Four months ago, thousands of young men set out on the journey that was the 2012 NCAA football season. This season had many memorable moments, from the rise of Texas A&M University redshirt freshman quarterback “Johnny Football” Manziel to the resurgence of a previously-dormant program at the University of Notre Dame.
The season came to a conclusion with the annual “bowl week”, a tradition that now lasts some 23 days and contains 35 postseason matchups. The Bowl Championship Series, college football’s most prestigious bowls, were highly anticipated this season, only to wind up being dud games.
The closest margin of victory in the BCS games was six points in Stanford University’s 20-14 win over the University of Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio. In the Discover BCS National Championship game, the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide steamrolled Notre Dame 42-14 in a game the Tide led 28-0 at halftime.
Even though the end of the bowl season lacked for drama, there were still several exciting moments this postseason. Here’s my top five.
5) Duke makes a bowl…and fumbles it away
Our neighbors to the east, Duke University’s Blue Devils, were bowl eligible at 6-6 for the first time since 1994. Duke was sent to the Belk Bowl (no, that’s not the paper football game you play on your study break in the library) in Charlotte where they were matched up with the Bearcats from the University of Cincinnati. Duke jumped out to a 16-0 lead only to see Cincinnati rally and tie the contest at 34. Duke was on the verge of scoring the go-ahead touchdown when freshman running back Josh Snead fumbled. Cincinnati scored three plays later and wound up walking away with a 48-34 win in a thrilling contest.
4) Northwestern snaps its streak
Quick, when was the last time Northwestern University won a bowl game? Before this New Year’s Day, it was the 1949 Rose Bowl. Only recently have the Wildcats begun making consistent postseason trips, so the losing streak “only” stood at nine games coming into the 2013 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl. Northwestern was matched up with Mississippi State University, a team from the powerful Southeastern Conference. SEC or not, Mississippi State turned the ball over four times and Northwestern claimed a 34-20 win.
3) Clemson comes back
In the final sporting event of the calendar year 2012, a Tiger battle between Clemson University and Louisiana State University took place at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. LSU marched out to a 24-16 lead before Clemson came roaring back to cut the deficit to 24-22 with two minutes to play. A failed two-point conversion and a defensive stop later, Clemson had the ball back. The Tigers saved themselves when DeAndre Hopkins made an incredible grab on a fourth-and-16 play to set up a field goal by Chandler Catanzaro as time expired to push the orange-clad Tigers to a 25-24 win.
2) Johnny Football puts a big bow on his coming-out season
The nation was introduced to eventual Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel when he led Texas A&M to an improbable road win at Alabama on Nov. 10. For those that missed that game, Manziel followed it up with a performance for the ages in the AT&T Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4. Manziel accounted for four touchdowns and 516 total yards in Texas A&M’s primetime, nationally-televised 41-13 win over the University of Oklahoma.
1) South Carolina wins Outback Bowl in thrilling fashion
Bloomin’ onions, what a game! The Gamecocks of the University of South Carolina entered the New Year’s Day matchup with the University of Michigan Wolverines with one of the nation’s best defensive players. Jadaveon Clowney, a sophomore defensive end, had flown under the radar to Manti Te’o, Notre Dame’s star linebacker. That all changed when Clowney delivered a punishing hit and forced fumble on Michigan running back Vincent Smith that was shown over and over on highlight clips. Nonetheless, South Carolina needed a rally from backup quarterback Dylan Thompson, who hit Bruce Ellington for a 32-yard touchdown with 11 seconds remaining to give the Gamecocks a 33-28 win.