By George Eichorn, The Detroit Monitor

   The bowl season is nearly upon us. When Navy and Wake Forest kick-off this Saturday, December 20, just after 11 a.m., in the EagleBank Bowl in our nation’s capital, it will signal the start of nearly nonstop college post-season action. It won’t stop until the Bowl Championship Series title game on January 8 featuring Oklahoma and Florida in Miami.

   The state of Michigan hosts one bowl game — the Motor City Bowl on December 26 — and three teams in the 34-game field. The Michigan State Spartans are playing January 1 in the Capital One Bowl, the Western Michigan Broncos December 30 in the Texas Bowl and the Central Michigan Chippewas December 26 in the Motor City Bowl at Ford Field.

   Michigan State (9-3) and Georgia (9-3) recently made the trek to Orlando for the ceremonial contract signing, a longstanding tradition for the Capital One Bowl. Held at the Cheyenne Saloon in downtown Orlando, the lunch event featured athletics directors and coaches from both schools.

   Head coaches Mark Dantonio of Michigan State and Mark Richt of Georgia expressed enthusiasm for making return trips to Orlando after having great experiences in the past — MSU last year for the Champs Sports Bowl, and Georgia in 2004.

   “We had an outstanding experience in the entire bowl week and the city of Orlando treated us very, very well,” Dantonio said.  “It was first class in all respects. That is why we are so excited to be back here.”

   After the Capitol One Bowl contract signing, Richt previewed the game and discussed the 2008 season.

   “We, just like Michigan State, are trying to get win number ten,” Richt said to the media. “I think win number ten is very significant in any program, and I think both of us are going to be battling pretty hard for that.”

   Later, at his team’s practice facility in East Lansing, Dantonio turned up the heat in the building to simulate possible hot and humid game conditions in Florida.

   “I feel good about practice,” said Dantonio. “There’s a good intensity in here (at MSU), they’re very good competitively versus each other. We’ve got to tone it down a little bit to make sure nobody gets banged up too much.”

   “I think we’ve been preparing a little bit differently from last year,” said senior quarterback Brian Hoyer. “We’ve been going harder and realizing that even though it’s a month away, this game is important, and we have to prepare like it’s next week.”

   The Capital One Bowl kicks off at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day and is nationally televised on ABC (channel 7 in Detroit). WJR-AM and the Spartan Sports Radio Network have the radio account with George Blaha, Jim Miller, Jason Strayhorn and Will Tieman.

   The head coaches from Western Michigan (9-3) and Rice (9-3) were in agreement December 10 on one important point when they met the Houston media for the first time: the third annual Texas Bowl is where they wanted to be in the postseason.

   WMU coach Bill Cubit and Owls coach David Bailiff and were at Reliant Stadium to promote the December 30 bowl, to be televised at 8 p.m. by the NFL Network. Both coaches agreed on the challenge presented by their opponent.

   “This is the bowl Rice wanted and we are so thrilled to be here and have an opponent like Western Michigan,” said Rice’s Bailiff, who was named Conference USA’s coach of the year. “We wanted somebody that was a good football team, and that is exactly what we got.”

   “This was our choice by far by our kids,” said WMU’s Cubit. “It’s really an honor to come down here to such a great city and play such a great team like Rice.”

   Both schools boast of one of the top passing attacks in the country; Rice is fifth and WMU ranks 10th. The Owls are led senior quarterback Chase Clement and receivers Jarett Dillard and James Casey, while the Broncos are commanded by junior QB Tim Hiller and senior receiver Jamarko Simmons.

   Rice’s personnel is familiar to Cubit. “I was on the All-American coaches selection committee, and the first name that came out of our region was Dillard from Rice, and all of a sudden we realized that this was our opponent and now we’ve got to go face him and everybody else there that they’ve got,” he said.

   The Motor City Bowl has the Chippewas appearing in their third consecutive MCB on Friday, December 26 (7:30 p.m., ESPN) in Detroit. The 2008 bowl is presented by automakers Ford and GM, as well as the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights.

   Central Michigan (8-4) faces Florida Atlantic University (6-6). The Chips are led by quarterback Dan LeFevour and the Mid-American Conference’s number two offense.

   “We’re happy to have the Chippewas and their fans back in the Motor City Bowl,” said Motor City Bowl executive director Ken Hoffman. “CMU was the first Michigan-based team to play in the Motor City Bowl in 2006, and last year played a down-to-the-wire contest against Purdue in front of a record crowd. We look forward to hosting Chippewa fans from throughout Michigan once again.”

   Paced by LeFevour, the 2006 Motor City Bowl MVP and the MAC’s leader in total offense, CMU boasts sophomore receiver Antonio Brown, the MAC leader in all-purpose yards, and sophomore All-MAC linebacker Nick Bellore, who led the MAC in tackles and was fourth in the nation.

   The Owls will make their second trip to Michigan in three months as they lost a non-conference game to the Spartans in East Lansing in September, 17-0.

   FAU is led by legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger, who is 5-0 in bowl games, including the 1983 Miami Hurricane’s national championship. The Owls defeated Memphis 44-27 in last year’s New Orleans Bowl.

   “We are tremendously excited to have Florida Atlantic University in the 2008 Motor City Bowl,” said Hoffman. “The Owls are one of college football’s great success stories, having been the youngest program in NCAA history to earn a bowl berth when they won the New Orleans Bowl last year. FAU only began playing football in 2000. We believe that they will represent the Sun Belt Conference quite competitively in the Motor City Bowl.”

   FAU won five of its last six games this year, after starting the season 1-5 against such national powers as Texas, Minnesota and Michigan State. During their last six games, the Owls averaged 35.6 points per game. They feature junior quarterback Rusty Smith, who Schnellenberger has called a pro prospect, and senior linebacker Frantz Joseph, the nation’s second leading tackler in 2008.

   Florida Atlantic is the second Sun Belt Conference team to compete in the Motor City Bowl. The first was Middle Tennessee State, who played CMU in 2006.

   The game will be in downtown’s Ford Field for the seventh consecutive season, after five years at the Pontiac Silverdome. Last year, Purdue beat Central Michigan 51- 48 on a last second field goal, before a record 60,624 fans. Gates will open December 26 at 5:30 p.m. and pre-game festivities commence at 7 p.m.

   Also of note: former University of Michigan coach Lloyd Carr was named recently as a special consultant to the Motor City Bowl Advisory Board. Coach Carr joins CEO George Perles, chairman and executive director Hoffman, president Philip Dubay and bowl sponsors as members of the group that helps guide Motor City Bowl activities. Carr ranks third all-time among coaches at the University of Michigan, with a 75% winning percentage. Carr stands only behind Bo Schembechler and Fielding Yost in that category.

   WJR will carry the Motor City broadcast with Will Tieman on play-by-play for the 12th straight year. Tickets are on sale at TicketMaster outlets, by calling 248-645-6666, the Ford Field Box Office and at the CMU athletic ticket office. The bowl’s Web site is www.motorcitybowl.com.

Reach George Eichorn at geichorn@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized -- Trackback