Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl Analysis

I am going to analyze every BCS bowl game for you, starting with the Rose Bowl Presented by Citi between Derrick Williams and Penn State and Rey Maualuga and USC and the 75th FedEx Orange Bowl between Mardy Gilyard and Cincinnati and Victor 'Macho' Harris and Virginia Tech. Peter Cady knows more about football than all of you bums combined (despite me being a Serbian immigrant who has spent little time in this country), so this is the least that I can do:

The Rose Bowl Presented by Citi:
USC did what it has done the last two years today in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl: It played their A-game, executing on all sides of the ball. Now once again people will wonder if 'SC deserved to play in the BCS National Championship game (No). The story of the game was all of the mistakes that Penn State made in the first half, both mentally and physically from the coordinators on down, as Mark Sanchez killed PSU safety Anthony Scirrotto and the Nittany Lions cover two look with post route after post route to Damian Williams and Ronald Johnson (PSU D-Coordinator Tom Bradley should have had his D play a cover 3 scheme after he first got beat) to go along with a good amount of PSU offsides and personal foul penalties along with a Stephfon Johnson fumble after a big gain on a screen play and blown coverage on a Sanchez deep ball to Ronald Johnson (blown coverage by Sciriano). The Trojans were too much for the Nittany Lions to handle on both offense and defense, and it showed on both sides of the ball, but with that said, I was very impressed with how Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler did against the 'SC secondary, as they both ran solid routes and weren't afraid to go up against 'SC safety Taylor Mays, who hits almost as hard as the Late Great Sean Taylor. I was also quite surprised with how well PSU backup RB Staphfon Green did against 'SC's defense. Both Green and starting RB Evan Royster (who left the game in the first quarter with a leg injury) averaged 5.7 yards per carry, pretty impressive considering how fast 'SC's D is. PSU QB Daryll Clark had a decent game statistically (21/36, 273 yards, 2 td's/int's). He wasn't the reason why PSU lost the game, and didn't make too many bad reads. I think he'll kill it this year even though he'll have to work with a lot of new receivers. He'll improve his footwork and look to make more finesse throws than just chucking it deep to the post. If I'm Ronald Johnson, I declare for the NFL Draft right now, as essentially all he would be going up against would be Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree, Ohio State's Brian Robiskie, some OU receivers and the PSU receivers Derrick Williams, Norwood and Butler. He could easily be a mid-late first round pick this April depending on his 40-time. I don't think Patrick Turner will be much of a hit in the NFL, as he runs sluggish routes and drops more passes than a Cal wide receiver. I think at best he'll be a fifth round draft pick, and won't be more than a Michael Jenkins type receiver in the NFL, a guy capable of a big play here or there mixed in with a couple of drops in between. Maualuga has a legit chance of being the next Ray Lewis in the NFL if he can cut down on his over-pursuits. He'd be a great fit for the St. Louis Rams, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars or Cleveland Browns. The Niners or Raiders should both take dead aim at drafting Mays (if the junior comes out), as he can both hit hard and cover in man-to-man. He could go down as the next Ronnie Lott in the NFL. Look for USC CB Cary Harris to also be a starter as a rookie in the NFL next year. And last but not least, shoutout to 'SC left tackle Charles Brown (#71) and receiver David Ausberry. I interned with these guys in Los Angeles last summer, and they are both class acts and very nice guys, and both of them had solid games today, as Brown was solid at the LT spot and Ausberry caught a WR screen pass for a 5-yard gain.

The 75th FedEx Orange Bowl:
Fox's production of this game really annoyed me, as they kept on shoving ugly-looking programs from past Orange Bowl games down my throat after they came back from commercials to commemorate this bowl's 75th anniversary, they didn't show the team's timeouts below their name on the screen like ESPN does and the announcing by Thom Brennaman (normally a good announcer) and Charles Davis (mediocre) was horrible. And furthermore you had to see Cincinnati Bearcat head coach Brian Kelly and the rest of the UC staff in their ridiculously ugly adidas red white and black gear that is complete with ridiculous color schemes that make you want to jump into the bay, far from the plush Nike gear that Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer and his staff sport on the sidelines. Most fans wouldn't think that the actual game between the Hokies and Bearcats was much better, but those are the types of fans that wait outside the Dairy Queen for a tornado to come by (shot courtesy of the Jim Rome Show presented by the premiere radio networks), the types of fans that don't like defense. The story of this game was how much of a swarming unit the Hokies defenders were. Hokies safety Victor 'Macho' Harris is a sure first round draft pick. How he defended that Tony Pike deep ball down the right sideline in the first quarter was something special. He didn't look up for the ball, he just kept running with the faster Bearcats receiver to get in position and then read where his hands and eyes were before tipping the ball and aiding in a Hokies interception. I was also really impressed with fellow safety Kam Chancellor for how he played, and shoutout to Hokies linebacker Barquell Rivers for stuffing Pike at the goal line on that fourth-and-1 play at the 7:30 portion of the fourth quarter. Also shoutouts to Hokies LB Cody Grimm, CB Stephan Virgil, Chancellor and DE Orion Martin for each getting picks off of Pike. The whole Hokies unit in general played like madmen, just like they have throughout the year. They swarm ball carriers and get good rushes on QB's while not over-pursuing in the process. I was concerned that they were goanna get lit up after Pike and Cincy drove down the field and threw that touchdown to Mardy Gilyard (that was a great ball and a great catch by Gilyard) early in the first quarter, but from there on out Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster (one of the better DC's in the country) got his unit in check and completely shut down that UC offense (the Hokies special teams helped out a lot on that to). Hokies QB Tyrod Taylor is a winner (period) despite not being the best passer in the world (he can run just as well as former Va. Tech QB and Miami Dolphins WR Marcus Vick, not Michael). He's a great game manager and leader despite being only a sophomore, and he reads defenses well. He could easily be a Heisman contender in '09 or '10 if he works on his passing game (and in particular his deep balls). He's a future NFL player for sure, whether its at QB or WR. Va. Tech RB Darren Evans also really impressed me with both his between the tackles running and elusiveness. I think he's a better Hokies back than Kevin Jones, and is arguably just as good as OSU's Beanie Wells (he runs pretty much the same as him, though he's not quite as big). This guy's another future NFL player, and could be better than Green Bay's Ryan Grant if given the opportunity to be a starter. And last but not least, Va. Tech TE Greg Boone. This guy is something else. He looks out of shape in uniform but runs almost as fast as fellow big skill player Javorskie Lane (RB/FB Texas A&M) and has great hands. It was an honor to watch him play, and I think that he could be an Alge Crumpler-type tight end in the NFL if he turns out to be as fast as the Tennessee Titans tight end. Quite frankly (shout out to Stephen A!) I am not real high on Pike after watching this game, as while he has looked good when I have seen him earlier this year, he looked like Colt Brennan against the '07 Georgia D in the Sugar Bowl yesterday: Outmatched. His footwork was shaky to go along with his reads and throws, once again proving that anybody can be a successful passer in a shotgun 75% passing offense, as you just get the ball and throw it with hardly any footwork involved. The only Cincinnati player that I was genuinely impressed with was WR Gilyard, as he's tall (though not as tall as I thought he was. He's only 6-1), fast and versatile, something that USC WR Patrick Turner wishes he was. That ball that he caught for a touchdown in the first quarter was one of the better catches that I have seen this year. He reminded me a lot of Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, and I think he could be a slightly lesser-receiver in the NFL. He's a senior and I think he could be a third-round pick if he has a good 40-time in the February combine. If not then he'll probably go in the 5th or 6th round. Fellow Bearcat receivers Dominick Goodman and Marcus Barnett also looked good. I think Goodman (a senior) will see time in an NFL training camp this summer, but I don't think that he will be drafted in April, and since both Gilyard and Barnett(once again another correlation to Brennan and the '07 Hawai'i team-a squad that is three deep at receiver but lacks a dominant run game that can carry it to victory), I don't know if Cincinnati will be able to fend off Pittsburgh, West Virginia or South Florida next year for the Big East title. Switching sides, I think Virginia Tech would have a legitimate shot to be a BCS National Championship contender in '09 if not for the fact that they start the year against Nick Saban and Alabama at the Georgia Dome (that's a 25-17 'Bama win), but I digress. Taylor and the Hokies got to the Orange Bowl this year despite having to replace now NFL players Eddie Royal (WR, Denver Broncos), Josh Morgan (WR, San Francisco 49ers) and the crazy good Xavier Adibi (LB, Houston Texans) from last year's OB team, and Evans along with a better passing Taylor will probably lead the Hokies to another ACC Championship this year if Randy Shannon and Miami, Butch Davis and North Carolina or Bobby Bowden and Florida State (don't kid yourselves, the Seminoles will have one of their better teams in the 21st century come September) don't have have something to say about it, as they meet Miami, NC and Boston College in Blacksburg with their toughest road game being at Georgia Tech (they also play Nebraska at home on Sept. 25). They could easily go 11-1 (8-0 ACC Coastal) in 2009 if they play as well as they did tonight, though they will have to replace Harris on D.

Random Thoughts:
1) It was nice to see Serbian Vlade Divac playing basketball on TV again on that Taco Bell ad for the Gordita crunch. Most Taco Bell ads stink (especially compared to Jack in the Box ads), but that one was ok.
2) ESPN is shameless. Who else would promote the April Master's (ESPN's next big event) in January except the Microsoft of sports television. I'm just glad that NPR reporter Mike Tirico wasn't featured in any of those spots. I can't wait 'till next year's BCS games (which ESPN has the rights to) where they will be shoving the supermeaningless Pro Bowl down my throat (another event which ESPN will have the rights to in '10).
3) Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger are the best sports announcer combination in all of sports. Herbstreit has the same level of enthusiasm that I have for college football (that of a kid who has just drank 5 Mountain Dew Code Red's) and breaks down plays better than Ron Jaworskie (when he is on Monday Night Football, not when he is on NFL Matchup-obviously, there's more time to break down plays on NFL Matchup) or Jon Madden, who is too rudimentary in his analysis of NFL games. And shifting to Musburger, the guy has a whitty sense of humor to him, speaks on a much more friendlier level to his viewers than the pompous Tirico does (the man makes you feel more inferior than a French waiter in Paris while mentioning obvious observations/facts) and also announces with passion like Herbstreit commentates. In a world where Tirico, Tony Kornheiser and Jon Barry can be announcers/commentators, this pair gives us hope that sports announcing will not be diluted much further (well, at least a little-Note to NFL Network: Don't let Rich Eisen ever call an NFL game!).