Orange Bowl NC State (8-4) vs USF (9-3)
Fiesta Bowl #4 Missouri (11-1) vs #7 Oregon (10-2)
Alamo Bowl: #9 Oklahoma State (-3) vs #8 Utah (11-2)

Bowl Previews

#1 Boise State (12-0) finally made the big bowl game 6 years after first crashing the BCS Bowl party. #2 Illinois is actually the favorite to win, but you can never count out the Broncos. Whoever wins, it is a game with two of the top 5 scoring offenses in the nation, and two top 8 pass defenses.


#5 Troy (11-1) has crashed the BCS Party, but their reward is not a traditional power but the Oregon State Beavers. This game looks to be good, but the question is how good are these relatively untested Trojans?



#10 Georgia (11-2) is ready for #6 Notre Dame (10-2) and nobody can doubt this one will be electric. Notre Dame is the odds on favorite to win, but the Dawgs are fierce and nobody would be surprised at a Dawgs victory.


In a pathetic BCS Bowl, unranked NC State (8-4) faces unranked USF (9-3). Nobody really cares about this game, but USF in the favorite.

#4 Missouri is making their second straight appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, and #7 Oregon is making their 4th straight BCS Bowl trip. After back to back national championship appearances, the Ducks look to enjoy a trip to the Fiesta Bowl as an at large and hopefully make the Pac-12 homers proud.
Oregon is the favorite despite Missouri being 11-1, their only loss to #1 Boise State (12-0) at Boise in week one in a 56-44 shootout.

[Kcordloh]

Fiesta Bowl doesn't live up to the hype

BCS Bowl history is full of heavily hyped but disappointing match ups. Look no further than the 2004 BCS National Championship game where the "Game of the Century" turned into a slaughter.

#4 Missouri (11-1) and #7 Oregon (10-2) were supposed to be a perfect matchup for an offensive show. Oregon had a weak defense and a decent offense, the Tigers had a high profile but one dimensional offense and a great rush defense but weak pass defense.

Missouri started slow offensively, but held the Ducks to 3 and out their first three drives. C. O'Connor connected with a 46 yard field goal to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead with 2:27 left in the first. A. Wilson intercepted of B. Bennett and returned in 47 yards for the pick six to give the Tigers a 10-0 lead with 1:36 left in the game.

A. Wilson's pick six put the Tigers up 10-0

The Tigers scored again, a lot, in the second quarter, with James Franklin tossing 2 TD passes to TJ Moe and R. Woodland. K. Lawerence had a 5 yard TD run, and C' O'Connor nailed a 51 yard FG as Missouri took a 34-0 lead at the half.

In the third quarter the Tigers picked off Bennett again, again A. Wilson.

A. Wilson starts the third quarter with another interception

As the third quarter ended, T. Bolden caught a deep pass for the 3rd Tigers interception of the day, and ended the first drive the Ducks had going that had lasted more than 5 plays.

T. Bolden's interception sealed the game at the end of three periods

The Tigers finished the game allowing Oregon only 6 first downs, 18 rushing yards, and 72 yards passing. The Ducks fumbled 3 times, were intercepted 3 times, and blew their one red zone chance.

The Tigers were 4-4 from the red zone, had 68 yards rushing, and 224 yards passing. They had no turnovers and had 19 first downs.

Missouri POTG: A Wilson 6 tackles, 1 FF, 1 int, 1 defensive TD
James Franklin went 21-28 for 219 yards and 2 TD


Missouri finishes the season 12-1 on a 12 game winning streak.

[Kcordloh]

Bowl season recap
BCS National Championship:
#2 Illinois defeated #1 Boise State 52-49. Illinois took a 10-0 lead early and never fell behind.
Rose Bowl
#3 Oregon State demolished #5 Troy 44-10
Orange Bowl
NC State won the ACC's second straight Orange Bowl over USF 48-20
Sugar Bowl
#6 Notre Dame defeated #10 Georgia 38-35
Fiesta Bowl
#4 Missouri defeated #7 Oregon 41-10



Final rankings for the season saw Illinois #1, Oregon State #2, and Missouri ranked #3.

[waytofailself]

Congrats on the Fiesta Bowl blow out. Shame that early season loss took you out of NC contention, but that's college football.

Also, no idea why no one has voted you up. You have a great thing going and excellent presentation. So yeah, lemme fix that.