Coaching changes will impact the bowls
December 19th, 2007
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The coaching carousel usually begins after the regular season is complete and as of Tuesday, December 18, there are 17 teams that will have new head coaches in 2008. More than half (nine) of those clubs will play one more game this season, so let's take a quick look at how the coaching changes will affect those squads heading into the postseason.
Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia's head coach the last seven years, proclaimed his love for the Maize and Blue, as well as a ton of green, when he was named the new leader at Michigan.
Since Rodriguez will not be on the sidelines for the Wolverines in the Capital One Bowl, one might think the coaching change will have little or no effect on the game. I beg to differ. Many of the Wolverine players will be wondering how they'll fit into the new system rather than focusing on the task at hand, which is a precarious contest vs. Florida.
Chad Henne will start at the quarterback spot, but if his atrocious play continues, it will be interesting to see where freshman backup Ryan Mallet's mind is. The top high school quarterback in 2006 is not the type of QB the new coaching staff prefers to run its spread offense. In fact, rumors are swirling that Terrelle Pryor, this year's top high school signal-caller, will join Rodriguez in Ann Arbor, so technically the Capital One Bowl could be the final game at Michigan for both Henne and Mallet.
SOUTHERN MISS MESS
Jeff Bower went to school at Southern Miss and coached the Golden Eagles for 17 seasons. Rumor has it that he was forced out even though his team had finished .500 or better every year since 1992 and he has now taken the Eagles to 10 bowl games in the last 11 years.
However, all it takes is one very disappointing 7-5 campaign, along with poor attendance, and those impressive numbers mean less and less. Southern Miss was supposed to walk away with Conference USA's Eastern Division, but an injury to quarterback Jeremy Young sidetracked the entire team.
Athletic Director Richard Giannini wanted the football program to head in another direction and it certainly will with the hire of Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Larry Fedora. Expect the Golden Eagles to come out next season with a more explosive offense which Giannini hopes will put more fannies in the seats.
Bower's final game as head coach will be the Papajohns.com Bowl on December 22. Since Southern Miss is a team filled with upperclassmen that have played their hearts out for him the last few years, expect the Golden Eagles to soar vs. Cincinnati as a hefty underdog.
INTERIM COACHES
There will be five interim coaches this bowl season with the first one coming on December 22 in a game between UCLA and BYU.
DeWayne Walker takes over for UCLA's Karl Dorrell, when the Bruins tackle the Cougars in the Las Vegas Bowl. Walker anointed Ben Olson his starting quarterback in one of his first acts as the main man in Westwood, despite Olson's five completions in 14 attempts for 64 yards his last two games.
At this stage of the season, it really doesn't matter who is under center for the Bruins. They've averaged only 16 ppg the last seven games with the offense reaching the end zone just eight times over that span. Not to mention only two TD passes from a trio of quarterbacks.
Over at Houston, Chris Thurmond takes over for Art Briles against TCU in the Texas Bowl. The cornerbacks coach will have his hands full against a team for which he once roamed the sidelines in two assistant stints during the past 12 years. (Back in 2000, he helped the Horned Frogs to the top spot in the country in scoring and total defense.)
Houston is 0-7 (2-5 ATS) in its last seven bowl games and 0-4 both SU and ATS the last four meetings with TCU. Incidentally, the Horned Frogs are one of this columnist's three best bests prior to the New Year's Eve games, with the other two being Navy plus 8.5 vs. Utah and Wake Forest minus a field goal against Connecticut.
Georgia Tech enticed Paul Johnson to leave the Naval Academy for greener pastures, but Johnson will not coach the Yellow Jackets in the Humanitarian Bowl vs. Fresno State. That task was left for defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta, who is in his sixth year at Georgia Tech.
Defense was not the problem for the Yellow Jackets as they allowed only 310 yards per game, good for third best in the ACC. However, bowl games are usually won on offense, and this G-Tech team might not have enough downfield explosiveness to keep up with its opponent. On the other hand, if the coaching staff could have hand-picked one team to play, Fresno State would be at the top of its list.
The Bulldogs finished tied for 110th place in the country allowing five yards per carry, while only 18 teams ran for more yards per game than Georgia Tech. In addition, the Yellow Jackets defense was spectacular against the run, giving up only 2.8 ypc, good for sixth best in the nation. That rushing defense will come in handy against a Fresno State team that gained over 200 ypg on the ground.
Texas A&M is another school that will use an interim coach in its bowl game, against Penn State, as Mike Sherman will not take over the Aggies program until next year. Gary Darnell was named head coach for the Alamo Bowl and the defensive coordinator does have some head coaching experience, taking over for Florida before Steve Spurrier roamed the sidelines for the Gators.
Still, A&M's defense did not come through in last year's bowl game vs. California allowing 45 points in the 45-10 loss to the Golden Bears. The Aggies gave up 45 in their second game this season, albeit in triple overtime, but the "D" allowed 26 ppg this year as opposed to just 18.5 in 12 regular season games in 2006.
A victory over Texas snapped a three-game losing streak, but the Longhorns have shown they're not the same team they were a couple of years back. In addition, the Aggies have won only one of their last seven bowl games and were shut out 24-0 by Penn State in this very same bowl game back in 1999.
Don't expect Darnell to work any magic in this one.
Another defensive coordinator is taking the reins in Arkansas, as Reggie Herring replaces Houston Nutt for the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. The Razorbacks, who have won five of their last six, including a victory over LSU, are one of the few clubs on this list going into the postseason with some momentum.
Their opponent is a team that should be in one of the BCS games, but had to settle for the Cotton Bowl. Missouri has all the credentials of a top five team and is rightfully favored over Arkansas. Nonetheless, one has to wonder how ticked the program really is having been left out of a big-time bowl matchup.
This situation has come back to bite teams in the past, most notably in 2004 when California (10-1) was banished to the Holiday Bowl with just one loss by only six points on the road to the USC Trojans, who were the number one team in the country that year. The Golden Bears were 11-point favorites vs. Texas Tech, and ended up losing by two touchdowns.