Saturday, September 3, 2016
Texas Christian 31 - 24 S. Dakota St. (13:20 left in 3d Quarter)
Now that the second half has begun, Texas Christian is ready to play. The Frogs score on a 60-yard pass from new QB Kenny Hill to Jaelan Austin.
Texas Christian 24 - 24 S. Dakota St. (Halftime)
OK, the Horned Frogs have decided not to ease their way into the season -- but to play their typical no-defense style. Here is what happened in the first half:
1. With 8:25 left in the first quarter, Texas Christian took a 7-0 lead on a 16-yard run by Kyle Hicks.
2. With 1:10 left in the first quarter, SDSU got a 25-yard field goal from Chase Vinatieri to make the score 7-3.
3. With 11:34 left in the second quarter, SDSU took a 10-7 lead on an 87-yard run by Taryn Christion.
4. With 9:55 left in the second quarter, SDSU took a 17-7 lead on a 12-yard run by Christion.
5. With 3:38 left in the second quarter, Texas Christian made the score 17-14 on an 81-yard punt return by KaVontae Turpin.
6. With 1:37 left in the second quarter, Texas Christian took a 21-17 lead on a 4-yard run by Kenny Hill.
7. With 49 seconds left in the second quarter, SDSU took a 24-21 lead on a 31-yard pass from Christion to Jake Wieneke.
8. With 6 seconds left in the second quarter, Texas Christian tied the score at 24 on a 32-yard field goal by Ryan Graf.
So it's the same-old same-old for Texas Christian. On to the second half.
1. With 8:25 left in the first quarter, Texas Christian took a 7-0 lead on a 16-yard run by Kyle Hicks.
2. With 1:10 left in the first quarter, SDSU got a 25-yard field goal from Chase Vinatieri to make the score 7-3.
3. With 11:34 left in the second quarter, SDSU took a 10-7 lead on an 87-yard run by Taryn Christion.
4. With 9:55 left in the second quarter, SDSU took a 17-7 lead on a 12-yard run by Christion.
5. With 3:38 left in the second quarter, Texas Christian made the score 17-14 on an 81-yard punt return by KaVontae Turpin.
6. With 1:37 left in the second quarter, Texas Christian took a 21-17 lead on a 4-yard run by Kenny Hill.
7. With 49 seconds left in the second quarter, SDSU took a 24-21 lead on a 31-yard pass from Christion to Jake Wieneke.
8. With 6 seconds left in the second quarter, Texas Christian tied the score at 24 on a 32-yard field goal by Ryan Graf.
So it's the same-old same-old for Texas Christian. On to the second half.
Texas Christian 7 - 17 S. Dakota St. (4 minutes left in 2d Quarter)
The Frogs jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, and then looked like they were going in for another touchdown, and I thought this would be an easy game. But then Texas Christian's usual first half malaise took over, and they trail 17-7 with 4 minutes to go in the half.
Texas Christian v. South Dakota State University
I have no idea what the Horned Frogs will be like this year. The AP has them ranked 13, which makes sense for a team that won a ton of games in the last two years, still has the same coach, but no longer has Trevone Boykin or Josh Doctson. By putting them at 13, the AP can easily move them up or down depending on performance.
This will be the first meeting ever between the Horned Frogs and the Jackrabbits. The Frogs are almost unbeatable at home, and they have won their last 14 home openers. No odds have yet been posted for this game, but I'm guessing that the Frogs will prevail.
This will be the first meeting ever between the Horned Frogs and the Jackrabbits. The Frogs are almost unbeatable at home, and they have won their last 14 home openers. No odds have yet been posted for this game, but I'm guessing that the Frogs will prevail.
South Dakota State University
Texas Christian usually likes to ease into the season, and play most of its high-drama games in October and November. This year, the Frogs are opening the season at home against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
South Dakota State has not made much of an impression on the college football world. The university itself was founded in the Dakota Territory in 1881. Back then, it was known as Dakota Agriculture College. The first building was finished in 1883, six years before South Dakota became a state. In 1904, the name was changed to South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, which strikes me as a great name for a college. But in 1964, thanks to pressure from the alumni, the name was changed to South Dakota State University. According to U.S. News and World Report, SDSU is in a tie for 187th place among National Universities. It is tied with the University of Alabama-Huntsville, the University of Houston, the University of Nevada-Reno, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Western Michigan University, and Widener University. (Texas Christian is tied for 82d place with Miami of Ohio, UC-Santa Cruz, and the University of Iowa.)
The two most famous SDSU alumni, at least to me, are Tom Daschle and Adam Vinatieri. (George McGovern graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University. Tom Brokaw graduated from the University of South Dakota.)
The Jackrabbits have played football since 1889. From 1922 to 2003, they were in the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which is a great name for a conference. Their fellow members for most of that period included the University of South Dakota, the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, Augustana College, and Morningside College. These were Division II schools, and to me the idea of the schools up there carrying on these rivalries year after year seems like a really good idea. But Americans are an ambitious people, and in 2004 South Dakota State and North Dakota State broke away to form something called the Great West Conference, which is about as contrived as you would imagine. It's defunct now. These days, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and South Dakota State all play in something called the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which features mostly Midwestern schools. North Dakota is in the Big Sky Conference, which features mostly Western schools. From this I conclude that the folks at North Dakota are a bunch of snobs.
Anyway, all that ambition paid off -- at least to some extent. North Dakota State has become the dominant powerhouse in I-AA football, winning the title in each of the last five years. And South Dakota State has reached the I-AA playoffs for the last four years in a row -- although they have yet to make it past the second round. Their all-time record is 571-450-38, and their best team was probably in 2014, when they went 9-5 and reached the second round of the I-AA playoffs. They lost to North Dakota State 27-24, and then NDSU went all the way.
This year, the Jackrabbits begin the year ranked number 14 in I-AA, and their fans will have high hopes for another big season. They are opening a new stadium, which you can see here. Next week, they will have a Kickoff Celebration for the stadium featuring Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, and Lee Brice. That sounds great. Of course, it will be even better if they can show off the Big Gold Trophy.
South Dakota State has not made much of an impression on the college football world. The university itself was founded in the Dakota Territory in 1881. Back then, it was known as Dakota Agriculture College. The first building was finished in 1883, six years before South Dakota became a state. In 1904, the name was changed to South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, which strikes me as a great name for a college. But in 1964, thanks to pressure from the alumni, the name was changed to South Dakota State University. According to U.S. News and World Report, SDSU is in a tie for 187th place among National Universities. It is tied with the University of Alabama-Huntsville, the University of Houston, the University of Nevada-Reno, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Western Michigan University, and Widener University. (Texas Christian is tied for 82d place with Miami of Ohio, UC-Santa Cruz, and the University of Iowa.)
The two most famous SDSU alumni, at least to me, are Tom Daschle and Adam Vinatieri. (George McGovern graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University. Tom Brokaw graduated from the University of South Dakota.)
The Jackrabbits have played football since 1889. From 1922 to 2003, they were in the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which is a great name for a conference. Their fellow members for most of that period included the University of South Dakota, the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, Augustana College, and Morningside College. These were Division II schools, and to me the idea of the schools up there carrying on these rivalries year after year seems like a really good idea. But Americans are an ambitious people, and in 2004 South Dakota State and North Dakota State broke away to form something called the Great West Conference, which is about as contrived as you would imagine. It's defunct now. These days, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and South Dakota State all play in something called the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which features mostly Midwestern schools. North Dakota is in the Big Sky Conference, which features mostly Western schools. From this I conclude that the folks at North Dakota are a bunch of snobs.
Anyway, all that ambition paid off -- at least to some extent. North Dakota State has become the dominant powerhouse in I-AA football, winning the title in each of the last five years. And South Dakota State has reached the I-AA playoffs for the last four years in a row -- although they have yet to make it past the second round. Their all-time record is 571-450-38, and their best team was probably in 2014, when they went 9-5 and reached the second round of the I-AA playoffs. They lost to North Dakota State 27-24, and then NDSU went all the way.
This year, the Jackrabbits begin the year ranked number 14 in I-AA, and their fans will have high hopes for another big season. They are opening a new stadium, which you can see here. Next week, they will have a Kickoff Celebration for the stadium featuring Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, and Lee Brice. That sounds great. Of course, it will be even better if they can show off the Big Gold Trophy.
Texas Christian 47 - 41 Oregon (Triple OT) (Alamo Bowl)
OK, so on the day of the Alamo Bowl, I actually had tickets to go see Hamilton on Broadway. It's not that easy to get tickets -- and when I bought the tickets I had no idea that the show would conflict with a UCFC game. So I did not see this game, which turned out to be one of the greatest UCFC games of all time.
You will recall that Texas Christian, having pulled an upset over Baylor in the rain in double overtime, was a 7-point underdog against Oregon. You will also recall that Texas Christian was without its two best players -- Trevone Boykin and Josh Doctson. Finally, you will recall that Texas Christian had very little defense the whole season, and had struggled in any game not played in Fort Worth. Taking all of those factors into account, I was pretty sure that these pages would be in green and gold.
And, in fact, Texas Christian looked completely over-matched at the beginning of the game. At the half, Oregon led 31-0. Now as you know, we stop live-blogging whenever anyone leads by more than 21 points, so I would have stopped blogging soon after the first quarter. And to be honest, I still don't understand why Oregon didn't win this game by at least 14 points.
But for reasons that I never understood, last year Texas Christian's defense often improved dramatically in the second half, and that occurred again here. Let me be clear -- I am not surprised that Texas Christian scored 31 points in the second half, even with a back-up quarterback. Big XII's gonna Big XII, and it's not easy to keep those teams off the scoreboard, no matter who is playing quarterback. But I am stunned that Texas Christian's defense pitched a shut-out in the second half. Except for that rain-soaked game against Baylor, I'm not sure that very many scoreless quarters in I-A competition.
So anyway, the game ended up tied at 31, and Texas Christian -- for the second game in a row -- was battling for the UCFC in overtime. This time it took them three overtimes, but they eventually won the game 47-41. Texas Christian tied the record for the biggest comeback in bowl game history. Oregon's UCFC record is now 2-15-1.
So the Big Gold Trophy will wind its way through the Big XII for the fifth year in a row. The last UCFC game that did not feature a team from the Big XII took place on January 4, 2012, when West Virginia -- the champion of the Big East -- crushed Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl. During the off-season, West Virginia took its program -- and the Big Gold Trophy -- to the Big XII, where they have both been ever since. Remarkably, in all these years the UCFC has never gotten into the National Championship game or the BCS playoffs. Instead, the trophy has ended up with a Big XII team that was not the Big XII champion, and then that team has won its bowl game to keep the trophy:
At the end of the 2012 season, Baylor (8-5) beat UCLA 49-26 in the Holiday Bowl.
At the end of the 2013 season, Oklahoma (11-2) beat Alabama 45-31 in the Sugar Bowl.
At the end of the 2014 season, Texas Christian (12-1) beat Ole Miss 45-3 in the Peach Bowl.
At the end of the 2015 season, Texas Christian (11-2) beat Oregon 47-41 in the Alamo Bowl.
Texas Christian is the first team to take the UCFC into the off-season for two years in a row since the University of Southern California did it in 2003 and 2004. Here are the year-end trophy holders since then (National Champions in bold):
2005: Texas
2006: Florida
2007: Missouri
2008: Florida
2009: Alabama
2010: Auburn
2011: W. Virginia
2012: Baylor
2013: Oklahoma
2014: Texas Christian
2015: Texas Christian
Since we started this blog, this is our 398th entry about Texas Christian. Baylor is the only team with more than 300 entries on the blog. The Horned Frogs have appeared in 21 UCFC games since we started the blog, and they have gone 17-4. They also been in some real thrillers:
10/20/2012: Texas Christian 53 - 56 Texas Tech (3 OT)
10/4/2014: Texas Christian 37 - 33 Oklahoma
10/11/2014: Baylor 61 - 58 Texas Christian
11/1/2014: W. Virginia 30 - 31 Texas Christian
9/26/2015: Texas Tech 52 - 55 Texas Christian
11/27/2015: Texas Christian 28 - 21 Baylor (2 OT)
1/2/2016: Texas Christian 47 - 41 Oregon (3 OT)
So we will begin another season with the purple and black. They are worthy holders, and I look forward to seeing them again.
You will recall that Texas Christian, having pulled an upset over Baylor in the rain in double overtime, was a 7-point underdog against Oregon. You will also recall that Texas Christian was without its two best players -- Trevone Boykin and Josh Doctson. Finally, you will recall that Texas Christian had very little defense the whole season, and had struggled in any game not played in Fort Worth. Taking all of those factors into account, I was pretty sure that these pages would be in green and gold.
And, in fact, Texas Christian looked completely over-matched at the beginning of the game. At the half, Oregon led 31-0. Now as you know, we stop live-blogging whenever anyone leads by more than 21 points, so I would have stopped blogging soon after the first quarter. And to be honest, I still don't understand why Oregon didn't win this game by at least 14 points.
But for reasons that I never understood, last year Texas Christian's defense often improved dramatically in the second half, and that occurred again here. Let me be clear -- I am not surprised that Texas Christian scored 31 points in the second half, even with a back-up quarterback. Big XII's gonna Big XII, and it's not easy to keep those teams off the scoreboard, no matter who is playing quarterback. But I am stunned that Texas Christian's defense pitched a shut-out in the second half. Except for that rain-soaked game against Baylor, I'm not sure that very many scoreless quarters in I-A competition.
So anyway, the game ended up tied at 31, and Texas Christian -- for the second game in a row -- was battling for the UCFC in overtime. This time it took them three overtimes, but they eventually won the game 47-41. Texas Christian tied the record for the biggest comeback in bowl game history. Oregon's UCFC record is now 2-15-1.
So the Big Gold Trophy will wind its way through the Big XII for the fifth year in a row. The last UCFC game that did not feature a team from the Big XII took place on January 4, 2012, when West Virginia -- the champion of the Big East -- crushed Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl. During the off-season, West Virginia took its program -- and the Big Gold Trophy -- to the Big XII, where they have both been ever since. Remarkably, in all these years the UCFC has never gotten into the National Championship game or the BCS playoffs. Instead, the trophy has ended up with a Big XII team that was not the Big XII champion, and then that team has won its bowl game to keep the trophy:
At the end of the 2012 season, Baylor (8-5) beat UCLA 49-26 in the Holiday Bowl.
At the end of the 2013 season, Oklahoma (11-2) beat Alabama 45-31 in the Sugar Bowl.
At the end of the 2014 season, Texas Christian (12-1) beat Ole Miss 45-3 in the Peach Bowl.
At the end of the 2015 season, Texas Christian (11-2) beat Oregon 47-41 in the Alamo Bowl.
Texas Christian is the first team to take the UCFC into the off-season for two years in a row since the University of Southern California did it in 2003 and 2004. Here are the year-end trophy holders since then (National Champions in bold):
2005: Texas
2006: Florida
2007: Missouri
2008: Florida
2009: Alabama
2010: Auburn
2011: W. Virginia
2012: Baylor
2013: Oklahoma
2014: Texas Christian
2015: Texas Christian
Since we started this blog, this is our 398th entry about Texas Christian. Baylor is the only team with more than 300 entries on the blog. The Horned Frogs have appeared in 21 UCFC games since we started the blog, and they have gone 17-4. They also been in some real thrillers:
10/20/2012: Texas Christian 53 - 56 Texas Tech (3 OT)
10/4/2014: Texas Christian 37 - 33 Oklahoma
10/11/2014: Baylor 61 - 58 Texas Christian
11/1/2014: W. Virginia 30 - 31 Texas Christian
9/26/2015: Texas Tech 52 - 55 Texas Christian
11/27/2015: Texas Christian 28 - 21 Baylor (2 OT)
1/2/2016: Texas Christian 47 - 41 Oregon (3 OT)
So we will begin another season with the purple and black. They are worthy holders, and I look forward to seeing them again.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Texas Christian v. Oregon
So Texas Christian, the current holder of the Unofficial College Football Championship, will be going to San Antonio tomorrow to defend its title in the Alamo Bowl. The Horned Frogs will take on the Oregon Ducks, who last played for the UCFC in the 2010 National Championship Game against Auburn. The Ducks got off to a shaky start, going 3-3 to open the season. But since then, Oregon has won six games in a row, including a 38-36 win at Stanford, which just cruised to victory in the Rose Bowl. Furthermore, the Pac-12 has looked pretty good in the Bowl Games so far. Check out these results (Pac-12 teams in bold):
New Mexico Bowl: Arizona 45, New Mexico 37
Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 35, Brigham Young 28
Sun Bowl: Washington St. 20, Miami (Fla.) 14
Heart of Dallas Bowl: Washington 44, So. Mississippi 31
Foster Farms Bowl: Nebraska 37, UCLA 29
Armed Forces Bowl: California 55, Air Force 36
Holiday Bowl: Wisconsin 23, USC 21
Rose Bowl: Stanford 45, Iowa 16
That's a record of 6-2, which includes the usual blow-out win in the Rose Bowl. There are good reasons to believe, therefore, that Oregon will put up a real fight in the Alamo Bowl.
Meanwhile, here's how the Big XII has done in Bowl Season (Big XII teams in bold):
Russell Athletic Bowl: Baylor 49, N. Carolina 38
Texas Bowl: Louisiana St. 56, Texas Tech 27
Orange Bowl: Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17
Sugar Bowl: Mississippi 48, Oklahoma St. 20
Now these are tough games -- the Big XII doesn't have match-ups with schools like New Mexico, Air Force, or Southern Mississippi. But in general, the Big XII defenses have been as sieve-like as they were during the regular season, while the Big XII offenses (with the lone exception of Baylor) haven't shown the type of fire-power we are used to seeing. That could bode ill for Texas Christian.
Furthermore -- and this is much more significant to me -- Trevone Boykin, who has carried Texas Christian all year, has been suspended for tomorrow's game, and will not play. Josh Doctson, the other half of Texas Christian's Dynamic Duo, will miss the game with an injury. Boykin and Doctson were two of my very favorite players in college football this year, and I'm very sorry they won't be there for tomorrow's game. Certainly Texas Christian will be a very different team without them on the field.
So you would have to give Oregon the edge in this game. In fact, Vegas has installed the Ducks as a 7-point favorite in a a game where 74 points are expected. That would work out to something like a 40-33 win for the Ducks. And I admit that I will be surprised if Texas Christian prevails. But the Frogs are playing in Texas, and they have won 8 of their last 11 bowl games under Coach Gary Patterson. Remember how awesome they looked in last year's Peach Bowl.
Sadly, I will be unable to blog tomorrow's game, as I will be out of town and away from my computer. But I will have a write-up after the game is over, and I'm very excited to know who will have the Big Gold Trophy going into the 2016 season.
New Mexico Bowl: Arizona 45, New Mexico 37
Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 35, Brigham Young 28
Sun Bowl: Washington St. 20, Miami (Fla.) 14
Heart of Dallas Bowl: Washington 44, So. Mississippi 31
Foster Farms Bowl: Nebraska 37, UCLA 29
Armed Forces Bowl: California 55, Air Force 36
Holiday Bowl: Wisconsin 23, USC 21
Rose Bowl: Stanford 45, Iowa 16
That's a record of 6-2, which includes the usual blow-out win in the Rose Bowl. There are good reasons to believe, therefore, that Oregon will put up a real fight in the Alamo Bowl.
Meanwhile, here's how the Big XII has done in Bowl Season (Big XII teams in bold):
Russell Athletic Bowl: Baylor 49, N. Carolina 38
Texas Bowl: Louisiana St. 56, Texas Tech 27
Orange Bowl: Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17
Sugar Bowl: Mississippi 48, Oklahoma St. 20
Now these are tough games -- the Big XII doesn't have match-ups with schools like New Mexico, Air Force, or Southern Mississippi. But in general, the Big XII defenses have been as sieve-like as they were during the regular season, while the Big XII offenses (with the lone exception of Baylor) haven't shown the type of fire-power we are used to seeing. That could bode ill for Texas Christian.
Furthermore -- and this is much more significant to me -- Trevone Boykin, who has carried Texas Christian all year, has been suspended for tomorrow's game, and will not play. Josh Doctson, the other half of Texas Christian's Dynamic Duo, will miss the game with an injury. Boykin and Doctson were two of my very favorite players in college football this year, and I'm very sorry they won't be there for tomorrow's game. Certainly Texas Christian will be a very different team without them on the field.
So you would have to give Oregon the edge in this game. In fact, Vegas has installed the Ducks as a 7-point favorite in a a game where 74 points are expected. That would work out to something like a 40-33 win for the Ducks. And I admit that I will be surprised if Texas Christian prevails. But the Frogs are playing in Texas, and they have won 8 of their last 11 bowl games under Coach Gary Patterson. Remember how awesome they looked in last year's Peach Bowl.
Sadly, I will be unable to blog tomorrow's game, as I will be out of town and away from my computer. But I will have a write-up after the game is over, and I'm very excited to know who will have the Big Gold Trophy going into the 2016 season.
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