TWIF Notes 12/24/18

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Welcome Back!

We've had 9 bowls since last Monday, and while there were a few routs, several were competitive, and one or two went down to the wire.

Boca Raton Bowl
UAB routed Northern Illinois 37-13.  The Blazers finish their 2nd season back with an 11-3 record, a remarkable achievement!.  The Huskies finish a disappointing 8-6, but still won the MAC.

Frisco Bowl
Ohio destroyed San Diego State 27-0 to finish 9-4.  The Bobcats never allowed the Aztecs a chance.  SDSU winds up their season at 7-6, ending with 4 straight losses, and 5 in their last 6 games.

Gasparilla Bowl
Marshall jumped out early to a big lead, then held on for a 38-20 win over USF.  The Thundering Herd are 9-4, while the Bulls end their season at 7-6, due to 6 straight losses.  

Bahamas Bowl
This was one of the better bowl games, as far as competitiveness and drama was concerned.  The Rockets jumped out to a 10-0 lead, fell behind, then fought back to make it close, eventually losing 35-32, and ending their season at 7-6.  The Panthers are 9-4, finishing with their most wins ever.

Idaho Potato Bowl
BYU trailed Western Michigan 10-7 at halftime before exploding for 42 straight points, then giving up a meaningless TD in the closing minutes to win 49-18.  The Cougars only finished 7-6, as did the Broncos.

Birmingham Bowl
This was another exciting game that went back and forth, and only ended when Memphis missed a potential tying field goal on the last play of the game (after the previous 2 successful attempts were wiped out by a time out and a false start penalty).  Wake Forest ended up with the win 37-34, and finishes at 7-6, while Memphis ends up at 8-6.  The Tigers lost their last 2 games, and the Demon Deacons won their last 2.

Armed Forces Bowl
Army absolutely dominated Houston on its way to a 70-14 win.  The Black Knights scored TDs on 10 of 11 drives, the other drive ending on a fumble.  The Cougars were overmatched from the beginning, scoring early to tie the game at 7, then scoring late.  Army ends with its 1st 11-win season in history, while Houston dropped to 8-5, losing 4 of its last 5.

Dollar General Bowl
Buffalo and Troy played yet another exciting game that was in doubt until the very end, with Troy prevailing 42-32.  There were a lot of turnovers, especially by the Bulls.  The Trojans scored the last 14 points to finish 10-3, and reached double digit wins for the 3rd year in a row.  Buffalo started the season 9-1, then ended with 3 losses in its last 4 games to finish with a still fantastic 10-4.  This is the most wins in history for the Bulls, besting their previous high by 2 games! 

Hawai'i Bowl
This is the one bowl I didn't get a chance to watch at all.  La Tech routed Hawai'i 31-14 to finish their season at 8-5, and dropping the Rainbow Warriors to 8-6.  The Bulldogs had lost 3 of their previous 4 before this victory.

That's all for now!  Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Just know that I do all my research myself, and don't just parrot what I hear or read on other sites (though sometimes the same things pop up elsewhere).  Come back Wednesday, when I will have the rest of my bowl picks.  Until then, may you and your loved ones be blessed!  And I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!



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