TWIF Notes 1/2/19

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Welcome Back, and Happy New Year!

We had 11 bowls on Monday and Tuesday and most of them were competitive.  The theme on New Year's Day seemed to be one team racing out to a big lead, then the other mounting a failed comeback bid.  For the bowls, I finished 28-11, an outstanding (for bowl games) 71.8%!  This brings my overall record to 646-235, for a .733 win percentage, a solid if unspectacular year.

Here are my notes on the just completed bowl games.

Military Bowl
Cincinnati and Virginia Tech played one of the more exciting games of the bowl season, with the Bearcats prevailing over the Hokies 35-31.  Cincinnati finishes 11-2, their 6th 10+ win season since 2006.  VT finishes at 6-7, their 1st losing season since 1992, their 2nd year in the old Big East. 

Sun Bowl
Stanford and Pitt played one of the more boring bowl games of the day, with Stanford pulling out the 14-13 win.  Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively.  The Cardinal ends up at 9-4 while the Panthers dropped to 7-7.  This is the 10th straight year that Stanford has won at least 8 games.

Redbox Bowl
This was another ho-hum game as Oregon defeated Michigan State 7-6.  The Ducks end their season at 9-4 and the Spartans drop to 7-6.

Liberty Bowl
Oklahoma State held on to outlast Missouri 38-33 in another exciting game.  The Cowboys moved to 7-6, their 13th straight winning season.  Missouri drops to 8-5, but achieved their most wins since 2014.

Holiday Bowl
Utah jumped out to a 20-3 lead, but Northwestern stormed back in the 2nd half to win 31-20.  Each team finishes 9-5.  For the Utes, this is the 4th time in the last 5 years they have won 9 games or more.  For the Wildcats, this marks 9 wins or more in 3 of the last 4 years, and is the 8th winning season in Pat Fitzgerald's 13 years at NW.

Gator Bowl
NC State started strong, but Texas A&M was too much for them as the Aggies won 52-13.  Both teams finished 2018 at 9-4.  This is the 5th straight winning season for the Wolfpack, while the Aggies have had 9 straight years with winning records.  

Outback Bowl
Mississippi State trailed at the half, but almost won the game at the end, except their receiver failed to catch a ball in the end zone that turned into an interception.  Iowa prevailed 27-22 in what turned out to preview the theme of the day: take a big lead, then watch the other team fall short in their comeback bid.  The Hawkeyes finish 9-4, their 6th straight winning season, and their 8th time in the last 11 seasons with 8 or more wins.  The Bulldogs dropped to 8-5, only the 2nd time in the last 5 years they failed to achieve 9 wins.

Fiesta Bowl
LSU defeated UCF 40-32, ending UCF's 25-game winning streak.  This game had so many injuries, ejections, and penalties.  LSU finishes 10-3, the 8th time in the last 10 years they have won 9 or more.  The Tigers have 19 straight winning seasons, winning a minimum of 8 games in each of those years.  The Knights finish at 12-1, the 6th time since 2007 they have won 10+ games.

Citrus Bowl
Kentucky led 10-7 at the half, then scored 17 points in the 3rd quarter to led 27-7.  However, Penn State scored 17 points in the 4th quarter to only lose 27-24.  The Wildcats were able to run out the last few minutes of the clock with Benny Snell leading the way.  The Wildcats get their first 10-win season (10-3) since 1977, while the Nittany Lions dropped to 9-4, their 3rd straight year of 9+ wins.

Rose Bowl
Ohio State looked like they were going to blow Washington away, but the Huskies rallied late, making the final score 28-23.  The Buckeyes are 13-1, their 7th straight year of 11 or more wins.  They have won 10 or more games in 13 of the last 14 years, 15 of the last 17 years, and 20 of the last 26 years, dating to 1993.  The Huskies finish 10-4, the 3rd straight year of 10+ wins, and their 9th straight winning season.

Sugar Bowl
This game was the classic case of not being as close as the score indicates, as Texas defeated Georgia 28-21.  The Dawgs looked completely unprepared to play this game, while the Longhorns were focused and determined.  Texas finishes 10-4, their 1st 10 win season since 2009, and only their 2nd straight winning season.  The Bulldogs end their season at 11-3, their 2nd straight 11+ win season, and their 4th 10+ win season in the last 5 years, and 6th in their last 8.

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).  Tomorrow, I will have thoughts about how each conference did in the bowl games.  Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!

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