FROM THE PRESS BOX / By JOE HALE | Mayonnaise, eggnog, and just a few more bowl games
EDITOR’S NOTE: Joe Hale is a sportswriter of more than 40 years and a regular contributor here to ETBlitz.com. We’re more than thankful to have him here, and his “From The Press Box” column will be a weekly feature. We hope you’ll enjoy his wit, humor and insight as much as we do. — Mitch
Is “inundated” a good word to use in what we’re calling thisbowl season, winding toward Monday’s College Football Playoff semifinal games matching No. 4 Alabama and No. 1 Michigan in the Rose Bowl, followed by No. 2 Washington and No. Texas in the Sugar Bowl?
That’s four games Wednesday, four Thursday, four on Friday and four again on Saturday, just to get to New Years’ Day 2024. Sixteen games before three more games early Monday prior to the two playoff games.
Thursday’s lineup started at a couple of historic baseball venues Fenway Park for the Wasabi Fenway Bowl in Boston and the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe at Yankee Stadium.
Thursday the winning coaches West Virginia’s Neal Brown in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and the Southern California’s Lincoln Riley in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl were doused in mayonnaise and eggnog.
If you’re counting along with us, the National Championship Game at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8, is No. 43.
A couple of earlier bowl games this past week featured a couple of coaches with East Texas ties: Gilmer’s Jeff Traylor, at UTSA in Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, and G.J. Kinne, who played his senior high school season for Traylor as a Gilmer Buckeye, at Texas State in the ServePro First Responder Bowl at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
Traylor’s Roadrunners defeated Marshall 35-17 to finish 9-4, in the first bowl win in the short history of UTSA football. Quarterback Owen McCown, a redshirt freshman, making his first start, is the son of Josh, who played at Sam Houston State prior to an 18-year career as a QB in the NFL before his retirement in 2020.
The Bobcats completed their first season under Kinne, with an 8-5 record and their first bowl win by beating Rice 45-21.
Another win, this one in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl for Ex-Longview Lobos QB Haynes King at Georgia Tech as the Yellow Jackets beat Central Florida 30-17.
Carthage wide receiver Moochie Dixon and SMU (11-3) started Thursday’s schedule with a 23-14 loss to Boston College, now 7-6, at Fenway Park. I was a little disappointed the Mustangs, who averaged 40 points per game this season were held to just 14. With SMU’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference this summer their 2024 meeting against Boston College will be a conference game in Dallas.
Kansas State won its ninth game of the season, 28-19 over North Carolina State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, with the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio matchup between Arizona (9-3), and Oklahoma (10-2) following.
The contest in the Alamodome could be the Alliance Moving Bowl (just kidding) with Arizona, a Big 12 newbie next season, against OU, along with Big 12 champion Texas, moving from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference, also beginning the 2024 season. …
Get some rest, there’s the Tax Slayer Gator Bowl at 11 a.m., the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso (1 p.m.), the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis at 2:30 p.m., and the Cotton Bowl in Arlington at 7 on Friday.
That’s just an entrée, though, there’s the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, the Music City Bowl in Nashville, the Arizona Bowl, along with the Orange Bowl matchup between once-beaten Georgia and unbeaten Florida State on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Tate Rodemaker, primarily the backup to starting QB Jordan Travis this season, has opted out and will not play, leaving freshman Brock Glenn as the Seminoles’ probable starting quarterback.
Just an idle thought, with an expanded 12-team field in next year’s College Football Playoffs, what will become of all of these bowl games?
And a Happy New Year to y’all!!!
Follow Joe on Twitter/X @joeyballgame.jh
University of Texas-San Antonio head coach Jeff Traylor (center) hoists up the trophy for the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl last week in Frisco, after beating Marshall. Traylor is the former three-time state championship winner at Gilmer High School (Photo courtesy of FOR THE WIN)