Tag: bowl games 2020

Northwestern vs Auburn: Vrbo Citrus Bowl 10 Thoughts On NU 35-19 Win

Northwestern 35 Auburn 19. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Northwestern win over Auburn in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl.

Northwestern 35 Auburn 19. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Northwestern win over Auburn in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl.

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Northwestern vs Auburn: Vrbo Citrus Bowl

10. Really, Auburn defense?

Auburn didn’t get the memo that the Northwestern offense just doesn’t do a whole lot.

It failed to hit 300 yards of total O in four of its eight games before this and only hit 400 yards against Maryland and Illinois. The 457 yards against Auburn were the third-most this season, with everything clicking early to take control of the game, and then hammering to take over late.

Auburn struggled to get a third down stop, didn’t generate enough pressure, and couldn’t hold up as the game went on. The Wildcat passing game had time to operate, and the offensive line was able to blast away on a run defense that had big, big problems against teams that were able to control things on the ground. The 51 carries by Northwestern tied Ole Miss for the most against the Tiger D. And with that …

9. Cam Porter is going to be really, really good

The 5-10, 220-pound freshman didn’t do much of most of the season, and then he tore up Illinois for 142 yards on 24 carries and ran for 61 yards in the Big Ten Championship. This was his day to be the hammer, running 33 times for a tough 98 yards and a late touchdown.

Auburn didn’t give up a ton of big runs, but it got nickeled-and-dimed to death.

8. The Northwestern coaching staff

Is that it for Pat Fitzgerald? He’s being rumored to have a whole lot of interest from the NFL types, but he was supposedly in the mix for the next level a few years ago, too. For a program that couldn’t win bowl games and struggled to come up with any sort of success, that’s four bowl wins in four tries – five in the last six bowl appearances – to go with two Big Ten West championships in three years.

 

Fitzgerald might still stick around, but defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz is calling it a career after being a part of the success since 2008. The 73-year-old was tremendous during Colorado’s heyday, was a big part of great defenses at Arizona and Wisconsin, and then with the Cats. His D allowed some late yards, but it dominated.

7. Northwestern went Northwestern

You want to pitch a near-perfect game if you’re Northwestern? Control the clock for almost 36 minutes, don’t turn the ball over, dominate on third downs, and most of all, get up fast.

The 14-0 in the first quarter meant the world. This isn’t necessarily a come-from-behind team – even though it was able to do it at times – and it works a whole lot better when it got to rely on its defense and ball control style.

NEXT: Top Six Thoughts From The Vrbo Citrus Bowl

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Georgia vs Cincinnati: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl 10 Thoughts On UGA 24-21 Win

Georgia 24 Cincinnati 21. 10 thoughts on the Georgia win over Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Georgia 24 Cincinnati 21. 10 thoughts on the Georgia win over Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

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Georgia 24 Cincinnati 21: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

10. Of course Georgia cared.

The whole “SEC team doesn’t care” narrative when it comes to bowl games outside of the College Football Playoff is misguided. Remember, the SEC is going to make up about 25% of the NFL Draft, like it always does.

Of course there are going to be more key players ready to move on to the next level – or at least thinking about it – and of course that makes a difference in a non-CFP bowl game.

Also, yeah, SEC teams that lose the conference championship game – those teams really do think College Football Playoff or bust – don’t play as well when their hearts get ripped out.

That wasn’t the case in this for Georgia, and while there were opt-outs, there weren’t enough to make a massive difference – at least compared to Florida’s issues vs. Oklahoma. Georgia cared, and Cincinnati was just that good.

9. Don’t read anything more into the performance by Cincinnati than what it was.

Of course this Bearcat team can play with and hang around with the top teams, but that was never the point. As always, it’s about the long haul of a Power Five conference schedule against Power Five conference talent.

Again, though, don’t make too much more out of this than the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl being a blast. Once you start trying to take it into something else, it’s all disappointing.

8. Not having Gerrid Doaks mattered.

The Cincinnati running game had one big 79-yard Jerome Ford touchdown run to open up the second half, and that was about it. QB Desmond Ridder couldn’t get free, and there weren’t any big runs outside of the Ford dash, especially in the second half.

Doaks was UC’s best back and leading rusher, and while Ford is more than fine, the team needed another option for the ground attack.

7. Not having James Cook didn’t matter, because …

The Cincinnati run defense was amazing. Georgia second-leading rusher James Cook didn’t play after the loss of his father a few days before, but that wasn’t the issue.

The Georgia offensive front couldn’t generate anything of a push, there were problems keeping JT Daniels from getting hit, and the Bulldogs only ran for 45 yards averaging fewer than two yards per carry. Georgia’s offense was all about …

NEXT: Top Six Thoughts From The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

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Ball State vs San Jose State: Arizona Bowl 10 Thoughts On BSU 34-13 Win

Ball State vs San Jose State. The 10 thoughts on the Ball State 34-13 win over San Jose State in the Offerpad Arizona Bowl.

Ball State vs San Jose State. The 10 thoughts the Ball State 34-13 win over San Jose State in the Offerpad Arizona Bowl.

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Ball State vs San Jose State: Offerpad Arizona Bowl

10. San Jose State was missing its guys

Florida missing a slew of players for the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma was bad, but San Jose State missing a whole slew of key parts was worse.

Star defensive lineman Cade Hall was out, the offensive line was gutted, both coordinators couldn’t go, and leading receiver Bailey Gaither couldn’t play. Some of the missing parts were known earlier in the week, but the extent of all the key players and coaches that were out wasn’t revealed until less than an hour before game time.

Not to take anything away from Ball State and it’s fantastic performance, but this wasn’t anything close to the same San Jose State that rolled through the season unbeaten winning each game by double-digits.

9. Nick Starkel wasn’t Nick Starkel

To go with the comparisons to the Cotton Bowl, obviously Kyle Trask is better than he looked against Oklahoma – he was missing all of his receivers. San Jose State QB Nick Starkel didn’t have a chance without Gaither and a slew of his normal guys to work with. He did what he could, completing 25-of-42 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown, but the …

8. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers

Starkel threw three interceptions including what was effectively the game-ender less than three minutes in. Antonio Phillips had a bead on the ball, didn’t break stride, and he was off to a 53-yard pick size as part of a 27-0 Ball State first quarter and 34-0 lead. The Cardinals turned it over twice, but the four Spartan turnovers crushed any hopes of making this a game.

7. Nothing was happening on the San Jose State O line

Give credit to a good Ball State defensive line that didn’t have much of a pass rush all season, and didn’t generate much of one against the Spartans, but was able to hold firm against a SJSU running game that had a few good games, but couldn’t get anything working without its normal offensive line rotation. The Spartans ran for just 69 yards and couldn’t settle in after things started to slip away.

NEXT: Top Six Thoughts From The Offerpad Arizona Bowl

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Mississippi State vs Tulsa: Armed Forces Bowl 10 Thoughts On MSU 28-26 Win

Mississippi State vs Tulsa. The 10 ten things you need to know about the MSU win over Tulsa in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Mississippi State vs Tulsa. The 10 ten things you need to know about the MSU 28-26 win over Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl.

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Mississippi State vs Tulsa: Armed Forces Bowl

10. It’s totally not fair, and it’s totally not right, but …

The second-best team in the American Athletic Conference lost to the 10thish best team in the SEC. In terms of national perception, baked-in biases, and being given the benefit of the double by the College Football Playoff committee, this was one of those games that will be referred to and brought up every time there’s a Power Five vs. Group of Five debate.

No pressure, but it would be huge deal if Cincinnati could rock Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

9. The good game will be remembered now for that fight

Of course there’s no place for that ugly, ugly brawl after the game.
That was as bad and as brutal a fight as you’ll see in a football fight as the two teams went at it after the post-game handshakes.

It’ll all come out later what really happened, but that can’t happen ever no matter how high emotions run. There were punches, there was kicking, there was more to this fight that goes beyond the every-once-in-a-while shoving matches.

8. It was an entertaining game, but …

Between the fight, the lousy weather – a nice mix of rain and sleet and snow – the 18 combined penalties, the lack of a steady Mississippi State offense – this wasn’t the prettiest of bowl games. However, it was the first bowl win for the program since taking down the 2017 TaxSlayer, and it was Mike Leach’s second bowl win in the lsat five games and third since 2007.

Yeah, it wasn’t anything aesthetically pleasing, but any bowl game you can win is a good one.

7. Will Rogers keeps on building, but …

He’ll have to be sharper to earn the Mississippi State starting quarterback job next year. It was a promising true freshman season, and he didn’t make any big mistakes against Tulsa to go along with a rushing touchdown, but he didn’t hit any big downfield throws in the bad weather.

There was just enough of a running game to take over at times – the 123 yards marked the second straight 100-yard rushing day – but for the Mike Leach offense to shine, the quarterback and passing game have to be great.

NEXT: Top Six Thoughts From The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

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Oklahoma 55 Florida 20: Goodyear Cotton Bowl 10 Things To Know

Oklahoma 55 Florida 20. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Oklahoma win over Florida in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Oklahoma 55 Florida 20. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Oklahoma win over Florida in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

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Oklahoma 55 Florida 20: Goodyear Cotton Bowl

10. Several things can be true at once here.

Yes, Florida was missing way too many of its top players. Yes, it’s almost impossible to just Next Man Up it when you’re replacing too many key parts. Yes, teams that lose the SEC Championship normally don’t get up for the bowl game after getting their hearts ripped out – going 2-4 in the last six bowl games. Yes, Florida didn’t have any real answers after making a good-fight mini-comeback early on, and yes, they really, really, really weren’t the team that was so strong throughout the 2020 regular season. 

And …

9. Yes, it can be true that Oklahoma is very, very good right now.

It’s a different team than it was at the beginning of the season. It’s sharper, it took advantage of the opportunity, and it did what a good team is supposed to do in a situation like this and win and win big. It’s not Oklahoma’s fault that a bunch of Florida players didn’t want to play in this.

8. One game like this isn’t going to change anything, but …

The College Football Playoff needs to be expanded so it includes all Power Five conference champions. Yeah, yeah, yeah, again, all of those things about Florida are true, but as sharp as the Sooners were and the way they played, it’s not crazy to think they could do some damage in a bigger sort of tournament. 

7. This is why the voting needs to be done after the bowls.

Kyle Trask had a marvelous season, it wasn’t his fault the top four receivers were gone, and there wasn’t anything he could do in a game like this, but he’s a finalist, and he wins 16-of-28 for 158 yards and three interceptions with no touchdown passes. 

6. The Florida coaching staff tried.

It got quirky, it threw a bunch of things at the wall to try fixing the glitch, and Emory Jones at least gave Gator fans hope. He only hit 8-of-16 passes, but he tied for the team lead with 60 rushing yards on 11 carries. He made the game interesting in the rotation. 

5. Misleading fun fact from this – it’s Lincoln Riley’s first bowl win.

It’s not fair to rip him in any way for being 0-3 in bowl games before this when those three were in the College Football Playoff, but there’s something to be said for winning the final game of a season. Again, give Oklahoma and Riley credit here. If the other side isn’t as strong as it should be, then win 55-20.

4. There’s no dogging Dan Mullen here.

It’ll be easy to hammer on defensive coordinator Todd Grantham after a rough season and with a defensive performance like this, but this was an impossible situation for the entire Florida program to deal with. This wasn’t some normal bowl game. You’re not going to beat the Big 12 champs with that sort of firepower when you’re missing so much talent. However, these types of losses stick to SEC coaches. SEC fan bases are able to use logic and reason to a point, but 55-20 is 55-20.

3. Spencer Rattler was just okay, and it was more than enough.

He’ll be one of the early favorites for the 2021 Heisman – Oklahoma has gone too long without a quarterback being in the mix for the thing – and in a game like this, not throwing a pick or making any big mistakes was enough. That’s being light with the praise, though – he completed 14-of-23 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran for 40 yards and a touchdown. 

He was good, but his supporting cast was awesome.

2. Oklahoma was a different team with Rhamondre Stevenson.

The big, fast running back tore off 186 yards and a touchdown averaging over ten yards per carry. Marcus Major ran for 110 yards and a score, and the ground game pounded out 435 yards and three touchdowns averaging 11 yards per carry.

Three different Sooners caught touchdown passes, there were big plays after big plays, and it could’ve been a whole lot worse with just enough misfires to have kept this from getting even uglier earlier.

1. The bowl opt-out problem is a … problem

This year is obviously weirder than all others, but it’s also going to be the norm for these New Year’s Six bowl games that – come on, we’re all adults here – are mostly exhibitions. They’re fun, and they’re a huge deal for the teams, the players, and the fan bases, but there’s a reason why so many players with NFL talent skip out on them. 

The Gators guys who opted out almost certainly play if this is some sort of a playoff game. 

It’s okay. In a strange way, it’s actually better for Florida to get its young guys some meaningful work and more live game film to start working on spring ball. But something has to be fixed. 

The lower-tier bowls normally won’t have the top teams with the top players – one or two guys might opt out, but not enough to make the game bad – and the NFL types aren’t going to skip the College Football Playoff. The New Year’s Six bowls, though, are going to have more and more of what we got in the Cotton. 

Even so, 1,205 yards of total offense, a ton of big plays, and an entertaining show for a 55-20 blowout – the 2020 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic was worth the watch.

 

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Wisconsin 42 Wake Forest 28: Duke’s Mayo Bowl 10 Things To Know

Wisconsin 42, Wake Forest 28. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Badger win over the Demon Deacons in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Wisconsin 42, Wake Forest 28. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Badger win over the Demon Deacons in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

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Wisconsin 42 Wake Forest 28: Duke’s Mayo Bowl

10. It’s amazing how good, talented coaches are able to game plan for the start of a bowl, it all works, and then come the adjustments and everything stops. That sort of happened for Oklahoma State against Miami in the Cheez-It Bowl, but the Cowboys were able to hang on. Wake Forest and head coach Dave Clawson came out rocking, everything clicked, and Wisconsin looked totally lost. It was 14-0 Demon Deacons after the first quarter, and then …

9. Wisconsin went Wisconsin. This isn’t the normal Badger team – there was no Jonathan Taylor the of running back, and the receiving corps was gutted over the second half of the season – but it all worked because of the …

8. Badger defense – it figured it out. It got in the throwing lanes of Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman, it forced four interceptions, and the team steamrolled through the second half as it pulled away in stunning fashion. Wisconsin LB Jack Sanborn led the team with 11 tackles two tackles for loss and an interception as the Duke’s Mayo Bowl MVP.

Compared to how the team looked in the first quarter, it was among the wildest turnarounds – it was the biggest bowl comeback in Wisconsin history – of the bowl season.

7. The Wake Forest style was a miserable fit for this game over the long haul. Quickness and an up-tempo attack screws up the Badger D over the years – Wisconsin struggles with crafty quarterbacks and precision passing games – but there has to be some element of ball control or else the Wisconsin system wears teams down. And …

6. The time of possession battle matters. This was supposed to be lopsided Wisconsin’s way, but it wasn’t quite as bad as it should’ve been considering Wake Forest only held the ball for 28 minutes per game. The Badgers had it for eight more minutes, but it could’ve been a whole lot worse.

5. Again, the takeaways. Wake Forest came into the Duke’s Mayo Bowl second in the nation in turnover margin. Take the ball away from the Badgers, and good things tend to happen. A muffed punt snap deep its own territory, and the four Hartman interceptions killed Wake Forest. Wisconsin turned it over once, but it was at the end of the first half on a relatively last gasp deep throw.

4. How weird was this game? Wake Forest came up with 518 yards of total offense. The Badgers hadn’t allowed more than 338 all year, and no one has come up with more yards against the UW D since Ohio State blew out 558 in the 59-0 win in the 2014 Big Ten Championship.

Nebraska came up with 518 in a loss to the Badgers in 2018, but still, this was an impressive offensive day from the Demon Deacons. Wisconsin only gained 266 yards and only outgained Wake Forest 122 yards to 111 on the ground.

3. Wake Forest leading receiver Jaquarii Roberson came into the game with 54 catches for 795 yards and five touchdowns. He wore the Wisconsin secondary as a hat, catching eight passes for 131 yards and three scores, and Donavon Greene caught six passes for 122 yards. There was a whole lot of bending by the Badger D, but again, the turnovers made up for the issues.

2. Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz did his job. Considering Wisconsin just doesn’t have any wide receivers, completing 11-of-17 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown was okay, and not throwing any picks was great. He was careful, didn’t force anything, and he let the defense do the rest. He also powered his way for two short touchdown runs.

1. Wisconsin continues to be one of those programs that is just amazing enough to get close to the elite, but can’t quite get over the top. It can’t beat Ohio State in Big Ten championships, and it hasn’t been able to win Rose Bowls when it has had its chances, but under head coach Paul Chryst, it’s now 5-1 in bowl games with the blemish that strange close loss to Justin Herbert and Oregon in last year’s Rose Bowl. Don’t take this for granted.

Wisconsin had a run from the 2008 Outback to the 2014 Capital One going 1-6 in Bowl games. Gary Andersen left, Barry Alvarez took over against Auburn in the 2015 Outback, and since then, the program has just that one Rose Bowl loss in the post season.

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Oklahoma State 37, Miami 34: Cheez-It Bowl 10 Things To Know

Oklahoma State 37, Miami 34. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Oklahoma State win over Miami in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Oklahoma State 37, Miami 34. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Oklahoma State win over Miami in the Cheez-It Bowl.

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Oklahoma State 37, Miami 34: Cheez-It Bowl

10. Miami made way too many mistakes to pull off the big comeback. There were way too many dropped passes – and they all seemed to come on big chances deep – two turnovers, no takeaways, and too many problems on third downs converting just four of 14 tries. The Canes got close, but couldn’t get that one big break to take over.

9. The knee injury suffered by Miami QB D’Eriq King took the air completely out of the game. It turned into a fun game, and the Hurricanes did a great job of fighting back, but to lose the star of the program – who already announced that he’s coming back next year – was a gut-punch. He completed 10-of-13 passes for 113 yards and a score, and ran for 18 yards, before getting knocked out.

8. Give a ton of credit to Miami for the mental toughness to fight back. After the embarrassing 62-26 loss to North Carolina, the last thing the Canes needed was to fall behind 21-0. Check that – the last thing they needed was to lose King to an injury. The defense stepped up its play, N’Kosi Perry stepped in and was fine – he completed 19-of-34 passes for 228 yards and two scores – but the team dug too deep a hole.

7. Spencer Sanders showed up strong. The Oklahoma State quarterback was sharp from the word go, was able to make the third down plays happen, and he was red hot with good decision after good decision to get the team up big. There might have been a lull, and it might have taken more of a fight than it needed to be, but he ended up completing 27-of-40 for 305 yards and four scores, and he led the team with 45 rushing yards. This is the type of performance to make him one of the Big 12’s bigger stars going into 2021.

6. Well hello, Brennan Presley. The Oklahoma State freshman receiver caught one pass for seven yards against Oklahoma, and he ran for a touchdown against Kansas State. That was it for his regular season, and then … boom. Six catches, 118 yards, three touchdowns. Miami spent so much time worrying about Tylan Wallace – who caught six passes for 73 yards – and the lightning-quick Presley went off.

And then Presley became really vital after Wallace didn’t play after halftime. It was supposedly the plan from the start that he was just going to play for a half, but that was … weird.

5. It’s hard to get a whole lot of love and respect as a college tight end in the state of Florida when Kyle Pitts is lighting it up for the Gators, but Brevin Jordan is a big-time talent who showed why he’s suck a next-level weapon. He caught 30 passes for 480 yards and five scores in the regular season, and he helped make the O go after it sputtered early and finished with seven catches for 80 yards and two scores.

4. It was amazing how the body language changed on a snap. Miami didn’t show up for the first 15 minutes, nothing went right, and then came the King injury. It was it the defense needed a bit to get warmed up, and it was also like Oklahoma State punched itself out.

Everything worked so well early, and then there was a shot to go up 28 and put it well out of reach. The drive stalled, the Cowboys went for a field goal, there was a penalty that pushed it back, and Brady Pohl missed. The game changed on that.

3. It was a rough game for the officials. They missed a two-point conversion for Miami that would’ve made it tied at 21 – Brevin Jordan looked like he got in, but he was called short of the goal line. The officials also missed what appeared to be what should’ve been a pass interference call on an early throw to Jordan, there were too many other penalties called – 16 in all for 154 yards – and the officials were way too noticeable.

2. This was a good moment for Miami head coach Manny Diaz. He was getting roasted on social media after the awful start, and he was already getting hammered on after the 14-0 Independence Bowl loss to Louisiana Tech last year, but give him and the coaching staff credit. Everything went wrong, and yet his team had a shot at the win in the final minutes. It was a loss – the tenth bowl loss in the last 11 tries for the program – but this is the type of game to build off of.

1. It wasn’t easy, but Oklahoma State closed out with the win. It wasn’t the year many thought it could be – the Cowboys were supposed to be good enough at least play for the Big 12 Championship, if not win it – but going 8-3 with a bowl win over Miami is a good season, especially this year. This makes it four bowl wins in the last five for Gundy and a 10-5 record with 15 straight bowl appearances.

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Georgia State 39, WKU 21: LendingTree Bowl 10 Things To Know

Georgia State 39, WKU 21. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Georgia State win over WKU in the LendingTree Bowl.

Georgia State 39, WKU 21. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Georgia State win over WKU in the LendingTree Bowl.

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Georgia State 39, WKU 21: LendingTree Bowl

10. It doesn’t matter if it’s the LendingTree, the Dollar General, the GoDaddy or the GMAC – this has been a rough bowl watch for a long, long time. With this 18-point Georgia State win, that makes it five years in a row of games decided by double-digits. Some of these have been better than the final score, but ever since the classic Byron Leftwich Marshall 64-61 overtime win over East Carolina, 16 of 19 have been relative blowouts.

9. This got a bit chippy. There weren’t a ton of penalties – 15 in all – but these two started to get into it as the game went on. WKU got hit with the nine penalties – three more than Georgia State – and was more mistake-prone overall. More on that in a moment.

8. The Georgia State offense was a different animal this year when Destin Coates was able to get moving. The junior RB hit the 100-yard mark four times, and all when he got the ball 20 times or more. He ran 23 times for 117 yards and a touchdown. Is scoring dash at the end of the first quarter go it all going for the Panthers.

7. Georgia State’s Cornelious Brown should be one of the Sun Belt’s biggest stars in 2021. The QB had his problems with picks here and there – he threw one against WKU early on when he tried to make something big happen – and he didn’t get going on the ground with just 40 yards, but he threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns. He was in control, he kept the chains moving, and again, the big mistakes weren’t there.

6. Turnovers and mistakes continue to be a killer this bowl season – WKU was -2 in turnover margin. QB Tyrrell Pigrome completed 17-of-33 passes for 180 yards, and he ran for a score. There was one big problem, actually two – his two interceptions. Before this, he threw 264 passes in the regular season with no picks.

5. The WKU pass rush stepped it up late in the season, but it only generated one sack against the Panthers. However, there were plenty of big plays made behind the line – ten tackles for loss – and it wasn’t nearly enough. Third down stops were too much of an issue, and they were a big problem against this Panther offense.

4. Georgia State did a better job at controlling the game. It had the ball ten minutes longer, converted 13-of-21 third down tries, and the style never allowed the Hilltoppers to make much of a push after going on a 27-0 run in the first half.

3. Going into next year, WKU needs more of a running game. It averaged under four yards per carry for the season, and while it got the mark against Georgia State, it only came up with 104 yards. There were three touchdowns, and CJ Jones was able to tear off a big scoring dash, but there wasn’t enough of a push.

2. The lack of a consistent WKU offensive punch turned out to be a big deal once again, coming up with just 284 yards. Blowing up on FIU and Charlotte to close out the regular season was nice, but the programs needs a positive identity and style to move the ball more consistently. When the game was starting to get away, there wasn’t the ability to slow things down or answer. It was the sixth time the Hilltoppers gave up more than 21 points, and they lost all six.

1. It’s a winning season for Georgia State. Don’t dismiss just how big a deal that is to a program, especially in this insane season. It was able to finish 6-4 with this win and close out with four wins in the last five games. The team was consistent, it was occasionally explosive, and now it’s a bowl winner two years in a row for the second time in four seasons.

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Louisiana 31, UTSA 24: SERVPRO First Responder Bowl 10 Things To Know

Louisiana 31, UTSA 24. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Louisiana win over UTSA in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.

Louisiana 31, UTSA 24. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Louisiana win over UTSA in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.

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Louisiana 31, UTSA 24: SERVPRO First Responder Bowl

10. The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl was one the best of the last bowl season with a thrilling 23-20 WKU win over Western Michigan, and considering how miserable the start to the 2020 bowl season has been, a 31-24 game with a late score seems like the 2006 Vince Young Texas over USC Rose Bowl. Considering the bowl was canceled due to lightning in 2018 – Boise State vs. Boston College – this thing has been solid.

9. Neither team got into the backfield with any sort of consistency, but UTSA was popping. Safety Rashad Wisdom led all defenders with a game-high 13 tackles with a whole slew of open field stops. The Roadrunners got powered on, but they swarmed to the ball and held up well under the circumstances.

8. The 411 yards of total offense by Louisiana were good enough, but coming off the 227-yard day against Appalachian State to end the regular season, it was a rocky finish for the attack. It was the fourth-lowest offensive output of the season – the Ragin’ Cajuns were outgained by 20 yards.

7. Sincere McCormick was the focus of the Louisiana defense, and it didn’t matter. The UTSA star running back only had a few good runs, but powered his way to 122 yards on a tough 23 carries.

6. It would’ve been nice to have had a sharper passing game out of Levi Lewis – he hit 12-of-22 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns – but he didn’t make any big mistakes. Trey Ragas powered for 98 yards and the game-winning score, but there was a key fumble – more on that in a moment. Elijah Mitchell ran for 127 yards and a score and led the team with two catches for 45 yards.

5. Grind, grind, grind, grind, grind. Louisiana wasn’t flashy, and it didn’t have a whole lot of big plays, but it was able to methodically come up with enough good drives to take over the game late against a team missing the depth to hold up. They had the ball for over five minutes than the Roadrunners, and it seemed like it was over because …

4. UTSA wasn’t a big passing team, but it had its moments. There were a few 300-yard games, and it’s not that it couldn’t throw, but it preferred to roll on the ground. Frank Harris got the team back in the game in the second half with two touchdown passes – he threw for 208 yards with 91 rushing yards and a score – and he pulled the team back because …

3. This was about to be a blowout. Louisiana was up 24-7 in the third quarter and driving, but Trey Ragas fumbled off a perfect helmet-on-ball pop, UTSA recovered, and then it was Game On. UTSA’s offense struggled, but it went on two good scoring drives, tied it at 24 on a field goal, and showed the team showed the heart to hang around because …

2. The Roadrunners were depleted. They didn’t have their head coach, they were missing a slew of players, and the depth wasn’t there. They hung around for a full 60 minutes to close out the season with as tough bowl loss in a 7-5 season. It was a brilliant campaign for Jeff Traylor, whose team played its heart out through all of the adversity. It was a loss, but it was the type of performance that showed what kind of program this is going to be going forward.

1. Louisiana got through the season with only the one loss to Coastal Carolina. It wasn’t always smooth, and it wasn’t dominant, but it had the 31-14 win over Iowa State to start the season, the bowl win over UTSA to end it, and technically, a Sun Belt co-championship on the way to a ten-win run. The veteran team came up with a whale of a season.

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Buffalo 17, Marshall 10: Camellia Bowl 10 Things To Know

>Buffalo 17, Marshall 10. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Buffalo win over Marshall in the Camellia Bowl.

Buffalo 17, Marshall 10. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Buffalo win over Marshall in the Camellia Bowl.

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Buffalo 17, Marshall 10: Camellia Bowl

10. It’s been a really, really rough run for Conference USA. The American Athletic Conference might be having problems this bowl season, but champion UAB got its bowl game canceled, North Texas got run over by Appalachian State in the Myrtle Beach, Louisiana Tech couldn’t handle Georgia Southern in the New Orleans, and Florida Atlantic lost to Memphis in the Montgomery. And now this – this one really hurt.

There are still chances with WKU against Georgia State in the LendingTree and UTSA vs. Louisiana in the SERVPRO First Responder.

9. In an AWFUL start to the bowl season, we’ll take this. There wasn’t any offense, the passing games struggled, and it wasn’t scintillating football, but both defenses were fine and it was close late with a whole lot of drama. It was the first bowl game out of the six played so far that wasn’t a double-digit uggo.

8. Don’t make mistakes, stay in the game, let the defense try to win this. The Marshall gameplan almost worked, but the O needed more out of QB Grant Wells. The Freshman all-star threw five picks against Rice, hit just 35% of his passes against UAB, and he didn’t take too many chances. He set up the lone touchdown with a nice throw, but he finished with just 114 passing yards and no touchdowns.

7. The Marshall offense was inept, but the Bulls was excellent at keeping control of the game when things weren’t working. They held on to the ball for way over 35 minutes, converted 8-of-15 third down chances, and they made the tempo work. It helped that the Herd offense was no threat for a huge chunk of the game, especially in the first half.

6. Now Lance Leipold needs to figure out how to win a MAC Championship. The UB head coach had the best team in the league for the last three years but went 0-2 in the MAC title game. His 2018 lost the Dollar General Bowl, but now he and UB are on a two-game bowl winning streak. On the other side, after going 6-0 in bowls as the Marshal head coach, Doc Holliday and the Herd have lost their last two.

5. It was an interesting late sequence. With the score tied at 10 in the final minutes and with Buffalo with the ball on the Marshall 2, Marshall – with no timeouts left – tried to let UB score to get the ball back, but the Bulls didn’t want to. With Buffalo’s shaky – to be kind – kicking game, it went down on first down, but ran it in on second down rather than run down the clock further. It all worked out in the end for the Bulls as the final Herd drive stalled.

4. Marshall’s offense died down the stretch this season. There weren’t any turnovers, but the production never came back after getting shut out by Rice and struggling against UAB in the Conference USA championship. There was one good second half scoring drive, and there was a chance to take over the game with the ball on the UB 1. The Herd settled for a field goal, and that was it.

3. The Marshall defense put did everything it could until the final UB games-inning drive. It got hit hard by the tough Buffalo running game and the power on the offensive interior, but it allowed just 295 yards of total offense and held up fine despite having to be on the field way, way too long.

2. Neither side had their star. Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson was the marquee name, but he hurt himself in the MAC Championship and sat out. That hurt, but UB had other options – more on that in a second. Marshall couldn’t afford to lose RB Brenden Knox from its struggling offense – he’s leaving to turn pro early – and it showed.

1. Buffalo had Kevin Marks, and Marshall didn’t. With both teams missing their star running backs. anything out of the offenses would be gold. All year long, Marks played second-fiddle to Patterson, but he always rocked when he got his shot. He got his shot against Marshall, ran 35 times for 138 yards and a score, and he carried the O that struggled throughout.

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