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Florida's cornerback, Joe Haden, has announced he will declare for the 2010 NFL Draft. Haden was a consensus first-team All-American this season as well as a finalist for the Thorpe Award.He led the Gators with four interceptions, while contributing 68 tackles, three sacks, 10 pass breakups and two forced fumbles. "We're sad to see Joe go because he's a great leader and a dynamic player," said interim Gators head coach Steve Addazio. "But we know that with his tremendous talent, he will be a special player at the next level. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for Joe, and we wish him nothing but the best." Haden started all 40 career games that he played, and in 2007 became the first true freshman to ever start at cornerback for Florida. He finishes his career with eight interceptions and 218 tackles. He was to me one of the best corners in the game. No word on the other Gators yet.
If there were any hopes that the Florida offense would play uninspired after having their national championship hopes crushed by Alabama last month, Gators star quarterback Tim Tebow quickly laid that notion to rest. It seemed like he would break every record. Tebow broke an Allstate Sugar Bowl record by completing his first 12 passes. Tebow's halftime stats that most quarterbacks would be ecstatic with for a full game: 20-of-23 for 320 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Did I mention that it was just halftime. Tebow named the Sugar Bowl MVP, lit up the Bearcats secondary for 482 passing yards and three touchdowns to help the Gators become the first school in FBS history to finish 13-1 in consecutive seasons. His passing yards and 533 total yards set Sugar Bowl records and his completions and yards also were career highs. Tebow’s performance on Friday night capped a career that saw him rush for more touchdowns than anyone in Southeastern Conference history, become the first player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in a single season, and become the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. Entering the game, he already owned two NCAA records, 13 SEC records and 23 school records. Tony Pike got much of the blame for that one after throwing four interceptions. Former coach Brian Kelly could get charged with this one. Kelly bailed on the Bearcats leaving behind a plenty of angry players. The players spent a few days spewing over Kelly’s decision, then insisted they understood he made a business decision. The coaches, meanwhile, spent the last three weeks searching for jobs and trying to keep the team focused despite a huge distraction. Without Kelly, who called plays all season, the offense suffered. On the upside, at least Cincy's mascot did win the mascot challenge.
It was another poor clock management finish for LSU. LSU lost to Penn State 19-17 in the Capital One Bowl Friday in a game the Tigers were out of early, came to life and took the lead in the second half, then fell apart in the closing seconds, reminiscent of the loss they suffered to Ole Miss in the regular season. The sloppy field and conditions have made this a defensive game so far. There were already serious questions about the turf at the Citrus Bowl as it was torn apart in the Champs Sports Bowl three nights ago. Lions needed a game-ending drive to retrieve a win and Daryll Clark led it. He composed a dozen plays, none longer than 17 yards, three of them his completions, four others his runs. Still, LSU still had plenty of time to position for a winning field goal from its ace kicker Josh Jasper, good from 52 earlier this year against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Tigers had no timeouts but 48 seconds left and started on their 40 after a good return from Trindon Holliday. Then at the end of the game, linebacker Navorro Bowman, who's jumped on the pile, is lying on the spindly LaFell like a delirious, dead-weight drunk, trying to wasting as much time as possible. They did not get any flag for that at all. That made me upset but hey still no excuse on the clock management but maybe the Tigers will fix their clock issues.
In first half West Virginia ran at will against a Florida State defense behind Noel Devine. He gained 127 yards on 11 carries in the first half. That included a 70-yard run (a school bowl record) to set up the Mountaineers’ second score. Devine said he's not sure about whether he will leave WVU and make himself eligible for the 2010 NFL Draft. Jarrett Brown complemented Devine’s running with three rushes for another 43 yards. One of his sacks was costly for Brown and the Mountaineers offense. He rolled his left ankle on the play and wasn’t able to play in the second half. From there the Seminoles went on to win 33-21. Backup quarterback Geno Smith running the offense for the rest of the game, West Virginia managed 137 yards, 34 of which came on Devine’s best carry in the second half. He carried the ball four other times, gaining a total of 7 yards. Devine had 168 yards rushing in the game and he caught two passes for 28 yards. You have to give credit though fans from around the country even me said that the 6-6 Seminoles didn’t belong on the same field with the Mountaineers [note my blog earlier]. QB EJ Manuel, who led FSU on seven scoring drives in nine possessions, finished the day 17 of 24 for 189 yards. He also added 70 yards rushing and a touchdown as well. He finished as the game's most outstanding player. Obviously they played for the coaches both Coach Mickey Andrews and Coach Bobby Bowden. Bowden finished with 389 wins, second-most all-time in Division I-A college football, trailing only Penn State's Joe Paterno. Bowden admitted he wanted to win 400 games.
So the OSU-Oregon was a shocker to me. I just knew that Oregon's offense would be too much for Ohio State's defense but I was wrong. Behind passing quarterback Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State is a bowl game winner after defeating Oregon, 26-17. I have to give props to Pryor though. Pryor completed 23 of 37 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 72 yards and won the game's MVP with the 11th-best offensive performance in Rose Bowl history. Terrelle Pryor also silenced his detractors after a sometimes rocky season. Shoot after an unexpected upset to Purdue, as well as a fifth straight Big Ten title, it was apparent that the Buckeyes were ready for their closeup. I just am happy that Jim Tressel had his boys ready to play. Tonight, Pryor grew as a quarterback.
Well OU lost their JUCO dual-threat option as Cam Newton is back in the SEC. Next season he'll be on the bench with an Auburn helmet on his head. Newton who initially signed with the Gators, was kicked off the team last year after he was arrested and charged with stealing another student's laptop. He will enroll at Auburn next week and join an array of quarterbacks hoping to replace Chris Todd as the starter next season. Newton comes to Auburn from Blinn College in Texas, a school he helped win the junior college national championship. Newton's final three college choices were Auburn, Mississippi State and Oklahoma. He eventually ruled out Oklahoma, and chose Auburn over Miss State. Why? I have no idea but I feel he just wants to play against Florida.
This weekend might not mean much to the Bengals but it will for Chad OchoCinco and Darrelle Revis. Ochocinco has fired off on Twitter saying he was going to "embarrass" Revis. Revis said. "The message is: You can't Tweet on Sundays. You've got to leave your phone in the locker room and bring you're 'A' game." Revis and Ochocinco are friends, both living in south Florida in the offseason, but they remain the marquee matchup in Sunday's game because of Ochocinco's trash talk. With a Jets win likely to send them to Cincinnati next week to play the Bengals in a wild-card game
The Huskers got their tenth win of the season for the first time since 2003 with a 33–0 win over Arizona in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. Coach Pelini's defense became the first team to shut out an opponent in Holiday Bowl history. Not only that but they are the only Nebraska team to ever to hold a team scoreless in a bowl game. Nebraska finished the season by allowing just 10.5 points per game to their opponents. Ndamukong Suh played his final game in a Husker uniform and came way with three tackles including one tackle for loss. Suh finishes his career second on the all–time list in tackles for loss with 57. Arizona's offense came into the game averaging over four hundreds yards of total offense. But, Nebraska held the Wildcats to just 109 yards.
Ryan Williams and a stout defense led VT to a 37-14 pounding of Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Williams, who never ceases to amaze, carried 25 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns to lead a Tech offense that rolled up 438 total yards. Williams finished the season with 1,655 rushing yards, breaking the school's single-season rushing record of 1,647 yards set by Kevin Jones in 2003, plus set ACC single-season records for touchdowns (22) and rushing TDs (21). Tech's defense was led by senior linebacker Cody Grimm, who had seven tackles, including three for loss, and a sack. The Hokies held a fifth straight foe to less than 300 total yards. Williams will definetly be one of the better backs to look for next year along with Pitt's Lewis and Oregon's James. The Hokies also showed they'll be a team to watch in 2010. All the playmakers are expected back next season. For Tennessee the scoreboard wasn't the only loss for the Vols as junior safety Eric Berry confirmed afterward that he will enter the NFL draft.
Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles connected for three touchdown passes. Oklahoma to a 31-27 victory over Stanford in Sun Bowl. The duo posted career numbers as OU won its first bowl game in four years. Jones threw for a career-high 30 completions and 418 yards to lead the offense to its best performance. Broyles outshined Stanford All-American running back Toby Gerhart for Sun Bowl MVP honors, caught 13 passes for 156 yards, both career highs. The defense was just as strong though. In second half, the Sooners shut down the Heisman runner-up and the entire Cardinal offense, which managed to gain only 79 yards in the half. Gerhart did manage to run for 56 yards in the second half. But 26 of that came on a play in which the Sooners had only 10 players on the field. Other than that, Gerhart, who was visibly beat up after the game with bruises up and down his arms, was punished at the line of scrimmage snap after snap. When Gerhart did get yardage, it came small and came tough.
