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Importance of bowls for young players
Posted: Thursday December 16, 1999 07:28 PM
Georgia Tech is Example One of why getting a bowl bid is so important. The Yellow Jackets started four freshmen and four sophomores on defense with predictably horrid results. Georgia Tech scored 35, 31, and 23 points in its three losses. Even coach George O'Leary says the defense cost quarterback Joe Hamilton the Heisman Trophy. Which brings us back to the Gator Bowl bid. Bowl teams get two extra weeks of practice this month. O'Leary says his younger players-- that's you, defense -- will practice nearly three hours a day, and that will pay off next season when Hamilton won't be around to put all those points on the board. Auburn is Example Two. The Tigers failed by one game to get a bowl bid -- and there isn't an offense out there that needs more work than theirs. Coach Tommy Tuberville isn't content to rebuild the third-to-worst rushing attack in the nation from within. Tuberville wants help now. He's gotten verbal commitments from tailback Rudi Johnson and quarterback Daniel Cobb of Butler Community College, the junior college national champion. Cobb is one of the many arms who left Georgia after Quincy Carter took over as a freshman a year ago. Rebuilding via the junior college route can be dangerous but Tuberville feels a sense of urgency. His cross-state rival in Tuscaloosa just won the SEC title. Patience, like the single wing, is a relic.
2000 Heisman raceNow that Ron Dayne is out of the way, and while the recently-concluded season is fresh in our minds, let's make a quick list of candidates to think about for next year's Heisman: Obviously, you start with the top returning vote-getters from this season, Michael Vick of Virginia Tech and Drew Brees of Purdue. But Brees may not even be the best quarterback in his state. Antwaan Randle El of Indiana has drawn raves throughout the Big Ten. If coach Cam Cameron can find him some help, Randle El will take the Hoosiers far. Juniors-to-be Lamont Jordan of Maryland and Alabama all-purpose threat Freddie Milons finished this season with a flourish. If coach Mike DuBose continues to use Milons at receiver and quarterback, Milons will gather yards and headlines in equal measure.
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