Winners and Losers of New Year's Day Bowl Games
Good evening, groggy head. Yes, you probably still feel terrible, but we're here to help. If there are three things to cure a New Year's hangover, it's plenty of water, a hearty meal and lots of college football.
Too bad the games weren't better.
However, winning helps if your favorite team just so happens to be playing in one of the five bowls on New Year's Day. To help you make it through, we've brought back Winners and Losers—just in a slightly modified version.
From Tennessee's huge win over Northwestern to Christian McCaffrey's Rose Bowl epic performance and Joey Bosa's targeting ejection in the Fiesta Bowl, we're here to recap all that was good and not so good on the first day of 2016.
Winner: Stanford Running Back Christian McCaffrey
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What a year it's been for Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey.
The sophomore already broke Barry Sanders' all-purpose-yards record and finished second in the Heisman voting. His Rose Bowl performance in a 45-16 win over Iowa was just the encore.
McCaffrey scored a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game, setting the tone for both him and the game itself. McCaffrey finished the Rose Bowl with a game-record 368 all-purpose yards. That breaks down into 172 yards rushing, 105 yards receiving, 63 punt-return yards and 28 kick-return yards. McCaffrey is also the first player in Rose Bowl history to record 100 yards rushing and receiving. Additionally, he scored two touchdowns—one receiving and one on a punt return.
McCaffrey finishes the season with more than 2,000 yards rushing, six 300 all-purpose-yard games, according to ESPN Stats & Info, and a touchdown in each of the following areas: rushing, receiving, passing, kick return and punt return. And, per Kyle Kensing, only former USC running back Reggie Bush and Clemson running back C.J. Spiller have accomplished that.
McCaffrey's Rose Bowl performance doesn't mean he should have won the Heisman, but it's another example of what he's been doing all year long. If anybody hadn't seen him play before, there's no excuse now. McCaffrey is as dynamic as they come, and rest assured, he'll be an early favorite for the Heisman in 2016.
Loser: Fans of the Game
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Well, this didn't work out as well as everyone thought, did it?
When the College Football Playoff field and New Year's Six lineups were announced in December, it was hard not to be giddy. Clemson-Oklahoma? Alabama-Michigan State? Notre Dame-Ohio State? What's not to love? These are the types of matchups fans dream of.
But mercy, did New Year's Day turn out to be a stinker. Ohio State beat Notre Dame by 16 points, and although the Irish made a late push, the game never felt in question. The Rose Bowl was practically over the moment Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey took a Kevin Hogan pass 75 yards to the house on the first play of the game.
Those were just the New Year's Six bowls. The Outback Bowl (Northwestern-Tennessee) and Citrus Bowl (Florida-Michigan) were decided by an average of 36.5 points.
The semifinals on New Year's Eve weren't any better. Oklahoma made the Orange Bowl a game for a half before Clemson pulled away with a 37-17 victory, and Alabama was never in trouble in a 38-0 Cotton Bowl win over Michigan State.
This isn't what the selection committee or college football fans everywhere had in mind. Compounding the issue were low ratings for the semifinals on ESPN. Per John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, ratings for the semifinals were down more than one-third what they were a year ago. The combination of New Year's Eve festivities and blowout scores undoubtedly contributed to the lower numbers.
Keep in mind, too, the playoff semifinals will be on New Year's Eve in eight of the next 11 years. I would say college football doesn't deserve this, but the powers that be have made their decision—and at the expense of the average working fan.
There will be years in which the New Year's Eve/Day games are better, but the overall model has problems. Easily, the two days college football swore it would dominate turned out to be a disappointment this time.
Winner: The Tennessee Hype Train
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Remember all the hype Tennessee received last offseason? Recall how this was finally going to be the year the Vols got over the hump and competed for an SEC championship? Go ahead and magnify that by about 50 times and you get what's going to happen over the next eight months.
The Tennessee hype train arrived a touch early this year, and in fairness, the "Tennessee is overrated every year" theme is a bit overstated and inaccurate. However, that train might finally be on time. And, by God, that's the engineer's whistle I'm hearing.
Tennessee's 45-6 win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl was certainly impressive. The Wildcats don't have much of a passing offense, but they do have a sound defense, per Football Outsiders, and head coach Pat Fitzgerald did an excellent job this season. Getting 10 wins is nothing short of impressive. For the Vols to take care of business in such convincing fashion is a statement.
There's no question how talented Tennessee is. Read through a short list of starters (quarterback Joshua Dobbs, running back Jalen Hurd, etc.) and there are All-SEC- and All-American-caliber players. This is still a young team in spots, too.
A nine-win season is a good stepping stone. As Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports noted, the Vols won seven of their last eight games (including the bowl) and lost their four games by a total of 17 points. Learning how to close out games will be the major theme moving into 2016.
Will Tennessee finally make good on those high expectations? Who knows, but the pieces are in place. There are reasons to like what head coach Butch Jones has in Knoxville.
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Loser: The Star-Studded BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl
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The Fiesta Bowl between Notre Dame and Ohio State was rightfully billed as the "Future 2016 NFL Draft Bowl." The volume of draft-eligible players was enough to make you and every NFL scout salivate as though the matchup was a Pavlovian experiment in disguise.
However, not one quarter passed before arguably the two best players on the field—Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa—were lost. Smith suffered a significant knee injury and had to be carted off the field. Bosa was ejected for targeting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer. Smith and Bosa are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in Matt Miller's most recent draft rankings.
The Smith injury is a twisted, yet somehow terribly appropriate, end to what has been an attrition-plagued season for the Irish. Smith has been a joy to watch and will excel at the next level. It's a shame his college career ended on such a bad note.
The Bosa ejection is less black and white. By rule, via Lori Schmidt of 97.1 The Fan, what Bosa did was targeting, even if he didn't make helmet-to-helmet contact. And as Kyle Jones of Eleven Warriors tweeted, the rule was enforced to protect Bosa, who led with his helmet, more so than Kizer.
"I'm sorry," Bosa wrote on Twitter. "I love you buckeye nation."
What Bosa did wasn't dirty; it was bad form more than anything. There's a separate discussion about intent and whether ejections as a broad-brush punishment are appropriate, as ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg pointed out. At that point, however, you're only injecting more decision-making into an already subjective (and controversial) rule.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying the college careers of two top defensive players unfortunately ended too soon. You always think there's going to be more time.
In that respect, viewers of the Fiesta Bowl understandably feel cheated of what could (should) have been.
Winner: Ohio State Running Back Ezekiel Elliott
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Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott has never been shy about letting people know how often he should get the ball. The thing is, he's right. He's proved that time and time again.
The Buckeyes didn't have any problem feeding Elliott in a 44-28 win over Notre Dame. The junior ran 27 times for 149 yards and four touchdowns (a Fiesta Bowl record). Seeing as how this is Elliott's last game—he's already declared for the NFL draft, according to the Associated Press, via CBS St. Louis—it would have been understandable if he mailed it in. Instead, Elliott was his usual self: running hard, blocking and refusing to go out of bounds.
Elliott's going to be missed at the college level. In a year in which there were numerous All-American-type running backs, Elliott established himself as perhaps the most complete. He's big and quick, he has excellent vision and balance, he can catch the ball out of the backfield and he can pass-block. His game simply doesn't have many weaknesses.
So, yeah, Elliott should have been given the ball more this year. He was easily the Buckeyes' most consistent player on offense. But he got the rock plenty of times when it mattered in his final game in a college uniform.
Loser: Florida's Special-Teams Trick Plays
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Say this for Florida: It's not afraid to try risky plays. Again. And again. But that's what bowl games are for, right?
Unfortunately for the Gators, two of their three big trick plays didn't exactly turn out well in a 41-7 Citrus Bowl loss to Michigan. First, Jim McElwain's team attempted a fake field goal via shovel pass, which promptly ended in a hilarious interception. Then, in the fourth quarter, Florida tried a fake punt. That, too, didn't work at all.
Trick plays are always tough. If they work, they're deemed brilliant calls. If they don't, fans will question what the coach was thinking. However, it was easy to see Florida was outmatched, especially offensively. If you don't generate offense naturally, you often have to dig into your bag of tricks to get something going.
It wasn't all a failure, though. Florida did execute a trick pass play for a touchdown (its only score of the game).
Winner: Ole Miss Offensive Lineman Laremy Tunsil
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You should know by now large-man touchdowns are our jam. So when Ole Miss offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil caught a backward pass for a two-yard score at the end of the first half of the Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma State, it was a moment of euphoria in what was otherwise a bland day of football.
Here's a Vine of the touchdown. It's well-executed by the Rebels and a gutsy call by head coach Hugh Freeze. Ole Miss was in control of the game, up 21 points, but had no timeouts and just five seconds remaining in the half. Traditional wisdom says go for the field goal. Riskier types would go for the jugular. However, fail to convert the trick play and the Cowboys have some life going into halftime having made a stop.
Tunsil's touchdown was just the icing on a completely dominant performance. This one was over midway through the second quarter. The Rebels are loaded with NFL-caliber talent, and for many, this is their last game in an Ole Miss uniform. Members of the 2013 class like Tunsil and receiver Laquon Treadwell were key members in this program's turnaround. It was good to see them go out on top before continuing their careers at the next level.
Winner: Michigan Quarterback Jake Rudock
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Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is known as a great quarterback developer. This reputation was only strengthened with grad-transfer quarterback Jake Rudock. The former Iowa signal-caller showed tremendous improvement over the course of the season and capped off the year with a big game versus Florida.
Against the Gators, Rudock threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns. For reference, that was the most passing yards Florida had given up this year since East Carolina quarterback Blake Kemp threw for 333 yards in September. The Wolverines weren't afraid to go after the Gators' best corner—Vernon Hargreaves III, either.
Rudock finished the year as the second Michigan quarterback ever to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season, per Drew Hallett of Maize n Brew. That's a nice bow on a pleasantly surprising season. Yet, the best quarterback Harbaugh will coach at Michigan hasn't started yet. In fact, he's still not even on campus.
If the offensive growth Michigan displayed in 2015 is any indication, the Wolverines will be just fine as long as Harbaugh is in Ann Arbor.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com and ESPN.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
