There are just three bowl games to go before the 2009 is officially in the books — Iowa against Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl, Central Michigan against Troy in the GMAC Bowl, and of course, Alabama versus Texas in the National Championship game.
It’s been a relatively fun bowl season, with lots of zany twists and turns, interceptions galore, and good stories emerging. However, there has been one blemish. ESPN analysts talk about it with a little bit of shock in their voices, and fans on the West Coast can do nothing but shake their heads.
The Pacific-10 Conference — a year after going perfect in the post-season — went 2-5 in its games. And the worst part of it is not a lot of those games were even close. Arizona got shut out by Nebraska, Oregon State was embarrassed by BYU and Cal was handled by Utah.
Here’s the final word on the Pac-10’s abysmal finish to 2009:
No. 15 BYU 44, No. 16 Oregon State 20. The MAACO Bowl Las Vegas. Perhaps solidifying its claims to as why it should be a major conference, the Mountain West Conference asserted itself this year. The Cougars, on a windy day in Las Vegas, completely shutdown a great Oregon State offense in Jacquizz Rodgers, James Rodgers and Sean Canfield. The Beavers actually outgained the Cougars, but costly turnovers and three touchdowns by Cougars quarterback Max Hall were the difference.
No. 23 Utah 37, California 27. The Poinsettia Bowl. The Mountain West continued its dominance, coming back from a two-touchdown deficit to score 27 straight points and beat the Golden Bears. Jordan Wynn threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns to help Utah win its ninth consecutive bowl game.
USC 24, Boston College 13. The Emerald Bowl. The Trojans were the team to finally put the Pac-10 in the win column, led by freshman quarterback Matt Barkley’s 350 yards passing and two touchdowns. It wasn’t the bowl the Trojans hoped they would be playing in, but the team shut out the Eagles in the second half and earned the win.
UCLA 30, Temple 21. The EagleBank Bowl. It wasn’t pretty, but UCLA put the conference back to .500 with a thrilling victory over Temple. The Bruins needed an interception and a botched punt by the Owls to seal the victory. It’s a good stepping stone for the Bruins, who haven’t finished with a winning record since 2006.
No. 20 Nebraska 33, No. 22 Arizona 0. The Holiday Bowl. This was the low point of the bowl season for the conference. Not only did the Husker defense shut out the Arizona offense, it did it in dominating fashion, holding them to 109 yards. No, that is not a typo. The Wildcats had just six first downs.
Oklahoma 31, No. 19 Stanford 27. The Sun Bowl. While it was the closest Pac-10 bowl game, the Cardinal still couldn’t get in the win column against the Sooners. Oklahoma scored 14 points in the third quarter and held on to beat Stanford, led by Toby Gerhart and his 135 yards rushing. The Cardinal couldn’t quote overcome the loss of starting quarterback Andrew Luck to injury.
No. 8 Ohio State 26, No. 7 Oregon 17. The Rose Bowl. We all know how this one turned out, with Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes celebrating their first bowl win after three straight losses. The Ducks had just too many penalties, and a big fumble by running back LeGarrette Blount killed the Oregon momentum with the score 19-16 Buckeyes in the third quarter.
It was a disappointing ending to a great season in the conference. The Trojans were dethroned, the Ducks and Beavers battled for the Rose Bowl, and resurgent Stanford and Arizona made it to good bowl games. No one expected the results. It just shows the parity in the NCAA right now.
The best part of sports is that there is always another season, and next season will be just as fun, with its own set of plot twists, surprises and upsets.
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