After 38 bowl games, and with the most significant one still to be played, here is some impressions of the 2014-2015 bowl season:
Most Incredible Fourth Quarter: Central Michigan trailed Western Kentucky 49-14 at the start of the fourth quarter, but Chippewas quarterback Cooper Rush passed for five touchdowns in the final quarter, three to Titus Davis, with the final score coming with one second to play. Central Michigan went for two points and failed and lost 49-48, but not without giving people something to talk about early in the bowl season.
Most Incredible Fourth Quarter II: With 6:14 to play, Pitt kicked a field goal to make it 34-13. Until that moment, Houston quarterback Greg Ward had completed 6 of 12 passes for 68 yards, but what happened after that was amazing. The Cougars quarterback completed 10 of his next 12 passes for 216 yards, 3 touchdowns and a two-point conversation that gave the Cougars a 35-34 victory. Houston recovered two onside kicks during that span and gave interim head coach Dave Gibbs a victory three days before he resigned to take the defensive coordinator job at Texas Tech.
Biggest SEC Victory: Arkansas 31, Texas 7. The Razorbacks defense was simply amazing, holding the Longhorns to 59 total yards, most of which came against backups in the fourth quarter. Just a couple of days earlier, starting tailback Jonathan Williams told Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema he would return for his senior season, meaning the Hogs return 10 offensive starters next season.
Biggest Victory of Bowl Season: Michigan for hiring Jim Harbaugh to be its fourth head coach in seven years. The Wolverines are ranked No. 96 in recruiting, but expect that to change because they have only six commitments. The state of Michigan has five four-star recruits, and only two are committed to the Wolverines. The next four weeks are going to be interesting as kids who are committed to other schools have a change of heart. Harbaugh's NFL experience and what he did at Stanford make him a coach kids want to learn from.
Second-Biggest Victory of Bowl Season: Texas A&M, which lured defensive genius John Chavis away from LSU. This is a big get for the Aggies, who have struggled on defense under Coach Kevin Sumlin, and a huge loss for the Tigers, who have lived and died by Chavis' defense. Word was Chavis, a former defensive coordinator at Tennessee where he also was part of a national championship staff, had grown weary of LSU's lethargic offenses.
Not Really Surprised: The way TCU manhandled the Ole Miss Rebels. The Rebels never seemed to fully recover from losing wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, who was about to score to beat Auburn when he was tackled and broke his leg. Treadwell had surgery and is recovering. The Rebels have a ton of starters returning.
Biggest Playoff Shocker: Florida State played as if there was nothing on the line. Twice in the first half, the Seminoles settled for field goals and trailed 18-13 at the half, and then were outscored 27-7 in the third quarter. The Seminoles were the undefeated defending national champions and played like they had never been there, suffering three turnovers. Oregon piled up 639 yards of total offense while earning the victory and the right to play Ohio State on Monday night for the title .
Final Analysis of SEC's Performance: The league has some work to do. While there was more parity top to bottom, the biggest programs were down a little this season. Going 7-5 in bowls is good for any league except the SEC, where more is always expected.
Sports on 01/07/2015