2013 Outback Bowl Preview

Date: January 1, 2013 1:00 PM ET
Stadium: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Payout: $3,500,000 per team
Played: 1986-present
Former Names: Hall of Fame Bowl (1986-1995)
Broadcasters: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden
Sideline Reporter: Shannon Spake

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have the 12th best defense in the nation. Sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has accounted for 13 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss this season. Senior Kenny Miles and freshman Mike Davis have shared the rushing duties after Marcus Lattimore's season ended on October 27th with a knee injury.

Michigan: Michigan will be without cornerback J.T. Floyd, punter Will Hagerup, and backup linebacker Brandin Hawthorne who were all suspended for the bowl game for violating team rules. Michigan's defense allows just 155.2 passing yards per game. Denard Robinson will play in his final collegiate game, likely splitting time at both quarterback and running back.

	South Carolina			Michigan
Overall Record	10-2		Overall Record	8-4
Conference Record	6-2		Conference Record	6-2
Bowl Record	5-12		Bowl Record	20-21
Last Bowl Win	2012 Capital One		Last Bowl Win	2012 Sugar

All Time Series: 1-1
Line: South Carolina by 5

2012 Allstate Sugar Bowl Preview

Date: January 3, 2012 8:30 PM ET

Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Payout: $17,000,000

Played: 1935-present

Former Names: N/A

Broadcasters: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge

Sideline Reporter: Holly Rowe

All Time Series: 0-0

Line: Michigan by 3

	Michigan			Virginia Tech
Overall Record	10-2		Overall Record	11-1
Conference Record	6-2		Conference Record	7-1
Bowl Record	19-21		Bowl Record	9-15
Last Bowl Win	2008 Capital One		Last Bowl Win	2009 Chick-fil-A

Helmet Stickers: Week 4

ACC—No. 21 Clemson knocked off No. 11 Florida State 35-30, giving the Tigers their first 4-0 start since 2007. The Tigers have beaten the Seminoles five-straight in Death Valley. It was Clemson’s fourth game this season with 455 yards or more. Clemson freshman Sammy Watkins had 141 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions. After beating two ranked opponents in consecutive weeks, Clemson looks like the dominant team in the ACC.

Big 10—No. 22 Michigan picked up a solid win over San Diego State in the weekend before Big 10 conference games begin. It was the Aztecs first loss of the season. Denard Robinson rushed for three touchdowns in the first half and ended the game with 200 yards on the ground. The Wolverines were very one-dimensional running for 320 yards and passing for 93 yards. Brady Hoke is the third coach in UM history to defeat the team he coached the previous season.

Big 12—Kansas State snuffed Miami’s Jacory Harris on a fourth down run on the K-State goal line with 49 seconds left to end any chance the Hurricanes had of defeating the Wildcats. Miami had the ball on the Kansas State 2-yard line on first down, but threw an incompletion. On second and third down, the Wildcats defense stopped rushing attempts. The Kansas State offense was just as good. Wildcats running back John Hubert ran for 167 yards, averaging 9.2 yards per carry. In 145 of the last 150 games where the Wildcats led at the half, they won. That is called finishing.

Big East—On Thursday night, the Cincinnati Bearcats blasted the North Carolina State Wolfpack 44-14, avenging last year’s loss. Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros threw two touchdowns and rushed for two more. Bearcats running back Isaiah Pead ran for 167 yards and accounted for two scores—one on the ground and another on a catch. The Cincinnati defense put up six sacks, forced three turnovers, and gave the Wolfpack -26 yards rushing. The Bearcats have not lost a nonconference game at Nippert Stadium since 2003.

C-USA—A 2-1 Southern Miss team defeated a 2-1 Virginia squad 30-24 Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles avoided giving the ball back to Virginia with less than 3 minutes left and a three-point lead when Austin Davis connected with Tracy Lampley with a 41-yard completion on third and 23. Golden Eagles quarterback Austin Davis threw for 313 yards and all three of Southern Mississippi’s touchdowns. The Golden Eagles defense had three picks. Both teams had 374 yards of offense. Southern Miss has beaten Virginia in the last two meetings.

MAC—Temple defeated Maryland 38-7 in College Park. Temple had never beaten the Terrapins before or any other ACC team for that matter. Maryland was previously 6-0 against Temple, including winning the last two games by a combined 54 points. The Owls controlled the clock for 41:01 and outgained Maryland 425 to 240. Owls running back Bernard Pierce had a school-record five rushing touchdowns. Temple wide receiver Rod Streator blocked a Maryland punt in the first quarter. Maryland had not had a punt blocked in 139 consecutive games, dating back to 1999. Maryland did not score until garbage time at the end of the fourth quarter.

MWC—Colorado State punted, losing 21-13, with 2:17 left in its game against Utah State in Logan. When Utah State fumbled the punt return, Colorado State recovered the ball and punched in a touchdown four Chris Nwoke-runs later. A two-point conversion pass to Crockett Gillmore tied the game at 21-21, forcing overtime. Both teams rushed for touchdowns in the first overtime to get to 28-28. Colorado State scored 7 points in the second overtime off a 7-yard pass to tight end Crockett Gillmore. Utah State’s Robert Turbin answered with a touchdown, but Utah State elected to go for a two-point conversion for the win. The Aggies rushed Robert Turbin on the two-point conversion attempt, but the Rams defense got the stop and the 35-34 victory.

Pac-12—Arizona State downed No. 23 Southern California 43-22 at Sun Devil Stadium, ending an 11-game losing streak to the Trojans. The Sun Devils forced four turnovers and the Trojans forced none of their own. Standout middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict had an interception, and outside linebacker Shelly Lyon returned an interception for a score late in the fourth to end any hopes the Trojans could get back in the game. Brock Osweiler threw two scores and Cameron Marshall rushed for three scores after an ankle injury in last Saturday’s game against Illinois.

SEC—No. 2 Louisiana State made a mockery out of No. 16 West Virginia on primetime with a 47-21 victory. The LSU defense stopped a high-octane Mountaineer attack. The Tigers won the turnover battle 4-0. LSU punter Brad Wing averaged 48.7 yards per punt. LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne ran back a kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. The Tigers have made a case for being No. 1 after beating No.3 Oregon, No. 25 Mississippi State, and No. 16 West Virginia all away from home in just the first four weeks of the season.

Sun Belt—North Texas got its first win of the season at home this Saturday over BCS-conference foe Indiana by a score of 24-21. Mean Green running back Lance Dunbar accumulated 152 receiving yards and 127 rushing yards, despite fumbling twice. Mean Green quarterback Derek Thompson threw for 201 yards, all three of North Texas’ touchdowns, and one pick-six in the fourth quarter. The Mean Green led 24-0 before the Hoosiers stormed back in the fourth quarter behind their backup quarterback Dusty Kiel. North Texas recovered an onside kick with 1:05 left to secure its first win.

WAC—San Jose State ended a thirteen-game losing streak by beating New Mexico State 34-24 Saturday at Spartan Stadium. Spartan Brandon Rutley rushed for 209 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first player at SJSU to rush for over 200 yards in a game in seven years. Spartan quarterback Matt Faulkner threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns, both caught by tight end Ryan Otten. SJSU played a clean game, only committing one penalty for 5 yards. The Spartans got their first win since beating Southern Utah on September 18, 2010.

Firings and Resignations Critique, Part 2

Bill Lynch   19-30 (6-26)
Indiana
Fired 11/28/10

Indiana is probably the hardest place to build a winning program at in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have to recruit against Purdue, Notre Dame, and Louisville locally and also hold the stigma of being a “basketball school”. Lynch had a .388 winning percentage, the third best winning percentage of the last 12 Indiana head coaches. Only Terry Hoeppner (.391) and Bill Mallory (.463) had better winning percentages than since 1947, and both of those coaches were short of breaking even. Lynch’s players bought into his program and achieved the late Terry Hoeppner’s dream of getting Indiana to a bowl for the first time since 1993. The Hoosiers did seem to be improving as a team, but not winning enough conference games (.188) was Lynch’s downfall. Indiana also had a few games decided by bad officiating, in particular, against Michigan and Iowa during the 2009 season. The icing on the cake was losing to Wisconsin by 63 points on November 13^th. Indiana’s defense appeared inept. In the end, it is time for Indiana to move on and give defensive guru Kevin Wilson a try. Unless Wilson can pull off some upsets, he will be out of a job after four seasons as well.


Rickey Bustle   38-56 (28-31)

UL-Lafayette

Fired 11/29/10

After nine seasons in Lafayette with no bowl appearance and one conference title in 2005, Rickey Bustle needed to be cut loose. Bustle was able to compile 6-6 records in 2008 and 2009, but the team regressed to 3-9 in 2010, finishing sixth in the Sun Belt. Bustle had four six-win seasons, but he was never able to exceed six W’s. In the Sun Belt conference, it is not uncommon to go 0-4 in the nonconference season when playing ragdoll to BCS conference schools. However, the conference standing of a team should indicate how well the program can compete with teams at the same level of talent. During Bustle’s tenure, the Ragin’ Cajuns were below .500 in conference winning percentage.  New energy is needed to reinvigorate Louisiana-Lafayette to a breakthrough season.

Steve Roberts   37-47 (25-22)

Arkansas State
Resigned 11/29/10

After nine seasons in Jonesboro, the athletic department at Arkansas State had decided the football program had become stagnant and needed change. The administration forced Steve Roberts to resign with one year left on his contract. Under Roberts, Arkansas State won the Sun Belt title in 2005 and led the Red Wolves to their first and only bowl appearance, the 2005 New Orleans Bowl. The Red Wolves were bowl-eligible in four of Roberts’ nine seasons. Under Steve Roberts’ tutelage, the program had notable non-conference wins over Tulsa, Army, SMU, Memphis, and Texas A&M. The 2008 win over the Aggies is the Red Wolves first and only win over a BCS automatic qualifying conference opponent since ASU joined the FBS. Roberts last two seasons ended with disappointing 4-8 records. Arkansas State is not an easy place to coach. Losses and injuries build up playing against teams from the big conferences during the nonconference schedule, and the Sun Belt is more competitive than ever. Interestingly, offensive coordinator High Freeze was promoted to take over as head coach of the Red Wolves. I am not so sure they Freeze will be able to do any better at this assignment.

Dave Wannstedt   42-31 (24-18)

Pittsburgh

Resigned 12/7/10

Dave Wannstedt was pressured by the University of Pittsburgh to step down after failing to meet expectations. Wannstedt failed to win the conference outright and get to a BCS bowl game during his six years. The Panthers went 7-5, after the Big East Media Poll predicted them to be the strong favorite to win the Big East Championship during the preseason. Wanny got the Panthers to bowl games in his final three seasons, 2008-2010. In 2009, Wannstedt led Pitt to its first 10-win season since 1981. Wannstedt was popular among his players, most of whom wanted him to remain the head coach. Surely, Pitt saw talent leave early for the NFL with the ouster of Wanny and recruits change their commitments. The University of Pittsburgh needs to realize, that despite a few untimely losses, Dave Wannstedt did far more good than bad for Panther football. It is not the 1980’s anymore. The program could very well bottom out in the coming years.

Ralph Friedgen   75-50 (43-37)

Maryland

Fired 12/20/10

I do not see the point in firing Ralph Friedgen. The Fridge went 9-4 with a Military Bowl victory over East Carolina and has performed admirably over the last ten football seasons at a school that was a doormat in the decade before Friedgen arrived. Friedgen was 5-2 in bowl games and won the ACC title in his first season. He holds is the first Terp head coach to have a winning record since Bobby Ross (1982-1986). Friedgen, a former offensive guard at Maryland, was passionate about his alma mater’s football program; it was his destination job. There is no way Randy Edsall will have the same passion for Terrapin football, and that may become evident to boosters when a better job becomes available. Other than a down season in 2009 (2-10), the Fridge did a great deal with little at a program that is not a national powerhouse in football.

Mike Haywood   0-0 (0-0)

Pittsburgh
Fired 1/1/11

Mike Haywood was rightfully fired from the head coach position at Pittsburgh after only sixteen days on the job. Haywood committed domestic battery on the mother of his child. Before X’s and O’s, a college football coach needs to be a good role model for young men. Felons need not apply. Haywood only had two years of head coach experience at a mid-major, so his hiring as a head coach at a BCS school with little experience was controversial to begin with. The whole Haywood-Pitt episode makes athletic director Steve Pederson’s decision to force out Dave Wannstedt look stupid.


Rich Rodriguez   15-22 (6-18)

Michigan
Fired 1/5/11

Rich Rodriguez was rightfully dismissed from Michigan after taking a once-dominant football program to a new all time low. Rodriguez has the lowest winning percentage of any Wolverine head coach ever at .405. Michigan’s 2008 season (3-9) was its worst in the 131-year history of Michigan football. During his three seasons at Michigan, Rodriguez never beat either of the Wolverines’ chief rivals: Ohio State and Michigan State. A 52-14 massacre at the hands of Mississippi State in the 2011 Gator Bowl was the last straw. Rodriguez and his staff were criticized for offensive language and belittling players, resulting in players transferring out of Michigan and recruits not committing to the school. Michigan committed five major NCAA rule violations and many minor violations during the Rich Rodriguez-era. Prior to Rodriguez’s arrival, Michigan football had never in its history committed major NCAA rule violations. The Josh-Groban-reciting coach could not win on the field and all around lacked class. He had to go.

2011 Progressive Gator Bowl Preview

January 1, 2011 1:30 PM ET

Stadium: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, Florida

Payout: $2,750,000

Played: 1946-present

Once known as: N/A

Broadcasters: Mike Patrick, Craig James

Sideline Reporter: Todd Harris

Storyline: Dan Mullen just got a big pay raise, $2.65 million a year, at Mississippi State to prevent him from being courted by other programs. Meanwhile, rumors abound that Rich Rodriguez will be fired if he loses the Gator Bowl as his buyout drops by $1.5 million with the first day of 2011. Mississippi State has been resurgent with an 8-4 record. The Bulldogs went 4-8 in 2008 and 5-7 in 2009. Mississippi State’s offense is average, but its defense is 27^th in the country. The battle between the Bulldogs defense and Michigan’s offense should determine the outcome of this game. The Wolverines have the 6^th most productive offense in the nation, but have been horrible on defense. Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson set an NCAA record for rushing yards by a quarterback this season. He rushed for 1,643 yards. If he can break loose, Michigan has a chance to win. The Bulldogs look to get their first bowl win since 2007. The Wolverines look to win to save Rodriguez’s job. This will be the Bulldogs first Big Ten opponent in thirty years.

All-time Series: 0-0

Line: Mississippi State by 4.5

	Mississippi State			Michigan
Overall Record	8-4		Overall Record	7-5
Conference Record	4-4		Conference Record	3-5
Bowl Record	7-6		Bowl Record	19-20
Last Bowl Win	2007 Liberty		Last Bowl Win	2008 Capital One

Big Ten Home Attendance Figures

	Illinois			Indiana
Memorial Stadium			Memorial Stadium
S11 Southern Illinois	52,217		S2 Towson	35,242
S18 Northern Illinois	50,569		S25 Akron	42,258
O2 Ohio State	62,870		O2 Michigan	52,929
O23 Indiana	53,550		O16 Arkansas State	40,480
O30 Purdue	50,371		O30 Northwestern	37,818
N13 Minnesota	55,549		N6 Iowa	42,991
AVERAGE	54,188		AVERAGE	41,953
	Iowa			Michigan
Kinnick Stadium			Michigan Stadium
S4 Eastern Illinois	70,585		S4 Connecticut	113,090
S11 Iowa State	70,585		S18 Massachusetts	110,187
S25 Ball State	70,585		S25 Bowling Green	109,933
O2 Penn State	70,585		O9 Michigan State	113,065
O23 Wisconsin	70,585		O16 Iowa	112,784
O30 Michigan State	70,585		N6 Illinois	111,441
N20 Ohio State	70,585		N20 Wisconsin	112,276
AVERAGE	70,585		AVERAGE	111,825
	Michigan State			Minnesota
Spartan Stadium			TCF Bank Stadium
S4 Western Michigan	75,769		S11 South Dakota	49,554
S18 Notre Dame	78,411		S18 USC	50,442
S25 Northern Colorado	70,926		S25 Northern Illinois	49,368
O2 Wisconsin	73,108		O2 Northwestern	49,228
O16 Illinois	74,441		O23 Penn State	48,479
N6 Minnesota	71,128		O30 Ohio State	48,717
N20 Purdue	71,111		N27 Iowa	50,805
AVERAGE	73,556		AVERAGE	49,513
	Northwestern			Ohio State
Ross Field, Wrigley Field*			Ohio Stadium
S11 Illinois State	25,471		S2 Marshall	105,040
S25 Central Michigan	30,075		S11 Miami	105,454
O9 Purdue	33,847		S18 Ohio	105,075
O23 Michigan State	41,115		S25 Eastern Michigan	105,017
N13 Iowa	47,130		O9 Indiana	105,291
N20 Illinois*	41,058		O23 Purdue	105,387
			N13 Penn State	105,466
			N27 Michigan	105,491
AVERAGE	36,449		AVERAGE	105,278
	Penn State			Purdue
Beaver Stadium			Ross-Ade Stadium
S4 Youngstown State	101,213		S11 Western Illinois	47,301
S18 Kent State	100,610		S18 Ball State	54,124
S25 Temple	104,840		S25 Toledo	42,068
O9 Illinois	107,638		O16 Minnesota	47,319
O30 Michigan	108,539		N6 Wisconsin	45,227
N6 Northwestern	104,147		N13 Michigan	50,268
N27 Michigan State	102,649		N27 Indiana	50,136
AVERAGE	104,234		AVERAGE	48,063
	Wisconsin
Camp Randall Stadium
S11 San Jose State	78,469
S18 Arizona State	81,332
S25 Austin Peay	77,224
O9 Minnesota	80,328
O16 Ohio State	81,194
N13 Indiana	80,477
N27 Northwestern	80,011
AVERAGE	79,862

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Michigan	111,825
Ohio State	105,278
Penn State	104,234
Wisconsin	79,862
Michigan State	73,556
Iowa	70,585
Illinois	54,188
Minnesota	49,513
Purdue	48,063
Indiana	41,953
Northwestern	36,449