Local prep stars prepare for strange bowl season
Bakersfield prep stars ready to take part in strange bowl season
One of the quietest college football bowl seasons on record isn’t producing much noise locally.
With numerous games canceled and teams throughout the country opting out of postseason competition, just five FBS bowl games will feature players or coaches with local ties this season.
Luckily, 12 of those who are competing will do so on some of the sport’s biggest stages. Below is a list of who will be playing where this bowl season, with games starting as early as this afternoon.
TODAY
Tulane vs. Nevada Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Isaac Jernagin, wide receiver, Nevada:
In his first year in Reno, Jernagin, a Bakersfield High graduate, played sparingly, catching one pass for four yards for the Wolf Pack (6-2) who look to finish strong after losing two of their final three games.
12:30 p.m. on ESPN
TV: DEC. 30
Florida vs. Oklahoma Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Justin Harrington, defensive back, Oklahoma:
A former All-American at Bakersfield College, Harrington did not record any stats in his first year in Norman, where the Sooners won a sixth-consecutive Big 12 title.
5 p.m. on ESPN
TV: DEC. 31
Ball State vs. San Jose State Arizona Bowl
Johnny Balderas, defensive back, San
Jose State: The Liberty grad and former BVarsity Player of the Year played in two games in his junior season for the Spartans, who enter the Arizona Bowl 7-0 after capturing the first Mountain West championship in school history.
11 a.m. on CBS
TV:
Army vs. West Virginia AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Ryan Aguilar, long snapper, Army:
Another Liberty grad will be in action on New Year’s Eve.
Initially left out of the party following the cancelation of the Independence Bowl, the 9-2 Black Knights found a place to play after Tennessee was forced to pull out of the Liberty Bowl due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests.
TV: 1 p.m. on ESPN
JAN. 1
Notre Dame vs. Alabama
Rose Bowl
Asauni Rufus, assistant coach, Notre Dame; Ramon Henderson, defensive back, Notre Dame: Just 24 years old, former BHS standout Rufus completed his second season as an assistant on the Irish’s coaching staff.
Working with the special teams and defensive units, he helped oversee a team that nabbed the final spot in the College Football Playoff.
He’ll be joined in the Rose Bowl, which was moved to Arlington, Texas, by Liberty grad Henderson, who played in one game in his first season at Notre Dame. The path to the title game could be a tough one, as top-ranked Alabama opens as a 19.5-point favorite.
TV: 1 p.m. on ESPN
JAN. 2
Oregon vs. Iowa State PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Lawrence White IV, defensive back, Iowa State: By far the most decorated collegiate player on this list, White, a fifth-year senior from Ridgeview, was fourth on the Cyclones with 56 tackles while also recording an interception this fall. After a tight 27-21 title game loss to Oklahoma prevented Iowa State from winning its first Big 12 title, White is hoping for a better result in his fourth and final bowl game with the Cyclones.
TV: 1 p.m. on ESPN
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
This list would certainly be much longer were it not for several players competing on teams that elected to opt out of the postseason.
Those affected include BHS grads Cameron Williams ( Washington) and Carl Jones (UCLA), Liberty’s Quincy Jountti (USC), Bakersfield Christian’s Ben Yurosek (Stanford) and Stockdale’s Evan Burkhardt (Arizona State). Former Centennial quarterback Jeff Crosby, a fourth-year special teams coach at Washington, would have also been on the sidelines if the Huskies had accepted a postseason berth.