Tag: Holiday Bowl

Another bowl game has been canceled

Over the last week, we’ve seen a couple of bowl games make the announcements that their annual contests won’t be played at the conclusion of the 2020 college football season. The Pinstripe Bowl made their cancelation known over the weekend while the …

Over the last week, we’ve seen a couple of bowl games make the announcements that their annual contests won’t be played at the conclusion of the 2020 college football season.

The Pinstripe Bowl made their cancelation known over the weekend while the Sun Bowl followed suit a few days later.  Now we get word that an annual game out west won’t be played this season as the Las Vegas Bowl has been cancelled for 2020.

The Las Vegas Bowl was set to be played between a Pac-12 team and SEC team this season and was to be played this December.  The SEC and Big Ten are set to alternate a tie-in to the game starting in 2020 and going through 2025.

The Las Vegas Bowl becomes the ninth bowl game to be canceled this post-season, joining the: Bahamas Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Motor City Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, Red Box Bowl and Sun Bowl.

As of now the plan is for the Las Vegas Bowl to resume in 2021 and be played for the first time in the new Allegiant Stadium, home to the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Marshawn Lynch shows off his “chicken” at Holiday Bowl event

Seattle Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch had fun with the media in San Diego at an event for the Holiday Bowl, which he played in back in 2006.

It’s always a story when former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is behind a microphone.

Speaking to the press in San Diego at a Holiday Bowl event, Lynch joked with reporters, including NBC San Diego sports anchor Darnay Tripp, about his “chicken” – a slang term for money that Lynch made famous after Seattle’s loss to the Packers in the NFC divisional round.

Lynch showed reporters his “chicken” all while rocking a “take care of yo chicken” shirt from his clothing line, Beast Mode Apparel.

Lynch trademarked the iconic phrase just after uttering it as a message to young NFL players, urging them to save money so they can enjoy retirement.

Lynch starred in the Holiday Bowl back in 2006, rushing for 111 yards and two touchdowns in Cal’s dominant 45-10 win over Texas A&M.

He was asked to recall his favorite memory from the contest, and in a rare moment of candidness with the media, Lynch shared how important it was for him to let his backup, former Seahawks running back Justin Forsett, come in and share in the glory alongside him.

Forsett rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown in the contest.

Lynch played in three games for the Seahawks in 2019, returning around Christmas-time and rushing for four touchdowns, including three in the playoffs.

It is unclear if he plans to continue his playing career, or if he will find his way back to Seattle, but for now we can enjoy his presence with the media, whenever it may occur.

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Big Ten Bowl Impact: Iowa vs USC

We look back on the Pinstripe Bowl between Iowa and USC and see how it impacted both the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

With the 2019 college footballs season complete, we look back on how the Big Ten did in bowl games.

As we go through all the bowls, in no particular order, we will focus on two main things:

1. How did the bowl performance end the 2019 season? Was it a fitting end or a poor performance, etc.
2. What impact, if any, will it have on the 2020 season.

Now that we’ve gone through all four Big Ten losses (not including the CFP), let’s move on to the wins.

2019 Holiday Bowl: Iowa vs USC

The matchup

No one quite knew what to expect from this matchup, because no on quite knew what to expect from USC at all this year. Kedon Slovis was a revelation in Pac 12 play, looking like the next in a long line of great USC quarterbacks. USC had a middling season (relatively), but there’s clearly massive potential.

Iowa, meanwhile, can’t ever shake its Ferentz-ball stereotype. The Hawkeyes are viewed as a slow, run-first team that relies on huge linemen to cover for a lack of speed at skill positions. Sure, players like Josey Jewell or or Kevin King come through, but they’re seen as individual anomalies, not fundamental parts of the program. It also doesn’t help that in Iowa’s last real high-profile bowl game, the Hawkeyes were embarrassed by Stanford in the Rose Bowl. The fact that that bowl loss was sandwiched between two other embarrassing bowl losses to SEC schools just exacerbated the issue.

What went right

Well, Iowa shed just about every Iowa stereotype in this game. Not only did the Hawkeyes not get blown out against a fast and athletic team, but they dominated the game entirely. The Iowa offense was unstoppable in the first half, scoring touchdowns on all four drives. The defense was stout, and there’s no shame in giving up some good plays and drives to an offense as talented as USC’s. It’s almost impossible to guard Amon-Ra St. Brown, but Iowa did a pretty solid job of completely shutting down the USC run game. With the Trojan offense entirely one-dimensional, Iowa got plenty of stops–even if the Slovis to St. Brown connection was there all game.

What went wrong

The Hawkeyes did go three-and-out three times in the second half, but they were clearly controlling the game by then. The worst thing that Iowa did–and this is a huge sin for a Ferentz-coached team–was that the Hawkeyes weren’t prepared for a USC onside kick early in the game. You have to be ready for those, though it didn’t hurt much in this one.

Next… 2019 wrap-up and 2020 impact

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Notre Dame Football: How 2019 Opponents Fared in Bowl Season

For those keeping score, Fighting Irish foes from this season went 3-5 in their respective bowl games.

The 2019 bowl season has come and gone (for the most part, two games actually still remain) and all of Notre Dame’s opponents from the season that just wrapped up have finished their seasons.

How did all do in the post-season?

Let’s take a look:

Louisville Cardinals:
38-28 win over Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl to finish 8-5

Georgia Bulldogs:
26-14 win over Baylor in the Sugar Bowl to wrap-up 12-2

Virginia Cavaliers:
36-28 loss to Florida in the Orange Bowl to finish 9-5

USC Trojans:
49-24 loss to Iowa in the Holiday Bowl to finish 8-5

Michigan Wolverines:
35-16 loss to Alabama in the Citrus Bowl to finish 9-4

Virginia Tech Hokies:
37-30 loss to Kentucky in the Belk Bowl to finish 8-5

Navy Midshipmen:
20-17 win over Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl to finish 11-2

Boston College Eagles:
Blown out 38-6 by Cincinnati in the Birmingham Bowl to finish 6-7

For those keeping score, Fighting Irish foes from this season went 3-5 in their respective bowl games.  New Mexico, Bowling Green, Duke and Stanford all failed to qualify for a bowl game.

USC Dumped on by Iowa in Holiday Bowl

The part I think is as noteworthy as anything is that over the last two years where USC has especially hit the skids, their conference has for the most part been trash.

 

You hate to see it and I hate to say I told you so.

Actually, neither of those statements are true.

Watching USC lose in grand fashion on national television will never get old and I’ll never get tired of being right about things, the rare times I actually am.

Earlier this month I told all Notre Dame fans to get excited because Christmas came three weeks early in the form of USC retaining Clay Helton as their head football coach.

Since then they’ve recruited the 83rd ranked 2020 class per Rivals that consists of just one four or five-star player and now you can add getting sent to the moon by Iowa in the Holiday Bowl to that list.

Iowa dashed to a 28-17 halftime lead before the Trojans cut it to just a four point game early in the second half, but then the flood gates opened and Troy was swarmed by Hawkeyes instead of a wooden horse.

Iowa would score the final 21 points of the night, ending with a 49-24 victory over USC as the Trojans wrap up the season 8-5 and Iowa reaches the 10-win mark for the first time in four seasons.

USC will return a bunch of talent next year and because they’re USC, they’ll be in consideration for a top-20 spot in the pre-season rankings in all likelihood but here are some fast stats that should keep you from buying into this USC thing:

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Holiday Bowl: USC Trojans vs. Iowa Hawkeyes odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Friday’s Holiday Bowl betting odds between the USC Trojans and the Iowa Hawkeyes, with betting picks, tips and bets.

The USC Trojans (8-4) will battle the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-3) Friday at SDCCU Stadium in San Diego at 8 p.m. (on FS1). We analyze the USC-Iowa odds and betting lines, while providing college football betting tips and advice on this matchup.

USC vs. Iowa: Three things you need to know

1. USC finished the regular season fifth in the nation in passing yards at 335 yards per game.

2. USC has failed to cover in seven straight games against a Big Ten opponent.

3. The point total has gone UNDER in six of the last eight non-home games for USC.

USC vs. Iowa: Odds, betting lines and picks

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 3:40 p.m. ET.

Prediction

Iowa 30, USC 27

Moneyline (ML)

Iowa (-134) is a small moneyline favorite over USC (+110). But considering how low the spread is here, you are better off taking the Hawkeyes at -2.5 while getting better odds. With this in mind, AVOID a moneyline wager.

Against the Spread (ATS)

IOWA (-2.5, -110) is the play, being less than a field-goal favorite. While USC does have one of the better passing attacks in all of college football, Iowa’s veteran defense should have no problem slowing the Trojans down. The Hawkeyes have allowed the fifth-fewest points in the country and excel stopping the pass. Iowa is just a bad matchup for USC.

Over/Under (O/U)

The O/U is 51.5 (Over -115, Under -106) in part due to Iowa’s outstanding defense. However, that total seems slightly low despite the Under hitting in six of the last eight games involving the Hawkeyes. Look for this to be a fairly low-scoring game, but for the OVER 51.5 (-115) to hit late in the fourth quarter.

Get some action on this game or others, place a bet with BetMGM today. And for more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @Marcus_Mosher and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Wisconsin bowl memories: 2015 Holiday Bowl vs USC

Wisconsin versus USC in the 2015 Holiday Bowl

Wisconsin’s upcoming bowl game will be played in Southern California against a Pac-12 opponent. Why not look back at a Paul Chryst bowl game which enhanced Wisconsin’s stature and reputation while giving ballast to the current coach of the Badgers, who has only gotten better since his first year in Madison?

As the 2019 college football season winds to a close, Badgers Wire thought it would be fun to look back upon the 2015 Holiday Bowl and how the game affected both teams involved. The Badgers won their division and will return to the Rose Bowl for the first time in seven years. The USC Trojans, their opponent in the 2015 Holiday Bowl, are also ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings and, interestingly enough, will return to the Holiday Bowl this season against Iowa, one of the better bowl matchups among the 39 for 2019 and 2020. 

The Trojans made the choice to retain coach Clay Helton for the upcoming season, which has not been received well by the local fan base. Interestingly enough, Helton took over as USC’s head coach in the 2015 season, relieving Steve Sarkisian in October of that campaign. Helton coached USC to the Pac-12 Championship Game that season, losing to Christian McCaffrey and Stanford. When Helton faced Chryst in that 2015 Holiday Bowl, college football fans were looking at two head coaches whose futures seemed impossible to predict.

Wisconsin got the better end of the deal, not just in that Holiday Bowl, but in the ensuing four years. USC did win a Rose Bowl in January of 2017, but Wisconsin has been much more consistent and has two New Year’s Six bowl wins in that same period of time. 

Wisconsin just finished another superb regular season under Chryst. Whatever head coaching turmoil USC is facing, Wisconsin has no such issues. The former Badger who was born and raised in Madison did not do well at Pittsburgh, raising legitimate concerns about his head-coaching chops. Yet, his familiarity with Wisconsin football under Barry Alvarez created a hand-in-glove fit when continues to this day. Chryst has Badger blood flowing through his veins, but more than that, Chryst has ably translated his passion for UW football into quality results.

Through a connection, I reached out to a Badger fan, Lucas Rucks, who offered his assessment of the Chryst hire following Gary Andersen’s departure for Oregon State. 

“In a lot of ways it was the most perfect hire,” Rucks said. “We knew he could play ‘Barry ball’ and there was optimism that he could continue to build on in-state recruiting of linemen and then finding East Coast running backs. Maybe the Badgers will never have the Anderson gimmicks or spread offense, but just like that we were assured of consistent top-ten finishes and bowl appearances in a known system where they recruit three-star athletes and develop to compete against the best in the count.”

That’s what Chryst provided when he took over. He gave Wisconsin a confidence and swagger the Badgers took into the Holiday Bowl against USC. Chryst’s ability to put it all together allowed the Badgers to play a tough USC team to the very wire and then pull out the win. The name value of the opponent wasn’t lost on fans, either. Beating USC was no small thing. Fans took notice when Chryst stepped in and beat the Trojans in his first year. 

“Of course the brand recognition of USC wasn’t lost on us,” Rucks said. “The bright lights, the biggest stage, against a team that is truly elite. They have all of the resources and scandals and rich history. If it had been a mediocre team in the Kraft Fight Hunger bowl game it wouldn’t have been as big of a deal. But when a guy can step in and scheme against the Trojans in a big bowl, it is something special. As much as fans were nervous about the recruiting implications of losing [Andersen], it was equally huge that we were able to beat USC with the guy taking over.

“There’s almost no other team where this would have been as big. Wisconsin had recently beaten Auburn and Florida schools in bowl games past, so I honestly can’t name a team where this would have been a bigger deal for the university. With all that was going on and the recent success regarding national championships and Heisman trophies for USC, it was this win over USC that kept everything on track, and that’s only because it was a win over a program like USC.”