It may not be what either team was thinking when the season began, but Georgia Tech and West Virginia are still play in a New Year's bowl game, when the two meet for the Gator Bowl.
For West Virginia, the good news is they their coach, Rich Rodriguez still. After considering the vacancy at Alabama, Rodriguez decided to stick it out at his alma-mater. While we know that the Mountaineers are so great on offense, they can certainly be passed on. That can spell trouble for West Virginia, especially when the top wide receiver in the nation is going to line up against them, in Calvin Johnson.
Despite the fact that the Mountaineers are 9 th best in the nation against the run, they are 100 th against the pass.
On offense, West Virginia may be slowed if quarterback Pat White isn't able to play. White has been banged up in the latter part of the season, and is considered questionable for the game.
As Georgia Tech was finishing preparations at home for the Gator Bowl, head coach Chan Gailey said that nobody is bound to a starting spot on the team. Little did he know that soon after, four-year starting QB Reggie Ball would be declared academically ineligible and in turn, ending his collegiate career. Ball's backup, Taylor Bennett will now move into the starting role, despite the fact he has only started one game in his career, and played in six games this season. Also ruled ineligible will be cornerback Kenny Scott.
With an inexperienced QB on the field for the Yellow Jackets, look for Georgia Tech's running game to be the big factor in this one. The ground game was solid this season, as tailback Tashard Choice had a breakout year, finishing with 1,304 yards. Defensively against the run, the Jackets are one of the best teams in the nation—not including giving up 321 yards on the ground to Clemson this season.
Whatever happens, it is always great to see the ACC go up against the Big East. Don't think that the Mountaineers want to prove that the Big East is as good as their rival conference (which three teams have jumped to from their conference).
Rose Bowl
USC vs. Michigan
What? USC isn't in the national championship game? It certainly seems unfathomable, but it's the truth. Instead, second prize for the Trojans is a trip to the Rose Bowl to take on the Michigan Wolverines in this year's Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
After a huge disappointing loss to rival UCLA the last weekend of the year to knock themselves out of national championship contention, the Trojans have landed in a bed of roses. In fact, both teams are in the same position, as Michigan lost to their rival in the final weekend of their season. The question becomes, which team will be able to bounce back better than the other.
Looking at the USC offense, UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said that he was able to hold the Trojans to only nine points because they are a predictable unit. Obviously John David Booty is a talent at QB, but this isn't the same offense that we saw in last year's national championship game against the Texas Longhorns.
Unlike the offense, Pete Carroll's defense might be the fastest he has had in his great stretch that has spanned the last six seasons. In their last four games of the season, the Trojans only allowed 32 points, not bad for a league that is known for its offense. The unit ranks 17 th in rushing defense and 14 th nationally in scoring defense.
For Michigan, it's going to come down to whether or not they are happy about being there. Who can forget the amount of people who felt they should be playing Ohio State in the national championship game instead of Florida. After all, the Wolverines missed out by .01 points in the BCS after its loss to Ohio State the final weekend of its season.
Tailback Mike Hart has said he'll be back for 2007, after rushing for 1,515 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2006. They were able to put up 39 points against the Buckeyes, when no other team put up more than 17 against the OSU defense. Defensively, the unit was allowing only 1.5 yards per carry before its meeting with Ohio State. Then they gave up two long 50 yard plus touchdown runs. Either way, the defense is real stingy.
Douglas Kroll can be reached at dckroll@hotmail.com
