Monday, January 1, 2024
I welcomed the New Year with an unexpected bang.
I had not felt well on New Year's Eve and woke up today still achy. Thus Laurie thought that a COVID-19 test might be a good idea.
The result?
Despite all of my COVID-19
vaccinations, I tested positive
Fortunately, the vaccinations are supposed to lessen the effects of the COVID-19 until more medical aid comes along.
Thus, it just felt like a case of the flu and, since it was New Year's Day, I would have to wait until Tuesday to talk to my doctor about how to proceed with this battle.
It was New Year's Day, the absolute BEST day of college football every year, and our #2, 13-0 Washington Huskies were playing.
A month of massive over-hyping the
Sugar Bowl game was finally OVER!
It was GAME DAY in
New Orleans!
The #3, 12-1 Texas Longhorns were
set to play what would be an
EXPLOSIVE contest
But first, some late NFL news from Sunday . . .
The surprising Los Angeles Rams
got the help they needed
The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 30-23, thus insuring that . . .
. . . the Rams are in the the NFL playoff
again which was absolutely out of the
question at the start of the season
Again, Rams HC Sean McVay is doing his best coaching job to date in my opinion.
The 9-7 Rams are gritty to say the least
OK, let's get back on track . . .
There were five bowl games
scheduled today
We would be channel changing all morning long as the ReliaQuest Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Citrus Bowl would serve as warm-ups to the two College Football Playoff (CFP) Semi-Final games being played in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
Alabama vs. Michigan in the Rose Bowl
Washington vs. Texas in the Sugar Bowl
They would both be amazing games.
Would the Huskies be ready for
the big stage?
GO HUSKIES!
I may be near death but I was still going to support the Dawgs!
The only negative in viewing the
Sugar Bowl game was that we would
not have family with us due to my
bout with COVID-19
The Washington Huskies have
a rich bowl game history
The UW's first bowl game experience occurred 100 years ago today in the Rose Bowl.
That 1924 Rose Bowl ended tied
Washington 14 - Navy 14
The Huskies HC that day was Enoch Bagshaw and the game was played in front of approximately 40,000 rabid fans.
Going into today's game the Huskies had played in 41 Bowl games in the past 100 years with a record of 20-20-1.
Before the Huskies' Sugar Bowl date with Texas in the evening, we would have to navigate through Monday's first four bowl games.
The ReliaQuest Bowl kicked off at
9:00 a.m. and it was a good one
FINAL SCORE
#13 Louisiana State Tigers (10-3) - 35
Wisconsin Badgers (7-6) - 31
The Fiesta Bowl kicked off at 10:00 a.m.
and was the dud most thought it would be
FINAL SCORE
#8 Oregon Ducks (12-2) - 45
#23 Liberty Flames (13-1) - 6
First, Oregon's record should really read 12-Washington.
Next, Liberty was the undefeated, Group of Five, Conference USA champion but had not played even one Power Five team this season. Thus, justifiably as it turned out, many of us had real doubts about how good the Flames really were.
Kudos to Oregon Senior QB, Bo Nix, for not opting out of this game to start his NFL draft preparation. To me, that says a lot more to me about Nix than getting a tiny bit better on the Combine tests over the last month.
But, then again, I'm an old fart.
The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl also kicked
off at 10:00 a.m. and was, pardon the
pun, CHEESY!
FINAL SCORE
#21 Tennesse Volunteers (9-4) - 35
#17 Iowa Hawkeyes (10-4) - 0
The Iowa Offense has been stagnant all year and today was no different. The Hawkeyes had relied on great Defense all year but today the Iowa squad in general just plain did not show up.
The three meaningless preliminary bowl games out of the way, it was time for the big boys to play.
Now, even though the purported best four teams in the land play in the CFP Semi-Finals since 2014, these games have seen a lot of blow outs.
From 2014 to 2021, the average combined margin of victory in these two games has been 42.1 points/year.
In 2022, finally neither CFP Semi-Final game was a blowout. Last year #3 TCU beat #2 Michigan, 51-45, and #1 Georgia nosed out #4 Ohio State, 42-41. Those were the types of games, with a slim combined margin of victory of just seven points, that we wanted to see at this level.
We all hoped that today's Semi-Finals would be competitive.
And they were.
The Rose Bowl kicked off at 2:00 p.m.
and was the first CFP Semi-Final
Game of the day
#1, 13-0 Michigan Wolverines
BIG-10 Conference Champions
vs.
#4, 12-1 Alabama Crimson Tide
Southeastern Conference Champions
It was the usual Pasadena Chamber
of Commerce New Year's Day
Absolutely a picture perfect day for
"The Granddaddy of Them All!"
This was one great Rose Bowl that was decided in Over Time!
#1, 14-0 Michigan punched the first
ticket for the College Football Playoff
Championship game in Houston, Texas
next Monday night
Hopefully, it will be safe by then for us to have people over to the house to watch the game together.
On a side note from the Rose Bowl game . . .
100% TRUE!
It is so nice not to have to hear
Paul Finebaum and the other SEC
apologists talk about their dominance
for at least the next week
We still had one more game to play . . .
The Sugar Bowl kicked off at 5:45 p.m.
and was the second CFP Semi-Final
Game of the day
#2, 13-0 Washington Huskies
PAC-12 Conference Champions
vs.
#3, 12-1 Texas Longhorns
BIG-XII Conference Champions
Even though we could not be together, we received photos of the grandkids dressed to support the Dawgs.
Jacob with MANY layers of
Huskies hats, shirts and sweatshirts
Mary was a tad more conservative
in her layers but looked GREAT!
Could the Huskies OL hold up against
the vaunted Texas DL to allow
Michael Penix, Jr. the time needed
to hit his fleet of WRs?
Oh, HELL YES!
But it wasn't easy by any stretch
Michael Penix, Jr. was easily the game's Offensive MVP. His pinpoint, gunslinger passing combined with the OL's excellent pass blocking were the keys to the win.
Penix was 29 for 38 passing, good for 430 yards, 2 TDs, 0 Interceptions and 0 Sacks.
It literally came down to the
last play of the game with one
second left in the game
day for the Huskies on that last play
The now 14-0 Huskies grit was on display yet again in winning their ninth straight game by only 10 points or less.
With this Sugar Bowl win,
the Huskies improve all-time to
21-20-1 in their Bowl Games
INDEED!
How did Bevo earn all of those beads
on Bourbon Street after the game?
YES INDEED, GO DAWGS!
Now, it's on to next big game . . .
College Football Playoffs
National Championship Game
in Houston, Texas on
Monday, January 8, 2024
#1, 14-0 Michigan Wolverines
BIG-10 Champions
vs.
#2, 14-0 Washington Huskies
PAC-12 Champions
It should be a tremendous game
between two great programs that
will both be in the BIG-10 next season
Rome Odunze, the Huskies WR,
has had an amazing season . . .
. . . as has the UW's QB,
Michael Penix, Jr.
It has truly been an amazing season for the UW. Now we just need one more win to secure the third National Championship in Huskies' history.
The Huskies (10-1) won a share of the 1960 National Championship after beating the #1 ranked, Big-10 Champion Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-2), 17-7, in the 1961 Rose Bowl.
In those days, the National Champions were crowned by the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press International (UPI) at the end of the regular season.
Back in 1960, only the Helms Athletic Foundation, which was much ahead of its time, was wise enough to wait until after the bowl games to name its National Champions, the Washington Huskies.
The 1991 UW eleven (12-0) also staked a claim to the National Championship with its 1992 Rose Bowl win, 34-14, over the #4 ranked, Big-10 Champion Michigan Wolverines (10-2).
Parenthetically, do you believe in Déjà Vu?
By then, still with no playoff system in place, the polls all waited until after the bowl games to declare the National Champions.
The Huskies were declared the UPI Coaches Poll National Champions while the 12-0 Miami Hurricanes parlayed their 22-0 victory in the Orange Bowl over the #11 Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-2-1) to win the AP's National Championship.
By the way, the Huskies also beat the Cornhuskers, 36-21, at Nebraska that season. It was their only common opponent with Miami.
I found this most offensive
But still, the drive for a third UW football "Natty," as they call it today, will continue in earnest . . .
GO HUSKIES,
BEAT THE WOLVERINES!
No comments:
Post a Comment