The Rose Bowl Bangarang
Bowl games can still be good
We won’t talk long about Cincinnati, but I am proud of them. That team was in a game against Alabama deep into the third quarter, and the defense did an excellent job disrupting Bryce Young.
The Bama run game was something I did not see coming, nor did I see the Cincy offense completely forgetting how to function, but the Bearcats looked like they belonged and then lost to Alabama like so many Power Five teams before them. Certainly, they didn’t look like the worst team in the top four.
Anyway, the next day I sat down prepared for a game that was going to be much less interesting. Not that I thought this would be another rout, I instead thought that it was going to be ugly. Utah came in off two blowouts against Oregon, while Ohio State came off the lopsided defeat to Michigan.
Past that, the Utes had all the momentum off the field: this is Utah’s first ever Rose Bowl, and Ohio State has opt outs at major positions while coming off the disappointment of missing the College Football Playoff. I thought Utah would control the time of possession, run the ball with great success and contain the Buckeyes’ offense enough to come out with a relatively low scoring victory.
And I was right, for like 10 minutes.
Utah went up 14-0 with ease, moving down the field cutting through Ohio State’s defense like butter, while the Buckeyes started with back-to-back three-and-outs in front of a crowd that was pretty much all Utah fans. The first quarter ended with that same score, and I was not very excited to watch the rest of what was to come.
Then the second quarter started going and it wouldn’t stop. It started slow, at least compared to the rest of the quarter. C.J. Stroud connected with Marvin Harrison Jr. on a beautiful toss to cut the deficit in half. But, Utah immediately countered it with another methodical 9-play, 79-yard drive to go back up 14. Then the real fun happened, and my jaw stayed on the floor for like a half hour.
Seven plays, 28 points. What is there really to say here?
Stroud found noted good receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 50-yard score, then noted good receiver for Utah, Britain Covey, housed a kick return 97 yards. That was followed by a 52-yard Stroud-JSN connection on Ohio State’s first play from scrimmage, which was then followed by an unreal 62-yard rushing touchdown by Utah quarterback Cameron Rising. So much happened, and the margin remained exactly the same as if none of it really mattered.
It was a spectacle to behold that is hard to put into words. I went to grab a beer after the Utah kick return touchdown and missed the JSN score live. If you looked away for one play during this span (including the kickoff TD), you would have missed an average of 35 yards and 3.5 points. Basically, you had a 50-50 shot of missing a touchdown, bad coin flip on my beer run.
I guess the game slowed down in the second half, but it was still real entertaining. Stroud was balling out, and he wasn’t even the best player on Ohio State’s offense. That would be Smith-Njigba, who could find open space with all 11 players on the defensive covering him.
Utah still found some space here and there, but slowed down off its insane first half pace to let Ohio State get back into it. Then, Rising had a nasty fall trying to make a play, forcing him out of the game. The Buckeyes got the ball on the ensuing punt and scored, obviously, to go up 45-38 and seemingly seal up the game with a rather anti-climactic ending after such a fantastic back and forth to this point.
To be fair though, to call this Smith-Njigba catch anti-climactic would be simply disrespectful. Good lord.
But the Rose Bowl wasn’t done. Enter true freshman walk-on quarterback Bryson Barnes. Covey got Utah the ball at its own 43 after a strong return, then two short Utes runs set up a 3rd and 6, oh no he’s going to have to throw his first ever collegiate pass.
Then, boom, just how they drew it up, pass interference on Ohio State for a first down. Barnes then completed an 8-yard pass to set up a 3rd and 1, then ran 10 yards for the first. Then, boom, just how they drew it up, pass interference on Ohio State for a first down.
Now, with all the confidence in the world, Barnes went for it all, and motherfucker he got that shit. An absolutely perfect throw deep in the end zone to Dalton Kincaid for a 15-yard score. Tie game.
Barnes was actually so good that he was too good, because he gave the unstoppable Ohio State offense about two minutes, and you and I both knew that was a bad idea. The Buckeyes went down the field and hit the game-winning field goal, which was followed by a beyond disrespectful Noah Ruggles celebration, excellent work.
And yeah, it was mostly over after that, but I have stayed up at night wondering why it wasn’t all the way over. Ryan Day called a timeout to set up the game-winning field goal… with 12 seconds left? When he could have ran the clock down to one second?
That gave Utah a chance to either score on the kickoff, or get a free Hail Mary. OK, one dumb move, but at least kick it deep or squib it to put it in the hands of the freshman walk-on instead of, I don’t know, the kick returner who already scored once today.
Nope! Covey absolutely had a shot at a return TD here, but he came up short. Crisis averted, but I was simply baffled that any of it was happening.
But what a damn game from a pure viewing perspective. It had pretty much everything: clashing offensive styles, special teams scores, freak show stat lines (Stroud had 579 yards, JSN had 347), a walk-on nearly leading his team to OT, whatever the hell that second quarter was, all of that.
Is this just an unhinged recap labeled as a Hoopla post? Well yeah, but I needed all this down in writing so I can properly remember what I witnessed on this day. Penn State-USC was an equally insane Rose Bowl, but I just had no inclination this would even be a good game, let alone one I would never forget.
More of this in the future please, I want bowl games to be this cool all the time. Cleveland Browns wide receivers Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba soon come.
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