Stop Me If You Have Heard This Before...Melvin Gordon Is A Beast, Malzahn's Year Three Is Huge...

If anyone has seen erven the least bit of Big 10/12 Football this season, you have noticed the tailback for Wisconsin and his prowess running the football. The Outback Bowl was no different- 34 carries for a bowl-record 251 yards and three scores...

Even if, on one of his touchdown runs, he absolutely decided to latch on to Jermaine Whitehead's face mask with his own hands and yank him into the endzone with him for the final ten yards of the run... all that on a 4th and 1 from midfield
((HT: ESPN))


It was one of many penalties not called on the day by the officiating crew- on both sides- but the bottom line was that Auburn still cannot stop anyone with great regularity defensively.

Here's the wrap from our friends at WISC-TV in Madison


But, Will Muschamp has already rubbed off on the guys who played in a 13th game this season. There were some signs that the fundamentals of tackling on defense- especially by the linebacking corps- have returned. There was some wrapping up of running backs on tackles at the ankles. The tackling-optional approach of the pursuit of the past was less than before.

The pass rush still is non-existent, save a handful of plays late in the game when Badgers QB Joel Stave had to sit in the pocket and look to his left for a prospective receiver when the whole building knew he wasn't doing anything else. And the speed that Wisconsin used on jet sweeps showed another weakness of the Tigers- getting off blocks, chasing running backs to the edge, and getting there first for a tackle as opposed to the idea of being a step behind and giving up 12 yards a look.

Which happened consistently New Year's Day- and all 2014 season long, really...

Wisconsin, under returning interim coach Barry Alvarez, was one dimensional under Gordon and Corey Clement. They ran the ball behind an offensive line that averages, tackle to tackle, 325.8 pounds. But, when the other team can't stop you- as Auburn found on several occasions on their own this year when they were winning games- there is no reason to deviate from the plays that give you a win. And if you get out of town healthy and in a hurry, why do anything different...???

54 carries for 400 net yards on the day for Wisconsin... 521 yards total

"We knew it was coming and it still worked," Auburn cornerback Trovon Reed told Al.com's Brandon Marcello. "I will say that is a selfish act on our end for not paying attention to detail, but if we could take it back, we'd fix it."

And they need to...

Defensively, if the 7 recruits listed as either signed from the JUCO ranks or "hard commits" all lock in, the spring should be interesting:

Darrell Williams (LB) from Hoover, Jordan Colbert (S) from Griffin (GA), Richard McBryde (LB) from Charles Henderson (Troy, AL), and LB's Elijah Sullivan (Tucker, GA) and Montavious Atkinson (Langston Hughes- Fairburn, GA) have been high school-dominant. So, it will be interesting to see how their talents translate to the next level.

And we all know that Will Muschamp will work on conditioning, tackling, and pass rush starting...

Right...

Now...

Year Three will be an important one to see how the new attitudes will translate in a Nintendo-scoring world...

JD Clowney- Oh, Good Lord!

((HT: ESPN))

Remember the reaction from Ed Helms in "The Hangover" when he saw the first pictures stuck in the camera...???

Well, the same could be said here...


Jadeveon Clowney separates Vincent Smith from the football, his own equipment, and anything else within a seven-yard radius...

And he, now, has made himself, (health permitting) the number one pick in the 2014 NFL Draft..

Your 2012 Bowl Rundown

Gildan New Mexico
Nevada vs. Arizona Albuquerque, N.M.
University Stadium Dec. 15
1 p.m. ESPN

Famous Idaho Potato
Toledo vs. Utah State Boise, Idaho
Bronco Stadium Dec. 15
4:30 p.m. ESPN

S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
BYU vs. San Diego State San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium Dec. 20
8 p.m. ESPN

Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg
UCF vs. Ball State St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tropicana Field Dec. 21
7:30 p.m. ESPN

R+L Carriers New Orleans
East Carolina vs. Louisiana-Lafayette New Orleans
Mercedes-Benz Superdome Dec. 22
Noon ESPN

MAACO Las Vegas
Washington vs. Boise State Las Vegas
Sam Boyd Stadium Dec. 22
3:30 p.m. ESPN

Sheraton Hawaii
Fresno State vs. SMU Honolulu
Aloha Stadium Dec. 24
8 p.m. ESPN

Little Caesars Pizza
Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan Detroit
Ford Field Dec. 26
7:30 p.m. ESPN

Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
San Jose State vs. Bowling Green Washington, D.C.
RFK Stadium Dec. 27
3 p.m. ESPN

Belk
Cincinnati vs. Duke Charlotte, N.C.
Bank of America Stadium Dec. 27
6:30 p.m. ESPN

Bridgepoint Education Holiday
Baylor vs. UCLA San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium Dec. 27
9:45 p.m. ESPN

AdvoCare V100 Independence
Ohio vs. Louisiana-Monroe Shreveport, La.
Independence Stadium Dec. 28
2 p.m. ESPN

Russell Athletic
Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl Dec. 28
5:30 p.m. ESPN

Meineke Car Care of Texas
Minnesota vs. Texas Tech Houston
Reliant Stadium Dec. 28
9 p.m. ESPN

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Rice vs. Air Force Fort Worth
Amon G. Carter Stadium Dec. 29
11:45 a.m. ESPN

New Era Pinstripe
West Virginia vs. Syracuse Bronx, N.Y.
Yankee Stadium Dec. 29
3:15 p.m. ESPN

Kraft Fight Hunger
Navy vs. Arizona State San Francisco
AT&T Park Dec. 29
4 p.m. ESPN2

Valero Alamo
Texas vs. Oregon State San Antonio
Alamodome Dec. 29
6:45 p.m. ESPN

Buffalo Wild Wings
TCU vs. Michigan State Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devil Stadium Dec. 29
10:15 p.m. ESPN

Franklin American Mortgage Music City
NC State vs. Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn.
LP Field Dec. 31
Noon ESPN

Hyundai Sun
USC vs. Georgia Tech El Paso, Texas
Sun Bowl Dec. 31
2 p.m. CBS

AutoZone Liberty
Iowa State vs. Tulsa Memphis, Tenn.
Liberty Bowl Dec. 31
3:30 p.m. ESPN

Chick-fil-A
LSU vs. Clemson Atlanta
Georgia Dome Dec. 31
7:30 p.m. ESPN

TaxSlayer.com Gator
Mississippi State vs. Northwestern Jacksonville, Fla.
Everbank Field Jan. 1
Noon ESPN2

Heart of Dallas
Purdue vs. Oklahoma State Dallas
Cotton Bowl Jan. 1
Noon ESPNU

Outback
South Carolina vs. Michigan Tampa, Fla.
Raymond James Stadium Jan. 1
1 p.m. ESPN

Capital One
Georgia vs. Nebraska Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl Jan. 1
1 p.m. ABC

Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio
Wisconsin vs. Stanford Pasadena, Calif.
Rose Bowl Jan. 1
5 p.m. ESPN

Discover Orange
Northern Illinois vs. Florida State Miami
Sun Life Stadium Jan. 1
8:30 p.m. ESPN

Allstate Sugar
Louisville vs. Florida New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome Jan. 2
8:30 p.m. ESPN

Tostitos Fiesta
Oregon vs. Kansas State Glendale, Ariz.
U. of Phoenix Stadium Jan. 3
8:30 p.m. ESPN

AT&T Cotton
Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma Arlington, Texas
Cowboys Stadium Jan. 4
8 p.m. FOX

BBVA Compass
Pittsburgh vs. Ole Miss Birmingham, Ala.
Legion Field Jan. 5
1 p.m. ESPN

GoDaddy.com
Kent State vs. Arkansas State Mobile, Ala.
Ladd-Peebles Stadium Jan. 6
9 p.m. ESPN

Discover BCS National Championship
Notre Dame vs. Alabama Miami
Sun Life Stadium Jan. 7
8:30 p.m. ESPN

What say you, college football fan...???

Monday late Bowl games: Kickers gag and Kickers win

Because we know that you want to know what happened in the rest of Monday's bowl games.

They were decided by kickers.

Well, actually the Rose Bowl wasn't...

First: Georgia gags, Spartans win...in 3 overtimes.

The Georgia Bulldogs raced out to a 16-point lead in the first half before Michigan State knew what hit them. Brandon Boykin single handedly running away from the Spartans, causing a safety on Michigan State's 1st play, returning a punt 92-yards for a TD and later, in the 4th quarter, catching a TD pass.

They must have figured it out at halftime because they came back, scored late bringing the 2012 Outback Bowl to overtime tied...at 27.

The first overtime could have done it. Georgia's Baccari Rambo intercepted a Kirk Cousins pass, the Bulldogs ran 1 play before setting up for a potential game-winner from kicker Blair Walsh.

Walsh missed.

After overtime 2 gave us back-to-back field goals, Michigan State led off OT-3 with a 28-yard Dan Conroy kick. Georgia got the ball back, lost 4 yards in 2 plays and trotted Walsh out to try a 47-yarder, well within his range.

It was blocked.

Game over, Michigan State wins 33-30.

All we were able to find...that we could embed were some Michigan State end of the game highlights.

So dig it:



And then there was the Grandaddy of them all...or the game that ESPN has bought every aspect of. The Rose Bowl featured Oregon and Wisconsin and had the clock not run out, we are pretty sure they'd still be scoring.

Oregon won 45-38, they had 621 total yards, but didn't seal the deal until late in the 4th quarter, when Wisconsin WR Jared Abbrederis fumbled the ball after making a catch near the sidelines.

Well, actually they didn't seal it until Wisconsin tried spiking the ball after time expired...but you get what we are saying...don't you?

KVAL-TV in Eugene, Oregon gives us the team coverage..and eventually the highlights:



And lastly, the BCS consolation game, the Fiesta Bowl, featuring Stanford and Oklahoma State.

And again, it was a shootout. Andrew Luck of Stanford vs. Brandon Weeden of Okie State. The advantage went to the Cowboys, but it was close.

We also want to mention this stat: Okie State averaged 97.4 seconds on each of it's TD drives (thanks Andy Staples of SI for pointing this out).

The Cowboys get the win after Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson missed a chip-shot field goal at the end of the game and again in the 1st overtime. Oklahoma State kicker Quinn Sharp, he didn't miss his chance as the Cowboys win 41-38 in OT.

There were tons of arguments Oklahoma State should have been facing LSU instead of Alabama. We don't dispute them. Though we will say as much as we'd like to have seen that, we question if Oklahoma State could stop anyone.

But that is a debate for another day.

News9 in Oklahoma gives us the recap: