On Saturday night, Mark Ingram became the first Alabama player to win the Heisman in the closest vote in the 75 years the award has been handed out to college’s best player. A close second was Toby Gerhart, who had only 5 less first place votes and only 28 points less than Ingram. Texas’ Colt McCoy finished just behind Gerhart and Ingram in third place. Now that the dust has settled and the voters have spoken, the five players divert their attention to their respective upcoming bowl games. Of the five finalists, which will have the greatest impact on their team’s bowl game? Let’s examine the match-ups.
Pacific Life Holiday bowl, 12/30 at 8pm
Arizona vs. Nebraska
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Ndamukong Suh is as difficult to block as his name is to pronounce. Suh burst onto the scene with 82 tackles, 12 sacks, and an interception in his senior season. Suh is a monsterous DT listed at 6-4, 300 pounds that disrupts an offense’s timing every single snap, whether he gets penetration or not. Arizona will undoubtedly try and double-team Suh all night in the Pacific Life Holiday bowl and will be forced to throw quick passes and run outside the hashes to try and avoid the rush. Arizona QB Nick Foles better get comfortable with getting rid of the ball quickly or he will find himself spending a lot of time on the ground. If Nebraska had a good offense, this game would be a blowout.
Brut Sun bowl, 12/31 at 2pm
Oklahoma vs. Stanford
At the beginning of this season, most people expected this game to feature a Heisman finalist, but it wasn’t Toby Gerhart. Sam Bradford, last year’s Heisman winner, began the season strong, but was sidelined with an injury, opening the doors for other Heisman hopefuls. Enter Toby Gerhart. The Stanford RB had an incredible year, rushing 311 times for 1,736 yards and 26 touchdowns, and carrying his team through a tough Pac-10 conference schedule. Oklahoma’s defense will be the best Stanford and Gerhart have seen this entire season. The Sooners allowed the 7th least amount of points and the 7th least amount of rushing yards to opponents this season. Most likely, Gerhart will struggle a bit against the powerful Oklahoma defense, but his tough, gritty style of running will allow him to break some tackles and move the ball fairly effectively.
Allstate Sugar bowl, 1/1 at 8:30pm
Florida vs. Cincinnati
At the start of the 2009 season, Tim Tebow looked stronger than ever and was prepared to finish off his college career with a BCS Championship. Until the SEC championship, Tebow and Florida were on their way to Pasadena on January 7th, but as we saw, Alabama had other ideas. The Alabama defense shutdown Tim Tebow and Florida’s offense, leaving a blueprint for Cincinnati to shut him down as well, right? Not a chance. Tebow is poised to make a statement in his final collegiate start and push aside the tough loss to ‘Bama a month or so earlier. Tebow has the most favorable match-up of the Heisman finalists facing a Cincinnati team that has lost their head coach Brian Kelly to Notre Dame and has had troubles on defense this season. He should be able to hop, skip, and jump his way down the field and into the endzone on the ground with his feet and through the air with his arm. He finished 5th in the Heisman voting, but has the best chance to dominate in a bowl.
Citi BCS National Championship Game, 1/7 at 8pm
Texas vs. Alabama
The battle of the Heisman finalists for the ultimate prize in college football. The winner RB Mark Ingram and Alabama vs. third place finisher QB Colt McCoy and his Longhorns offense. If the last game of the season for each of these teams is any indication, they are going to put on a show. In the SEC championship, Ingram dominated Florida’s defense for a total of 189 total yards (113 rushing and 76 receiving) and rushed for 3 touchdowns. He will have to get by a tough Texas defensive front, but is fully capable.
AP
On the other side of the field, Colt McCoy threw for over 3,500 yards this season and 27 touchdowns. If he is in rythym, Alabama’s defense will have a difficult time limiting his ability to get WR Jordan Shipley the ball. As soon as the Alabama defense gets comfortable against the pass, McCoy will beat you with his legs. This should be the best match-up of the bowl season. Expect the unexpected.
Need More? Alabama, Cincinnati, Florida, NCAA, NCAA FB, Nebraska, Oklahoma Sooners, Stanford, Texas, Toby Gerhart
.jpg){kind=small}
