Saturday, December 20, 2014

Bowl Predictions & D-Money’s 2014 College Football Awards






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)

            RUSSELL ATHLETIC BOWL: Clemson (9-3) vs. Oklahoma (8-4)

            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!!!

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