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Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
Dec. 30, 8 p.m.
San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium
Oregon 42, Oklahoma State 31
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that has been played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, since 1978. The game is currently sponsored by Pacific Life Insurance, so it is known as the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl; previous title sponsors have been SeaWorld, Thrifty Car Rental, Plymouth, and Culligan.
The bowl was founded in 1978 pitting the Western Athletic Conference champion against an at-large opponent. In the early days, that champion was invariably Brigham Young University. In the inaugural game on December 22, The Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy came in with an 8-3 record and a commander in chief's trophy and then capped the remarkable season with a 23-16 comeback victory over the highly favored BYU. BYU played in the first seven Holiday Bowls, and later competed in an additional four games, prompting some to call it the "BYU Bowl." Fans remember the 1980 game as having one of the most exciting four minutes in NCAA history when BYU erased a 20 point Southern Methodist lead to win on the final play of the football game. BYU fans simply call the game "The Miracle Bowl."
Four years later, the Cougars, led by their coach, LaVell Edwards, won the national championship in the Holiday Bowl by defeating the University of Michigan, coached by Bo Schembechler, 24–17. It was the first — and only — time that the title was won in a December Bowl Game. Because of the WAC's contract with the Holiday Bowl, BYU, #1 ranked and the only undefeated team in Division I-A going into that season's bowls, was obligated to play in the mid-tier Holiday Bowl against a mediocre (6-5) Michigan squad, a state of affairs that did not go unnoticed by the so-called major bowl games and the five (at the time) top-tier football-playing conferences. A series of bowl game structure changes over the next twenty years served to prevent a repeat of the 1984 Holiday Bowl scenario.
As of 2007, the game features the 2nd place Pac-10 team and the 3rd place Big 12 team. The game has recently become a type of "upset" bowl. For the past three years, teams rejected by the BCS have lost to heavy underdogs. In 2005, an Oregon team playing without its star quarterback (10–1) lost to a battered Oklahoma team, 17–14, solidifying many people's opinions that Oregon was unworthy of a BCS bid. In 2004, one-loss California was blown out by Big 12 middleweight Texas Tech, 45–31. Sonny Cumbie, Tech's quarterback, had one of the most memorable performances in Holiday Bowl history, quite an accomplishment after following BYU's long line of All-American quarterbacks. In 2003, Big 12 third-place Texas was knocked off by Pac-10 second-place Washington State, led by Matt Kegel.
One of the more popular (yet unusual) events associated with the Holiday Bowl is the Wiener Nationals, the national championships for the U.S. dachshund racing circuit.
The Holiday Bowl is not to be confused with an unrelated game called the Holiday Bowl which was played in St. Petersburg, Florida from 1957-1960.
Football Betting News
Ohio State at Penn State
Posted on 11/5/2009 12:00:00 AMby GetChalk
Big Ten rivals collide in a very important game for the conference in Happy Valley Saturday afternoon. The 12th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes visit the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions – a contest that, while it is crucial to the two teams involved, means a lot more to a program watching from home.
Oddsmakers have set the Nittany Lions as 3.5-point home favorites for Week 10's tilt. Penn State won last season's meeting 13-6 at OSU, covering as 1.5-point road chalk. These teams have split their last four meetings straight up and against the spread. However, the home teams is 9-2 ATS in the last 11 games in this series.
The Iowa Hawkeyes will be watching this conference clash closely. For them, the door to the BCS Championship would swing open a touch if the Nittany Lions are able to knock off the Buckeyes. For Ohio State, losing this weekend would drop them out of the running for a high-profile BCS bowl game.
The Buckeyes have punished their last two opponents since losing a shocker to the Purdue Boilermakers in Week 7. Ohio State has crushed Big Ten foes Minnesota and non-conference challengers New Mexico State by a combined score of 83-7.
However, running the score up on weaker opponents might not be the best practice for a program as strong as PSU. The Nittany Lions have won five straight games since their lone loss to the Hawkeyes in Week 4.
Penn State took an impressive 35-10 win over the Michigan Wolverines two weeks ago and are fresh off a drubbing of the Northwestern Wildcats, who actually tested PSU for three quarters before breaking for 21 points in the final frame.
These two teams are built on tough, smash-mouth defense, but the face of each program the past two seasons has been their dynamic quarterback.
Ohio State boasts a duel-threat in sophomore Terrelle Pryor, who, after throwing two big interceptions in the loss to Purdue, has rebounded with a pair of solid performances. Pryor passed for 239 yards and two touchdowns against Minnesota, adding another 104 yards and a score on the ground. Versus New Mexico State, he compiled 135 yards passing with a touchdown while rushing for 83 yards and a score in limited action.
On the other sideline, the Nittany Lions will turn to quarterback Daryl Clark to move the chains. He is second in the conference in average yards per game and has a touchdown-to-interception count of 9-to-1 in his last four games – all of which are PSU victories SU and ATS. Clark can also shake a leg when needed. He scrambled for just 16 yards but scored a touchdown against Northwestern last weekend, giving him 151 yards total and five rushing touchdowns on the year.
Penn State has another potent weapon on the ground in running back Evan Royster, who has cracked the century mark in rushing yards in each of his last three games. The junior is second in the conference in average yards per game with 95.44 and totaled 77 yards on the ground against the Buckeyes last season.
Like in recent meetings, this Big Ten battle will come down to defense. These teams ranks 1-2 in the conference with the Nittany Lions holding a slight edge in the statistical categories. Penn State is giving up just under 255 yards of offense per game while limiting opponents to around an average of nine points. It also leads the conference in sacks with 32 on the season.
Standing out of the Nittany Lions’ stop unit are senior defensive tackle Jared Odrick, junior linebacker Navorro Bowman, and senior linebacker Josh Hall, who ranks fourth in the conference in tackles. Last season, the PSU defense came up big in the fourth quarter, forcing Pryor to fumble which set up the Nittany Lions’ go-ahead score.
Ohio State's stop unit sits sixth in the country with a drum-tight rushing defense which is allowing just over 86 yards per game. The Buckeyes are among the best teams at forcing turnovers, grabbing 15 interceptions – two returned for scores – and has forced 12 fumbles. Senior defensive back Kurt Coleman is a ball hawk, snatching three picks while also forcing three fumbles on the season.
Oddsmakers have set the total for Saturday's contest at 39.5 points. Last season's final score played under the 44.5-point total and the under has paid out four of the last five seasons. Ohio State owns a 2-6-1 over/under mark on the year while PSU is 3-6-0 over/under.
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