The Rutgers Alumni Club of Central PA

Terry and I drove down to Lewisburg, PA and Damon's Grill to meet up with some other Rutgers Alumni and watch the Pinstripe Bowl. The Rutgers Club of Central Pennsylvania is a newly formed chapter of the Rutgers Alumni Club so we were interested in seeing who would show up.

Out hostess and chapter organizer (Mindy) turned is a graduate of Cook College ('99) and the Graduates School of Education ('01). She currently works at Bucknell University located in Lewisburg as Dean of Student Affairs(?). Her husband is a graduate of Rutgers College and is a neurosurgeon working at Geisenger. Their two young sons are 2 1/2 and 1 year olds who were a real joy to be around.

Our hostess, her husband, and their kids.

One other couple stayed with us for the entire time. He was a graduate of the College of Engineering ('72) and is currently semi-retired, his wife, a very pleasant woman even if she is not an RU grad, is a speech therapist working with very young children, and his son is a senior at Annapolis.

The Engineer, his son, and his wife.

I missed getting a photo of the Rutgers track coach and his wife (who works in the athletic department of Bucknell (Assistant AD?)).

We got into a conversation with the bartender (who is also the Bucknell baseball coach) and found out his late uncle was a graduate (RC '70) and track coach at Rutgers.

We had a great time with good people, food, a Rutgers' win, and some fine trivia challenges. More folks would have been nice. Mindy said she expected more to show up but their absence was understandable. After all, it was a workday and folks were busy.

(FYI: We're both RU College of Agriculture and Environmental Science '71 graduates. Terry also has her MS from CAES '72.)

While we were there, a contingent of the Bucknell basketball team came in for dinner. (They are about the only folks on campus during this winter break.) They were followed by the Cornell basketball team who were in town to play the Bison on Saturday. Our Rutgers contingent, which included the two previously mentioned Bucknell officials, proved to be the buffer between two.

New Year's Eve Bowling

Saturday: Five bowls will be played today.

Noon: The Meineke Car Care Bowl: Texas A&M vs Northwestern on ESPN
2 PM: The Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech vs Utah on CBS
3:30 PM: Kraft Hunger Bowl: Illinois vs UCLA on ESPN
3:30 PM: The Liberty Bowl: Cincinnati vs Vanderbilt on ABC
7:30 PM: the Chick-fil-A Bowl: Virginia vs Auburn on ESPN

You'll need a set of fresh batteries in the remote or three TVs to watch all the action as there's considerable overlap in the schedule.

The good news is they should all be over by 11 PM EST so you can tune in Dick Clark. The bad news is that you'll have time to tune in Dick Clark.

******

The Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston, Texas sees the Texas A&M Aggies (6-6, 4-5, 7th in the Big 12) vs. Northwestern Wildcats (6-6, 3-5, 5th in the Big Ten Legends Division).
The Aggies have lost four of their last five games beating only Kansas (2-10, 0-9) by a score of 61-7. Three of those losses, however, were by a total of 12 points. While they are ranked in the top 20 in pass offense, rush offense and rush defense, consistency and pass defense (111th in the nation) have been their Achilles heel.

The Wildcats won four of their last five games beating Indiana, Nebraska, Rice and Minnesota while losing the final game to Michigan State. Their offense, passing and rushing is ranked 35th in the nation while their defense is in the middle of the pack (56th against the pass, 84th against the run).

The Aggies hit the field under interim coach Tim DeRuyter, the defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. He’ll be gone after the game heading to Fresno State. Northwestern hasn’t won a bowl game since 1949. They are 0-8 since that Rose Bowl victory.

Depending upon which A&M team shows up, this could be a close game or a blowout. I’m thinking something in between with the Aggies on top 38-28

******

The Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas will have the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-4, 5-3, 3rd in the Coastal Division of the ACC) against the Utah Utes (7-5,)

This game promises to be a contest between an irresistible force (the Yellow Jackets are 3rd in the nation in rush offense) versus the immovable object (the Utes are 7th in the nation in rush defense).

Georgia Tech started the season strong winning their first six games. They stumbled in the second half of the season going just 2-4. One of those victories was a 31-17 victory over Clemson, however.

The Utes started slowly going 3-3 in their first six games. The ended the season with a 4-2 string. The four wins, however, came against teams with losing records: Oregon State (3-9), Arizona (4-8), UCLA (6-7) and Washington State (4-8). Their final game was a 17-14 loss—to Colorado (3-10).

The Utes’ rush defense may be strong, but they’ve not seen an option team like Georgia Tech this season. (They didn’t even play Oregon.) I look for the Yellow Jackets to emerge victorious with a score of 38-30.

******

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl being played in San Francisco, California has the Fighting Illini of Illinois (6-6, 2-6, 5th in the Leaders Division of the Big Ten) against the UCLA Bruins (6-7, 5-5, 2nd in the PAC-12 South).

This could be the lamest of the bowl games. CBSSports’ Dennis Dodd said it best: “UCLA needed a hall pass to get in sub-.500 because USC wasn't bowl eligible. Illinois comes in riding a red-hot six-game losing streak. Both coaches have been fired. The only way to make this bowl worse -- or maybe better: A halftime human sacrifice.”

Illinois strength is their pass defense (4th in the nation). UCLA averages 190.7 yards per game rushing (29th in the nation). Illinois rush defense is 38th in the nation.

It’s difficult to pick a winner in this one. You might say they are lucky to be here. But UCLA is luckier. The Illini will not do well in this game, but UCLA will do worse. Illinois 24-17.

******

Memphis, Tennessee hosts the Liberty Bowl with the Cincinnati Bearcats (9-3, 5-2, tied for 1st in the Big East) against the Vanderbilt Commodores (6-6, 2-6, 4th in the SEC East).

The Bearcats started the year 7-1 but then Zach Collaros broke his ankle November 12th and they struggled against—and lost to—West Virginia and Rutgers before finishing the year with two victories. The good news for Cincinnati is that Collaros will probably start in the Liberty Bowl. If there’s a set back or he struggles, sophomore Munchie Legaux has proven he’s capable of stepping in. And with Isaiah Pead in the backfield (209 carries for 1110 yards and 11 TDs) they’ve got more than a passing offense. Their rush defense is pretty special too. It’s lead by defensive tackle Derek Wolfe and is ranked 6th in the nation.

The Commodores struggled to find an identity this year. They have no obvious weakness—and no obvious strengths. Running Back Zac Stacy does have 1136 yards on 183 carries and has scored 13 TDs for Vandy. Even with those numbers Vandy’s rush offense is only 44th in the nation.

Cincy will prevail with or without Collaros. (Word came out on Friday that he will be starting.) Bearcats win this one 27-24.

******

The Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia will feature the Virginia Cavaliers (8-4, 5-3, 2nd in the Coastal Division of the ACC) against the Auburn Tigers (7-5, 4-4, 4th in the SEC West).

Virginia finished the season winning four of their last five games losing to Virginia Tech 38-0 in their final game.

Auburn must have gotten their 7-5 record with mirrors. They are 101st in the nation in offense and 76th in defense. They finished the year winning just two of their final three games—against Mississippi (2-10) and Samford (6-5 in the FCS). RB Michael Dyer leads the offense with 242 carries, for 1242 yards and 10 TDs but they haven’t got much else on either side of the ball.

Sounds like a pretty evenly matched set of teams. Neither is that great nor that poor. I’d give the edge to Virginia and say the Cavaliers will win 27-21.

Four for four, baby!

I picked the winners of all four games played on Friday. Granted the scores weren’t quite right, and my goal is simply to pick the winner and not care about the point spread, but those I said would be close were and those that I thought might be won by larger margins were. Not many surprises.

******

In the Armed Forces Bowl, BYU edged Tulsa in a see-saw struggle, 24-21. It was finally decided when Riley Nelson connected with Cody Hoffman on a 2-yard TD pass with 11 seconds remaining in the game. It was the third time during the game the pair had connected for a score. G.J. Kinne tossed three TD passes for Tulsa.

******

Prior to the Pinstripe Bowl, everyone agreed that for Rutgers to win they would have to do three things: 1) get their running game untracked (Jawan Jamison carried the ball 27 times for 131 yards and two TDs on his way to being named MVP of the game),
2) Rutgers would have to get some decent quarterback play regardless of which one (Dodd or Nova) was in there (the two combined for 13 completions to 7 different receivers on 24 attempts for 196 yards and one TD—Dodd to Brandon Coleman 86 yards—and no INTs) and
3) Rutgers would have to win the turnover battle (How’s 3-0 sound? Two INTs and a forced fumble.)

The Scarlet Knights also got something special from the special teams –a blocked field goal came late in the game. Their ninth blocked kick this season. Only Fresno State has more (10). Meanwhile, San San Te converted on field goals of 21 and 24 yards.

Rutgers beats the Iowa State Cyclones handily 27-13.

Mississippi State’s Vick Ballard rushed for a career high 180 yards in leading the Bulldogs to a 23-17 victory over Wake Forest in the Music City Bowl. Ballard scored twice on runs of 60 and 72 yards. The margin of victory could have/should have been greater, but the Bulldogs turned the ball over three times in the first half including an INT in the end zone as the half ran out. Receiver Michael Campanaro made 10 catches for 128 yards for Wake Forest.

******

In the Insight Bowl, Oklahoma slowly moved out to a 21-0 lead by the end of the third quarter but watched nearly all of it disappear as James Vandenberg and the Iowa Hawkeyes scored twice early in the fourth quarter to make it 21-14. But then Mike Hunnicutt hit on a 35-yard field goal and Blake Bell scored his third TD of the night to put wrap up the scoring and give the Sooners a 31-14 victory.

You couldn’t blame the Hawkeyes receiver Marvin McNutt if he was a bit distracted in the final minutes of the game, however. The sky-cam came crashing down right behind him on one play and he got entangled in the wires. There was a five minute delay as they cleared the debris but thankfully no one got hurt. (As this occurred near the end of a game that started at 10 PM EST, it was well past my bed time. I'm sorry I missed it!)

It's Friday. Now we’re getting serious!

There are four bowl games being played today:
Noon: Armed Forces Bowl with BYU (9-3) vs. Tulsa (8-4)
3:20 PM: the Pinstripe Bowl has Rutgers (8-4) vs. Iowa State (6-6)
6:40 PM: the Music City Bowl with Wake Forest (6-6) vs. Mississippi State (6-6)
10 PM: the Insight Bowl sees No. 19 Oklahoma (9-3) vs. Iowa (7-5)

Starting with the Armed Forces Bowl being played in Dallas, Texas…

The independent BYU Cougars (9-3) will look to exploit the weak passing defense of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-4, 7-1, 2nd in the Conference USA West).

The Cougars ended the season winning eight of their last nine games. Their only loss in that string was to TCU. They won their last three games 42-7, 42-7, and 41-20. BYU’s offense is more than adequate but their defense is their strength. They’re 28th in pass defense and 21st against the rush.

Tulsa has put points on the board even though their offense is only so-so. They rank 41st in pass offense and 24th in rushing. They won seven of their last eight with only a final loss to Houston spoiling their run. In the two games prior, they posted 59 points against Marshall and 57 against UTEP. Besides the loss to Houston, the Golden Hurricane lost early in the year to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Boise State.

This could be a close game but the Cougars should be able to keep Tulsa under control while their offense should be able to take advantage of that porous pass defense. BYU 31, Tulsa 28.

******

Yankee Stadium will host the Pinstripe Bowl with nearby Rutgers (8-4, 4-3, 4th in the Big East) squaring off against Iowa State (6-6, 3-6, 8th in the Big 12).

The Scarlet Knights had something of an up-and-down year. They strung together winning streaks of four and 3 games sandwiched around two losses to Louisville and West Virginia. The lost their final game of the regular season in a lopsided, error filled game against Connecticut. They have also struggled and shifted back and forth at the quarterback position between Gary Nova and Chas Dodd. They have had virtually no running attack for most of the season although Jawan Jamison has shown promise. But they have Mohamed Sanu at wide receiver. They have managed to get their pass offense to 46th in the nation despite their rushing offense being just 111th—a position that allows their opponents to pretty much concentrate on the pass. The Knights defense, however, is where they shine. They are 12th in pass defense and, while their rush defense is ranked as 52nd in the nation, they are much better than that. They played both Navy and Army—and beat both--when those teams were #1 in rushing and held them to about half their average. (Even so, that was enough to raise the number of yards per game RU permitted and drive them down in this particular stat.)

Iowa State Cyclones also had an up-and-down year. Three wins were followed by four losses, then three wins and two losses. They beat Oklahoma State along the way, knocking the Cowboys from the unbeaten rank and ruining their drive to a National Championship game. They also played UConn early in the year in Connecticut and won 24-20. It could be argued that Iowa State faced tougher competition, and that that drove their offense and defense rankings down. (Pass offense was 71st, while the rush offense 34th; the pass defense was 71st and the rush defense 94th.)

Look for Rutgers to get their rush game going. If they succeed (yeah, it's a BIG IF), it will allow Nova (or Dodd) to connect with a respectable corps of receivers lead by Mohamed Sanu. On defense, look for Rutgers to create turnovers and capitalize on them. If they can stay away from turning it over themselves, Rutgers should be able to win 31-24.

(I’m a partial RU graduate. Terry and I graduated from Rutgers' CAES, Class of ’71. Terry and I will be watching this one at a sports bar with a crowd from the Rutgers Alumni Club down in Lewisburg, PA.)

******

Down in Nashville, Tennessee, the Music City Bowl pits the Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-6, 2-6, 4th in the SEC West) against the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest (6-6, 5-3, 3rd in the ACC Atlantic).

Mississippi State managed to go through the season not putting two wins together. The only back to back victories came over Kentucky (5-7) and Tennessee-Martin (5-6) of the Ohio Valley Conference of the FCS. The Bulldogs’ strength is their pass defense.

Wake lost four of its last five games and had only two victories against teams with winning records (Florida State and N.C. State). Their strongest asset is their pass offense.

This should be a close game but look for Mississippi State to edge the Deacon Demons 24-21.

******

Finally, the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona will have the Iowa Hawkeyes (7-5, 4¬-4, 4th in the Legends division of the Big Ten) against the #19 Oklahoma Sooners (9-3, 6-3, 4th in the Big 12).

Iowa won just two of their last five games (Michigan and Purdue) and struggled on both offense and defense.

Oklahoma won three of their last five, losing on the road to Oklahoma State and Baylor. The Sooners are 4th in the nation in pass offense.

Look for the Sooners to put a licking on the Hawkeyes 45-20.

Got two more correct…sorta.

The two teams I picked to win on Thursday did so. They just won by scores a wee bit different than I thought.

I picked Florida State to be victorious over Notre Dame in the Champs Sports Bowl by a comfortable 31-14. The Seminoles got shut out in the first half and trailed early in the third quarter 14-0 but came back to win 18-14.

I over estimated the Seminole offense which, due to injury, had to start a bunch of young guys on the O-line. You could see the nervousness of that young group as they faced the larger more experienced Irish D. It looked like that young group might just get their quarterback, E.J. Manuel killed with their missed blocks and fidgety play that allowed five sacks. But they settled down and proved competent in the second half allowing Manuel to complete a pair of TD passes. The Florida State defense did its part as it intercepted the Irish’s quarterbacks Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix three times—twice in the red zone— and had four sacks of their own.

Neither team amassed much offense on the night. The Seminoles ran 60 plays for a net of 290 yards and the Irish ran 70 for 280 yards. That's a total of just 570 yards of offense. Keep those numbers in mind when looking at the numbers for the Alamo Bowl.

******

In the Alamo Bowl I predicted Baylor to win over Washington 55-27 and they did prevail in a shootout 67-56.

I tuned in to watch a football game and got a basketball score. (Actually, I switched early to watch the end of the Rutgers-#10 Florida basketball game for a bit. That game was 66-66 at the end of regulation, 76-76 after the first OT and ended with RU on top 85-83. Go RU!)

When the smoke cleared in this one, it seems the Heisman Trophy winner ,, Robert Griffin, wasn’t the best quarterback in the Alamodome—just the one with the win. Keith Price put on one hell of a performance for the Huskies. He completed 23 of 37 passes for 438 yards and four TDs. Oh yeah, he ran for three TDs, too. In contrast, Griffin was 24 of 33 for 295 and one TD. RGIII also scored one on the ground on a nifty 24-yard scramble.

What Griffin did do well was pilot the Baylor juggernaut and hand off the ball to Terrance Ganaway (21 carries, 200 yards and five TDs), Jarred Salubi (5 carries for 101 yards and two TDs), and Tevin Reese (2 carries for 101 yards but no scores).

The combined point total of 123 was just two shy of the all-time bowl record set in the 2001 GMC Bowl by Marshall and East Carolina. That game was a double overtime affair that ended with 125 points being scored. They had just 102 in regulation.

Washington and Baylor had 1,397 yards in total offense between them. That shattered the old mark. The Huskies ran 74 plays for 620 yards and the Bears 85 plays for 777 yards. Baylor ran the ball 52 times for 482 yards and had three (3!) players with 100 or more yards rushing. (Remember, Florida State and Notre Dame had a combined 570 yards of offense.)

This was a fun game to watch--unless you’re a fan of defensive play. (I thought I heard the "Degüello" being played in the background.)

I think I noticed the kickoff men for both teams getting tired near the end of the game. Their kicks only managed to reach the 10 yard line the last few times.

*"Degüello" means "beheading" or, idiomatically, "no quarter" (as in "no surrender to be given or accepted--a fight to the death") in Spanish and was the title of a Moorish-origin bugle call used by the Mexican Army forces at the Battle of the Alamo, Texas, in 1836.

Do you like model trains?

Okay, that's a trick question.

EVERYBODY likes a well planned model train layout.

But even if you don't, you've got to admire this:

The largest model train layout in the world.



Only problem is that it's in Hamburg, Germany.

(seen at Maggie's Farm)

Thursday's Bowl Games

Thursday again has two bowl games scheduled. At 5:30 PM there’s the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Florida with #25 Florida State squaring off against Notre Dame and at 9 PM we have the Alamo Bowl from San Antonio, Texas in which #15 Baylor faces Washington. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN.

First, let’s look at the Champs Sports Bowl:

The Seminoles (8-4 overall and 5-2 in conference) finished second in the ACC Atlantic Division behind Clemson. They also finished the year strong, winning six of their last seven games. The only loss was a 14-13 affair with Virginia. Their strength is their defense. They are 19th in the nation in Pass defense giving up just 192.8 ypg and they are 2nd in the nation in rush defense yield a stingy 81.8 ypg. The Seminole defense is ranked 6th overall.

The Fighting Irish (8-4) lost their first two games of the year but then went on to win 8 of their last ten with losses to USC at home (31-17) and Stanford on the road (28-14). No particular facet of their game is exceptional (33rd in pass offense, 48th in rush offense, 32nd in pass defense, and 53rd in rush defense) but they are strong on both sides of the ball and do enough in most games to win.

If Notre Dame is to win this they will have to get some sort of running game going or their QB will get hammered. And they very much need to protect their quarterback. It’s not likely to happen against Florida State, however. Therefore, this one should be a comfortable win for the Seminoles, 31-14.

******

Moving on to the Alamo Bowl:

Washington (7-5, 5-4, 3rd in the PAC 12 North) faces a tough challenge in Baylor (9-3, 6-3, 3rd in the Big 12). Not only is this basically a home game for Baylor—and the Bears are 8-0 in Texas this year, but the Huskies pass defense ranks just 114th in the nation and must come up with a way to stop the prolific pass game of Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. Griffin and the Bears passing attack are rated 5th in the nation with 356.2 ypg. And Baylor’s rush offense isn’t too shabby either. It’s 18th in the nation with 215.1 ypg. RG3 got that award as much for his feet as his arm.

Baylor’s weakness lies on the defensive side of the ball. They are 110th in pass defense and 96th in rush defense. Still, they should more than hold their own against the Huskies (51st in pass offense, 64th in rush offense).

The Huskies are flat out out matched. The best they could have hoped for was rain and lots of it, but that’s not going to happen this Friday in San Antonio. Unless Baylor stops itself, this could be over in the first half. Look for a blowout with the Bears winning 55-27.

I may have to shop Sears more often.

And you should too. From Don Surber's Daily Mail blog:

Back in 2003, when the Iraq War began, Sears decided that it not only would keep the jobs of associates called onto active service open, but that it would make up the difference between what the military paid and what the associate ordinarily would earn.

And for 8 years, Sears has kept that policy going — long after the public has forgotten and the color has faded from those yellow ribbons that say Support The Troops. The company has had a few bad quarters in the recession, but it keeps the home fires burning and the checks coming to its reservists and National Guardsmen.

That is service above and beyond the call of duty and someone should be recognized.

Here's the rest of Don's post.

That's better

I feel better this morning after correctly predicting the winners of yesterday’s games. I said Toledo would beat Air Force 35-27, the final was 42-41. I said Texas would beat Cal 31-17, the final was 21-10.

The Military Bowl was one of the most exciting games of the year not decided in OT or on the final play as time ran out. While Toledo jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter it looked destined to be a blowout.

But Air Force proved that smart as their players are reported to be, they had no idea what the word “quit” means. Air Force was more successful in the air than I expected and Toledo’s defense had a tougher time stopping the Falcons because of it. Tim Jefferson managed to complete 13 of 22 attempts for 159 yards and two TDs. He also scored on the ground from 22 yards out. Air Force was 5 for 6 on fourth down conversions and three of them went for TDs.

And Toledo kept right on scoring behind Terrance Owens (19 of 24 for 210 yards and three TDs) and Adonis Thomas (22 carries for 108 yards and a TD). Special teams play also helped--Eric Page ran a kickoff back 87 yards for a TD. The defense also scored when Jermaine Robinson returned the only interception of the game 37 yards for a TD.

But it came down to a failed two-point conversion that could have been made by Air Force with 52 seconds to go. Holder David Baska tried to run the option off left tackle on a fake kick. Kicker Parker Herrington was in perfect position on his left to receive the pitch but it didn’t come. Instead, the ball was knocked out of Baska’s hands and squirted toward Herrington and eventually out of bounds in the end zone. Even if Herrington fell on the ball it would not have counted. Only the player who fumbles can recover the ball in the end zone for a score.

Congratulations to the Toledo’s new head coach, 32-year old Matt Campbell, on his first win.

******

The Holiday Bowl came down to a little razzle-dazzle and a lot of strong Longhorn defense. Both helped the Longhorns defeat the California Golden Bears 21-10.

The razzle-dazzle was a couple of end around reverses resulting in passes down field. The first worked as WR Jaxon Shipley hit QB David Ash for a 4-yard touchdown. It was Shipley’s fourth completion and third TD pass. (The second attempt fell harmlessly to the turf.) Later, Ash would throw his own TD pass, a 47-yarder to Marquise Goodwin to put Texas ahead for good.

Meanwhile the Longhorn defense was having a grand time knocking the stuffing out of the Cal running backs and QB Zach Maynard. It seemed tackles for losses were the norm. Maynard was sacked six times and Cal turned the ball over on four lost fumbles and an interception. Still, Cody Johnson's 4-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter is the only score directly attributable to a turnover. It was set up when Maynard was sacked and fumbled, which was recovered by Chris Whaley at the Cal 44. Johnson scored three plays later to put the icing on the cake.

Baby it's cold outside.

We went form temperatures around 40 degrees on Monday to Tuesday rains with southerly winds, to westerlies, and finally very strong Wednesday winds out of the north and cold, cold air. It was 14 degrees this morning but, thankfully, the wind has stopped blowing, the sky is clear and we should get some sun--as soon as it clears the ridge.

Let's try this again...

There are two more bowl games being played today. Let’s see if I can give the kiss of death to two more victims.

At 4:30 PM we have the Military Bowl in Washington, D.C. with Toledo (8-4, 2nd in the MAC West, 7-1 in conference) facing Air Force (7-5, 5th in the Mountain West, 3-4 in conference).

Toledo Rockets have a potent offense aand are somewhat mixed on defense. They are 29th in the nation in passing offense (272.0 ypg) and 14th in the nation in rushing offense (221.2 ypg). The Rockets’ are 24th in the nation in rush defense allowing just 123.2 ypg but a terrible 107th in pass defense allowing 277.0 ypg.

The Falcons of Air Force aren’t too shabby in rush offense either. They are 2nd in the nation averaging 320.3 ypg. Strangely, Air Force’s pass offense is deplorable. They are just 109th managing just 138.5 ypg. Air Force’s rush defense is a horrible 107th out of 120 teams in the nation. They yield an average of 227.8 ypg. Ah, but their pass defense is superb! The Falcons are 6th in the nation holding their opponents to just 162.7 ypg.

So it looks to boil down to the rushing of Toledo against the bad rush defense of Air Force and the rushing of Air Force against the fairly good rush defense of Toledo. If Air Force wants to win they will either have to overcome that Toledo rush defense or go with their weak passing game against an equally poor Toledo passing defense.

There should be a lot of option running in this one.

The Rockets shoot down the Falcons 35-27.

******

The second game is the Holiday Bowl being played in San Diego at 8 PM ET. Here we have the Texas Longhorns (7-5, 6th in the Big 12, 4-5 in conference) facing the California Golden Bears (7-5, 4th in the PAC 12 North, 5-5 in conference).

The Longhorns dropped three of their last four games. They lost to Missouri (8-5), Kansas State (10-2), and Baylor (9-3). Cal lost only one of their last four—to Stanford by 3 points. The three wins, however came against Washington St. (4-8), Oregon St. (3-9), and Arizona St. (6-7)—not exactly powerhouse teams.

The Longhorns will be ready to play and should gore the Golden Bears.

Texas wins 31-17.

Man! Can I pick 'em? (NO!)

Okay. I picked BOTH of Tuesday's games wrong. Both were highly entertaining, however.

Especially the Western Michigan-Purdue game. If you watched that game and didn't come out of your seat a couple of times...you were NOT paying attention. Purdue managed to intercept Western Michigan's Alex Carder four (4!) times, successfully recovered two (2!) on-sides kicks (int he first half!), ran a kickoff back 99 yards for a TD (by Raheem Mostert) and still needed a fumble recovery with two minutes to go to stave off the Broncos.

That's because when Alex Carder wasn't hitting Boilermakers, he was hitting Bronco receivers, most notably Jordan White. Carder finished the night 31 of 57 for 439 yards and 3 TDs. White caught 13 of those passes for 265 yards and a TD.

Turnovers were the story of the game, however. Western Michigan had those four INTs AND three fumbles lost. Purdue had seven fumbles and lost three of them. Turnovers were so abundant, some plays had two of them! Twice, Western Michigan was deep in Purdue territory and threatening to score only to have Alex Carder toss an interception which Purdue returned across the 50 yard line only to have the same Western Michigan wide receiver strip the ball and have the Broncos recover and start marching down the field again. In one case they managed to score a TD. The other they had to eventually punt.

Some will call it a sloppy game (one comment I saw on line called it the IHOP Bowl--more turnovers than a pancake house), and, while it was at times cringe worthy, it was definitely entertaining.

******

The N.C. State-Louisville game was a little more staid. Mike Glennon tossed three TD passes in the first half to put the Wolfpack up 21-10 at half time and then the defense pummeled and pressured the Cardinals' Teddy Bridgewater. When David Amerson returned an interception of an errant Bridgewater toss 65 yards for a TD in the third quarter it gave N.C. State a 31-10 lead. Bridgewater and the Cardinals managed to narrow that down to 31-24 with the help of a fake punt, an on-sides kick and two TD passes but they couldn't get closer.

Freshman Bridgewater was 24 of 43 for 274 yards and two TDs and three INTs in a losing cause. Junior Glennon completed 21 of 33 for 264 yards and three TDs and one INT for the victors.

Xmas Presents I Made.

I mentioned that I made some of the presents we gave to family members this Christmas. I didn't post photos of those gifts because some of the recipients occasionally look in on this blog.

Well, the presents have been given and I can now show you what I did.



These are tissue box holders made of red oak and a little scrollsaw art. I did two more of the hummingbird boxes. The bass box was for my sister-in-law who has become quite the bass fisherperson down there in the Lake of the Ozarks. In addition to really schooling her husband, she's even giving lessons to others.

This year, I think I'll start a little earlier. Thanksgiving was cutting it a little close.

Nerd Season

From Phil's Phun site:

The bartender comes over to the man, sniffs and says, "You smell kind of nerdy. What do you do for a living?"

The truck driver says, "I drive a bigrig, and the smell is just from computers I am hauling."

The bartender says, "Okay, truck drivers are not nerds," and serves him a beer.

As he is sipping his beer, a skinny guy walks in with tape around his glasses, a pocket protector with twelve kinds of pens and pencils, and a belt at least a foot too long.

The bartender, without saying a word, pulls out a shotgun and blows the guy away.

The truck driver said, totally shocked, "Why did you do that?"

The bartender said, "Not to worry, the nerds are overpopulating Silicon Valley and are in season now. You don't even need a license!"

The truck driver finishes his beer, gets back in his truck, and heads back onto the freeway.

Suddenly he veers to avoid an accident, and the load shifts. The back doors breaks open and computers spill out all over the freeway. He jumps out and sees a crowd already forming, grabbing up the computers. They are all engineers, accountants and programmers wearing the nerdiest clothes he has ever seen.

He can't let them steal his whole load, so, remembering what happened in the bar, he pulls out his gun and starts blasting away, felling several of them instantly.

A highway patrol officer comes zooming up and jumps out of the car screaming at him to stop.

The truck driver said, "What's wrong? I thought nerds were in season."

"Well, sure," said the patrolman. "But you can't bait 'em!"

Tuesday Bowl Games; 12-27-11

There are two bowl games being played today/tonight. Both are being broadcast on ESPN.

The first, starting at 4:30 PM, is the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit, Michigan. This pits the Western Michigan Broncos (7-5) vs. the Purdue Boilermakers (6-6). The Broncos have a slight edge in the home field advantage, but the Purdue fans will make the trip for a game being played under a roof. Purdue finished third in the Leaders Division of the Big 10 with a 4-4 conference record. Their sole signature win was a 26-23 victory over Ohio State. Western Michigan finished third in the West Division of the MAC with a 5-3 conference record. The ended the season with wins over Miami of Ohio and Akron. Look for the Broncos to pick apart the Purdue pass defense and put a number of points on the board. Alex Carder has engineered a pass offense ranked #8 in the nation. Wide receiver Jordan White has 127 catches for 1646 yards and 16 TDs. Their defense will do enough to produce a comfortable margin of victory.

Western Michigan 45, Purdue 20


The second, with a kickoff of 8 PM, is the Belk Bowl being played in Charlotte, NC. Here, it will be the Louisville Cardinals (7-5) vs. the N.C. State Wolfpack (7-5). N.C. State would seem to have a bit of a home field advantage.

The Wolfpack finished fourth in the Atlantic Division of the ACC (4-4 in conference) and ended the season with consecutive wins against Clemson and Maryland.

The Cardinals are listed as third in the Big East but had the same record in conference as Cincinnati and West Virginia (5-2). They, too, ended the regular season with two consecutive victories; over Connecticut and South Florida. This could be a real good game. Louisville got stronger as the year went on and their youngsters got more experience. Look for the Cardinals’ defense to hold the Wolfpack under control and the offense to do just enough to pull out a win.

Louisville 24, N.C. State 20

Whew! All my (major) running around is done!

Hoo-boy! Almost 1000 miles on the road between Saturday 10AM and this afternoon at 4 PM. I did 250 into NJ Saturday (Christmas Eve at my sister's and Christmas Morn at my MIL's), another 250 back to the Aerie after Sunday dinner. Then today I gobbled up a little over 800 miles as I traveled north to Fonda, NY to pick up a 1/4 cow from the farmer who raised and had it butchered. (Beeped my horn as I went through your neck of the woods Marianne. Did you hear me? Heck of a mess down by the river!)

At least the weather was gorgeous, traffic light--and when it wasn't it was still moving, and I've now got a freezer full of steaks, roasts and chop meat--LOTS of chop meat. I see a good many bowls of chili, loaves of meatloaf, lasagnas and spaghetti with meat sauce in the future! It's all good.

******

I was sitting here listening to the circulating pumps in the heating system run and run and run some more while my ears got progressively colder. Finally got up and checked the indoor temperatures: 57 degrees on the wall, 54 degrees on the counter! What the hey?! Down stairs I went and found the furnace's digital readout blinking an error code. Something about the return water temperature sensor. It's happened before. I pressed "reset" and the thing tried to fire up. No go and the error message was repeated. Turned the power off. Slowly counted to ten. Turned the power on. Hit the "reset" button again and--BINGO!--the furnace kicked on and the temperature of the water in the system started to climb. I'll be checking it every half hour or so to make sure it's still functioning but it's been chugging away for a while now and things are going A-OK. It will take some time for the air in the house to warm back to the usual 64 degrees but the floor certainly feels nice and toasty!

******

Terry's taking her Mom to Newark so she can catch a flight to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow. That's where Mom catches the ship for the cruise through the Caribbean and half way through the Panama Canal. Terry's sister (Lucille), BIL (Doug), and nephew (Brian) will be accompanying her. Knowing Brian, Grandma will have a blast!

After dropping her Mom off, Terry will be returning to the Aerie.

******

I'm glad the Bears were not able to do anything with Green Bay last night. I might have been "forced" to watch. And, with today's long drive in the offing, I needed my sleep.

Back to Bowl games today with the Independence Bowl out of Shreveport, LA. It features Missouri (7-5) vs. North Carolina (7-5) and, at the half, isn't much of a contest. The Missouri Tigers are beating the snot out of the Tarheels, 31-10. North Carolina scored first (TD) but then Missouri got 31 unanswered points before the Tarheels ended the half with a FG. Debating whether I want to even turn on the TV for the second half.

******

Friday, Terry and I will drive down to Lewisburg for a meeting of the Rutgers Alumni Club and to watch the Pinstripe Bowl (Rutgers (8-4) vs Idaho State (6-6)). The game starts at 3:20 in the afternoon and will be aired by ESPN. If RU had been playing in any other locale (except Hawaii) we probably would have gone to the game. I have this thing about going to Yankee Stadium. (And flying, but that's another story.) This is a new chapter of the RAC located here in central PA. The previous "close" chapters are in Pittsburgh, Philly or Rochester. Far enough away that an afternoon/evening out is not going to happen. This is a straight shot--about 75 miles--down Route 15. We go that far to go to the Lycoming Mall. And more than that to go watch the Binghamton Mets.

BTW, did anyone watch the Hawaii Bowl Christmas Eve? Catch a glimpse of the stands? Yeah, it was tough to do since the cameras were trying very, very hard not to show the "crowd." Southern Miss and Nevada played a decent--if unusually low scoring game (USM 24: NEV 17), but you got the feeling that not even the players' families made the trip. I think there may have been more people around the Duggar Family's Christmas Dinner table on Sunday than at the game Saturday night.

I'm not blaming people for not showing up. Air fare alone would be astronomical. Then there would be the expensive hotel and everything else. Hell, who can afford to spend a week or more in Hawaii during the Christmas Season? (Besides THEM, I mean. THEY can go because we're footing the bill.)

Do you know the front from the back of a tree?

[via email from a friend. Sorry about the all-caps. I'm too lazy to clean it up today.]


A REDNECK FROM GEORGIA DECIDES TO TRAVEL ACROSS THE SOUTH TO VIRGINIA TO SEE GOD'S COUNTRY. WHEN HE GETS TO FRANKLIN, HE LIKES THE PLACE SO MUCH,
THAT HE DECIDES TO STAY. BUT FIRST HE MUST FIND A JOB!!!

HE WALKS INTO THE INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY OFFICE AND FILLS OUT AN APPLICATION AS AN EXPERIENCED LOG INSPECTOR.

IT'S HIS LUCKY DAY!!! THEY JUST HAPPEN TO BE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE, BUT FIRST, THE LOG FOREMAN TAKES HIM FOR A RIDE INTO THE FOREST IN THE COMPANY PICKUP TRUCK TO SEE HOW MUCH HE KNOWS.

THE FOREMAN STOPS THE TRUCK ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND POINTS AT A TREE. "SEE THAT TREE OVER THERE? I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHAT SPECIES IT IS AND HOW MANY BOARD FEET OF LUMBER IT CONTAINS."

THE REDNECK PROMPTLY ANSWERS, "THAT THAR'S A WHITE PINE, 383 BOARD FEET OF LUMBER IN 'ER."

THE FOREMAN IS IMPRESSED!!! HE PUTS THE TRUCK IN MOTION AND STOPS ABOUT A MILE DOWN THE ROAD. HE POINTS AT ANOTHER TREE THROUGH THE PASSENGER

WINDOW AND ASKS THE SAME QUESTION. THIS TIME, IT'S A BIGGER TREE OF A DIFFERENT CLASS.

"THAT'S A LOBLOLLY PINE AND SHE'S GOT ABOUT 456 CLEAR BOARD FEET."

THE FOREMAN IS REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE GOOD OL' BOY, HE HAS BEEN QUICK AND GOT THE ANSWERS RIGHT WITHOUT USING A CALCULATOR. TIME FOR ONE MORE TEST.

THEY DRIVE A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD, AND THE FOREMAN STOPS AGAIN.

THIS TIME, HE POINTS ACROSS THE ROAD THROUGH HIS DRIVER SIDE WINDOW AND SAYS "AND WHAT ABOUT THAT ONE?"

EVEN BEFORE THE FOREMAN FINISHES POINTING, THE REDNECK SAYS, "WHITE OAK, 242 BOARD FEET AT BEST."

THE FOREMAN SPINS THE TRUCK AROUND AND HEADS BACK TO THE OFFICE A LITTLE TICKED OFF BECAUSE HE THINKS THE RED NECK IS SMARTER THAN HE IS. AS THEY NEAR THE OFFICE, THE FOREMAN STOPS THE TRUCK ONE MORE TIME AND ASKS BUBBA TO STEP OUTSIDE.

HE HANDS HIM A PIECE OF CHALK AND TELLS HIM, "SEE THAT TREE OVER THERE? I WANT YOU TO MARK AN X ON THE FRONT OF THAT TREE!!"

THE FOREMAN THINKS TO HIMSELF, "IDIOT, HOW WOULD HE KNOW WHICH IS THE FRONT OF THE TREE?"

WHEN BUBBA REACHES THE TREE, HE GOES AROUND IT IN A CIRCLE WHILE LOOKING AT THE GROUND. HE THEN REACHES UP AND PLACES A WHITE X ON THE TRUNK. HE WALKS BACK TO THE FOREMAN AND HANDS HIM THE CHALK. "THAT THAR'S THE FRONT,"THE REDNECK SAYS.

THE FOREMAN LAUGHS TO HIMSELF AND ASKS SARCASTICALLY, "HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THAT'S THE FRONT OF THE TREE?"



THE GOOD OL' BOY LOOKS DOWN AT HIS FEET, WHILE RUBBING THE TOE OF HIS LEFT BOOT, CLEANING IT IN THE GRAVEL, AND REPLIES, "CUZ SOMEBODY TOOK A SHIT BEHIND IT!"



HE GOT THE JOB.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hallelujah!!

Angels We Have Heard On High