Big Lead Sports Bar

1/01/2010

WEEKEND UPDATE



Lions tame Tigers: Collin Wagner hit a 21-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining, and Penn State completed a late-game comeback with a 19-17 win over LSU in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Wagner hit four field goals and a PAT on the day, accounting for 13 of the Nittany Lions' 19 points.

It was the 24th bowl win for Joe Paterno, extending his own record, and the first bowl loss for Les Miles while at LSU.

The Citrus Bowl field conjured up memories of that Steeler-Dolphin 3-0 Monday night slop-fest in 2007, and LSU took every opportunity to use that as an excuse for the loss. "That was by far the worst field conditions I've ever seen in my life. For them to say this is the best bowl outside the BCS, I would expect to play on the best field outside the BCS," said LSU WR Brandon LaFell.

I guess they like their grapes served sour in the south. [ESPN]

Olympic Orpik: Brooks Orpik became the fifth member of the Penguins roster to be named to an Olympic squad, scoring a spot on the US team on Friday. Former Penguin and Upper St. Clair native Ryan Malone will also suit up for the United States in the Olympics.

Bill Guerin did not make the team, but then again, neither did Mike Modano or Keith Tkachuk. So I guess that report earlier in the week about the team taking one of those three veterans was completely off base. [PG]

King Pryor wins big: Watching Ohio State drop a bowl game has become a bit of a New Year tradition, but they bucked that trend on Friday behind Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor, who threw for a career-high 266 yards and 2 TDs while adding 72 yards rushing in a 26-17 Rose Bowl win over Oregon. The Buckeyes outgained the Ducks 419-260 on the afternoon. Jim Tressel has already apologized for the overabundance of pass attempts. [ESPN]



Snoop and Ben do a good deed: Ben Roethlisberger put up $17,000 in airfare, hotels and other transportation costs to send the Thomas Jefferson Youth Football League's Little Jaguars to the Big Dog Bowl, a championship tournament in Los Angeles organized by Snoop Dogg.

The Little Jags are 11-0, and their undefeated record got them an invite from the canine-loving rapper for the 26-team field on January 9. [Trib]

Tank fires back: Bengals DT and all-around ne'er-do-well Tank Johnson didn't like LaMarr Woodley's comment that the Bengals and Patriots would "lay down" in their games this weekend in the hopes of keeping the Steelers out of the playoffs. Said The Tank:

"I can tell you this, we didn't lay down against the Steelers, so I think LaMarr Woodley should worry about what concerns LaMarr Woodley and the Steelers and not worry about this great franchise in the Bengals."

I could care less about Johnson saying the Bengals are a great franchise, because you have to consider the source. But does anyone see the irony in Woodley, whose team lost to the Browns, Raiders, and Chiefs saying that another team might lay down? [PFT]

'Eers bow to Bowden: West Virginia dropped the ball on behalf of the Big East, losing 33-21 to Florida State in the Gator Bowl. It was the final game for Florida State coach Bobby Bowden and his Oakley sunglasses, as he wrapped up a lifetime bowl record of 22-10-1.

"It's got to be memorable," Bowden said. "It's my last dadgum ballgame after 57 years of coaching." And yes, he really said dadgum. [ESPN]

To franchise or not to franchise?: The Steelers have a host of unrestricted free agent decisions coming up soon, and talk of using the franchise tag has popped up more than a few times. NT Casey Hampton says he does not want one, and S Ryan Clark says he's not good enough for one. I'm going to guess we haven't heard the last of this topic. [Trib]

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10 comments:

Adam said...

This was my personal favorite LSU whining:

http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2010/1/1/1229833/after-the-horrible-personal-foul

Yeah, if the rules by which the game was played had been different, LSU totally would have won. Wow.

Also, I couldn't help but notice the game ended almost exactly the same way the Pitt bowl did. 19-17, game winning field goal with around a minute left, one defensive stand to seal the win.

BURGH08 said...

* Both teams had to play on it (so no excuses validated from LSU), but that was an absolute joke of a playing field for a bowl game.

* I don't get too caught up in 'representing the Big East' when it comes to bowl games. That said, Cincy was a joke, but even bigger to me was WVU losing to a .500 FSU team.

* Very happy to see Orpik make the team. Everyone is talking about Sid and Canada playing for gold in their own country, but I think Russia with Geno and Ovie would be a good bet to win gold.

* Jason Whitlock has an interesting read on his foxsports.com article supporting Woodley's comments about the Pats/Bengals laying down. His reason? Mainly 'Seven' being a 'fourth quarter assassin'. I don't buy it but it definitely gives Ben his due.

johnny said...

@Adam,

While you and I have exchanged barbs in the past due to my role as a "Penn State Discreditor," LSU's fans are even more slack-jawed and ignorant than I figured they were if they don't begin and end their analysis for the loss on the abundance of drops that their receivers had.

LeeTunnel said...

Did anyone else catch Ryan Malone's US Olympic team announcement after the Winter Classic? The annoucer was giving hometown, NHL team, name. So for example, "From Amherst, NY and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Brooks Orpik." Well the guy game to Bugsy and said, "From Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ryan Malone." No announcer guy, it's the other long P word that's the state, "Pennsylvania".

Adam said...

Johnny,
They're all perplexed. How could they lose to a slow, lumbering Big Ten team? It MUST have been the turf. It MUST have been the refs. It MUST have been there dumbass coach. It MUST have been the damn rules.

I'll sum it up this way. Penn State played 12 games in the regular season. Two teams were able to get real pressure on Clark. Those team beat us. The other 10 got their asses kicked.

LSU was unable to get real pressure on Clark, and we scored 5 times. Because of our own ineptitude, we only got 19 points out of those 5 scored. But frankly, had we been able to convert a few more, LSU isn't even close in that game, and they're another blowout victim.

A lot of people are going to ask in the coming days where this game/season puts Penn State in the national landscape. But truthfully I don't care. I really just enjoy playing games against teams like Tennessee and LSU and pissing all over their perceptions.

Real McCoy said...

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/16343161/ns/sports-college_football/

Pac 10 not having much of a bowl season. Mountain West looking very solid. Air Force, BYC, and Utah all looked strong. Would have liked to see TCU get a shot at Florida, certainly could have done as well as Cincinnati. Cincinnati and WVU didn't do a thing to bolster the Big East image.

Louis Lipps no longer accepts my phone calls... said...

I'm no PSU fan, but I do live in SEC country.

The people down here cannot fathom that a team from up north would EVER beat an SEC team fair and square and will make up any excuse they can when it happens.

I remember my buddy, the Gator fan, telling anyone that would listen that the only reason UF lost to Michigan in a bowl game a few years ago was because the Gators didn't want to be in the game.

Put it this way, in the south, SEC football is kind of all the have and all they've ever had when it comes to sports, so they cling to it pretty hard.

BURGH08 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

The Big East got some rough games though. Cincy had to be play Florida in what was the final game for their greatest player of all time and a possible retirement game for their coach. WVU on the other hand had to play an FSU team that was motivated by saying goodbye to one of the top five coaches of all time. Also both Big East teams were going through some coaching changes.

In Big 10 vs. SEC bowls game in the 2000s, the record is tied 14-14. Big 10 just gets a bad rap because we have been awful in BCS games the past 5 years but we've had better depth in those years.

Unknown said...

Did Al Davis try to sign Big Ben's team?