It has not been a great bowl season for the SEC.
The conference fell to 2-6 in bowl games after Vanderbilt’s ReliaQuest Bowl loss to Iowa on Wednesday. And one of the two wins came in a game the SEC literally had to win — Alabama beat Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Advertisement
In addition to Oklahoma and Vandy, Texas A&M, Missouri, Tennessee, LSU have all also lost their bowl games. Ole Miss has the league’s other postseason win thanks to a victory over Tulane, and the Rebels take on Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday.
Texas got the league’s third win of the season — and first over a power conference team — in the Citrus Bowl over Miami. But if Mississippi State loses and Alabama loses to Indiana in the Rose Bowl, the SEC could be 4-8 in the postseason with one team remaining in the CFP.
But even if the SEC is 5-7 after Friday, the conference will have a record that its detractors will certainly seize on. Yes, postseason records and narratives do not define a conference — but given the way the SEC loves to tout itself as the toughest conference in college football, it doesn’t take much for others to find a retort.
Winners
BYU: The Cougars late comeback against Georgia Tech earned them the opportunity to participate in the annual Pop-Tart ritual sacrifice on Saturday night.
Advertisement
The Cougars scored 15 straight points in the fourth quarter to beat the Yellow Jackets 25-21 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Jovesa Damuni’s 4-yard run with two minutes to go put BYU in front and Evan Johnson intercepted Haynes King in the end zone on fourth down with six seconds remaining.
But do you really care about the game? Probably not. After the game, three Pop-Tarts were foisted atop the large toaster to be sacrificed for BYU. However, one bailed, leaving just two large pastries for the Cougars to enjoy. This is what you want to see, be honest.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Pop-Tarts Bowl, winning teams get the chance eat a massive pastry out of a toaster that has previously ingested someone in a mascot costume. It’s absurd. It’s funny. It’s basically what bowl season should be outside of the College Football Playoff.
Penn State interim coach Terry Smith: Smith became the first interim coach to win a bowl game in Penn State history as the Nittany Lions took down Clemson 22-10 in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday. Clemson’s day started with one of the roughest fake punts you’ll ever see and didn’t get much better from there.
Penn State got a field goal off the fake punt and never trailed. QB Ethan Grunkemeyer was 23-of-34 passing for 262 yards and two touchdowns while Quinton Martin Jr. rushed 20 times for 101 yards.
Advertisement
Clemson’s offense didn’t do anything. The Tigers had 193 yards on 65 plays and averaged less than two yards a carry. It was a rough final game for Clemson QB Cade Klubnik, as he was 22-of-39 passing for 193 yards.
Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors scored a touchdown with 10 seconds left to beat Cal 35-31 in the Hawaii Bowl as a fight broke out at the end of the game. The game-winning score was thrown by QB Luke Weaver on his first play of the game. Weaver had to come into the game as starter Micah Alejado was forced to sit out a play after going down with a cramp. Weaver found Nick Cenacle for a 22-yard TD and Hawaii’s best season since it was 10-5 in 2019.
Delaware: The Blue Hens not only finished their first season at the top level of college football above .500, but they capped it with a bowl victory too. Delaware beat Louisiana 20-13 in the 68 Ventures Bowl to finish the year at 7-6. Both Delaware and Missouri State started the season ineligible for a bowl game as they moved up from the FCS level. But thanks to a shortage of winning teams, both got bowl bids. Running back Jo Silver broke off a 61-yard TD run in the first quarter and finished the game with 14 carries for 116 yards.
Ohio coach Jon Hauser: Hauser led the Bobcats to a 17-10 Frisco Bowl win over UNLV as the team’s interim coach and was named the permanent coach not long after the game. Hauser, the team’s defensive coordinator took over the program after coach Brian Smith was placed on administrative leave and eventually fired for an affair with a grad student. After Ohio held UNLV’s offense in check and won their seventh-straight bowl game, Hauser is now officially Smith’s successor.
Advertisement
Losers
USC: The No. 16 Trojans coughed up a 10-point lead over the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter in a 30-27 overtime loss to TCU in the Alamo Bowl. And if you need a defining image of how USC’s defense has played for much of Lincoln Riley’s time with the school, look no further than the tackling on TCU’s winning touchdown in overtime.
The loss drops USC to 9-4 on the season and 24-15 over the last three since an 11-3 season in 2022. USC has just one 10-win season over the past eight years and is still steps away from competing with the teams at the very top of the Big Ten.
“I really believe a window here has opened up that’s taken a lot of effort by a lot of people, a lot of commitment by a lot of people,” Riley said after the game. Four fun but really challenging years to get it open, and it’s open now.”
Advertisement
It’s easy to wonder what window Riley is referencing. It seemed to be open immediately after Caleb Williams followed him to Los Angeles from Oklahoma and the Trojans went to the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 2022 season. USC hasn’t matched those heights since.
In the transfer portal era, one-year rebuilds are becoming more and more commonplace. If teams like Indiana and Ole Miss can immediately take steps forward, why does it have to be a multi-year process at a place like USC?
Boise State: It was an incredibly rough start to bowl season for the Broncos. Boise State lost 38-10 to Washington in the LA Bowl to kick off the postseason. And saying the game was ugly for Boise State is probably underselling it. QBs Max Cutforth and Maddux Madsen combined to throw five interceptions and just one touchdown pass. Washington led 34-3 at halftime before Boise State threw picks on back-to-back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter before finally scoring their first touchdown of the game with less than two minutes to go.
Pitt: The Panthers didn’t want Boise State to feel alone. Pitt turned the ball over five times itself in a 23-17 loss to East Carolina in the Military Bowl on Saturday. Somehow, the Panthers still had a chance to win the game on a last-ditch drive as time expired, but that didn’t come to fruition. Pitt fumbled four times and QB Mason Heintschel threw an interception as ECU had four scoring drives that totaled fewer than 50 yards.
Advertisement
South Florida and Memphis: Both teams saw their coaches head to SEC schools at the end of the regular season. And both teams found themselves losing by double digits in their bowl games. USF lost 24-10 to Old Dominion in the Cure Bowl after star QB Byrum Brown opted out ahead of his entry into the transfer portal. Memphis lost 31-7 to NC State in the Gasparilla Bowl as the Wolfpack dominated the game.
Leave a Reply