Every day (or so) for the next month I will be previewing one of the upcoming college bowl games. I will give my thoughts on the teams playing, players to be on the lookout for, and a general overview of the bowl.
It always amuses me when a corporation swoops on advertising for a bowl game, and put their name on it but still leave the name of the old bowl there. This would be the prime example. We all remember the Independence Bowl, and now PetroSun has obviously bought the naming rights to the bowl but kept the Independence name for some recognition. But when the game features two 6-6 teams, in Oklahoma State and Alabama, it doesn’t matter what it’s called, it’s going to be a struggle to get ratings.
The Alabama program still seems to think they are in the glory days, and as such, canned their head coach Mike Shula after their disappointing year. Considering the success he had last year, I question if this was such a good move, but I’m not the athletic director. This program has been in disarray ever since Mike Price decided getting hammered and having sex with a stripper was a good idea. They looked good outside of the SEC, but their 2-6 record in the SEC is just abysmal. Their two wins came against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, two other bottom feeders in the SEC. They also managed to lose to Mississippi State, a team that won two other games the rest of the year. It has just been a rough year for the Crimson Tide. They have a good defense, giving up only 18 points a game, but that is to be expected from any SEC team. The offense is fairly balanced as quarterback John Wilson has over 2500 yards passing and they have two running backs who are averaging over 4 yards per carry. It looks like they have a replica of Tiki Barber on their team in Kenneth Darby. Darby leads the team with 820 yards rushing, but a grand total of zero touchdowns. ‘Bama is in a rebuilding year, that is for sure, but they haven’t played that bad. They kept it close against all of the major teams that they have faced and generally have played well. It is a bit of a problem that Alabama doesn’t have a real head coach, so it will be interesting to see how they play under the leadership of an interim coach.
Oklahoma State comes into the game in a similar boat as Alabama does. They put together a 6-6 season as well, with a 3-5 record in the Big Twelve, a conference that was certainly in a down year. the Cowboys rely upon their rush offense, which is certainly very good. They utilize three different running backs, Dantrell Savage, Keith Toston and Mike Hamilton who have 107, 97, and 97 carries respectively. Each of them are averaging over 5.5 yards per carry, and they add quarterback Bobby Reid’s 109 carries to that attack and they have four legitimate running threats out of the backfield. They have 20 rushing touchdowns so they definitely get it done in the rushing game. Reid isn’t just a rushing quarterback, though, he has compiled over 2000 yards passing, and has 23 touchdowns through the air. They have every weapon they need on offense, scoring over 35 points per game. Their weakness is in their defense. They have none. They can’t seem to stop a whole lot of people, so they rely on outscoring other offenses. This usually isn’t a winning formula.
Despite the turnover and changes in Alabama, i think that they have enough to win this battle of mediocre teams from big conferences. Their defense should be able to hold the Oklahoma State offense, or at least contain them a little bit. The fact that any offense is good enough to score against the Cowboys only solidifies my decision.
My Prediction: Alabama Wins
