MVN: Most Valuable Network

Another fun weekend of college football, and it's always exciting when the games just happen to work out in ways that provide for witty bullet-point style articles, isn't it? There were exciting games, both good and bad, and not everyone finished the year on the right note.

Out with a Bang:

Several coaches spent their last day on the sideline today. Philip Fulmer closed out his tenure at Tennessee with the usual domination of Kentucky, finishing 152-52 and undefeated in 16 outings against the Wildcats.

Utah State's Brent Guy decided to be nice in his final game of the season and dodged a shutout with a generous safety, polishing off New Mexico State by a final of 47-2.

Eastern Michigan's Jeff Genyk was also coaching his last game, and he went out with a real bang. His Eagles team had only scored 149 points in 10 games after a season-opening 52-0 victory. Then last week they nearly outgunned Temple with 52 points, and this week they hung 56 on Central Michigan to end the year with a victory. The interesting sidenote here is that junior quarterback Andy Schmitt, who didn't start until the fourth game of the season, went 58-for-80 for 516 yards and five touchdowns, giving him a grand total of 1000 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns, and three rushing touchdowns in the last two games of the year. What a way to go.

You Don't Know Dick Casey

However, all that can't top Arkansas senior quarterback Casey Dick. He had struggled all season after finally getting to be full time starter, what with Houston Nutt leaving for Ole Miss and Mitch Mustian transferring to USC. Arkansas had lost seven of their last nine coming into the game against LSU, and Casey had thrown 13 interceptions to only seven touchdowns before being benched prior to last week's game against Mississippi State, when he was told his younger brother Nathan would be playing all of the remaining two games of the season.

Things started off well for the Razorbacks, as they jumped out to a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Then LSU roared to life, and two minutes into the second half, the 'Hogs were trailing 30-14. Coach Bobby Petrino decided this would be a good time to switch quarterbacks, and in came Casey.

He proceeded to finish the game 18-for-29 for 197 yards and two touchdowns, with the second being a perfect 25-yard rainbow to the corner of the end zone with 25 seconds left in the game. Arkansas held on, and Casey Dick got one last victory before he hands over the offense to his brother for keeps.

Out with a Whimper:

Other teams didn't do such a hot job of finishing their season on a high note, first and foremost of which were the Oregon State Beavers. They had destiny in their hands, and all that stood between them and their first Rose Bowl appearance in 44 years was a victory over Oregon.

Suffice to say they failed miserably in their task, and a very small portion of the game gives it all away. In spite of being the victim of a phantom pass interference call, the Beavers had Oregon trapped in 3rd-and-19 at their own 17 yard line with 1:10 left to play in the first half and trailing 23-10. It had been a rough first half, but they were still in it, and one more third down stop would put them in good shape considering they would get the ball to start the second half.

I assumed that is exactly what would happen, since Oregon went and ran a draw - an obvious attempt to just get back some of the yardage so they weren't punting from the goal line. Except that Oregon State was playing the pass, and the Duck's Jeremiah Johnson wound up cranking out an 83-yard touchdown run, his second carry of 80+ yards that half.

An interception on Oregon State's next offensive play, and before you knew it, only 27 seconds had elapsed, but with 0:43 left on the clock they were now trailing 37-10. A quick score to end the half followed by another to open the second got them to within two scores, but that's all the closer they got, as they proceeded to trade touchdowns the rest of the way en route to a 65-38 annihilation at the hands of the Ducks.

The Beaver's defense was absolutely torched. Penalty yards are, of course, subtracted from your total. Oregon was flagged for 104 yards of penalties and still rang up 694 total yards of offense.

I'm actually glad this game turned out as it did, since it showed OSU for exactly the team they are - a team that can't pass because Lyle Moevao doesn't have the stature or arm strength, and a team that can't run without Jacquizz Rogers because he is the running game. Had they faced Penn State again in the Rose Bowl, it would have been just as ugly, so I'm glad the fate has shifted to USC.

Trojans Stop Touchdown Jesus

Speaking of the Trojans, they got to be the season-ending opponent for Notre Dame, and boy-howdy what an absolute mess that was. The Irish ran for a gain of three yards on the last play of the first half, and it was their first positive-yardage play in eight and a half minutes. They didn't get their first first down of the game until the last play of the third quarter, in the midst of a 50 yard field goal drive that accounted for half of their offensive yardage.

So let's see, Charlie Weis' Irish finished the season as follows...a loss to Boston College that was their first ever shutout loss against the Eagles; a win against Navy where they came *thisclose* to blowing a 20-point lead in the last three minutes; a come-from-ahead loss to a horrible Syracuse team; and a stomping of a loss against USC. So much for progress.

A Load of Bull(dog)

Georgia's Mark Richt also finished his season heading home with a loss. Things were looking up at first, as senior quarterback Matt Stafford had an interception taken back for a touchdown, but had otherwise completed 15 of 23 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns in leading the Bulldogs to a 28-12 halftime lead.

Then the wheels fell off. Georgia Tech's Jonathan Dwyer ran for a 60 yard touchdown and then a two-point conversion on the first two plays of the second half. 28-20 Georgia. Then Stafford misfires on two pass attempts and Georgia goes three-and-out. The Jackets get the ball and drive ten plays to another score and another two-point conversion, and the game is tied.

Georgia fumbles the ensuing kickoff, Tech takes it in for a score, and before the home crowd can catch their breath, the "Dogs found themselves on the wrong end of a 35-28 score halfway through the third quarter.

They battled valiantly, but wound up falling 45-42 to their in-state rival.

Odds and Ends

Some other strange moments from yesterday...Alabama Birmingham faced Central Florida, and managed to go inside their opponent's 30 yard line six times and inside the 20 three times over the course of nine possessions. Central Florida didn't cross midfield until the last minute of the first half, then didn't do it again until the last three minutes of the game. Final score? UAB 15, UCF 0...Florida International, as would be expected from a team that had to bust their butts to get to 4-6 in a bad conference, couldn't finish the job. The team blew two separate 14-point leads, the second with only three minutes left, and wound up losing 57-50 in overtime...An interesting detail from Oklahoma's barn-burner of a win over Oklahoma State: With 2:03 left in the first quarter, the Cowboys took possession of the ball trailing 7-3. By the time either offense had another possession that did not end in points being scored, Oklahoma led 51-41 with 7:17 left in the game.