Day One of the 2014-15 College Football Bowl season is in the books, and here’s a quick recap of what you need to know from the opening slate of five games.
New Orleans Bowl
Home cooking is king yet again for the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette. They aptly won the New Orleans Bowl in the New Orleans Superdome, defeating a disappointing Nevada Wolf Pack 19-3.
The star for ULL was quarterback Terrance Broadway, who opened the game by completing fourteen passes, which is an NCAA Division One Bowl record. He finished with 227 passing yards and a touchdown, kicker Hunter Stover made three field goals – including a career-long of 46 yards – and running back Elijah McGuire was just one yard shy of crossing the century mark on the ground.
On the other side of the football, the Ragin’ Cajun defence held the Wolf Pack to just 215 total yards, and just 89 rushing, after Nevada had rolled up 200 or more rushing yards in each for their last five games. This match also marks the first time the Wolf Pack have failed to score a touchdown since a 2009 shut-out at the hands of Notre Dame.
It’s a satisfying end to a season where Louisiana-Lafayette opened 1-3, and 2014 marks their fourth straight nine-win campaign, and their fourth straight New Orleans Bowl triumph.
New Mexico Bowl
Utah State needed to throw it’s fifth-string quarterback into the action when starting quarterback Kent Myers went out of the game injured near the end of the first half, and had contributions from the Virgil brothers, Nick and Zach, on both sides of the football en-route to a 21-6 victory over the University of Texas-El Paso in Albuquerque. It was a dour game, with neither side passing for a touchdown.
Linebacker Nick Virgil ran for a touchdown on offence and his brother, Zach, also a linebacker, was selected defensive MVP. The Aggies relied on a combined 16 tackles against the Miners, which takes their combined career total to 551 – a FBS record among active brothers. One of the better defences in the nation, Utah State held UTEP to 149 rushing yards and no touchdowns.
The Aggies won their fourth straight Bowl game, completing a 10-4 season, and extending UTEP’s post-season record to 0-6 since winning the 1967 Sun Bowl. The Miners finished their season 7-6, their first positive finish since 2005.
Las Vegas Bowl
With Colorado State’s former head coach Jim McElwain now down at Florida, it was anyone’s guess as to how the Rams would come out in Las Vegas against Utah, an old-school Mountain West match-up. As it turned out they were mostly uncompetitive, falling 45-10 to a Utes team that saved it’s best offensive performance of the year for their last game.
Utah quarterback Travis Wilson led the way as the Utes rolled up 548 yards of total offence. He was 17-26 for 158 yards, a touchdown and an interception passing, and added 91 yards and three touchdowns on eleven carries. Running back Devontae Booker also had himself a big day, rushing for 162 yards and a score on 26 carries.
The Utes were dominant on both sides of the football, restricting a pretty good Colorado State offence – at least, good against their schedule – to 278 yards, and the Rams were just 1-10 on third down. Nor did they do much on the ground, amassing only 12 yards on 19 carries. You won’t win football games like that.
Speaking of winning, the Utes have tasted victory in 11 of their last 12 Bowl games, and the Las Vegas triumph. They handed Colorado State their sixteenth consecutive loss against a ranked team.
Idaho Potato Bowl
The most waterlogged game of the day came from the blue turf of Boise State University, where the Air Force Falcons, despite soggy conditions, executed their ground game to perfection (and picked up a key defensive touchdown) as they defeated Western Michigan 38-24.
Shayne Davern ran for 101 yards and a score – a career-high for him – and also converted on a fake punt that helped the Falcons go out to a 20-10 halftime lead, and they weren’t headed from there. Defensively, Air Force limited what WMU could do, allowing just 79 yards on 26 carries. That’s a huge effort, considering Western Michigan had come into the game averaging 178.5 yards per game on the ground.
Saturday night’s win for the Falcons was remarkable because it capped a 10-3 season that came on the heels of a very disappointing 2-10 effort in 2013. They become the first team since Miami-Ohio to enjoy a 10-win season after a 10-loss season. WMU saw improvement in 2014, and they finished 8-5 after going 1-11 a year ago.
Camellia Bowl
A new Bowl game, owned and operated by ESPN, at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama saw a close 33-28 victory for Bowling Green over South Alabama, one that wasn’t decided until almost the final seconds – and easily claims the title of most exciting game of the day.
In a frantic finish, South Alabama came from 27-14 down in the third quarter to lead the Falcons with 1:45 to play in the final frame, but a 78-yard pass from Bowling Green quarterback James Knapke to Roger Lewis gave them a five-point cushion, that might’ve been more had a two-point conversion been successful.
There was offence aplenty in this one, with Bowling Green amassing 503 total yards, and South Alabama 415. Knapke was 25-39 for 368 yards and two touchdowns passing, with an additional 24 yards on the ground to be named the game’s MVP. Turnovers doomed the Jaguars, they committed four on the night in the first Bowl game since the program’s inception in 2009.
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