Big East: International Bowl
Who can forget such classics as South Florida 27, Northern Illinois 3; UConn 38, Buffalo 20; and Rutgers 52, Ball State 30?
Actually, shed no tears. The International Bowl is officially kaput after four year in existence, and the Big East went 4-0. Nobody ever really wanted to go north of the border for a bowl game, and the league usually crushed its MAC opponents.
The lone interesting game was the very first one, which Cincinnati won 27-24 over Western Michigan. That marked Brian Kelly's coaching debut and signaled that the Bearcats were about to take off. Other than that, it was a whole lot of forgettable football.
The new Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium will replace the International in the Big East's bowl lineup. And with a Big 12 opponent -- even a bottom-of-the-barrel opponent from that league -- the games should be more interesting. And you won't need a passport to go.
So, as another ESPN personality likes to say: Goodnight, Canada.
Jan. 2, Noon (ESPN2)
Suppose you would have asked South Florida back on Sept. 26, just hours after it scored a potentially program-changing victory at Florida State in Tallahassee, where the Bulls would end up bowling.
I bet you could have polled all 85 scholarship players and not found a single one who would have said in Toronto against a 7-5 MAC team.
Such, however, is the state of South Florida, a program that never wins enough after strong starts to matter much in the end. The Bulls won just twice after Oct. 3 and thus earned the Big East's version of a postseason banishment: Canada.
Head coach Jim Leavitt's first order of business will be to get his players excited about such an assignment and convince them that Northern Illinois is dangerous. The Huskies, after all, beat Purdue and gave Wisconsin a battle on the road earlier this year and have a strong rushing attack.
Still, there's little to suggest that Northern Illinois can keep up athletically with the Bulls, who have future pros like George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul on defense, electric boom-or-bust quarterback B.J. Daniels and a fleet of fast receivers. With proper motivation and focus, South Florida should be the heavy favorite in this game.
But that's assuming a lot for a team that too many times comes out flat emotionally. And that's why a promising start to the year is ending in Toronto for the Bulls.
Best and worst from Big East bowl season
Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
A look back at the best and worst of the Big East bowl season:
 | |
| Dale Zanine/US Presswire | |
| Pat White went out with a bang, passing for a career-high 332 yards. |
Best performance: Just when you thought Pat White had shown us everything in his bag of tricks, the West Virginia quarterback goes out and shreds a good North Carolina pass defense for a career-best 332 passing yards while completing 26 of 32 throws in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. White went out the only appropriate way: a winner.
Worst performance: Cincinnati and Pittsburgh's offenses combined for seven total points in the FedEx Orange and Brut Sun bowls, respectively, and zero points in either second half. It wasn't a great year for offense in the Big East, and the league's top two scoring teams proved it in the postseason.
Best closing statement: Connecticut running back Donald Brown was wrongly ignored during awards season but showed why he was the nation's leading runner with a career-high 261 yards in the International Bowl, finishing his season with more than 2,000 yards. Then, in his postgame news conference, Brown announced he was skipping his senior year to turn pro.
Best red zone play call: Rutgers dialed up a fake field goal from the NC State 6-yard line on its first possession of the Papajohns.com Bowl, and first-time holder Rob Cervini ran past the surprised Wolfpack defenders for a touchdown.
Worst red zone play call: Trailing 20-7 midway through the fourth quarter, Cincinnati had a fourth and goal on the 1-yard line. Never a great short-yardage team, the Bearcats got away from what they do best and called for quarterback Tony Pike to try and run it in off tackle. He was stuffed, and the game was effectively over.
Best feel-good bowl win: After what amounted to a lost season, South Florida went out on a high note by blasting Memphis 41-14 in the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl, even allowing senior quarterback Grant Gregory to play the entire fourth quarter.
Worst feel-bad bowl loss: After a breakthrough year had Pitt thinking about a 2009 Top 10 preseason ranking, the Panthers produced an unparalleled stink bomb in their 3-0 loss to Oregon State. Out of 68 bowl teams, Pittsburgh was the only one that didn't score a point, and the performance raised questions about the program's future.
Best atmosphere: The Meineke Car Care Bowl drew a sellout crowd of 73,712, fueled both by the home-state Tar Heels fans and the traveling horde of Mountaineers supporters. The game had the second-highest attendance of all the non-BCS bowls, behind only the Cotton Bowl, and fans were treated to a highly entertaining game.
Worst atmosphere: The magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl should eventually develop into one of the Big East's best postseason slots, given the sunny Florida locale. But the inaugural game attracted an announced crowd of just 25,055 (an estimate that seems generous), making it the second-lowest turnout of bowl season. It doesn't help when Memphis claims only 1,000 of its 10,000-ticket allotment.
Best postgame quote: From West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, remarking on White's accomplishments and the state of his team: "Those people out there in the old gold and blue, they all love him," Stewart said of White. "About half of them would like to hang me. The other half would probably like to make me governor. But, I'm not mad at any of them. You know why? Because I'm one of them. They have such a passion in West Virginia for football. All they want is for us to be the best."
Bowl season is over for the Big East. Let's press rewind on the league's six postseason games:
Best Game: West Virginia's 31-30 win over North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl had it all, from a 35-point first quarter to a thrilling finish to huge performances by Pat White and Hakeem Nicks. There were few more entertaining games in all of bowl season.
Biggest play: Stephan Virgil's out-of-nowhere interception of Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike's pass into the end zone near the end of the first half of the FedEx Orange Bowl. Instead of a touchdown and a 14-7 lead, the Bearcats gave up a Virginia Tech drive that resulted in a field goal to end the half trailing 10-7. That changed the game and sealed the Big East's first BCS bowl loss in four years.
Big Man on Campus (Offense): Pat White and Donald Brown (tie). Perfect endings to the college careers for the West Virginia quarterback and the Connecticut running back. White threw for a career-high 332 yards with three touchdowns against North Carolina, while Brown had a career-best 261 yards rushing in the Huskies' 38-20 International Bowl win over Buffalo.
Big Man on Campus (Defense): UConn safety Robert McClain delivered some massive hits, compiled 3.5 tackles for loss and generally made life miserable for the Buffalo receivers in the International Bowl.
Big Man on Campus (Special Teams): Installed as the new holder before the Papajohns.com Bowl, Rutgers' Rob Cervini had a 6-yard touchdown run on a fake field goal play in the first half against NC State in a 29-23 victory.
Biggest hangover: Pitt's brutal Brut Sun Bowl showing in a 3-0 loss to Oregon State threatened to kill all the momentum the program had built during a nine-win regular season. The less said about that game, the better.
Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
Connecticut senior defensive linemen Rob Lunn took us behind the scenes of his team's trip to the International Bowl, and he wraps up his guest blogging with a look back at the Huskies' 38-20 win over Buffalo:
"Huge win. HUGE WIN. Where to start?
How about a career day for a future NFL running back?
Or the Jeckyll-Hyde dynamic of the first and second half?
I have never been in a locker room with as much excitement and adrenaline as I was in the Rogers Centre prior to taking the field for the start of the 2009 International Bowl. As a player, there have been big games (WVU 2007, Big East championship on the line) and not so big games (Sorry Hofstra). But the feeling before game was something different.
We knew we had something to prove. A combination of living up to the expectations we had set for ourselves and putting a stop to the second half of a season that found us going 2 -5 through the last seven. I hate to say it, but Buffalo never had a shot. They could have lined up the New England Patriots out there, there was no way we were going to lose this game.
All right, so I was a little nervous after five turnovers in the first half (you'd have to be emotionally stunted not to be). But it was a classic example of a team that wills itself to victory. Fans of UConn football might find some similarities between this team and the 2004 Motor City Bowl champion Huskies. Not in talent (Tyler Lorenzen is not Dan Orlovsky) but just like Toledo in 2004, Buffalo in 2009 was certain to meet the same fate.
And meet that fate they did. Yes, even after five turnovers.
How do you make up for five turnovers, that result in scores? Apparently the answer is to hand off to your NFL-bound (yes, it's official now) running back. What more can we say about Donny Brown? I'm going to go in a different direction that Coach Edsall, the whole "riding Donny the stallion" thing is a little off-putting. I will say that as a teammate, football player, and friend Donny is simply the best (cue Tina Turner).
Also, our defensive game plan was perfect. We knew what sets they were running and what plays were coming. Coach Todd Orlando is quickly becoming a hot commodity. Seriously, giving him four weeks to prepare for one game is almost not fair. He's that good. He lives on a strict regimen of diet soda and Skoal, and he is absolutely excellent at what he does.
When the dust (confetti) had settled, we had put an exclamation point on a truly amazing season. I hold a lot of fond memories from the last five seasons (conducting the band is in the top five). It was an amazing game and an amazing way to go out.
Time to go exchange all this Canadian monopoly money."
Brown powers UConn to International Bowl win
If all you knew about the International Bowl was that Connecticut lost five first-half fumbles and completed only four passes all game, you'd probably think that Buffalo won easily.
 | |
| AP Photo/The Canadian Press/Chris Young | |
| UConn running back Donald Brown ended the season – and possibly his college career -– on a high note, rushing for a career-high 261 yards his team's 38-20 International Bowl win over Buffalo. |
But what you'd need to know is that the Huskies' offensive line dominated the action all day, their defense shut down the Bulls' passing game and that Donald Brown decided to make a major closing statement in UConn's 38-20 win.
Brown, who led the nation in rushing during the regular season, capped his spectacular junior year with a career-high 261 yards on 29 carries -- an average of nine yards per rush -- and a touchdown. Brown finished with 2,083 yards and 18 scores this year. Someone must please tell me again how in the world he did not make the Doak Walker Award finalist list? What an absolute joke.
Brown now will have a decision to make about the NFL Draft in the next two weeks. He has said he wants to stay for his senior year, but he's going to explore his options with coach Randy Edsall. I think he'd be wise to leave because how is his stock ever going to get higher? If that was his last game, it was quite a curtain call. If it wasn't he deserves to be mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate in 2009.
Here's how good Brown and his offensive line were: UConn didn't throw a single pass in the first half and attempted only six all game. Tyler Lorenzen's first completion came in the third quarter and went for a touchdown. Edsall's team has had all kinds of problems in the passing game this season, so he decided just to ignore it. Buffalo knew what was coming but had no answer.
Another of Connecticut's major issues this year was turnovers, and it looked like that would doom them in this bowl. The Huskies gave the ball away five times in that first half, three of them coming on kick or punt returns. One of those was recovered for a touchdown, and all of them set up the Bulls in great field positon.
But Buffalo converted those mistakes into just 20 points and held onto an illusive 20-17 lead at halftime. The Bulls finished with just 237 total yards, many of those coming late. Quarterback Drew Willy, who threw for more than 3,100 yards in the regular season, couldn't find many lanes to throw against the UConn defense, and the Buffalo running game produced next to nothing.
It was an impressive show of physical dominance by Connecticut (8-5), which captured the second bowl victory in school history. And the Huskies made sure that the Big East finished with a winning postseason record. The league finished 4-2 in its six bowl games after a 3-0 start.
Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
A brief primer on Saturday's International Bowl between Connecticut and Buffalo (ESPN2, Noon, ET):
What to watch: Which team's style will win out? Buffalo likes to score a lot of points and get into track meets, letting Drew Willy fling it and James Starks run it. Connecticut prefers much more of a controlled pace behind the running of Donald Brown. If Buffalo has its way, the Huskies might not have enough firepower to keep up.
Who to watch: Brown is the obvious star for UConn and needs just 178 yards to reach 2,000 for the season. But keep an eye on Connecticut quarterback Tyler Lorenzen. The Huskies' quarterback play has been awful much of the season, and Lorenzen needs to have a good game to give his team a shot.
Why to watch: It's the only bowl game on all day, so if you need your college football fix, this is it. It's also the final game for the Big East until next August.
UConn looks for atonement in Toronto
Connecticut linebacker Scott Lutrus said he and his teammates started getting excited for bowl season on Dec. 20, when they watched Big East rival South Florida play. It's been nearly two weeks since that game and almost a month since the Huskies last played. UConn is still waiting to play its own bowl.
They haven't watched too much college football since arriving in Toronto earlier this week, though.
 | |
| Charles LeClaire/Getty Images | |
| Scott Lutrus (32) and the Huskies are looking forward to Saturday's bowl game. |
"We don't have ESPN up here," Lutrus said. "It's hockey everywhere."
The International Bowl is certainly a different kind of postseason experience, both for its locale and late kickoff. Saturday's game between UConn and Buffalo probably doesn't rank too high on anyone's must-watch list.
It's a big deal for Buffalo, though, which is playing in its first-ever bowl game. The Bulls sold out their entire 10,000 ticket allotment, and the school will celebrate the 1958 team that turned down a postseason bid because of segregation policies.
What's the motivation for UConn? The Huskies have sold only about 3,000 tickets. Fans have been down on this team, which started 5-0 but finished the year 7-5 with an anemic passing attack.
Lutrus said the team is eager to atone for its play down the stretch, which included a 35-13 loss to West Virginia and 34-10 setback against Pittsburgh, both at home. In both games, Connecticut melted down in the second half.
"We had a good first half then made some big mistakes defensively out there," Lutrus said. "We want to make sure this week to come out and show what we can do the whole game."
This is only the third bowl game ever for the Huskies, whose lone postseason win came in 2004 -- before any of the current players were on the active roster. Last year, after tying for the regular-season Big East crown, UConn was humbled, 24-10, by Wake Forest in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
"We have a little bit of a chip on our shoulders from that," Lutrus said. "We want to make sure we get the win this year in our bowl game."
To do so, they'll have to slow down a Buffalo offense that averaged 31.3 points a game. Quarterback Drew Willy passed for over 3,000 yards and had 25 touchdowns against just five interceptions this season. The Bulls also have a 1,300-yard rusher in James Starks and a top-flight receiver in Naaman Roosevelt.
"This might be the most balanced team that we'll see this season," Lutrus said.
UConn has been wildly imbalanced, relying on running back Donald Brown's heroics while being unable to generate much of anything from the passing game. Will the Huskies who take the field in 2009 be better than those who ended 2008 on a disappointing note? It's time, finally, to find out.
Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
Connecticut senior defensive lineman Rob Lunn is taking us behind the scenes of his team's trip to the International Bowl in Toronto. Here is Rob's second entry:
"If I get one more hamburger with mayonnaise on it, I am going to write a very strongly worded letter to their president (excuse me, prime minister). Not much by way of exciting events; everyone is keeping their focus on the game as a priority. However, I did discover that the player hospitality suite has 'Guitar Hero,' which puts an end to my 'social experiences' here in Toronto.
However, the day took a turn for awesome when we arrived at the Rogers Centre (formally the Sky Dome). First I am a huge fan of all dome shaped objects (Ice cream scoops, meatballs, Dippin Dots). Second, I love major league baseball. Specifically the Boston Red Sox. It just so happens that we are staying in the MLB visitors' locker room, so my first question was, 'Where does Big Papi change?' (Some might be asking why my first question was where a 290-pound Dominican gets naked. These people aren't part of The Nation). The operations manager for the Rogers Centre pointed me to his locker and I thoroughly enjoyed soaking in the 'Papi-ness.'
We ran into the players from Buffalo as they were leaving the field, looks were exchanged but no words. Our practice went off without a hitch, mostly guys getting used to a new (and faster) playing surface.
I've also discovered that Canada really is the 'first nation of hockey.' Every time you turn on the TV there is like 31 different varieties of hockey. Hockey at night, hockey during the day, hockey with the lights off, senior hockey, junior hockey, infant hockey, Spanish hockey. It's pretty incredible.
The headline in today's paper was how the Canadians schooled the U.S. Junior Nationals. Literally something like 'Canadians Take Down Hot Dogging Americans, Teach Them a Thing Or Two About Canada. Eh.'
Check back later, taking a tour of the CN Tower (the largest tower in the world & or so I'm told)."
-- Rob
Big East lunchtime links: Game day for Cincinnati
• Winning the FedEx Orange Bowl would be nice, but Cincinnati should enjoy the moment, Paul Daugherty opines in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
• The Enquirer's Bill Koch got to listen in on coach Brian Kelly's post-practice talks this week and lets us hear what the coach had to say.
• Pitt's offense was simply offensive in the Sun Bowl, Paul Zeise writes in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• Connecticut will look to finish strong in the International Bowl after stumbling down the stretch, Desmond Conner writes in the Hartford Courant.
• Two South Florida offensive linemen have had their careers ended by injuries, Greg Auman writes in the St. Petersburg Times.What to watch in the FedEx Orange and International bowls
Here are seven story lines to keep an eye on during the final two Big East bowls this week, starting with Thursday night's FedEx Orange Bowl:
1. Cincinnati's defense vs. Virginia Tech's running game: It's no real secret what Frank Beamer and the Hokies want to do on offense. They're not going to line up five wide and throw it all over the field. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor may make some plays with his arm, but the strategy is for him and his running backs to pound the ball down Cincinnati's throat. Since 1999, Virginia Tech is 90-8 when outrushing its opponents and 9-20 when being outrushed. If the Bearcats can choke off that running game, the Hokies are going to have a very difficult time finding ways to score.
2. Cincinnati's passing attack vs. Virginia Tech's secondary: While the Bearcats do strive for some balance, they basically are the polar opposite to the Hokies on offense. Coach Brian Kelly's spread attack will feature multiple-wide receiver sets, and quarterback Tony Pike likes to heave it deep. Receivers Mardy Gilyard and Dominick Goodman are the team's top playmakers, though Goodman's effectiveness for this game is questionable since he's recovering from a separated shoulder. It should be a terrific matchup against Tech's talented and hard-hitting defensive backs, led by Victor "Macho" Harris.
3. Special teams in South Florida: Beamer-ball can be boiled down to strong defense plus big special-teams play. The Hokies, of course, are known for their ability to block kicks and make other things happen to provide field-position superiority. But the Bearcats can be pretty special in the kicking game, too. Punter Kevin Huber is an All-American who routinely drills 50-yarders with plenty of hang time, while Gilyard is one of the nation's top return men. You can bet Cincinnati spent extra time preparing its punt-protection unit for this game. Avoiding any costly mistakes in special teams is a must for the Bearcats.
4. Cincinnati's discipline: The Bearcats offense and the Virginia Tech defense is strength vs. strength. Special teams could be a wash as well. So, what, ultimately could be the difference in this game? One thing that's been lost in the excitement of an 11-2 season is that Cincinnati has been a heavily penalized team this year with a minus-5 turnover margin. That's one reason why most of the Bearcats' wins were close shaves. Those kinds of self-inflicted wounds will only get magnified under the glare of the BCS lights and against a fundamentally sound Virginia Tech team.
5. Donald Brown: The nation's leading rusher takes his show to another country as Connecticut travels to Toronto for the International Bowl. Brown will have had nearly a month to rest after a heavy workload this season, and he needs 178 yards to reach 2,000 for the season. Buffalo ranked 83rd in rushing defense this season, but the Bulls have some reason to believe they can at least slow down Brown. They held Pitt's LeSean McCoy to 93 yards early in the season.
6. Darius Butler: UConn's star cornerback missed the final three games with a knee injury. He's expected to be back and near full strength for this bowl game, and the Huskies sure need him. Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy threw for over 3,000 yards and had nine touchdown passes of 30 yards or longer this season. Butler may be able to shut down a portion of the field. And he also brings a dynamic presence on special teams and the occasional offensive snap for a team that struggles to score.
7. Turnovers in Toronto: Connecticut finished even in turnover margin this season, but the Huskies coughed it up too many times in big games. They had 13 turnovers in losses to North Carolina, West Virginia and Pittsburgh. They simply don't have enough firepower to overcome those giveaways. Buffalo, on the flip side, had a plus-15 turnover margin, which was good for eighth-best in the country. If UConn doesn't take care of the ball, it can't count on getting it back from the Bulls.
Big East posteason picks, Round 3
It's time for our last batch of Big East-related bowl picks, which culminates with Thursday's FedEx Orange Bowl and Saturday's International Bowl. Here goes nothing:
Cincinnati 21, Virginia Tech 17: These two teams are evenly matched in most areas. I just don't see the Hokies being able to score enough points to win this game against a stout Bearcats defense. Cincinnati is fast and fleet enough to contain quarterback Tyrod Taylor, so it will come down to whether Virginia Tech can pound the ball between the tackles. The Bearcats aren't going to score a ton against the Hokies' defense, either, but they have far more big-play ability with guys like Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard. Unless Tech can come up with some patented Beamer-ball special-teams swings or Pike turns the ball over, Cincinnati will win its first BCS game.
Buffalo 27, Connecticut 20: I'm going with the upset special here. UConn limped to the finish line this season, and while Donald Brown's running numbers shouldn't suffer too much with the Canadian exchange rate, the Huskies' offense is still limited in the passing game. Buffalo, on the other hand, can put up points in a hurry with quarterback Drew Willy and running back James Starks. The Bulls are pumped up for the school's first-ever bowl appearance, and they'll clear customs with a trophy.
Last week: 1-1
Bowl season: 2-1*
Season record: 48-24 (67 percent)
* not including Brut Sun Bowl pick
International Bowl diary from guest blogger Rob Lunn
Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
The International Bowl is certainly unique. It's the only game played out of the country and the northernmost postseason game. We are very lucky to get a behind-the-scenes look at Connecticut's trip to Toronto to play Buffalo on Jan. 3 by Huskies defensive lineman Rob Lunn. The senior writes his own very entertaining blog, "Thoughts From a Fat White Guy," and has graciously agreed to serve as guest blogger for ESPN.com. Here is Rob's first entry as the Huskies left today for the game:
"This game is definitely on the hearts and minds of Connecticut and Buffalo football fans, but a little incident today made me think that maybe Canadians aren't as football crazed as their neighbors to the south. Let me set the scene:
We chartered a Miami air jet, to fly to Canada. I'm hoping this irony isn't lost on anyone. That sense of humor wasn't lost on our pilot, who got on the intercom and informed us, 'We've just landed in Buffalo. Local temperature is a balmy 5 below zero & enjoy your stay.'
From Buffalo we made our way (by bus) to the Canadian border. I had been warned about the horrors of Canadian customs. Apparently people still smuggle "pelts into (and out of) Canada. I wish I was lying. I'd also like to meet a 'Pelt Smuggler' and promptly inform him that this isn't 1845. The pelt trade is dead.
Anyway, we get to our customs holding point. A Canadian official boarded the bus, smiled and gave us this little speech:
'So, UConn, eh? Great. Well, enjoy your stay, have a good match. What is this hockey. Or rugby? Be safe, enjoy Canada. Good weather today, eh?'
I wish I was making that up. I heard Mo Petrus and Martin Bedard (our team Canadians) groan, as this guy had just set their people back about 25 years, undoing all that Joe Canada had done during the late '90s.
Let's talk shop:
The University of Buffalo is no slouch. Don't let those old UConn UB match ups fool you. They have some serious threats on offense, let by their quarterback Drew Willy. Big Drew (do you mind if I call you Big Drew?), Big Drew is a gunslinger. I don't use that word lightly either. Something like 5 interceptions in over 400-plus attempts. The dangerous thing is that they use a lot of low risk-under routes and dump passes and then will beat you up top with the double moves (just ask Ball State).
Turner Gill is probably the most loved man in Buffalo since Marv Levy (Jim Kelly in a close second & and Scott Norwood far, far behind). He has turned around the worst program in the country and made them into a team of unquestionable pride and dedication. I haven't watched much of their defensive tape, but from what I have seen there are always eight or nine hats to the ball on every play. A team that can play with that kind of swarm-mentality can win the close games. Which is something Buffalo has done extremely well this year, winning games in the fourth quarter and taking teams tooOvertime.
I'm excited about this match up, and once I can feel my toes again (Toronto is cold), I'll be checking in. "
-- Rob
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Andrea Adelson
Adelson joined ESPN.com in 2010 after spending time as a college football columnist at The Orlando Sentinel. She has covered college football since her days as a University of Florida student, and lives in Orlando, Fla.
