Well, it’s been a great
College Football Season but we still have some Bowl Games to play. Now, usually
I post my Biggest Surprises & Biggest Disappointments article around the
holidays but I’ve decided to wait until after all the Bowl Games are played and
of course the College Football Playoff is done before posting that.
I thought I do something fun this year by
giving out my awards to the best players at each position plus the Coach of the
year , Freshman/Redshirt Freshman of the Year and so on. This along with my
Bowl Predictions,too. Well, Ladies & Gentlemen this is my First Annual College
Football Year End Awards for 2014.
QUARTERBACK
OF THE YEAR , OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR & COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYE R OF
THE YEAR:
Marcus
Mariota (Oregon)
Led Oregon to another PAC-12 title, 38 TD’s &
only 2 Interception’s, 68 Completion %, 3783 Passing Yards, 669 rushing yards
and 14 TD’s, and he even caught a 26 yards TD reception. Hands down the
Quarterback of the year and my College Football Player of the Year. Was also
PAC-12 Offensive Player of the Year and PAC-12 Title Game MVP, and Heisman
Trophy Winner.
RUNNING
BACK OF THE YEAR: Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin)
He may not have had a great game against my Ohio
State Buckeyes but still had a phenomenal year. Over 2300 yards rushing, 26
TD’s, 151 yards receiving and another 3 TD’s. He broke the NCAA record for
rushing yards in a game with 408. Well, he had it for one week, but became the
fastest player to ever reach at least 2000 yards in a season. Won the Doan
Walker Award and was the B10 Offensive Player of the Year.
WIDE
RECEIVER OF THE YEAR: Amari Cooper
(Alabama)
Clutch receiver for Bama this year. Had 1656 yards
receiving & 14 touchdowns. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
OFFENSIVE
LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: BJ Finney (Kansas State)
3 Time All Big 12 Selection. Up for the
Rimington Award for outstanding center
& leader of K-State O Line. Next year Cody Whitehair will be the leader of
the O Line. Hopefully he’ll be up for the award.
DEFINSIVE
LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Joey Bosa (Ohio State)
Yes I’m showing some favoritism here but the guy was
a beast this season. He had 51 tackles this year(16 of them assisted), 14
Sacks, returned a fumble for a TD in the B10 Championship game, B10 Defensive
Player of the Year & First Team. Here’s his memorable moment during the
Penn State game.
LINEBACKER
OF THE YEAR & DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Scooby Wright III (Arizona)
He’s got a pretty cool name but don’t let that fool
you. He had the stats to back it up. 153 Tackles(63 of them assisted and 27 for
a loss), & 14 Sacks. This guy definitely earned his Scooby Snacks!!!
DEFENSIVE
BACK OF THE YEAR: Gerod Holliman (Louisville)
Only had 37 tackles but had 14 interceptions( one of
them returned for a TD), 19 pass deflections, had a sack.
KICKER
OF THE YEAR: Roberto Aguayo (Florida State)
He’s one of the reasons why Florida State is still
undefeated & Jameis Winston should be thanking him. He made 25 of 27 field
goals this season and 46 of 49 over the past two seasons. He hasn't missed an
extra point during his college career.
PUNTER
OF THE YEAR: J.K. Scott (Alabama)
Field position is very important in football and he was big for Bama this season. He ranks third among FBS players in punting (47.0 average) and leads the country with 26 punts inside opponents' 20-yard line. Scott had 18 punts of 50 yards or more, including a long of 70. Alabama is No. 2 in net punting among FBS teams (43.3 yards) and has allowed only 73 punt return yards.
FRESHMAN/REDSHIRT
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: J.T. Barrett (Ohio State)
There is no question that Barrett gets this award
after winning the job before the season when Braxton Miller went down. After a
terrible game against Virginia Tech in Week 2, Barrett rebounded to lead the
Buckeyes to an 11-1 record. He couldn’t play in the B10 Championship game due
to a broken ankle in the Michigan Game the week before the championship. But,
Cardale Jones took his place and finished the job for Ohio State to win the Big
Ten. Barrett finished with 2,834 passing yards, 64.6 Completion % 34 TD passes
10 INT, and ran for 938 yards and 11 Touchdowns. Both Barrett & Jones will
come back next year.
Honorable Mention goes to Oklahoma Freshman running
back Samaje Perine who ran for almost 1500 yards and broke Melvin Gordon’s NCAA
FBS Single Game Rushing Record.
HEAD
COACH OF THE YEAR (TIE): Gary Patterson
(TCU) & Dan Mullen (Mississippi State)
First, Patterson led TCU to an 11-1 record after
going 4-8 last season and they were Co-Champions of the BIG 12 with Baylor.
This is his 6th championship at TCU(he had 4 in the Mountain West,
one in Conference USA) and his first Big 12 title.
Then there’s Dan Mullen. He led Mississippi State to
a 10-2 season after going 7-6 the year before. He had 3 straight wins over Top
10 teams at the time and was ranked # 1 at a time also the first for any
Mississippi State team and highest ever ranking in team history. They lost to
Alabama & Ole Miss but will play in a major Bowl Game this New Years, The
Orange Bowl.
BOWL
GAMES
Now it’s time to make some Bowl Predictions. I’m
just going to give you a list of each bowl game and BOLD HIGHLIGHT who I think is going to win.
Dec 20 NEW ORLEANS BOWL: Louisiana-Lafayette
(8-4) vs. Nevada (7-5)
NEW
MEXICO BOWL: Utah State (9-4) vs. UTEP (7-5)
LAS
VEGAS BOWL: Colorado State (10-2) vs. Utah (8-4)
IDAHO
POTATO BOWL: Air Force (9-3) vs.
Western Michigan (8-4)
CAMELLIA
BOWL: Bowling Green (7-6) vs South
Alabama (6-6)
Dec 22 MIAMI BEACH BOWL: BYU (8-4) vs. MEMPHIS (9-3)
Dec 23 BOCA RATON BOWL: Marshall (12-1) vs. Northern Illinois (11-2)
POINSETTA
BOWL: Navy (7-5) vs. San Diego State
(7-5)
Dec 24 POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL: Central Michigan (7-5)
vs. Western Kentucky (7-5)
HAWAI’I
BOWL: Fresno State (6-7) vs Rice (7-5)
Dec 26 HEART OF DALLAS BOWL: Illinois (6-6) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-5)
QUICK
LANE BOWL: North Carolina (6-6) vs. Rutgers
(7-5)
ST
PETERSBURG BOWL: Central Florida (9-3) vs. NC
State (7-5)
Dec 27 MILITARY BOWL: Virginia Tech (6-6) vs. Cincinnati (9-3)
SUN
BOWL: Duke (9-3) vs. Arizona State (9-3)
Duck
Commander INDEPENDENCE BOWL: Miami (FL)
(6-6) vs South Carolina (6-6)
PINSTRIPE
BOWL: Boston College (7-5) vs. Penn
State (6-6)
HOLIDAY
BOWL: Nebraska (9-3) vs. USC (8-4)
Dec 29 LIBERTY BOWL: Texas A&M (7-5) vs. West Virginia (7-5)
AdvoCare
TEXAS BOWL: Arkansas (6-6) vs. Texas
(6-6)
Dec 30 MUSIC CITY BOWL: LSU (8-4) vs. Notre Dame (7-5)
BELK
BOWL: Georgia (9-3) vs. Louisville
(9-3)
FOSTER
FARMS BOWL: Maryland (7-5) vs. Stanford
(7-5)
Jan 1 OUTBACK BOWL: Auburn (8-4) vs. Wisconsin (10-3)
CITRUS
BOWL: Minnesota (8-4) vs Missouri
(10-3)
Jan 2 ARMED FORCES BOWL: Houston (7-5) vs. Pittsburgh (6-6)
ALAMO
BOWL: Kansas State (9-3) vs. UCLA
(9-3)
CACTUS
BOWL: Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Washington
(8-5)
TAXSLAYER
GATOR BOWL: Iowa (7-5) vs. Tennessee
(6-6)
Jan 3 BIRMINGHAM BOWL: East Carolina (8-4) vs. Florida (7-5)
Jan 4 GO DADDY BOWL: Arkansas State (7-5) vs. Toledo (8-4)
This
Year’s Non-Playoff but Other Big Bowl GAMES
Dec 31 CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL: Ole Miss (9-3) vs TCU (11-1)
VIZIO
FIESTA BOWL: Boise State (11-2) vs. Arizona
(10-3)
ORANGE
BOWL: Georgia Tech (10-3) vs. Mississippi
State (10-2)
Jan 1 COTTON BOWL CLASSIC: Baylor (11-1) vs. Michigan State (10-2)
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Jan 1 ROSE
BOWL: Florida State (13-0) vs. Oregon
(12-1)
SUGAR
BOWL: Alabama (12-1) vs. Ohio State
(12-1)
Jan 12 COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
Alabama (13-1) vs. Oregon (13-1)
Yeah, I know I’m upsetting some Buckeye Fans in
picking Alabama. I honestly hope it’s a close game and Ohio State doesn’t
embarrass themselves on the National Stage. If they win that will be GREAT!!!
Oregon, in my opinion is the Best Team in the Country and I believe they’ll win
the College Football Playoff. Well, that’s it for now. Happy Bowl Watching,
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, & Happy Festivus!!!
