Eight 2009 Bowl teams win by 3 points or less, none more exciting than Idaho

Eight of the 34 bowl game winners, or roughly 25 percent, had their wins by 3 points or less, and none won in more exciting fashion than Idaho, and that includes two double-overtime winners (Wyoming and central Michigan ) and two individual overtime winners. (Arkansas and Auburn).

Idaho Vandals coach Robb Akey will earn the fans’ perennial nods of approval for going for a 2-point conversion and the win, rather than sending the game into overtime with an extra point attempt and 4 seconds left in the game. clock. Junior quarterback Nathan Enderle found second-year wide receiver Preston Davis in the back of the end zone to give Idaho the dramatic 43-42 win over Bowling Green in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Bowling Green thought they had the game in the bag. Trailing 28-14 midway through the third quarter, the Falcons scored 28 points, including two touchdowns in the final 4 minutes, taking a 42-35 lead on a 51 pass from Tyler Sheehan to Freddie Barnes with 32 seconds left. remaining.

But the Vandals weren’t fazed when Enderle found Davis (same 2-point conversion winning combo) on a 50-yard completion to the Bowling Green 16-yard line. With 8 seconds remaining, Enderle found senior wide receiver Max Komar, who caught a low throw sliding across the goal line to set up the game-winning conversion.

Here’s the real kicker: Komar, the Vandals’ leading receiver, had been dropping balls like hot potatoes all game, and his catch to put Idaho in position to win was his first of the day.

On the other side of the ball, Falcon receiver Freddie Barnes was making NCAA history by receiving 17 passes from Sheehan for 219 yards and 3 touchdowns. The 17 receptions gave Barnes 155 on the season, breaking the record for most receptions in a season, a record previously held by two famous names, Nevada’s Nate Burleson (138 receptions in 2002) and Tulsa’s Howard Twilley (134). receptions in 2002). 1965).

Idaho’s Enderle was 15 of 28 for 240 yards and 4 touchdowns. Bowling Green’s Sheehan went 33 of 47 for 387 yards and 4 touchdowns.

But the real story of Idaho’s victory was coach Robb Akey, who spent 19 years as a college football assistant coach before taking over an Idaho program that was dead meat and had 3 coaches in 3 years before he came along. Okay. He went 1-11 and 2-10 in his first two seasons, but it would be wrong to say Idaho was crazy to keep him to just 3 wins in 2 years.

Akey was busy getting rid of the dead meat on the team that didn’t want to work, play serious football, and win. The result was this year’s team. The Vandals were picked to be at the bottom of the Western Athletic Conference this season, but started the year 6-1 and finished 8-5 with their victory in the Humanitarian Bowl.

The news from Moscow (ID), if you haven’t already heard, is that the Vandals are no longer a doormat waiting to be walked on. Give Akey some well-deserved props; he created the environment and provided the leadership at the top to make it happen.

Perhaps the second most exciting and hard-fought win of this bowl season came to the Wyoming Cowboys, who trailed by 11 points in the fourth quarter to come back and beat Fresno State, 35-28, in double overtime in the New Mexico Bowl.

And Wyoming did it with a rookie quarterback and superb goal-line defensive position against the nation’s leading rusher, Fresno State’s Ryan Matthews. First-year coach Dave Christensen couldn’t have been happier or prouder of his players.

Matthews averaged 151 yards per game and didn’t disappoint his fans, racking up 144 yards on 31 carries and scoring 2 touchdowns. Unfortunately, he fumbled midway through the fourth quarter when Cowboys lineman Mitch Unrien grabbed the ball from him. Wyoming took advantage of the error when freshman QB Austyn Carta-Samuels engineered a 19-play drive that brought Wyoming within 3 points, 28-25.

Cowboy Ian Watts’ 37-yard field goal with 20 seconds left tied the score at 28-28. Neither team scored in the first overtime, but Carta-Samuels found David Leonard on a 13-yard pass in the second overtime to go up 35-28.

Then Wyoming’s defensive line put together a terrific goal-line rally to stop Ryan Matthews, the nation’s leading rusher, 3 times at the 1-yard line, and also stopped quarterback Ryan Colburn on a sneaky pass from quarterback at the 1-yard line to close the door on Fresno. State. It was all in one day’s work for the Cowboys, who have won 4 games this season with 4th quarter rallies.

Wyoming’s Austyn Carta-Samuels was 17 of 31 for 201 yards and 3 touchdown passes. He was voted the game’s MVP and was also selected as the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. The Cowboys, who were picked to finish last in their conference, finished the year with a 7-6 record. Fresno State went 8-5.

Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour continued to make GMAC Bowl history by leading the Chippewas to a high-scoring 44-41 victory over Troy in double overtime.

LeFevour completed 33 of 55 passes for 395 yards and scored on a 13-yard run. His 15,853 total career yards ranked second only to Hawaii’s Timmy Chang, who holds the record with 16,910.

Lost in the shuffle of LeFevour’s achievement was Central Michigan kicker Andrew Aguila, who made field goals of 28, 35, 44 and 42 yards before kicking the game-winner 37 yards in double overtime. His 5 field goals set a GMAC Bowl record.

Antonio Brown was also a big presence for the Chippewas, scoring on a 95-yard kickoff return and finishing with 403 yards all-around: 178 receiving on 13 catches, 203 on kickoff returns, and 22 rushing yards.

Troy finished the season at 9-4 and Central Michigan at 12-2. Chippewa coach Butch Jones, who won 2 Mid-American Conference titles in 3 years, left the program to become the new coach in Cincinnati, replacing Brian Kelly who headed to Notre Dame. Dan Enos, the running backs coach at Michigan State, will replace Butch Jones at Central Michigan.

For Arkansas’ Alex Tejada, it was redemption day at the Liberty Bowl, as his 37-yard field goal in overtime gave the Razorbacks a 20-17 victory at East Carolina. Tejada missed a crucial kick in a loss to Florida in October, and he missed another kick against Louisiana State that prevented Arkansas from forcing a second overtime in a 33-30 loss.

But pass on pity to East Carolina kicker Ben Hartman, who missed two field goal attempts late in the game and missed again in the extra period. Hartman actually missed 4 tries in the game from 45, 39, 39 again on the final play of the game, and 35 in overtime. East Carolina (8-5) coach Skip Holtz felt Hartman’s pain; Hartman is East Carolina’s all-time leading scorer.

The Liberty Bowl was not picture perfect. The victory for Arkansas (8-5) was just the third in 15 bowl game appearances. The Razorbacks went 0-13 on third down attempts, becoming the second major college team this season to win a game without converting a third down. Colorado State went 0-for-9 on third down attempts by beating Weber State earlier in the season.

The Razorbacks, who were averaging 37 points per game, trailed 10 times at the half, marking the first time Arkansas had been shutout in the first half since losing to Alabama 35-7 in September.

No, the Liberty Bowl wasn’t pretty, but Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino had the right attitude, saying, “I’m not sure who beat who, but we won the game.”

Wes Byrum kicked a 21-yard field goal in overtime to give Auburn (8-5) a 38-35 victory over Northwestern (8-5) in the Outback Bowl, stopping a Wildcat rally that denied Northwestern its first bowl win in 61 years. .

Some days it’s not worth tempting fate; for Northwestern, this was one of those days. Coach Pat Fitzgerald feels backup kicker Steve Flaherty on the field to try to tie the game on the last play of the first overtime. Flaherty was on the inside because regular kicker Stefan Demos was hurt earlier. What happened next was a disaster.

Wildcat receiver Zeke Markshausen took a pass from the starter, rounded the game-winning right end, and was stopped at the 2-yard line by Auburn’s Neiko Thorpe. Game over.

Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka went 47 of 78 (no typo here) for 532 yards (yes, 532 yards) and 4 touchdowns, but also threw 5 interceptions, with 2 of the interceptions coming in the end zone and one being a runner. for a 100-yard touchdown. Oh! Auburn’s first-year coach Gene Chizik couldn’t have been happier with the win.

Playing in a heavy storm that turned the field into a mosh pit in Orlando, FL, the 11th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) defeated the 11th-ranked Louisiana State Tigers (9-4). the 13th place, 19-17. , to win the Capital One Bowl, the most prestigious bowl game among the remaining 29 after the 5 BCS bowl games.

For Penn State coach Joe Paterno and his quarterback Daryll Clark, the victory meant vindication.

Clark took the blame for failing to win the big games, and Paterno is often criticized for racking up wins while playing soft opponents; in fact, Penn State had not beaten a ranked team all year. I’ve been scathing about Penn State’s cupcake opponents, that being said, LSU isn’t a cupcake, and now JoePa has beaten at least one ranked team.

LSU trailed by 13 but took a 17-16 lead with 12:39 remaining. Clark led a drive late in the game that allowed Collin Wagner’s 21-yard field goal to provide the game-winner. For JoePa, it was his 24th bowl win, and LSU’s Les Miles’ first loss in 5 bowls as a coach.

Freshman Dion Lewis rushed for 159 yards and a TD to lead 17th-ranked Pittsburgh (10-3) in the world over North Carolina (8-5), 19-17 (the same score as the win for Penn State), at the Meineke Bowl. Dan Hutchins kicked a 33-yard field goal with 52 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

The 5-foot-8 Lewis, overlooked by many college scouts because of his size, broke 36-year-old Tony Dorsett’s Pitt freshman rushing record of 1,686 yards with 1,799 yards on the season. Dorsett rushed for 2,150 yards in 1976, collected the Heisman Trophy, and helped Pitt win the national title. Pitt’s coach, Dave Wannstedt, locked Dorsett on that championship team.

Lewis is the real deal. North Carolina entered the game with the sixth-best total defense and ninth-best rush defense in the country, and couldn’t stop Lewis, who, unless he gets hurt, will break more records in the future.

Iowa State (7-6) scored twice in the second quarter to edge out Minnesota (6-7), 14-13, in the Insight Bowl. Two years ago the Cyclones won only 2 games. Needless to say, Iowa State freshman coach Paul Roberts was very pleased.

Iowa State turned the ball over 4 times, gave up 434 yards and committed 8 penalties and still won. How many teams could claim victory in a bowling game by turning the ball over 4 times? Ask Minnesota, the Golden Gophers let them do it.

Minnesota had fallen behind in all 6 of its regular season wins and rallied 4 times during the 4th quarter to win. Minnesota coach Tim Brewster may try again next year. For the Cyclones, it was their first winning season since 2005.

Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley