I had a ton of time to sit and watch college bowl games over the break and most of them I caught (though I missed Pittsburgh vs. Utah). The most surpising games of all were Texas Tech vs. Cal and Tennessee vs. Texas A&M.
I, as a Texas Tech student thought that Cal would come out with a win. Not a huge win, but maybe 7-14pts. But, Tech prevailed with huge plays and some horrible penalties on Cal’s part. Cal’s offensive show left a lot to be desired and proves that they probably would have been ripped apart had they played Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Their defense faired a little better but altogether they racked up 5 penalties for a total of 59yds. One of the penalties sealed the game for Tech as Cal’s special teams knocked down the punter on 4th down and short. The personal fouls are what killed Cal and though Tech’s defense was looking sloppy at the end they pulled out the win.
The A&M game was another huge surprise. Everyone expected them to come out with all of their “traditions” and put a beating on Tennessee. It wasn’t to be. Tennessee just flat out played harder and wanted the win a whole lot more than the Aggies. Tennessee shut down the run game that the Aggies were trying to pull from the very beginning and the overall performance by A&M looked horrible. I really do not have any respect for the A&M program as they seem to be full of talk but when it comes to playing they lack the punch to back it up. Yes, they beat Tech but it was not by a lot and was mostly due to bad defensive play by our team. We’ll see how A&M fairs next year and make a final judgement about Franchione.
The national championship between Oklahoma and USC is tonight and I plan to watch it. I think Oklahoma will come out strong and put a stop to the USC offense from the very beginning. As long as Oklahoma can keep Leinart from eating away at them they are going to win. My prediction is Oklahoma by 14.