First the Rose Bowl, great win by the Trojans, with the coaching staff showing the ability to modify their gameplan from trying to establish the run to fuck it, we're going to throw the ball until they can stop us. Which Michigan could not, allowing QB John David Booty to throw for 391 yards and 4 touchdowns, all to three players playing their last games as Trojans, assuming Dwayne Jarrett leaves for the NFL riches. Nice to see Chris McFoy back in the mix with his touchdown that got things rolling. And the defense did its job too, forcing Michigan to abandon the run and to go to the pass, which did help QB Chad Henne to get the ball rolling. But when it was all said and done, USC had won another Rose Bowl with a dominating second half performance. But the Trojans' impressive showing in Pasadena was outdone by the Gators in Glendale tonight.
The Gators didn't seem to be doing anything too impressive. It was the Buckeyes getting off the first big play of the game, Ted Ginn's 93 yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown, which would be Ohio State's lone bright spot of the game. The Gators quickly answered with a couple of touchdowns while their defense limited the Bucks to 82(!) total yards of offense, with Troy Smith getting very little time to look for an opening and Ginn knocked out early in the game. But our win over Michigan loses some of its luster after the Gators were able to run all over Ohio State. No question, Florida is the best team this season, but Boise State fans will never know how their team will stack up against the Gators, as despite having the best record this season at 13-0, will not have a chance to play for the national championship.
Before my final top 25, I'll create other lists to help recap this great season of college football:
Top 10 Games:
1. 1/1/07 - Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42, O/T: Shame on you if you missed this game, or at least the last 30 minutes of it. Oklahoma tied it at 28 on their third two point conversion attempt, and on the next play from scrimmage, the Sooners took a 35-28 lead on an interception return for a touchdown. The Broncos battled back, sending the game into overtime with a hook and lateral play on fourth and long. Oklahoma had the ball first in overtime, and Adrian Peterson took the first handoff for a 25 yard touchdown run. But Boise fought back again, having a receiver throw for a touchdown on fourth down, then running the statue of liberty play to win the game on the two point conversion. Whew. Here's the rest of the list, don't take the order too seriously:
2. Ohio State 42, Michigan 39
3. Kansas State 45, Texas 42
4. Oregon State 33, Southern California 31
5. Rutgers 28, Louisville 25
6. Notre Dame 40, Michigan State 37
7. Oregon 34, Oklahoma 33
8. Oregon State 39, Missouri 38
9. Texas Tech 44, Minnesota 41, O/T
10. West Virginia 41, Rutgers 39, 3 O/T
More lists to come as I can think of them/become bored
And my final Top 25 rankings:
- Florida (12-1)
- Louisville (12-1)
- Boise State (13-0)
- Louisiana State (11-2)
- Ohio State (12-1)
- Southern California (11-2)
- Wisconsin (12-1)
- Auburn (11-2)
- West Virginia (11-2)
- Michigan (11-2)
- Oklahoma (11-3)
- Rutgers (11-2)
- Texas (10-3)
- Brigham Young (11-2)
- Arkansas (10-4)
- California (10-3)
- Wake Forest (11-3)
- Notre Dame (10-3)
- Boston College (10-3)
- Oregon State (10-4)
- Texas Christian (11-2)
- Virginia Tech (11-2)
- Hawaii (11-3)
- Georgia (9-4)
- Penn State (9-4)
