As mentioned in the previous post, three games will be featured in each post. However, The Gator Bowl between Michigan and Mississippi State started in between both threads.
Michigan jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first quarter as Denard Robinson passed to Roy Roundtree. After that Mississippi State came back with 10 unanswered points. But the Wolverines would not be denied as Robinson struck again with a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Martavious Odoms.
The slug fest continued in the second quarter as the Bulldogs scored on a two yard run by Vick Ballard. Shortly after that, Denard Robinson was picked off by Jonathan Banks and the Bulldogs wasted no time taking it 43 yards for the touchdown making the score 24-14. And what seemed like what was going to be a back and forth game turned in to a blowout just before the half when Chris Relf threw another touchdown pass making it his second of the day putting the Bulldogs up 31-14.
The second half started off slowly as both teams came out flat. But later in the 3rd quarter Mississippi State ran it in with 6:19 on the clock to make the game a little more out of reach for Rodriguez's Wolverines at 38-14.
The game is still in progress as I post this, but it may be safe to say that the Bulldogs are in full control...
Below, we will take a look at the last two games (The Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl) of the evening and the key players that will be suiting up in them.
#5 WISCONSIN BADGERS VS. #3 TCU HORNED FROGS (4:30pm EST)
TCU march's in to tonight's Rose Bowl with a flawless record at 12-0, while the Badgers managed only to drop one game to in-conference rivals Michigan State midway through the season. Since then, the Badgers have dominated and deserve very much to be in this game. Both teams have exceptional talent on both sides of the ball. There is no question that there is a couple players that could possess Hall of Fame potential. Of course it is premature to mark any player worthy of that honor while they are still in college, but potential doesn't mean anything until a player lives up to it. But the talent is certainly there for it to materialize for some of these young athletes.
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR THE BADGERS:
Scott Tolzien - QB, John Clay - RB, James White, Lance Kendricks - TE, Nick Toon - WR, Gabe Carimi - OT, John Moffitt - OG, J.J. Watt - DE, Blake Sorenson - LB
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR THE HORNED FROGS:
Andy Dalton - QB, Ed Wesley - RB, Jeremy Kerley - WR, Marcus Cannon - OT, Jake Kirkpatrick - C, Tank Carder - LB, Wayne Daniels - LB, Jason Teague - CB, Tejay Johnson - S
CONNECTICUT VS #7 OKLAHOMA (8:30pm EST)
Oklahoma held the #1 spot in the nation for just a week until they were upset in Missouri by the #11 ranked Tigers in week 7. Connecticut was a bit streaky in the first half of the season but they managed to put together a 5 game win streak at the end of the year. UConn may be out-matched in this game though as OU ranks 4th in the nation in passing yards. Connecticut has perhaps one of the best running backs in the nation in Jordan Todman, but Oklahoma's defense will no doubt be keying on Todman today. UConn ranks 113th in the nation in pass yards, so they are very one-dimensional. This game could get out of control very quickly if the Huskies defensive back field can't contain Landry Jones, DeMarco Murray, Ryan Browles, and the freshman phenom wide receiver Kenny Stills.
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR THE HUSKIES:
Zach Frazer - QB, Jordan Todman - RB, Jesse Jopesph - DE, Jerome Junior - S, Blidi Wreh-Wilson - CB
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR THE SOONERS:
Landry Jones - QB, DeMarco Murray - RB, Ryan Broyles - WR, Kenny Stills - WR, Jeremy Beal - DE, Travis Lewis - LB, Quinton Carter - DB, Jamell Fleming - CB