By Blaidd Drwg
I love college bowl season – you can get some interesting matchups, especially when you involve some of the mid-major teams in the early bowls. Case in point is the New Mexico Bowl played on December 15th. It involved a 7-5 Nevada team vs. an 8-4 Arizona team. So what, you might ask. Well, let’s just say this sums up the kind of game you would expect (numbers represent their ranking among FBS teams):
| Arizona | Nevada | |
| Passing Offense | 25th | 52nd |
| Rushing Offense | 16th | 7th |
| Points Scored | 16th | 17th |
| Points Allowed | 106th | 102nd |
Two teams with high powered offense and no defense, you would expect this game to play out like a video game, which it effectively did. Nevada rolled up 659 yards of offense in this game while Arizona managed a “meager” 578. The teams collectively converted 5 out of 6 4th down chances, combined for 7 turnovers, Nevada lost leads of 21-0 and 45-28, Arizona recovered an onside kick and went 49 yards in about 27 seconds to score the winning touchdown in a 49-48 victory. The game, despite its lack of defense, was actually very entertaining to watch. Arizona actually scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes of the game to pull of the come-from-behind victory.
One thing I had not realized about Arizona – their running back Ka’Deem Kerry, ended the season with 1929 yards and 23 TD’s. How much more under the radar could this guy be considering he is from a BCS conference and plays for a team that was ranked at one point this season. Oh, and he will only be a junior next season.
FlatbreadGarden 