Monday, December 12, 2011

Hang Your Favorite Team Upon the Highest Bough

College Football Week 16 – Mora to UCLA; Sumlin to Texas A&M

Hang Your Favorite Team Upon the Highest Bough, And Have Yourself a Merry Little Bowl Game Now


You better watch out, you better not cry
You better not pout, I’m telling you why
TT’s picks are coming to town


Touchdown Tom’s Annual Bowl Game Forecast: 

New Mexico Bowl – Albuquerque, New Mexico
(University Stadium)
2 p.m. ET, December 17 – ESPN
Cowboys do all the Hooting
Wyoming 32, Temple 28

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Boise, Idaho
(Bronco Stadium)
5:30 p.m. ET, December 17 – ESPN
Aggies peel the Bobcats
Utah State 30, Ohio 19

New Orleans Bowl – New Orleans, Louisiana
(Louisiana Superdome)
9 p.m. ET, December 17 – ESPN
Cajuns make gumbo out of the Aztecs
Louisiana-Lafayette 31, San Diego State 28

Beef O’Brady’s Bowl – St. Petersburg, Florida
(Tropicana Field)
8 p.m. ET, December 20 – ESPN
Panthers savor Beef o’ Buffalo
Florida International 29, Marshall 16

Poinsettia Bowl – San Diego, California
(Qualcomm Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, December 21 – ESPN
Kermit avoids the gig
TCU 30, Louisiana Tech 21

Las Vegas Bowl – Las Vegas, Nevada
(Sam Boyd Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, December 22 – ESPN
Broncos hold ’em, Sun Devils fold ’em
Boise State 35, Arizona State 17  

Hawaii Bowl – Honolulu, Hawaii
(Aloha Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, December 24 – ESPN
Eagles make the Wolf divorce the Pack
Southern Miss 32, Nevada 22

Independence Bowl – Shreveport, Louisiana
(Independence Stadium)
5 p.m. ET, December 26 – ESPN2
Heels spike the Tigers
North Carolina 24, Missouri 23

Little Caesars Bowl – Detroit, Michigan
(Ford Field)
4:30 p.m. ET, December 27 – ESPN
They shoot Horses, don’t they?
Purdue 27, Western Michigan 20  

Belk Bowl – Charlotte, North Carolina
(Bank of America Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, December 27 – ESPN
Wolfpack go on a shopping spree
N.C. State 22, Louisville 15

Military Bowl – Washington, DC
(RFK Stadium)
4:30 a.m. ET, December 28 – ESPN
Rockets trump Jets
Toledo 35, Air Force 25

Holiday Bowl – San Diego, California
(Qualcomm Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, December 28 – ESPN
Brown Sugar
Texas 27, California 22

Champs Sports Bowl – Orlando, Florida
(Florida Citrus Bowl)
5:30 p.m. ET, December 29 – ESPN
Fear the Spear
Florida State 27, Notre Dame 23

Alamo Bowl – San Antonio, Texas
(Alamodome)
9 p.m. ET, December 29 – ESPN
RG3 turns the Huskies into R2D2
Baylor 34, Washington 22

Armed Forces Bowl – Dallas, Texas
(Gerald J. Ford Stadium)
12 noon ET, December 30 – ESPN
Cougars tank Tulsa.
BYU 32, Tulsa 27  

Pinstripe Bowl – Bronx, New York
(Yankee Stadium)
3:20 p.m. ET, December 30 – ESPN
Cyclones strike out
Rutgers 26, Iowa State 23  

Music City Bowl – Nashville, Tennessee
(LP Field)
6:40 p.m. ET, December 30 – ESPN
Deacons aren’t country enough for Nashville
Mississippi State 29, Wake Forest 13

Insight Bowl – Tempe, Arizona
(Sun Devil Stadium)
10 p.m. ET, December 30 – ESPN
Hawkeyes end up on the menu at Landry’s Seafood
Oklahoma 25, Iowa 17

Meineke Car Care Bowl – Houston, Texas
(Reliant Stadium)
12 noon ET, December 31 – ESPN
Wildcats flush the Aggies’ radiator
Northwestern 22, Texas A&M 21

Sun Bowl – El Paso, Texas
(Sun Bowl)
2 p.m. ET, December 31 – CBS
The Sun is Yellow
Georgia Tech 23, Utah 20

Liberty Bowl – Memphis, Tennessee
(Liberty Bowl)
3:30 p.m. ET, December 31 – ABC
Vandy gets rubbed (the wrong way)
Cincinnati 32, Vanderbilt 29

Fight Hunger Bowl – San Francisco, California
(AT&T Park)
3:30 p.m. ET, December 31 – ESPN
Feast for the Bruins, famine for the Banned Indians
UCLA 24, Illinois 21

Chick-fil-A – Atlanta, Georgia
(Georgia Dome)
7:30 p.m. ET, December 31 – ESPN
Tigers eat mor Wahoo
Auburn 24, Virginia 22

Ticket City Bowl – Dallas, Texas
(Cotton Bowl)
12 noon ET, January 2 – ESPNU
Nittany Lions make stubs out of the Cougars
Penn State 21, Houston 20

Outback Bowl – Tampa, Florida
(Raymond James Stadium)
1 p.m. ET, January 2 – ABC
Sparty muzzles the Dingo
Michigan State 26, Georgia 25

Capital One Bowl – Orlando, Florida
(Florida Citrus Bowl)
1 p.m. ET, January 2 – ESPN
Herbie turns Cocky into a Cornish Hen
Nebraska 28, South Carolina 26

Gator Bowl – Jacksonville, Florida
(EverBank Stadium)
1 p.m. ET, January 2 – ESPN2
Gators look nice without Weis
Florida 23, Ohio State 21

Rose Bowl – Pasadena, California
(Rose Bowl)
5 p.m. ET, January 2 – ESPN
Ducks are red, Badgers are blue
Oregon 33, Wisconsin 30

Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, Arizona
(University of Phoenix Stadium)
8:30 p.m. EST, January 2 – ESPN
Cowboys saddle the Trees
Oklahoma State 31, Stanford 28

Sugar Bowl – New Orleans, Louisiana
(Louisiana Superdome)
8 p.m. ET, January 3 – ESPN
Hokies gobble the Brady Bunch
Virginia Tech 25, Michigan 24

Orange Bowl – Miami Gardens, Florida
(Sun Life Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, January 4 – ESPN
Moon(shine) over Miami
West Virginia 30, Clemson 27

Cotton Bowl – Arlington, Texas
(Cowboys Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, January 6 – Fox
Pork chops the Wildcats
Arkansas 28, Kansas State 23

Compass Bowl – Birmingham, Alabama
(Legion Field)
1 p.m. ET, January 7 – ESPN
Panthers pin the tail on the Pony
Pitt 31, SMU 24

Go Daddy Bowl – Mobile Alabama
(Ladd-Peebles Stadium)
8 p.m. ET, January 8 – ESPN
Hungry like a Wolf – a Red Wolf
Arkansas State 30, Northern Illinois 29

BCS National Championship Bowl – New Orleans, Louisiana
(Louisiana Superdome)
8:30 p.m. ET, January 9 – ESPN
Tide takes the Honey out of the Badger
Alabama 16, LSU 13 

Touchdown Tom
December 12, 2011


Weekend Review

Cadets overboard – Navy 27, Army 21 (Touchdown Tom said: Navy 25, Army 22).  Navy rushed for 296 yards and beat Army for the 10th straight time.  The Middies quarterback Kriss Proctor rushed for 97 yards and fullback Alexander Teich rushed for 93 yards.  Two fourth quarter Navy fields goals was the difference in the game.  A crowd of 80,789 attended the game in Landover.

Heisman Trophy Presentation:

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy.  Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck came in second, followed by Alabama running back Trent Richardson (third), Wisconsin running back Montee Ball (fourth) and LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu (fifth).


FCS (Division I-AA) Quarterfinals:

Montana 48, Northern Iowa 10
Sam Houston State 49, Montana State 13
Georgia Southern 35, Maine 23
North Dakota State 24, Lehigh 0


Division II Semifinals:

Wayne State 21, Winston-Salem State 14
Pittsburg State 49, Delta State 23


Division III Semifinals:  

Mount Union 28, Wesley 21
UW-Whitewater 20, St. Thomas 0


SWAC Championship Game:   

Grambling State 16, Alabama A&M 15


Quotes of the Week

“Boise State is relegated to the Maaco Whatever Bowl because it doesn’t belong to the conflict-ridden monopoly that’s parading as the BCS,” USA Today writer Tom Weir.

“Throwing Boise State overboard and then keeping a straight face while telling us how fans were served?  I give the BCS credit for showing a level of hubris so rare that it deserves study by future generations.  Whether you give it the smell, laugh, or pregnancy test, it fails them all,” USA Today writer Reid Cherner.

“I would not kick to him.  I would not throw at him.  I would not want to get hit by him.  It’s far better to watch the ‘Honey Badger’ from the comfort of your home than to poke at him in person in his lair,” USA Today writer Reid Cherner, on LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu.

“You better buckle your seat belts and you better hold on, because it’s going to be a wild ride,” new North Carolina coach Larry Fedora to Tar Heel fans at his introduction press conference.

Charlie Weis leaves Florida after one pathetic year as offensive coordinator and takes over the head-coaching job at Kansas.  In memoriam, all Gainesville area Krispy Kremes are flying their flags at half-staff,” Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi.

“To do anything 10 straight times is hard to do,” Navy quarterback Kriss Proctor, after the Army game.

“I’m tired of this feeling,” Army linebacker Nate Combs, after the Navy game.


Friday’s Television Schedule – December 16

Mount Union vs. UW Whitewater (Division III Championship) – 7 p.m. ET – ESPNU
Montana at Sam Houston State (FCS-Division I-AA Semifinal) – 8 p.m. ET – ESPN2


Saturday’s Television Schedule – December 17

Wayne State vs. Pittsburg State (Division II Championship) – 11 a.m. ET – ESPN2
Georgia Southern at North Dakota State (FCS-Division I-AA Semifinal) – 2:30 p.m. – ESPNU


In the Huddle

Elsewhere around college football . . . Stanford’s Andrew Luck won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually to college football’s top quarterback….  Nebraska has added Florida Atlantic to its 2014 schedule.  The game will be played in Lincoln….  Pitt has added Youngstown State to its 2012 schedule….  Colorado’s non-conference slate in 2012 consists of Colorado State, Sacramento State and Fresno State.

Boise State, Houston, San Diego State, SMU and UCF will join the Big East Conference, starting in the 2013 season.  Boise State and San Diego State will join as football members only.  Houston, SMU and UCF will be full-fledged members – all sports.  The Big East is still trying to lure Air Force and Navy as football members only….  Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino fired his defensive coordinator Willy Robinson….  Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora was named the new coach at North Carolina.

TCU offensive coordinator Justin Fuente was named the new coach at Memphis….  East Carolina’s 2012 non-conference schedule consists of Appalachian State, Navy, North Carolina and South Carolina….  LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis won the Broyles Award given annually to the top college assistant coach….  Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof is the new defensive coordinator at UCF….  Toledo coach Tim Beckman is the new head football coach at Illinois.

Eastern Illinois hired Dino Babers as its new head coach.  Babers was the receivers coach at Baylor….  Iowa State offensive coordinator Tom Herman has been hired by Urban Meyer as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ohio State….  Former Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons coach Jim Mora was named the new coach of UCLA.

Houston coach Kevin Sumlin is the new coach at Texas A&M….  Dylan Favre, nephew of Brett Favre, has decided to leave Mississippi State, transferring to another school.  Favre, a redshirt freshman, was a backup quarterback at Miss State.  Longtime Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker will retire after the Hawkeyes participation in the Insight Bowl on December 30.  Parker, 70, has been Iowa’s defensive coordinator for 13 years.


Extra Points

On the Internet – College Football Week now has a Website and can be found at www.collegefootballweek.blogspot.com.

Touchdown Tom


P.S.

Not directly college football related, but on a sad comment, there were three passings of note last week – Harry Morgan, Dobie Gray and Bob Burnett.

Harry Morgan, the character actor best known for playing Colonel Potter in the long-running television series M*A*S*H, died last week at his home in Los Angeles.  He was 96.  He appeared in more than 100 movies and several other TV shows, in addition to M*A*S*H.  Some of the movies he was in include “The Ox Bow Incident” (1943) with Hendry Fonda, “A Bell for Adano” (1945), “All My Sons” (1948) with Edward G. Robinson and Burt Lancaster, “The Big Clock” (1948) with Charles Laughton, “Yellow Sky” (1949) with Gregory Peck and Anne Baxter, “High Noon” (1952) with Gary Cooper, “The Glenn Miller Story” (1954) with James Stewart, “The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) with Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford, “Inherit the Wind” (1960) with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March, “How the West Was Won” (1962), “John Goldfarb Please Come Home” (1965) with Shirley MacLaine and Peter Ustinov, “The Flim-Flam Man” (1967) with George C. Scott, “Support Your Local Sheriff” (1969) with James Garner and Walter Brennan and “The Apple Dumpling Gang” (1975) with Tim Conway and Don Knotts.  Harry Morgan was born Harry Bratsburg on April 10, 1915, in Detroit.  His parents were Norwegian immigrants.  After graduating from Muskegon High School, he went to the University of Chicago and majored in pre-law.  His debating classes stimulated his interest in the theater and he dropped out to pursue an acting career.

Dobie Gray, a versatile singer and songwriter who had a handful of hits in various pop genres, but who was best known for his 1973 hit “Drift Away,” died last week in Nashville.  Gray had his first Top 20 hit in 1965 with “The ‘In’ Crowd.”  Gray was born on September 26, 1940, near Houston, Texas.  He left Texas in the early 1960s for Los Angeles, where he worked with Sonny Bono.  Gray left Los Angeles in 1978 for Nashville and began writing and performing country music.

Bob Burnett, who blended his smooth tenor tones into the harmonies of the folk-revival group the Highwaymen, died last week at his home in East Providence, Rhode Island.  He was 71.  The five members of the Highwaymen formed as a singing group in 1958 while they were freshmen at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.  By the fall of 1961, they had the No. 1 song in the country – “Michael.”  The Highwaymen performed until 1964 when they broke up.  By then, they had recorded eight albums and had more singles hits, including “Cotton Fields” and Gypsy Rover.”  Burnett later graduated from Harvard Law School in 1967.  In 1990, when Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson formed a group called the Highwaymen, the original Highwaymen filed suit.  As a solution, the new Highwaymen asked the original group to open for them at a concert in Los Angeles.  They did and began performing together again in concerts on weekends and recorded five more CDs.  Robert Sherwin Burnett was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on February 7, 1940.


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