More Bad Football

Three more games, some that I have to watch at work, which isn't too difficult with quiet days during the holidays.  But still, any one of these games could have been played on Christmas Day.

Let's make this quick.

Independence Bowl - Duke vs. Temple

A 1:30pm start for the first game of the day, work done until I go on the air so I watched the first quarter in our lounge area.  Everyone at work pretty much ignored me. I saw most of the rest of the game while I was on the air.

Temple looked great in the first half and then they did not.  Duke scored 35 unanswered points in the second half.  Nice showcase game for Duke quarterback Daniel Jones who passed for 423 yards and five touchdowns.  Jones' draft stock moved up after Oregon's Justin Herbert declared he would stay in school. There were a number of NFL scouts in Shreveport.

Speaking of Shreveport, I usually give it a lot of crap for being the worst bowl destination but it looked like a nice day in northwest Louisiana.

Duke 56  Temple 27

What Did I Eat:  Nothing, but I did have a turkey sandwich and a bowl of cream of mushroom soup for lunch.

Bowl Swag:  Gift suite, Timely Watch Co. watch, New Era skull cap, football.  Pretty bland.

My pick:  Duke.  Temple was using Ed Foley as an interim coach again, a guy who has only coached bowl games. But he was super excited to be in Shreveport.  He reminded me (and others) of a different Foley a couple weeks ago.

Pinstripe Bowl - Wisconsin vs. Miami

With so many games, you'd assume it would be easy to avoid the same match ups as a year ago, but I guess not.  Wisconsin won last year and they would again.  Terrible game for Miami, they need to give that turnover chain a rest for a while.

I watched the first quarter at work, some of the rest of the game at home but there was little here to hold any interest. 

The Badgers ran the same three plays over, mostly handing off to running back Jonathan Taylor who ran for 205 yards and a score.  Hard to believe but Miami's quarterbacks played worse than the QB's in the Cheez-It Bowl; 6-for-16 passing, 48 yards, four picks.  That's not easy to do.

Wisconsin 34  Miami 3

What Did I Eat:  Leftover Christmas food - prime rib, mashed potatoes, asparagus.

Bowl Swag:  A variety of New Era products.  Okay then.

My pick:  Wisconsin, that one was easy.  Somehow Vegas had the Badgers a 2.5 point underdog.  the Big 10 looks pretty good so far.

Texas Bowl - Vanderbilt vs. Baylor

Nearly zero interest in watching a game between two 6-6 teams.  Baylor fans didn't seem to care, they showed up in force in Houston.  I watched the first half, which had lots of fireworks. Neither team could stop the other's explosive plays and I called it a night at half time.

Hey, at least both teams were able to score unlike the Hurricanes.

Baylor 45  Vanderbilt 38 - even the experts didn't see a shootout coming, the over/under was 56.

What Did I Eat:  Some leftover Christmas cookies.

Bowl Swag:  Gift suite, Academy Sports-Outdoors gift card, addidas backpack, belt buckle. 21 year old guys love big, heavy belt buckles.

My pick:  Vandy.  My record is now 12-7.