Many apologies for no post last week. Things got a little crazy down here at The Church. We went a little nuts getting ready for the fallout of the Florida-Alabama SEC championship. See we knew that it would be a battle for our souls and we were not going down without a fight. Let's just say that if Nick Satan's team of devil worshipers had won, The Church of Keith Jackson would not have taken it lightly (think Mumbai, only with better intentions).
Anyway we're glad no drastic measures had to be taken and that we are finally entering "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" a.k.a. Bowl Season. So what follows is Part 1 of The Church of Keith Jackson's Bowl Preview. What we are going to do is post the matchups by day, kind of. We will try and section them down to weekends or bowls over a few days.
What follows are the first bowl games on the docket. We'll be back later in the week with more preview on the way.
DECEMBER 20TH
EagleBank Bowl: Navy (8-4) v. Wake Forest (7-5)
Location: Washington D.C.
The inaugural EagleBank bowl takes place in our nation's capital. We're not sure if EagleBank was part of America's bailout of the banks, but if so this could be the first publicly owned bowl in history. This will be a battle of defenses. The Midshipmen have shut out their last two opponents and the Demon Deacons rely on their ability to take the ball away from opposing teams. I like Navy in this one, they are on a hot streak after blowing out rival Army.
Player to watch: Navy RB Shun White 1,021 yards, 8 TDs
New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State (7-5) Colorado State (6-6)
Location: New Mexico, duh
One team won out to make their first bowl game since 2005; the other has a coach who is shopping for a new job. Both teams are led by strong pocket passers. Fresno State was thought by many to be a much better team than they turned out to be. The Bulldogs failed to beat any ranked team they faced all year but neither did the Rams of Fresno State. Despite the shortcomings of either team, this should actually be a pretty even matchup.
Player to watch: Colorado State WR Dion Morton: 830 yards, 10 TDs
magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl: South Florida (7-5) Memphis (6-6)
Location: St. Petersburg, again duh
Despite what you might think this bowl is not sponsored by Californication's Charlie Runkle
No this bowl is instead sponsored by a phone company, pretty funny video though. Anyway this will basically be a home game for the Bulls, who looked really good at the beginning of the season but choked down the stretch with three consecutive losses. They will be matched up against Memphis, who rebounded from an 0-3 start to play their way back into bowl contention. The Tigers offense is anchored by a three-headed running attack. With an injury carousel at quarterback, look for Curtis Steele, Brandon Washington and Brandon Ross to do the heavy lifting in this one.
Player to watch: South Florida QB Matt Grothe: 2,675 yards, 15 TDs
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona (7-5) Bringham Young (10-2)
Location: Las Vegas, seriously this is getting ridiculous
Once thought to be the best non-conference team, BYU has since dropped off the map after embarassing losses to TCU and Utah. However I can't really understand how a team as good as BYU gets stuck with a lame duck like the Wildcats of Arizona. I mean 'Zona sucks big time. Just one win against a Top-25 program on their record and without consecutive wins since early October. How did this team get a bowl game again? I like BYU to put a UCLA-type beating on Arizona, another WHACK-10 conference chump team.
Player to watch: Arizona RB Nic Grigsby: 1,066 yards, 12 TDs