Tag: Bowl Season

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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Final game grades, report card for Wisconsin vs. Wake Forest

The Wisconsin Badgers finished their season with a Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Final game grades and a…

As Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson said after the Wisconsin Badgers’ 42-28 Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory, “they didn’t beat themselves, and that’s what good football teams do.”

That sentence perfectly encaptures the 2020 Duke’s Mayo Bowl, as Wisconsin played a consistent game of football and took control of the ballgame when Wake Forest Sam Hartman threw four second-half interceptions.

While there were more points scored than we see during a normal Wisconsin football game, the game followed the script of nearly every Badger game this season: the team who won the turnover battle won the game handily.

Yesterday I went through the film of the game and focused on the performances of freshman quarterback Graham Mertz, freshman offensive tackle Logan Brown, the secondary and more.

From the film, here are final game grades and a report card for Wisconsin’s win against Wake Forest:

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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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What Wake Forest HC Dave Clawson said about Wisconsin after the game

The Wisconsin Badgers defeated Wake Forest yesterday 42-28 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Head Coach Dave Clawson spoke about Wisconsin football

The Wisconsin Badgers rode a four-interception performance by the defense and a few splash plays on special teams to a 42-28 victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons yesterday in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

The win puts the Badgers at 4-3 to finish the year, and even though the team struggled at times as well and missed games due to COVID-19, they finished the season strong and now have momentum to carry into 2021.

Related: Five takeaways from Wisconsin’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over Wake Forest

When Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson spoke after the game he had nothing but good things to say about the Wisconsin football program and the way they executed on the field yesterday.

“First off congratulations to Wisconsin. Good win for their program,” Clawson said. “Football is usually a game where the team that makes the fewest mistakes wins. They made a lot less mistakes than us, they played much better fundamental football. I’m proud of the way we compete to the very end. I thought our guys battled physically. But we just made too many fatal mistakes to overcome.”

Related: WATCH: Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz speaks on accidentally breaking the Duke’s Mayo Bowl trophy

The story of the game was Demon Deacon quarterback Sam Hartman’s four third-quarter interceptions, those coming after the team had only thrown one pick all year.

The Wake Forest coach discussed the turnovers, citing both mistakes from the quarterback and crediting the Badger defense for capitalizing.

“We threw one interception all year,” Clawson said. “I just think we telegraphed some things, I thought [Sam Hartman] held on to targets too long and Wisconsin did a great job of breaking on his eyes and breaking on the arm action.”

Related: Report: Wisconsin is the frontrunner to land USC transfer RB, former four-star recruit

His description continued to note his offense’s missed opportunities and how they put the team in a tough spot in the second half.

“We had open guys in the first half that we missed. I thought we should’ve come out of that half up 21-7 or 28-14 and we just missed some plays” Clawson said. “We dropped the ball, we missed open receivers. And Wisconsin is just a steady, consistent program that doesn’t beat themselves. It’s not one thing, they did a great job and we didn’t play well.”

Clawson then had some words on the interceptions relating to the scheme of the plays and what Wisconsin did on defense to counter them.

“They ran a field pressure and our quarterback thought it was man, a man pressure but it was a zone pressure,” Clawson said when talking about Noah Burks’ interception. “They dropped one guy out and the ball just shouldn’t have gone there…We hit that thing earlier against man and we got a nice sideline route to Christian Beal. But that’s not where the ball goes against zone…The other the safety jumped it. We were running slant routes, we threw the ball late and the safety just jumped it. The other two I’ll have to watch closer but just not a good day.”

Here is how the Wake Forest head coach finished his comments on the game and on the Badgers’ performance.

“Credit Wisconsin, but we beat ourselves. They didn’t beat themselves, and that’s what good football teams do.”

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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Five takeaways from Wisconsin’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over Wake Forest

The 4-3 Wisconsin Badgers closed their season with a decisive 42-28 victory over the 4-5 Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl

The Wisconsin Badgers finished their 2020 season on a high note today as they defeated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 42-28.

The game saw the Badgers struggle at times to stop the high-powered Wake Forest attack. But thanks to four second-half interceptions by Jim Leonhard’s defense and an effective red-zone offense, the Badgers outscored the Demon Deacons 28-14 in the second half and pulled away with a decisive victory.

Related: Report: Wisconsin is the frontrunner to land USC transfer RB, former four-star recruit

Stay tuned to BadgersWire in the coming days as we recap the game and put a wrap on the Badgers’ 2020 football season.

For now, here are five takeaways from Wisconsin’s season-ending victory:

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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Liberty 37, Coastal Carolina 34 OT: FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl 10 Things To Know

Liberty 37, Coastal Carolina 34. 10 ten things you need to know about the Liberty win over Coastal Carolina in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl.

Liberty 37, Coastal Carolina 34 OT. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Liberty win over Coastal Carolina in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl.

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Liberty 37, Coastal Carolina 34 OT: FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl

10. Of course this ended on a blocked kick. In one of the wildest and weirdest college football bowl games ever, Liberty was stuffed on its overtime possession – there was a whole lot happening just before that, we’ll get there in a moment – got hit for a delay of game, and Alex Barbir calmly hit a 44-yard field goal for a 37-34 lead. Coastal Carolina was stuffed, but Massimo Biscardi’s field goal try was blocked.

9. There were a ton of missed holding calls, some questionable replay calls, and a few other rocky moments. The two teams combined for 12 penalties, Liberty turned it over three times, Coastal Carolina once, and … oh yeah. They also combined for 958 yards and more fun plays than we’ve seen throughout the first part of the bowl season.

8. There were so many fantastic performances that will be overshadowed by the quarterbacks and the finish. Coastal Carolina WR Jaivon Heiligh caught 13 passes for 178 yards, and Liberty RB Joshua Mack ran 14 times for 105 yards – but with a BIG fumble. Coastal Carolina WR Isaiah Likely caught five passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, and yeah …

7. The quarterbacks showed up. Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall completed 21-of-32 passes for 318 yards and three scores with a pick, and he led the team with 96 rushing yards and a touchdown. But ..

6. No, the quarterbacks really showed up. Liberty’s Malik Willis was unstoppable – at least running the ball. He threw for 220 yards, but gave up two interceptions – and there should’ve been more. However, he ran 21 times for 137 yards and four touchdowns.

5. That was the fourth season of Coastal Carolina football. So what if it lost a thriller of an overtime bowl game that could’ve gone either way? The team stepped up, made a monster comeback, came up with a goal line stand for the ages, and put together a whale of a performance against a very, very good Liberty team. Remember this season for all of the amazing wins – including beating BYU – and the great comebacks. Mostly, remember this as everything the program could’ve possibly have dreamed of.

4. This is the third year of Liberty football at the FCS level, It now has two straight Cure Bowl wins and no losing seasons. The Flames tried way-hard to give this game away – more on that in a second – but they beat two ACC teams on the road, came within a blocked kick of beating a third, and it took down an unbeaten Coastal Carolina team. Hugh Freeze’s team went 10-1, lost that one game to NC State by a point, and yet all of it was about to be totally forgotten because …

3. To whiteboard this in case you didn’t see it, with the score tied at 34 in the final moments, Liberty had the ball at the Coastal Carolina 1. The Chanticleers were going to let the Flames score, but LU RB Joshua Mack wouldn’t go in and took a knee on first down. On second down – with around 45 seconds to play – it got messed up. Mack tried to bleed the clock, then he got shoved into the end zone, seemed surprised to be hit from behind, fumbled, and Coastal Carolina recovered.

2. The goal line debacle at the end of regulation is on the Liberty coaching staff. If there’s a mistake, or a miscommunication, or if everyone isn’t on the same page, that’s on the multi-millionaire head football coach and not on the college kid. Don’t blame RB Joshua Mack for that fumble on the goal line debacle at the end. That was a messed up situation, Mack seemed like he tried to stop short, and it all got screwed up from there.

1. My goodness did we deserve this 2020 Cure Bowl. After a pure load of yuck over the first seven bowl games, this was everything you could possibly want out of a non-playoff bowl game. Excitement, controversy, overtime, offense, big plays, big moments, great performances – good luck beating this, remaining 2020-2021 bowl season (and let’s hope you do).

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