2014 Bowl Season

[DNMHIII]

The 2014 Bowl Season is up. Good luck everyone on your Bowl Games and lets get ready to rip through the off-season so we can start season 4. I redshirted half my team and I can't wait for next year...lol

[kwilliam]

I'm not sure what CPU bowl officials scheduled this apparent mismatch against Oregon. Oregon had a 7-5 record coming in against NT team that has lost to UAB early in the season. So Oregon, should win by 14 or so right? But, that's why they play the game.

Oregon starts the game off with the ball. Thomas gets going early with a few nice runs, then Bennett scrambles. Then Bennett finds Dungy for a jump ball to get into the endzone to get the early lead. North Texas felt the pressure to get a score early to stop Oregon from gaining momentum and giving them a big lead to a lot of carries to Thomas. McNulty spreads the ball around to all the receivers with a few runs in there, ultimately finding Lancaster for 26 yards for a TD to tie the game up at 7. Still not sure if this
game might turn into a shootout or not. Coach Williamson changes his strategy to keep a RB spy on Thomas. Bennett scrambles for a first, gets sacked, rushes for 5, incomplete forcing a quick punt. North Texas gets several first downs to end the 1st quarter.

2nd quarter
McNulty continues to hit open guys, he hit 10 of his first 11. McNuly finds TE Gordon and Nelson for nice gains. North Texas is now close to the 20 yardline, then the center gets called for holding. Incomplete pass, and a sack later, North Texas now has to punt. Gooden does a coffin corner kick to pin them at the 6 yard line. Defense has rested up and ready for action. Bennett moves the ball some on a scramble and a throw, then he throws a critical pick. North Texas now has the ball back with a short field at the 32.
McNulty finds Harris for a nice 29 yard gain. Smith tries a run outside, loses 4, McNulty gets sacked, McNulty incomplete in the endzone. Gooden nails a 29 yard fg with 1:22 left in the half. Bennett starts heating up finding Kelley for 22 yards, then goes for Blackmon a few times gaining 20 yards. North Texas catches Bennett running around looking for guys on back to back plays, and has to settle for 54 yard fg that was wide and short.

Halftime NT 10 Oregon 7

North Texas was looking to add to their lead to open the half. Smith got a couple of carries to start it off, then McNulty gets picked off by Malone who jumped the right around midfield. The defense held again forcing Oregon to attempt a 57 yard fg that was way short. North Texas got called for holding again, and forced to punt after getting sacked a few times. The holding calls cost North Texas a few scoring chances. Bennett finds Thomas on a screen pass gaining 32 yards, he almost broke it. It was one of the few times I left Thomas. Oregon gets stopped again and has to settle for a 36 yard fg by Rogers. Tied at 10, Warner fumbles the kickoff and Oregon recovers at the 12. Oregon has momentum going..... Thomas for 3, then for 2, then 3 again. On 4th and 2, Oregon decides to go for it. In their goal line formation, Thomas gets stuffed for a 3 yard loss. North Texas bench was jumping in excitement. At the 7 yard line, McNulty throws it away instead of trying to scramble, then hands it off to Dan Smith for 9 to end the 3rd quarter tied at 10.

4th quarter
McNulty starts getting hot again, completing his next 6 passes to open the 4th and then finds his TE Jones for 14 yard TD with 2:29 left. Oregon back with the ball, Thomas busts one 37 yards before getting pushed out of bounds. Then, finally Oregon got called for holding. Bennett got caught scrambling around for no gain, Bennett gets a 3 yard gain. Time is still ticking, Bennett incomplete to Dungy, forcing Oregon to punt with 1:09 left in the game. North Texas needs just 1 first down to win the game. Smith loses a yard, then gains 6. On 3rd and 6, coach puts his trust in the hot McNulty who finds Gordon for 8 yard catch and a first down. McNulty takes a knee and bow to end his college career.
North Texas with an upset win over Oregon 17 - 10.


Oregon only had 204 yards of total offense, about 70 on the 1st drive.
TOP NT 19:01 Oregon 8:59
McNulty 26/32 267 2 TD 1 Int 6 Sack
Harper 11 catches 93 yards
DeAnthony Thomas 11 carries 89 yards 1 catch 32 yards.

[DNMHIII]

Wow.....Talk about getting ripped off. SJSU has Oregon State down by 17 with 2:58 in the 4th quarter and Oregeon State racks up 21 straight points to take the win......lol

[detfan]

Western Michigan got down very quickly by 14, came back to take the lead 28-14, then USC went into Hulk mode and scored24 unanswered. Ah well nice season anyway.

[jmoney112287]

In arguably the most exciting National Title game in recent memory, FIU wins a shootout in dramatic fashion over TCU, 39-35. The 2 teams combined for nearly 1200 yards of offense in a back and forth game. After entering the 2nd half down 3, FIU was able to stifle TCU's potent offense, holding them to 0 points in the 3rd quarter, and just 7 in the 4th. TCU had 2 great chances to take the lead late in the 4th, as they drove into FIU territory and looked poised to score what could have been the game winning TD. On both occasions, FIU's defense was able to strip the ball and retake possession, ultimately running the clock out. The outcome of the game wasn't sealed until the last fumble occurred with just 7 seconds remaining on the clock, and TCU closing in on goal inside FIU's 20-yard line.

This incredible win makes it 2 in a row for FIU and Coach Megatron, who has seemingly built a powerhouse over night. Next year will be extremely difficult to repeat a third time, as 11 seniors are set to graduate, the bulk of whom started the past 2 championship seasons. In addition, some players may be tempted by the pros after stellar campaigns, leaving the roster even more up in the air. Coach Megatron is confident that his recruiting over the last few seasons will be able to stand up to the challenge and be competitive again next season.

[chillaxation]

Western Kentucky makes their case for higher caliber future bowl invites, crushing Marshall in the New Orleans bowl, 66-10. Decorated QB Bo Muhammad did not disappoint, as he was 11/21 for 339 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT, and ran 13 times for 75 yards and 2 more touchdowns. 2 of Muhammad's 4 passing TDs went to senior HB John Evans in his last game for WKU. Evans had 503 carries as a Hilltoppers, for over 3000 yards and 26 TDs, and caught 59 passes for 702 yards and 5 more TDs. Senior CB Cam Thomas had 2 picks in his final game, returning one for his first career touchdown.

The Hilltoppers will say goodbye to a great senior class, led by MLB Andrew Jackson, ROLB Terran Williams, CB Cam Thomas, FS Ty Scott, SS Jonathan Dowling, HB John Evans, and WRs Boe Brand and Rico Brown. In response, they are bringing in their biggest and most talented recruiting class in school history. To the top!

[detfan]

Speaking of running backs. I have a freshman who nearly ran for 2k this season and didn't even get a mention in heisman talk. Snubbed!!!!

Sent from my Galaxy Note II

[jeffthegreat42]

UMass came into their match-up with #23 Navy limping and on their heels. They had lost 2 of their last 3, their most recent being shut out in the MAC Championship game. That last game had left an understandable bad taste in Coach Hydro's mouth. They went into halftime down only 7-0 in what had been an outstanding Defense struggle, only to have Western Michigan explode with 31 points in the second half. Freshman QB Donald Bell threw 4 INT's as their biggest rival walked out of Detroit with the season sweep and the Conference title. He knew going into the Idaho Potato Bowl that something had to change.
Unfortunately midway through the 2nd quarter it looked like it was the exact same thing. Bell had just thrown his 2nd INT of the game and his 2nd turnover in the redzone. Navy picked it off at the 9 and took it back 91 yards for the TD, giving the Midshipmen a 24-0 lead. Coach Hydro was willing to do whatever he could to prevent making it the second straight year his team has lost the MAC Championship and their bowl game.
He called in last years hero, Jr. QB A.J Doyle, who went to work. A.J. drove down the field and set up Bell to come back in and score on a 10 yard option. Then after a Navy field goal, on the last play of the half, A.J. found Freshmen WR David Gold for a 75 yard TD to bring the game to 27-14.
A.J started the 2nd half and was on fire. Coach Hydro was able to sub Bell back in close to the end zone to use his feet, and late in the 3rd he broke for another TD, this one from 26 yards out.
Navy got another TD and a 2 point conversion to take a 14 point lead, but A.J found Freshman David Gold for 2 more TD's in the 4th, a 76 yard bomb and a 32 yard catch that tied the game with 40 seconds left.
In overtime Navy struck 1st with a field goal, but UMass answered back with a great drive that was capped off by Bell's 3rd rushing TD of the game to get the win.
A.J Doyle was the savior, coming in late in the 2nd and finishing the game 13/15 for 388 yards and 3 TD's. It left UMass fans wandering what could have been this year had he started. David Gold walked off with a new school record for yards in a game, racking up 300 on 9 catches for 3 TD's. Bell finished the game with 3 TD's but had to be disappointed with his recent performances throwing the ball.

He finished the season 8th for the Maxwell award and the only Freshmen in the running, and was named to the Freshmen All American team. He finished the season throwing for 2599 yards and 22 TD's, but had 19 INT's, throwing 8 in his last 4 games with 0 TD's. Despite his recent struggles throwing, he was an undeniable threat running the ball all year, racking up 983 yards and 20 TD's on the ground.

UMass also had 2 other Defensive players make the Freshmen All American team, and Coach Hydro says even though this year had a lot of ups and downs and was disappointing at times, the experience that was gained for this young team is priceless.

Coach Hydro inherited a team that was coming off their 1st year in Division 1 Football. He has taken them to back to back MAC Championship games and their 2nd consecutive Bowl game. There is still work to do, but he certainly has the Minutemen headed in the right direction. Next year should be exciting.