How to spell the college bowl season

by Gary Shelton on December 6, 2018 · 0 comments

in general, NFL, Tampa Bay Bucs

Strong saw his USF team collapse./CARMEN MANDATO

Thursday, 4 a.m.

Playing alphabet soup with the college bowl season:

A is for Alabama, the current royalty of college football. The Tide will have to go through Oklahoma and, probably, Clemson to win it this time, which is tough sledding. But when do you bet against Alabama?

B is for Jeff Brohm, who didn't come running when Mama called. Brohm has announced he'll stay with Purdue, which is a nice thing.

C is for Clemson. The Tigers have reached that elite status where they don't have off-seasons. If freshman Trevor Lawrence is good enough, don't be surprised if the Tigers win it all.

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D is for Dabo. Just imagine what a fuss we would be making about Dabo Swinney if Nick Saban's shadow wasn't so large?

E is for Eric Dungey, the Syracuse quarterback who will match up against Will Grier in an entertaining Camping World Bowl.

F is for the Fighting Irish. Some people aren't sold on the unbeaten Notre Dame team, but Brian Kelly has had a good year.

G  is for Georgia, which finished the season like fine whine, moaning that their game against Alabama really should have been a double header and the Bulldogs should get Alabama. until the Bulldogs won. Now, talk some more about that fake punt.

H is for home, which is the exotic bowl site that USF is headed toward. But their being at home is a lot better than FSU, UCLA and Nebraska, who are all staying home.

I is for Iowa State. Explain to me why the Alamo Bowl picked the Hawkeyes over West Virginia. Was it that narrow win over Drake?

J is for Jonathan Taylor, the nation's best running back.

K is for Kyler Murray, Oklahoma's do-everything quarterback. Well, he can do everything but play defense, it seems.

L is for Lawrence, as in Trevor. He's a freshman, but he's so good that he ran off the incumbent quarterback in mid-season. He gets help at Clemson, but he makes plays.

M is for Meyer, Urban, who is calling it a career after coaching Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. If I were college football, I'd get it in writing.

N is for Nick Saban, the King of Alabama. Are you ready for a new slew of stories comparing Saban with Bear Bryant? Well, only if he wins.

O is for Oklahoma. Who thought that Bob Stoops stepping down would lead the program to a step up.

P is for Bobby Petrino, who Louisville couldn't wait to fire.

Q is for quarterbacks, of which Miami has none.

R is for Ryan Finley, the quarterback of N.C. State, who will be trying to show he should slip into the first round.

S is South Florida, which won its first seven games and then sank like a rock in water. Seriously? Who is good enough to start 7-0 and bad enough to finish 0-5.

T is for Tua Tagovailoa, who is healing as fast as he can. If not, Jalen Hurts remains a great story.

U is for undefeated. See Central Florida. Any questions?

V is for Virginia, which snuck into the Belk Bowl. Whee. Bryce Perkins is the reason that Cavs are here.

W is for Willie Taggart, who didn't lead FSU anywhere.

X is for Jim Harbaugh's current situation. As in, if he can't overtake Ohio State now, he'll soon be the ex-Michgan coach.

Y is for yards. As in those thrown for by Washington State's Gardner Minshew and those run for by Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor.

Z is for Zac Thomas, the player you really ought to get to know. Thomas is the quarterback from Appalachian State and the Sunbelt Offensive Player of the Year.

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