Insight Bowl
Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Oklahoma Sooners
December 30, 10:00 p.m. EST
Sun Devil Stadium (Tempe, AZ)
Website: http://www.fiestabowl.org/insight-bowl.php
TV: ESPN
Line: Oklahoma -14
Overall, the biggest storyline heading into this game, might be that the Oklahoma Sooners are in fact here at all. A season which started with hopes of playing in a BCS National Championship Game will end in Arizona, where the Sooners played their bowl game last year as well. Only in 2011 they won’t be in the Fiesta Bowl as the Big XII champs, but instead at the Insight, after tying for third in the conference.
On the opposite sideline, the Iowa Hawkeyes make their second straight trip to Tempe, where they upset No. 12 ranked Missouri last year.
Making This All Possible:
Insight Enterprises Inc. is the game’s title sponsor, and is a company which provides IT products, services and solutions to businesses, schools and other enterprises worldwide.
I know, I know, they’re not as exciting a sponsor as Beef O’Brady’s or Little Caesars, but hell, somebody has to put up the money to host the event, right?
Get To Know: Iowa
In a rather pedestrian Big Ten season, the Iowa Hawkeyes were about as pedestrian teams come, finishing 7-5 and 4-4 in league play. The highlight for the Hawkeyes was probably an upset of Michigan… that was largely ignored and overshadowed, thanks to a bigger game later that evening: LSU vs. Alabama.
As for the particulars of their 2011 campaign, the Hawkeyes were led by a strong ground game, which has been a staple of Kirk Ferentz’s reign in Iowa City. Marcus Coker was the star, finishing with over 1,300 yards rushing this season.
Get To Know: Oklahoma
Simply put, the most glaring note from Oklahoma’s season was the untimely passing of former starting linebacker Austin Box during the summer of 2011. When put into that context, it’s clear that a disappointing football season really doesn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme.
Unfortunately, the games were still played, and the Sooners were one of college football’s most injury-plagued and unlucky clubs in 2011. By the end of the season leading rusher Dominque Whaley had been lost to injury, and so too had the greatest receiver in school history, Ryan Broyles. It led to the disappointing 9-3 finish, as nothing seemed to go right after a late September win over Florida State.
Beyond that, one has to wonder the following: What will the Sooners mindset be like, heading into what is ultimately a second-tier, non-BCS bowl game before New Year’s Day? (sorry Insight folks, it’s true) They could easily come out flat in this one.
You Should Know…
Bob Stoops is just 3-5 in his last eight bowl games at Oklahoma, although given that all five of those losses came in BCS bowls, it’s kinda hard to totally blame Stoops, his staff or the players.
At the very least we should note that Oklahoma has now won two straight bowl games, and have won two straight non-BCS games as well.
And yes, we’re grasping at the straws of “interesting” here.
If You’re Going:
The hot hang out spot in Tempe is undoubtedly “Mill Ave.” There you’ll find clubs, bars, good food, and nightlife.
If you’re more of a sporty guy, head over to the Arizona State Sports Hall of Fame, adjacent to Sun Devil Stadium. When yours truly was there back in 2009, I even had the pleasure of running into former Arizona State football coach Dennis Erickson, and chatting him up for a few minutes.
Chances are you won’t be so lucky, as by now you probably know that Erickson was fired following the Sun Devils 6-7 campaign.
If you do see him, grab a box. He might need a hand getting all his stuff out of his office.
If You’re Watching At Home:
Tempe’s own Four Peaks Brewery is the place to get a select ale of your choice.
On a different note, they very well may have the coolest loading website known to man.
Prediction:
Personally, this writer is not a huge fan of Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones, and if anything is ready to see move onto the NFL so the Blake Bell era can begin in earnest in the fall of 2012.
However, the one thing that’s hard to deny about Jones, is that when the pressure is tempered down and he can relax and “just play football,” there aren’t many quarterbacks who are better. And really, how many games has or will Jones play in his career than this one?
Oklahoma will roll here.
Oklahoma 44, Iowa 14
