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I started my Year End Awards last year.  It is this blog’s attempt to identify some of the top players and coaches in college football.

Offensive Player of the Year
Colt McCoy, Texas
Few people were more important to their offense as McCoy was to Texas’.  McCoy’s ability to use the run made the “zone read” play that much more effective and Colt responded with a huge season both running and passing.  McCoy had a 173.36 QB Rating completing 34 touchdowns against only 8 interceptions and 3,859 yards passing.  McCoy also had 579 yards rushing.

Defensive Player of the Year
Jerry Hughes, TCU
Hughes came out of nowhere replacing former starter Chase Ortiz for the Horned Frogs.  His speed in the pass rush can be attributed to his natural athleticism as he was a running back in high school.  Hughes led the nation in sacks with 15 for a total loss of 113 yards and might have been the most high profile player for TCU’s number one ranked defense in spite of the Frogs having such stand-outs as Jason Phillips and Stephen Hodge.  But sacks weren’t Hughes’ only specialty. Hughes also forced 6 fumbles and recovered 3 fumbles.

Coach of the Year
Turner Gill, Buffalo
The former Nebraska stand-out QB has turned around the Bull program in just a few short years.  His first year at Buffalo, in 2006, Gill’s team was 2-10.  In his second year they were 5-7.  This year, Gill’s third, the Bulls finished the season 8-5 with a MAC Championship thanks to an upset of undefeated Ball State in the MAC Championship Game.

Most Inspirational Player
Myron Rolle, Florida State
Rolle won a Rhodes Scholarship during the 2008 season while helping the Seminoles to a tie of the ACC Atlantic Division Title.  Rolle has became a role-model for student athletes everywhere with his extreme dedication to his education and his team at the same time.  Now, he has followed that up with choosing to study at Oxford per the scholarship rather than play in the NFL.

Herschel Walker and Drew Pearson will sign copies of books which they have authored on January 17, 2009.

Walker, the former Georgia Bulldog and Dallas Cowboy, will be signing copies of his book Breaking Free at the Lifeway Christian Bookstore in at Dallas Parkway at 11 AM. This is correction of a previous post I made in which I noted the date as January 7th.

Pearson, the former Cowboy great, will be signing copies of his book Remembering Texas Stadium at the Barnes & Noble in Fort Worth on University Drive at 2 PM.

In addition, Bob Lilly will be signing copies of his book A Cowboy’s Life on January 11th, 1 PM at the Sam’s Club in Irving at Marketplace Blvd.

Information courtesy of Upcoming Celebrity Book Signings.

The college football season is over.  It was completed last night in a slug-fest in Miami for the “mythological,” the coach’s, or whomever else agrees to

crown them, BCS National Championship Game.  Florida got the win.  Now, being a blogger, I am not obligated to vote for Florida as my number one team.  How will I go?  Well, here it is.

1.  Florida, 13-1
I believe in Tebow.  It’s that simple.  I belive that Tebow can literally “will” his team to victory even if they aren’t playing that great.  No team will try harder, play harder, prepare harder (you get the picture) than Tebow and Company.  He said it!

2.  USC, 12-1
The Trojans had the most impressive performance in a bowl game.  They might even be the best team.  They just hate going to Corvallis (Oregon that is).

3.  Utah, 13-0
The Utes did everything that anyone could ask them to do.  Their schedule even played out nicely as they got to knock off four ranked teams.  And, they showed they could play physical when they lined up and went toe-to-toe with Alabama.  I wonder what would have happened if Brian Johnson hadn’t have led them to that touchdown against TCU in Salt Lake City?

4.  Tie, Texas 12-1 and Oklahoma 12-2
Texas was less than impressive in the Fiesta Bowl against an offensively challenged Ohio State and Oklahoma gave away the national title game by twice failing to score in the red zone against Florida.  Oh yeah, the Sooners who routed Texas Tech lost to the Longhorns on a neutral field in October.  I can’t make up my mind!

6.  Alabama, 12-2
The Tide is good.  They are much better than people thought they would be this year.  Their only losses were to Tebow (and Co.) and Brian Johnson’s Utah Utes.

7.  TCU, 11-2
The TCU is a tail of  “what if?”  They knocked off previously unbeated Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl, but they just missed (field goals) on their chance against Utah in Salt Lake City.  Their defense finished the year number one overall.  Before Florida’s ultimate slow-down of Oklahoma’s offense, no one other than Texas even came close to having an answer for the Sooners than the Frogs did.

8.  Georgia, 10-3
What was supposed to be a magical coming-out season for the Georgia faithful ended taking a detour.  The ‘Dawgs may have been a victim of too much “hype” and not qute enough wins.  Oh well, there is always next year.

9.  Penn State, 11-2
The Nittany Lions were over-matched against USC, but they showed everyone that they did not give up easily and play the entire game.  The game wasn’t as close as the score, but Jo Pa’s team never quit.

10.  Boise State, 12-1
The Broncos won everything their schedule threw at them.  Unfortunately, they weren’t quite ready for the Horned Frogs.  They did show that they had a good defense to complement the explosive offense.

I love to read other bloggers as we all get ready for the BCS Title Game.  I have to give kudos to The Wiz for his post which lists the predictions of different writers in the sports world.  Check out his prediction post.

The Wiz also has an article written by Wendell Barnhouse who used to be a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and now writes for Big12sports.com.  Barnhouse addresses all of the numbers and motivations and other interesting tidbits for the big game.

You can also check out the Fanblogs post.  Also, Adam at Inthebleachers.net posted his thoughts following the ITB Podcast.  I think we all want to see a good game not another SEC blowout.  Of course, some Oklahoma fans have already claimed a national championship.  I think “Superman” will have something to say about that.

With the FedEx BcS National Title Game being played Thursday night in Miami between Oklahoma and Florida, I thought that I would offer the obligatory word or two about the upcoming game.  Since I am a college football blogger, I am supposed to talk about these things.  So, I thought I would title the post, “Passing the Crystal Ball.”  You know that piece of “hardware” they give to the winner of the so-called national championship game.  Of course, the crystal trophy may be in short supply.

Oklahoma and Florida passed whatever test that voters use these days to choose numbers 1 and 2 in the BCS and get the rip to Miami to see who should be ranked number 1.  I seems that voters don’t really know who they are voting for or have any real standards.  Consider this from Dan Wetzel

“The BCS has no set rationale for how or why a school should be ranked – is it record, strength of schedule, whom it beat, whom it lost to, how it won, how it lost? The decision is up to each voter.”

Huh?  No real standards.  Surely that is how they do it in Division I basketball.  Well, the committee who selects the 64 team tournament has a lot of work to do, and they don’t rely on the voters.  Here is more from Wetzel.

“In contrast, the 10-member NCAA men’s basketball selection committee meets throughout the season to compare notes and stay on top of hot teams. It demands comprehensive scouting, sets common criteria and even asks committee members to get out and see teams in person. Then they all meet and hash it out.”

There you have it, it is simply a beauty pageant (check out my comments).  Sure, the computers have something to do with it, but when voters don’t have standards and a full time job, they simply don’t watch teams such as Utah play games until the bowl season.  They are relying on Sportscenter, Sports Illustrated, ABC or CBS for all of their input.  These great media outlets are going to “hype” the teams they cover.

Now that I have gotten beyond my rant, let’s move on to the game.  This game will feature two of the most explosive in modern history.  Florida runs a spread offense, but it is an Urban Meyer specific.  Now, Chris at Smart Football says it is not innovative because he employs concepts and elements that existed before Meyer started using them.  That is true, but the

meshing together of the concepts and the extreme flexibility of Meyer’s offense makes it explosive.  He has merged a myriad of spread concepts making his offense difficult to defend, particularly when you consider the speed and talent on the field.

Oklahoma has set a record for points scored this year.  Much of that can be attributed to the move to a hurry-up, no-huddle offense.  The Sooners seem to score 21 points on every opponent in the first quarter.  They get teams in a hole, and they “pin their ears back” defensively the rest of the game.  The Sooner offense really took off later in the season when running back DeMarco Murray began to feel more comfortable with his knee after an injury last year.

In general, teams win when they can run the football and stop the run with only a rare exception (see Sugar Bowl, Utah).  That should play in Florida’s favor.  They have all of their rushing weapons available, but Oklahoma will

have to without DeMarco Murray.   On the flip side, Florida will have speedy receiver Percy Harvin for the national title game.   What’s more, OU will have to stop Tebow and Company without 315 pound DT  DeMarcus Granger who had back surgery.

Oklahoma still has the passing game, and that should keep the game interesting.  Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford has had few problems staying upright this year as he had a fanatastic year.  But, as in the Texas and TCU games, a pass rush can give him enough problems to be almost average.  You can bet that Florida Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong has studied those games closely.  My pick is Florida.  Let’s see how it turns out.

Two former Dallas Cowboys will sign copies of their books in the Dallas-Fort Worth area according to Celebrity Book Signings.

Hershel Walker, the former Georgia Bulldog great and Cowboy, will be signing copies of his book Breaking Free at the Lifeway Christian Bookstore on January 7, (correction) January 17 2009 at 11 AM on Dallas Parkway.

Bob Lilly, the Hall of Famer, Dallas Cowboy and TCU Horned Frog will be signing copies of his book A Cowboy’s Life at the Sam’s Club – Market Place Blvd. Irving, TX at 1:00 PM on January 11, 2009.

As 2009 begins, it is that time of year when Collegefootballtopten.com starts to give out its end of the year awards.  In this post, we introduce you to the first annual “Book End” Awards.  Since I have had so many reviews at CFTT this year, I am going to do a segment handing out awards to the top five books that I have read this year.

I looked back on the year and I counted at least nine books that I read and reviewed.  That seems like a lot, but it is not quite one a month.  However, considering all of the writing I am doing and my full time job, I suppose it is not to bad.

In order to evaluate the books and choose the top five books, I have decided to use a four-fold critera for evaluation.

1) Inspirational.  Does the book inspire me to be a better person in some manner or another?

2) Enlightening of the game.  Does the book tell me something about the game, particularly college football?  Any part of the game is needed such as a book that tells me something about recruiting in college football.

3) Historical/Perspective.  Does the book reveal history to me about the game and the context in which the story lived?  Does it give me a larger perspective about football, or football in the context of life in gereral?

4) Writing Style.  How is the writing style?  Is it very descriptive and easy to follow?  Is it humerous?  Is the author creative, and does he/she not use to many clichés?

Top Five Books

5.  Walk-On by Thom Gossom
This is a memoir of Gossom’s experience being an African-American athlete at Auburn University in the early 1970’s.  This book is a 2008 publication.  Read the CFTT Review.

4.  Season of Life by Jeffrey Marx
This book is truly one of the most inspiring books I have read this year.  The book was previously published in 2003.  Read the CFTT Review.

3.  Meat Market by Bruce Feldman
Bruce has left us a treasure here.  Bruce allows us to listen as he sits in on recruiting at Ole Miss in 2006.  This book was originally published in 2007.  Read the CFTT Review.

2.  Rose Bowl Dreams by Adam Jones
Adam does a great job of capturing a fan’s perspective of this madness we call college football.  This book was a 2008 publication.  Read the CFTT Review.

1.  The Galloping Ghost by Gary Andrew Poole
Hands down, this was my favorite book of the year.  It truly gave me insight in to football in the 20’s and 30’s.  One should read this along with Jim Dent’s Twelve Mighty Orphans to understand more about football during that time period.  And then, watch the movie Leatherheads.  This book is a 2008 publication.  Read the CFTT Review.

It was another stellar sesaon in college football.  There were plenty of controversy, passion, and upsets to really keep the college football fan watching the game.  It might be even better if we had a true “post season,” but we had plenty of moments to keep things going.

1.  Alabama crushes Clemson
I don’t know if this game was a sign of things to come or not, but the Crimson Tide who was a paltry 6-6 the year before absolutely beat down the Clemson Tigers who was ranked number 9 in the preseason rankings.  The loss would eventually lead to the dismissal of Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden (see below).  ‘Bama’s win would lead to the Sugar Bowl.

2.  USC routs Ohio State
I think we were all waiting for this early season match-up of the two football behomoths.  Ohio State was fresh off of another loss in the BCS Title Game, and USC had what was considered one of the best defenses in a while.  Note even close.  It didn’t help the Buckeyes that “Beanie” Wells was hurt, but most people would have said that it didn’t matter.

3.  Oregon State upsets USC
It happens every year, or at least it seems like it does.  USC dominates, but

they slip up against someone in the Pac-10 Conference.  The Beavers were rebuilding their front seven on defense and had gotten whipped by Penn Stae in Happy Valley.  The Beavers used a freshman running back by the name of Jacquizz to jump out to a big lead in Corvallis and hold off the Trojans for the first real shocking upset of the year.

4.  Texas Tech beats Texas on Crabtree touchdown catch
It is probably one of the more memorable plays of the year.  I can still hear Brent Musberger making the call, “Touchdown, Red Raiders, with a second to go!”  Graham Harrell to Micahel Crabtree.  How many times have they done that?  This time, it was to beat the number one team in the country.

5.  Toledo upsest Michigan in the “Big House”
Last year it was Appalachian State.  The first game of the year this year was Utah.  And, if that wasn’t enough, the Wolverines have lessened any intimdation factor it has at home with a loss to Toledo.  Coach Rod has a lot of work to do.

6.  Tommy Bowdon is fired (uh, resigned?)  mid-season
It was bound to happen.  Things just weren’t going very well at Clemson this season.  They started the season ranked number 9, and they were sporting expectations of an ACC Championship and BCS Bowl.  First they got whipped by Alabama, and it seemed to go down hill from there.  The mid-season firing definitely raised some eyebrows.

7.  Tommy Tuberville fires Tony Franklin in mid-season and then resigns at the end of the year
Well, the mid-season thing worked so well for Clemson that Auburn head

coach Tommy Tuberville decided to relieve Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin of his duties early.  The “spread” thing just wasn’t working that well.  At the end of the year, Tuberville decided the whole thing wasn’t working that well.  Auburn missed the post-season and that was enough to inspire him to move on.

8.  Syracuse upsets Notre Dame and Buffalo upsets Ball State
These two upsets also “shook the earth” (see below, Utah).  It has been a tough tenure for Syracuse coach Greg Robinson, but he got a parting gift from his players as they knocked off Notre Dame late in the season.  Nevertheless, Notre Dame was able to improve on last year’s bowless season by making it to the Hawaii Bowl.  Buffalo was among the worst programs in NCAA Division I football when head coach Turner Gill arrived.  Just a few years later, the Bulls upset undefeated Ball State in the MAC Championship Game to win the title.

9.  Myron Rolle wins a Rhodes Scholarship and then plays in the Maryland game
Florida State Safety Myron Rolle is not just a smart guy, he is a brilliant guy.  On the day of November 22, 2008, Rolle interviewed for and won a Rhodes Scholarship, and then he received a police escort to Byrd Stadium to help his team beat Maryland.  He had a long day, and he deserved the next day off.  This only happens once in every other generation.  We should enjoy Myron’s success on and off the field.  He has a tough choice to make after school:  the NFL, or Oxford.

10.  Utah upsets Alabama in the Sugar Bowl
My original list did not include this, but it is well worth the inclusion.  Utah, the original BCS Buster, knocked out Alabama on Friday night January 2, 2009 for one of the most “ground shaking” upsets of the year.  The Utes, who is not a flashy team, plays very “blue collar” like.  Take away a punt return by Alabama in the second half and the score is 31-10.  There will be arguments for Utah to be national champions.

The 2008 edition of the Armed Forces Bowl was pretty good.  Houston led

Anybody need a t-shirt?

the whole game, but Air Force was never far behind.  You can check out my write up at Pegasus News here.

This was the first time that I have gone to a bowl game of any kind either as a fan or media member.  I received press credentials to work the game for Pegasus News, and I have to say that I enjoyed the experience.

Both coaches gave the “thumbs up” to the city of Fort Worth and the Armed Forces Bowl officials for a great bowl experience.  I was very impressed with Air Force coach Troy Calhoun and Houston coach Kevin Sumlin.  The two teams played hard, but you could tell that the long lay off for both teams affected their play.

I was happy for Houston’s Phillip Hunt who became the all time sack leader

Fort Worth's Phillip Hunt had two sacks

for the Cougars during the bowl game as well as seting a few bowl records.  Hunt is a Fort Worth native and a senior.  Air Force kicker Ryan Harrison, who is from Keller, TX, almost broke his own Armed Forces Bowl record for the longest field goal.   He hit a 55 yard field goal, but Houston had called a time out.  On the second attempt, he hooked it just to the left.

I hope that I get that opportunity again.  It seems there is some question about where the game might be played in the future.  Hopefully, Fort Worth can hold on to this bowl for a long time.  At least until we start having a playoff.

By the way, I posted a photo gallery at Flickr.  Check it out.

As you know from last year, this is not really a ranking of the bowl games.  I am more interested in possible sponsors this year for bowls and maybe a few suggestions for games.  It seems that several of the games are sponsored by banks and websites.  Of course, as you know, half of the games have already been played.

1.  The Peet’s Coffee Bowl
The game could be played in Berkley, California at Cal’s Memorial Stadium.  Berkley is where Peet’s began, and Peet’s is the best coffee on the shelf.  This bowl game would feature a team from the Pacific 10 Conference and the Western Athletic Conference.

2.  The ESPN.com Bowl
The “mouse ears” as Randy Galloway refers to them already runs  several bowls ( I think 7) so why not go all out and have a bowl sponsored by their website.  It would be great.  It could feature teams from the Big East and the Big Ten since the game would be played in  at Rentschler Field in East Hartford near the ESPN headquarters of Bristol, CT.

3.  The ING Penny Bowl
Several bowls have the backing of financial institutions, but none would be more confusing than a bowl sponsored by ING.  Do you remember the commercials where the guy looking for the rest of the word, but it’s just ing?  They have some of the best deals for online banking, helping you save pennies.  There you have it.  The teams that play in the game can be the highest ranked teams with lions for their mascot.  The game would be played in Denver, CO where one of ING’s affiliates are located.  The match-up would pit a team from the Western Athletic Conference against a Mountain West Conference team.

4.  The Wal-Mart Retail Bowl

Wal-Mart is the retail standard bearer.  Everybody measures themselves based on Wal-Mart.  Their brand is well known, and they could have a great bowl game.  This bowl would be played at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, AR just down the road from Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville.  Playing in the game would be teams from the Conference USA and the Sun Belt.

5.  The Collegefootballtopten.com Bowl
Hey, I might as well have a bowl game.  It seems websites get in the act every year.  And while we are at it, I think I want my bowl game to be played at the new Cowboys Stadium.  I really don’t care who plays in the game, but I’ll take a Mountain West Conference team and a Big 12 Conference team.

6.  The Cracker Barrel Apple Butter Bowl
Cracker Barrels are all over the country, and they have the best apple butter around, at least when you add it to their biscuits.  Since there is no real big stadium in Lebanon, TN where Cracker Barrel has its headquarters, they could play the game at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium in Murfeesboro.  Teams from the Sun Belt Conference will play a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

7.  The Panera Bread Bowl
Sponsored by Panera Bread of St. Louis, the Bread Bowl would be played in St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome featuring teams from the Mid American Conference and the Big Ten.

8.  The Starbucks Seattle Bowl
I know, I know, we already have a game sponsored by a coffee, but Starbucks is an institution.  It has the brand power behind it already.  And, it is a great opportunity to have a bowl game in Seattle.  The game would be played in Seattle’s Husky Stadium, and it will feature anyone willing to travel to Seattle in December.

9.  The Idaho Potato Humanitarian Bowl
This bowl can be held in Boise at the famous “blue turf,” we just want to replace the sponsor with the potato growers in idaho.  Idaho is, you know, the home of the best potatoes in the world.

10.  The Riceland Foods Rice Bowl
This bowl can be played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, AR.  The game would feature teams from the Sun Belt and the Conference USA.

There you have it.  There are suggestions, but mostly additions.  Enjoy the rest of the bowl season.