Bowl Watch

December 31, 2015

FIESTA BOWL; 1 PM ET; ESPN
OHIO STATE (11-1) vs. NOTRE DAME (10-2)
These two teams were in serious consideration for a Final Four spot until they both lost their final games to Michigan State and Stanford respectively. The Championship Play-Off committee may have gotten lucky that they both fell. The next luckiest entity is the Fiesta Bowl itself for getting two such big name programs. This Bowl looks to be the most glamorous non-Play Off contest.
OHIO STATE may be the most talented program in the country from top to bottom, but while URBAN MEYER played coy at the QB position for half a season, the Buckeyes Offense never got itself into full gear. There were also times when MEYER’s offense looked like WOODY HAYES was sending him the play calls. The Buckeyes only attempted 294 passes all season. They ran the ball 500 times, which sounds to me like numbers from the Wishbone era. They ranked 98th in D-1 while averaging 187 passing yards per game. On the bright side, they ranked 11th in rushing Offense at 242 yards per game. Notre Dame ranked 60th against the run so it would seem that QB/J.T. BARRETT and his running stye of QB play should cause Notre Dame problems. Expect EZEKIEL ELLIOTT to add to his 1672 yards rushing and 19 TD on the season in this one.
NOTRE DAME may deserve a Purple Heart of some sorts for persevering in the the face of a seeming epidemic of injuries. Their leading rusher was a WR last year in C.J. PROSISE, who gained 1032 yards for 11 TD while averaging 6.6 ypc. QB/DeSHONE KIZER/#14 was a major surprise as a RS Frosh being forced into the starting job. He has the receivers and running game to lead the Irish to points, if the Notre Dame OL can handle the Buckeyes front seven led by guys named BOSA/LEE/PERRY.
The talent on these two teams look like an NFL Combine list. I give BRIAN KELLY, his staff and players for persevering to 10-Wins given their injury lists each week and a schedule that included 6 other Bowl teams. But I think the relatively healthy Buckeyes will be too much to handle as he night wears on. Expect a fairly high scoring game with Ohio State pulling away in the second half. Prospects to watch:

OHIO STATE                                                                             NOTRE DAME
#3 MICHAEL THOMAS/WR 6’3/210 JR                                  #2 CHRIS BROWN/WR 6’2/195
#1 BRAXTON MILLER/WR 6’1/215                                          #7 WILL FULLER/WR 6’0/180 JR
#11 VONN BELL/S 5’11/205 JR                                                  #9 JAYLON SMITH/LB 6’2/235 JR
#15 EZEKIEL ELLIOTT/RB 6’/225 JR                                   #20 CJ PROSISE/RB 6’1/220 JR
#37 JOSHUA PERRY/LB 6’3/255                                            #22 ELIJAH SHUMATE/S 6’/215 INJ
#57 CHASE FARRIS/OG 6’5/310                                             #45 ROMEO OKWARA/DE 6’4/260
#68 TAYLOR DECKER/OT 6’7/315                                         #72 NICK MARTIN/C 6’5/301
#81 NICK VANNETT/TE 6’6/260                                            #78 RONNIE STANLEY/T 6’6/315 rJR
#92 ADOLPHUS WASHINGTON/DT 6’4/295 SUS              #91 SHELDON DAY/DT 6’2/290
#97 JOEY BOSA/DE 6’6/275 JR

ROSE BOWL; 5 PM ET; ESPN
IOWA (12-1) vs. STANFORD (11-2)
Iowa may be one of the great surprise teams of the past decade with their perfect 12-0 Big Ten regular season. But some of their shortcomings were exposed against the Spartans. And one of those is likely to come up again in their match-up with Stanford. Their lack of quality depth could allow Stanford to wear them down and pull away in the 4th Quarter of play. Iowa will be counting heavily on their 20th ranked Defense to hold down the 39th ranked Stanford Offense. But I’m not sure how they shut down Stanford’s young super star CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY/#5. McCaffrey led D-1 in total offense, with 3469 total yards, which broke the record of BARRY SANDERS. He does it all with smarts, speed and moves that break defenders’ ankles. The Hawkeyes secondary may have a few surprises in place to slow down QB/KEVIN HOGAN and his receivers. One of the biggest may be CB/DESMOND KING, who led the nation with 8 INT in 2015. He’s an all around player as evidenced by his 67 tackles on the Corner. IOWA’s tough D also featured two players with over 100 tackles in the LB combo of JOSEY JEWELL & COLE FISHER.
Iowa’s pedestrian Offense will have a tough time pounding out yardage all day against a stout and deep Cardinal D. BLAKE MARTINEZ/ILB leads that crew with his 132 tackles this season. STANFORD’s D ranked 44th overall this season, while the Iowa O was 67th overall.
Either way you slice it the nod goes to Stanford. Just like Michigan State got out-classed and out-muscled last night against Alabama, I expect this to not be close when the final gun sounds. Sorry Big Ten. Prospects to Watch:

IOWA                                                                             STANFORD
#4 TREVAUN SMITH/WR 6’2/205                            #4 BLAKE MARTINEZ/ILB 6’2/247
#14 DESMOND KING/CB/RS 5’11/200 JR               #8 KEVIN HOGAN/QB 6’4/225
#27 JORDAN LOMAX/S 5’10/205                            #21 RONNIE HARRIS/CB 5’10/175
#33 JASON CANZERI/RB 5’9/192                           #48 KEVIN ANDERSON/OLB 6’4/245
#36 COLE FRAZIER/LB 6’2/235                               #51 JOSHUA GARNETT/OG 6’5/325
#63 AUSTIN BLYHE/OC 6’3/290                             #78 KYLE MURPHY/OT 6’7/300
#65 JORDAN WALSH/OG 6’4/290                          #89 DEVIN CAJUSTE/WR 6’4/229
#80 HENRY KREIGER-COBLE/TE 6’4/250