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Rose
Bowl - December 31, 2006
by: VIP.com
By Tony Adams:
Today’s Rose Bowl is one of six New Year’s
Day games on the docket. The others are Nebraska
(+2) Auburn, Penn State (+4) Tennessee, Wisconsin
(+2) Arkansas, Georgia Tech (+10) West Virginia,
and Bosie State (+7) Oklahoma.
Fasten your seat belts for
one of the most prestigious games of the Bowl
season, the 5:00 p.m. EST Rose Bowl between USC
(10-2) and Michigan (11-1). The spread for this
game is Even,
Both teams can be forgiven
for preparing for today’s clash in Pasadena
by wondering what might have been. Either the
Trojans or the Wolverines could be fighting it
out for the BCS title against Ohio State next
week. Instead, they meet each other in what shapes
up as one of the best college football games of
the year.
Having lost just one game
all season, the Wolverines are out to prove they
should have been playing for the national title.
Michigan’s only defeat
was a narrow, 42-39 loss at top-ranked Ohio State
in the final game of the regular season. Ironically,
the Wolverines almost found themselves getting
another crack at the Buckeyes in the championship
game when USC suffered a shocking 13-9 loss to
unranked UCLA in their final game.
But the Wolverines lost out
to Florida in the BCS rankings by the narrowest
margin in history. Michigan coach, Lloyd Carr
now has to ensure his troops are focused on USC,
and not cursing their luck and the controversial
BCS rating system.
USC coach, Pete Carroll has
also had to refocus his troops, and the winner
of this game will likely be the team that can
put their disappointment behind them.
Quarterbacks John David Booty
(USC) and Chad Henne (Michigan) have both had
productive seasons, but Booty’s figures
are definitely more impressive.
Booty, who won first-team
all-conference honors, threw for 25 touchdowns,
five more than Henne, and also threw for 2,919
yards, 700 ahead of his counterpart. Henne is
steady and reliable though, and he has the confidence
of his teammates in this high pressure situation.
Michigan’s attacking
strength is their running game, where Mike Hart
has had an outstanding season. Consistency has
been Hart’s strength, with the junior running
for 100 or more yards in nine of their 12 games.
Hart has rushed for over 90 yards in every game,
coming up with an awesome 1,515 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Defense has been the cornerstone
of Michigan’s season, but that all fell
apart in their costly loss in Columbus. The Wolverines
gave up a massive 503 total yards, nearly 200
yards higher than in any game all year.
Despite that sloppy display,
the Wolverines finished with the best defense
against the run in college football this year,
conceding just 43 yards per game.
Summing Up: The big occasion
shouldn’t worry the key players on either
side as both schools are playing in their third
Rose Bowl in four years. Overall, USC’s
21-9 record in the Rose Bowl looks a lot more
impressive than Michigan’s 8-11, and the
Trojans were easy 28-14 winners when the two teams
met in 2004.
However, Michigan’s
defense has muscled up since then, and it could
come down to Booty’s ability to break down
that well-disciplined unit.
For all College Football
betting lines, visit VIP.com
Posted by miker at December
31, 2006 10:08 AM
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