Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Review

What a great turnaround for Skip Holtz. He had his team very well prepared, they looked dominant from the opening quarter, especially at the line of scrimmage. Boise State had not seen a runner of Chris Johnson's caliber all season (not many teams in the WAC have), and he ripped off almost 200 in the first quarter.

Then again, most of their defense did play against Adrian Peterson in the Fiesta Bowl last year. Watching this game, you really wonder how this team beat Oklahoma last year. Jared Zabransky was better than Taylor Tharpe, but not THAT much better. Boise seemed like they didn't have the athletes to match up against the younger Holtz's (who looks NOTHING like his father) squad, especially in one on one matchups.

Cuddos to the Pirates. They've done a nice job recruiting and should be in the running for a Conference USA title the next few years, replacing Johnson will be a tall task though.


MY GRADES:


UNDER THE RADAR-

Freshman Dewayne Harris had a pretty meaningless game. A nice 22 yard catch in the 4th quarter was his lone grab, but he only ran the ball three times for 24 yards and only had 5 yards on 2 punt returns, one of which he should've fair caught and got decimated on.
I thought that Jeremy Avery have a better game than Ian Johnson, but not out carry him 10 to 6, wow. He's probably a better pro prospect as well. Is it me or does every team this year have a 6-0, 185 freshman KR/RB/WR that can bust one loose on every play? Avery made me look smart as he went for 69 yards on those 10 carries, had another 4 catches for 43 yards and a score that woke the Broncos up to go along with 2 kick returns for 41 yards. Thanks Jeremy.
B+

MVP-
Chris Johnson is going to be a factor on Sundays. Whether he's going to be a Leon Washington type more like Jerious Norwood I don't know. My guess is somewhere between the two. Even though he fumbled on a critical play that almost cost Carolina the game, it was his first of the season after over 300 touches. Whomever takes him in the second round (he'd fit great on a team like the Steelers, Cardinals or Tampa Bay) is gonna get excellent value. If he played in a BCS conference he'd be a late first round pick. He's got 4.3 speed, great hands, doesn't fumble and finishes runs. And did I mention he's from Florida? By the way he went for a BCS record 400+ total yards: 28 carries for 223 and a 68yrd score, another 3 catches for 32 yards and a 18yrd touchdown and 6 kick returns for 153yrds (25.4 average).
A- (he outperformed my expectations, my Kaepernick and Unga debacles scared me away)

FINAL SCORE-
Prediction: ECU, 34 Boise State, 31
Actual Score: ECU, 41 Boise State, 38 (what are the chances Chris Johnson has his only fumble of the season on potentially the last play of the game and it's return for a tying score, really?
A

OVERALL GRADE:
A-

FOR THE SEASON-
Straight Up: 5-1
Against the Spread: 2-4
Over/Under: 2-4