'Bama

Many of you may know that I attended and barely graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Computer Engineering. In my junior year I was lucky enough to be paired with a roommate who was on the swim team and was also a huge college football fan. From then on I have followed the Golden Gopher football team as closely as I can.

This season has been one of ups and downs. Well, actually, one of up and down. The team was riding high at the beginning of the season, cruising through an easy pre-conference schedule, and then completely tanked at the end of the year, with the low points including a 51-17 pasting by Michigan State and a 30-21 debacle against lowly Indiana.

The limped into bowl contention with a 6-5 record and were selected to play Alabama in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN. The Gophers and the Crimson Tide had never played each other in their long histories, so many people were quite excited about it. Plus each team's strength would be pitted against the other's. The vaunted Minnesota running game versus the great Alabama defense. Minnesota came in with the 13th best offense in the country, with the 6th best ground game. Alabama had the 2nd ranked defense and hadn't allowed a 100 yard rusher all year.

The game was on New Year's Eve day at 9am PST. I didn't get to watch the game as Brian doesn't have ESPN and I didn't feel like trying to find a sports bar at 9am. So I went into work with Brian and watched updates of the game on ESPN Gamecast. Let me tell you, it was pretty exciting.

When it was all said and done, the Gophers emerged victorious, 20-16. Even though they tried to give the game away by committing 3 turnovers on their first 3 possessions and missing a chip shot field goal late in the game that could have sealed the deal. And how did the key matchup end up? Marion Barber III was voted MVP of the game with 187 yards rushing and partner Laurence Maroney added 105 yards. They were the only two players to rush for 100 yards and they did it together in the same game.

Needless to say, I was very happy with the outcome. It put a happy ending on a disappointing season. It also marked the first time in Gopher history that they won 3 consecutive bowl games and it moved their overall bowl record to 5-5.

Most of the newspaper articles I read pretty much read the same way. The Minnesota offensive line pushed the Alabama defense around and opened up huge whole for the running backs. All the while controlling the ball and with it the clock. (MN held the advantage in time of possession 38-22 minutes). And the poor Minnesota defense played just well enough to hold the poor Alabama offense in check when needed. Of course, some of the Alabama players were likedly to be bitter and upset about the loss. This was my favorite quote by Alabama safety Roman Harper:

We understood that what they like to do is get out there and get on you. They have great technique. A lot of people call it holding, but if you don’t get called for it, it’s called technique.

Good fun. Now all that's left to cheer for is the even more pathetic Vikings in their improbable playoff game (they did everything they possibly could to not get in to the playoffs). They play this Sunday against the hated Packers in the confines of the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field.