EA Sports Virtual Playoff Simulation - Rose Bowl

#2 LSU 45 - #10 Hawaii 15

The 2008 Rose Bowl’s result really could not have surprised anyone except for a few 
fans from the Aloha State.  LSU dominated early and often scoring the first 17 points 
of the game in route to a 30-point victory over the Hawaii Warriors.  Matt Flynn threw 
for 327 yards and 4 touchdowns for the Tigers in the process of being voted the Most 
Valuable Player of the game.  Colt Brennan, senior Hawaii quarterback, did throw for 
2 touchdowns of his own in his last college football game, but this was clearly a 
mismatch from the start.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
LSU	10	28	7	0	45
HAW	0	13	0	2	15

	LSU	HAW
First Downs	16	11
Total Offense	439	266
Rushes-Yards	18-119	5-(-3)
Comp-Att-TD	16-25-4	22-42-2
Passing Yards	320	269
Sacked	1	1
3rd Down Conv	4 – 8 (50%)	3 – 10 (30%)
4th Down Conv	0 – 0 (0%)	0 – 2 (0%)
2-Point Conv	0 – 0 (0%)	0 – 1 (0%)
Redzone – TD – FG	2 – 1 – 1 (100%)	1 – 0 – 0 (0%)
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles – Lost	1 - 1	3 - 2
Intercepted	0	0
PR Yards	13	6
KR Yards	58	133
Total Yards	510	405
Punts – Average	2 – 28.0	5 – 25.4
Penalties – Yards	0 – 0	2 - 13
T.O.P.	11:22	9:38

Just Briefly...

Here are my two predictions for today's games:

AFC Championship - San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots

2:00 central, CBS

New England 27, San Diego 17

I hope that the Chargers prove me wrong.

NFC Championship - New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

5:30 central, FOX

Green Bay 31, New York 17

GO PACK GO!!!

Don't worry folks I will be back later tonight with some more analysis.

EA Sports Virtual Playoff Simulation - Capital One Bowl

#1 Ohio State 20 - #12 Arizona State 10

This game was much closer than the score made it appear to be.  Arizona State scored 
a touchdown on their opening drive and controlled the game for the entire first half.  
The Bucks added three field goals in the first half taking the score to a 
ASU 10 – OSU 9 halftime score.  In what would have been a monumental upset, ASU led 
the game until with three minutes and thirty-six seconds left in the 4th quarter 
Todd Boeckman, Ohio State junior quarterback, hooked up with Brian Hartline for a 
41 yard touchdown pass, a Pontiac Game-Changing Performance play.  On Arizona 
State’s last possession of the game they drove the ball down into OSU territory, but 
were forced into a fourth down play and could not convert.  Upon getting the ball 
back, Chris “Beanie” Wells added a dagger in the hearts of Sun Devils fans everywhere 

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
ASU	7	3	0	0	10
OSU	0	6	0	14	20

	ASU	OSU
First Downs	11	10
Total Offense	236	275
Rushes-Yards	13-(-1)	27-154
Comp-Att-TD	18-34-1	5-9-1
Passing Yards	237	121
Sacked	4	0
3rd Down Conv	6 – 12 (50%)	2 – 7 (28%)
4th Down Conv	0 – 1 (0%)	0 – 0 (0%)
2-Point Conv	0 – 0 (0%)	0 – 0 (0%)
Redzone – TD – FG	3 – 1 – 1 (66%)	2 – 0 – 2 (100%)
Turnovers	1	0
Fumbles – Lost	1 - 1	2 - 0
Intercepted	0	0
PR Yards	13	9
KR Yards	60	41
Total Yards	309	325
Punts – Average	4 – 31.2	4 – 31.0
Penalties – Yards	0 – 0	0 - 0
T.O.P.	9:48	10:12

EA Sports Virtual Playoff Simulation - 2nd Round

With the end of the first round of the playoffs, we are down to 8 teams.

Here are your 2nd round match-ups:

#1 Ohio State vs. #12 Arizona State - Capital One Bowl - Saturday, December 22, 2007

#2 LSU vs. #10 Hawaii - Rose Bowl - Saturday, December 22, 2007

#3 Oklahoma vs. #9 Florida - Sugar Bowl - Saturday, December 22, 2007

#4 Georgia vs. #6 USC - Gator Bowl -Saturday, December 22, 2007

Most Intriguing Matchup - Gator Bowl - #4 Georgia vs. #6 USC

My Final Four Prediction - #1 Ohio State, #2 LSU, #3 Oklahoma, #6 USC

Grading Texas Tech Men's Basketball vs. #10 Texas A&M

Texas Tech 68 - #10 Texas A&M 53

January 16, 2008 

8:30 PM

United Spirit Arena - Lubbock, Texas

For anyone that is not a Texas Tech fan they may dismiss a Tech/A&M game 

as "no big deal", but anytime these two schools meet it is a big deal, in any sport.  In the midst of a frigid night both teams came out cold and mistake prone.  Unfortunately for A&M they stayed that way most of the night.  The Aggies had a season-high 20 turnovers and shoot a miserable 18-52 (34.6%) from the field.  Texas Tech played good defense except for a few defensive possessions, but the Tech crowd also played a role in the game.  In the first game in the USA with a good sized crowd,  the deafening noise kept A&M out of rhythm for the entire game, except for a few minutes in the beginning of the second half when they went on a 14-4 run to cut Tech's lead to 8.  Texas Tech took a 17-14 lead with six minutes and seven seconds left in the first half and never looked back.  Martin Zeno led the Red Raiders with 19 points and Trevor Cook added 14 along with 3 three-pointers.

Offense: B 

Texas Tech shoot 22-50 (44%) from the field and for the most part took good shots.  John Roberson took a few crazy shots and he will need to continue to grow into a mature point

 guard in order for this team to have a chance to sneak into the NCAA tournament.  Suddenly Tech also learned how to shoot free throws making 20-25 (80%), much better than they have shoot from the stripe prior this season.  I really liked what I saw tonight on the offensive end; Tech was aggressive, drove to the basket, and patient in finding open shots, despite a slow start.  This consistency will need to continue in the following weeks for the Red Raiders.

Defense: B+

The Red Raider did a good job playing well disciplined defense against Texas A&M tonight, making every point hard to get, and holding their opponent to 17 first-half points.  At the same time, a lot of A&M mistakes were mental ones - mostly travels possibly caused by crowd noise and intensity.

Overall: B+

I am really looking forward to this weekend's game at Oklahoma to see if Texas Tech has finally come together as a team.  There is no doubt tonight's game was the best game of this season thus far, but once again the Red Raiders will need to play more consistently in upcoming games, and if they do they can hang with most teams.

EA Sports Virtual Playoff Simulation - Chick Fil-A Bowl

#9 Florida 28 - #8 Kansas 10

Kansas came out strong scoring a touchdown on their first drive with a hookup from 
sophomore quarterback Tood Reesing to Gary Green from ten yards out.  Soon this game 
became all Florida Gators and a showcase of why Tim Tebow was the 2007-2008 Heisman 
Trophy winner.  Tebow threw for 258 yards and 4 touchdowns and lead the Gators to 
four straight touchdowns in the second and third quarters in route to being voted 
the MVP of the game.  The Jayhawks were held to -3 rushing yards in the game and 
shutout on the scoreboard in the second half by the stifling Gator defense.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
FLA	0	14	14	0	28
KU	7	3	0	0	10

	FLA	KU
First Downs	16	8
Total Offense	346	152
Rushes-Yards	19 - 70	8 – (-3)
Comp-Att-TD	19-27-4	11-24-1
Passing Yards	276	155
Sacked	3	4
3rd Down Conv	7 – 10 (70%)	3 – 8 (37%)
4th Down Conv	1 – 1 (100%)	0 – 1 (0%)
2-Point Conv	0 – 0 (0%)	0 – 0 (0%)
Redzone – TD – FG	5 – 4 – 0 (80%)	3 – 1 – 1 (66%)
Turnovers	0	0
Fumbles – Lost	0 - 0	0 - 0
Intercepted	0	0
PR Yards	11	0
KR Yards	50	77
Total Yards	407	229
Punts – Average	1 – 27.0	3 – 34.3
Penalties – Yards	2 – 25	1 - 15
T.O.P.	13:06	6:54

EA Sports Virtual Playoff Simulation - Outback Bowl

#10 Hawaii 28 - #7 Missouri 24

In the first close game of the playoffs, the Outback Bowl was a game for the ages.  
Hawaii opened up the scoring with an 87-yard bomb from Heisman candidate Colt 
Brennan to C.J. Hawthorne.  After ten straight Mizzou –RAH! points and the two 
teams exchanging another touchdown before halftime, Missouri carried a 17-14 lead 
into halftime.  Missouri came out strong in the second half with a dominant drive 
capped by a 6-yard run from tailback Tony Temple.  Little did the Tigers know that 
they would surrender the final fourteen points of the game.  With only one minute 
thirty eight seconds remaining in the game Lorgan Paul took matters into his own 
hands returning the game winning touchdown 65 yards on a punt return and earning 
himself the most valuable player of the game award.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
MIZZ	3	14	7	0	24
HAW	7	7	7	7	28

	MIZZ	HAW
First Downs	17	9
Total Offense	271	281
Rushes-Yards	23 - 64	6 - 27
Comp-Att-TD	19-28-2	19-26-3
Passing Yards	207	254
Sacked	3	1
3rd Down Conv	4 – 8 (50%)	3 – 7 (42%)
4th Down Conv	0 – 0 (0%)	0 – 0 (0%)
2-Point Conv	0 – 0 (0%)	0 – 0 (0%)
Redzone – TD – FG	4 – 3 – 1 (100%)	1 – 1 – 0 (100%)
Turnovers	3	1
Fumbles – Lost	1 - 1	0 - 0
Intercepted	2	1
PR Yards	2	65
KR Yards	59	91
Total Yards	332	437
Punts – Average	1 – 28.0	3 – 28.0
Penalties – Yards	3 – 23	3 - 45
T.O.P.	12:40	7:20