ASU’s bowl ranked 30th for interest
Of the 40 college football bowl games that will be played from Dec. 15 to Jan. 1, Arkansas State University’s game with Nevada in the Arizona Bowl is ranked as the 30th most watchable game by Tom Fornelli of cbssports.com.
“This is one of those games that could sneak up on you,” Fornelli wrote. “Odds are you haven’t seen much of either of these teams, but Nevada’s offense can be entertaining when it’s working, and Nevada’s defense helps keep things interesting. Against an Arkansas State team that’s averaged nearly 32 points per game, this could turn into a shootout.”
The Arizona Bowl will be played Dec. 29 with a 12:15 p.m. Central kickoff.
Fornelli ranked the Alabama-Oklahoma meeting Dec. 29 in the Orange Bowl as the most watchable game while Western Michigan’s game against BYU in the Idaho Potato Bowl on Dec. 21 was listed as the least interesting contest.
Marching orders
Jay Bateman, the defensive coordinator for Army, may have felt a little out of place at Tuesday’s Broyles Award ceremonies.
“Alabama, Clemson, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, they all have Parade All-Americans,”
Bateman said. “We have 50 guys who will march in a parade.”
Army, which finishes the regular season this weekend against rival Navy, is 9-2 and going for back-to-back
10-win seasons for the first time since the program started.
9 for 9?
Los Angeles Chargers QB Philip Rivers and his wife Tiffany are expecting their ninth child.
Wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “Is that some sort of marriage record for completed passes?”
If the shoe fits …
San Francisco 49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan was upset with himself that he got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the third quarter of a 43-16 loss to Seattle.
“It wasn’t a smart thing by me and something I can’t do,” Shanahan told reporters.
After 49ers linebacker Fred Warner lost his shoe, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw the shoe further behind the line of scrimmage. Warner ran to get his shoe, prompting Wilson to go hurry-up in hopes of getting a free play.
Warner was running off as Elijah Lee ran on to replace Warner, and the 49ers were flagged for offsides.
“He had to go about 8 more yards to pick it up,” Shanahan said. “As he was doing that, they went hurry-up offense, so we had a guy 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage trying to get his shoe that was thrown out of the way. They were at the line, Fred was going to be offsides because he was picking up his shoe that was thrown. When he saw that, Elijah tried to help him out and run on the field so he could get off. That’s why we got the penalty.”
The offsides prompted a profane outburst by Shanahan, which drew another penalty flag.