Monday, Monday

A lot of people must have today off.  Traffic was light this morning and driving home from work this afternoon.  "How you can do BowlQuest at work Keith?"  One co-worker seemed a little miffed that I have the games on the in-studio TV and claim that I'm watching.

Well, it counts and yes, most Americans (mostly male, but not exclusively) must be sitting at home, bored out of their minds and relishing having football on most of the day.

This is a legit bowl game, played every year of my life and then some.  Not the Guy Fieri Slama Jamma Nun Chuks Donkey Sauce Bowl for two years.

West Virginia vs. Texas A&M

Despite their crappy records, I felt this was one of the best match-ups of all bowl season.  Here's what I wrote in my bowl preview:  "Lots of points in this one.  Love this match-up of two teams that have never played before.  This game may be one of the best games of BowlQuest.  Furniture stores in Morgantown could have plenty of end of year sales if the Mountaineers win. I'll take A&M although both teams played pretty lousy down the stretch."

So, yeah, I was right.

All the points, and plenty of poor sportsmanship.

I starting watching this game in the second quarter when I went into the air studio.  34 points were already scored in the first quarter.  I guess my preview was right.  Not that they're all right, for instance, as I write this, the Russell Athletic Bowl is a complete disaster for Oklahoma,

Did I watch a quarter live?  Sure, I watched three of them, sort of.  This game fell into the really entertaining but not really good football category - where one usually finds West Virginia.

West Virginia is the drunken cousin of college football programs.  Will he lend you a thousand dollars and drive you to the airport?  Sure.  Will he wreck your car after you lend it to him because his is in the shop and he has to get to the power company to pay his bill before they turn off his service? Yes again.  You never know what will happen with them.  They'll beat Alabama and then lose to Vandy.  

Texas A&M overcame the early deficit and the Johnny Manziel-like antics of West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard.

But don't think A&M didn't have some punk moments of their own.

This Texas A&M assistant threw a punch, not once but twice from the sidelines. Goon tactics but I credit it to this.  The 36th anniversary of "the punch."

Ohio State's Woody Hayes and the famous punch of Charlie Bauman.  I think I post this every time I do this bowl quest thing.  Its really worth watching just to hear the great Keith Jackson. This is when the Gator Bowl meant something, not just a three hour infomercial for Taxslayer.

By the way, how was Woody Hayes not ejected from that game?  He left the sideline and fought a player then went back to fight an official. Woody had officially lost him mind at this point.

Oh yeah, Liberty Bowl.

Texas A&M 45  West Virginia 37

Notes

-I kind of called that one.  Ragged, terrible, great, stupid.  It's everything you want from a game for the first game between these two schools.

-There will probably be a few couches burned tonight in Morgantown just because they like lighting furniture on fire, maybe this guy will set his own couch on fire.

 -Player swag:  Sol Republic Deck Ultra wireless bluetooth speaker; Bulova watch; Nike athletic shoes/sport sandals/backpack; game ball. I've searched for these "game balls" on ebay but have had no luck.

My pick:  Texas A&M, 15-4 now.

What a joke.  This game was delayed to get on ESPN because the thug/goon fest of this year's Liberty Bowl went nearly four hours.  I didn't bother watching at work, plenty of game to go when I got home.

27-0 Clemson as I walked in the door.  Did Oklahoma not show up?

Nope, there they were, right there on the field.  This was a team that was supposed to contend for the national championship.  And they're playing Clemson, a team that knows how to find ways to lose like no other team (other than Georgia).

It's 40-0 Clemson with an entire quarter to play.  No reason to fill in the blanks.  Hard to believe this was the same Oklahoma team that ran Alabama out of the Sugar Bowl.

Notes

-This is the first time I've ever finished a BowlQuest blog post without knowing a final score.  What a joke.  This game is well known as the landing spot for teams that had horribly disappointing seasons.  Give Clemson credit, they're setting up their fan base for so much disappointment next year when they lose to Pitt in October.

-Of course Clemson was blowing out the Sooners, Santa hates Oklahoma.

 Player swag:  Another bowl game that makes it easy - $447 Best Buy gift card and shopping trip; watch; athletic performance shirt.

My pick - Oklahoma, obviously.  One more game to go tonight, Arkansas vs. Texas.