MISCELLANY

NEWS & NOTES

Bowl Games:

The bowl season started with a bang yesterday; and, of course, I quickly fell behind in my picks when Wyoming upset Fresno State, 35-28, in two overtimes in the New Mexico Bowl. Rutgers, as expected, dominated the University of Central Florida (45-24) in the St. Petersburg Bowl in the Knight game.

Dave Christensen's Cowboys, operating a watered-down version of the spread the 1^st-year coach brought to Missouri before taking over at Wyoming, ran the hell out of the ball and put up a stout defense against the #1 rushing team in the country. Most impressive was the Cowboys' goal line stand on the first possession of overtime. They stopped the Bulldogs after they moved to 1^st and goal at the 2-yard line. Despite missing a field goal to win in the first extra period, the Cowboys scored a touchdown with the 1^st possession of OT #2, and then held on for the victory.

Rutgers' talented freshman duo of Tom Savage (QB) and Mohamed Sanu (WR-AP) and a rugged defense teamed to dominate UCF. Despite muffing a punt which led to UCF's first score, Sanu ran for two TD's out of the wildcat formation and caught another pass for a score.

Savage threw for a career-high 294 yards, completing 14 of 27 in miserable conditions. Look for Rutgers to make some noise next year.

College Basketball:

Missouri, in a tune-up for Wednesday's Braggin' Rights game against Illinois, rolled over another patsy, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 88-70. Zaire Taylor celebrated graduation day with a highlight dunk, cherry picking off a Marcus Denmon steal, the senior transfer bounced his last dribble high off the floor in front of the rim and slammed it through. The win was Mizzou's 25^th straight at home.

Kansas, ranked #1 in the polls,
jumped to a 21-point lead in the first 16 minutes against Michigan, ranked #15 to start the season. Then Wolverine coach John Beilein switched to a 1-3-1 zone, after which the Jayhawks started to struggle, and Michigan closed to within 11 at the half.

Despite maintaining that advantage and winning 75-64, Bill Self and his 'Hawks were less than pleased with the performance. Cole Aldrich struggled on offense with only five points, all from the charity stripe. KU's next game is Tuesday in Lawrence against Cal.

Texas (#2) used a 23-7 flurry at the end of the first half to outdistance #10 North Carolina, 103-90. Four Longhorns, led by Damion James with 25, scored more than 20 points to boost their record to 10-0, mostly against inferior competition. This was the first basketball game played in the Jerry Jones Dome. Rick Barnes' cagers will be tested again Tuesday in Austin when #12 Michigan State visits.

The Big 12 is shaping up as the best conference in the nation with a 96-21 record against non-conference foes. Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Baylor each have only one loss, while Texas A&M and Nebraska have only two. Oklahoma, despite losing Player of the Year Blake Griffin, will be strong again under Jeff Capel; and Mark Turgeon has the Aggies playing good ball. Frank Martin's KSU roundballers have played the toughest schedule among conference teams. Their only loss came on the road at Mississippi, and they have beaten strong teams from Dayton, Xavier and Alabama.

Unless Missouri rebounds better and gets more offensive production from its big men, they will have trouble matching last year's successful run to the Elite Eight.

The Real Don Steele

December 20, 2009