Present Iteration: Fiesta Bowl
Toasting Town: Glendale, Arizona
Vintage: 1971
Combatants: Stanford (11-1) vs. Oklahoma State (11-1)
Strip clubs, exorbitant salaries, junkets, bribery, illegal campaign contributions and the miscellaneous squandering of millions in university subsidies. The Fiesta Bowl truly epitomizes the bowl game experience. Oklahoma State lost its BCS Title Game bid. Andrew Luck lost his Heisman. Their jilted frustrations won’t match the Rose Bowl’s insanity, but they’ll give it a whirl.
Noteworthy: ESPN will not be using its SkyCam system, after this happened during the Insight Bowl. Andrew Luck might as well start looking for property in lovely Indianapolis. This might look a little silly after Stanford’s Luck-less 2012.
Stanford Cardinal [SRS 5]
Best Wins: USC (10), Notre Dame (17), California (30)
Loss: Oregon (4)
Famous Alum: Fred Savage
Stanford withstood USC, but lost to Oregon, losing cracks at both the Pac 12 and the BCS title game. Both marquee opponents exposed the Cardinal’s major weakness, having to recruit athletes that can get into Stanford. Their offenses created big plays with speed. Their defenses clamped down and pressed Andrew Luck into mistakes.
The Cardinal will use their biggest advantage, power running between the tackles against Oklahoma State’s weak front seven. Theoretically, that will open up the field for Luck to fillet them with play-action and limit the number of opportunities for Justin Blackmon and Co.
Oklahoma State Cowboys [SRS 2]
Best Wins: Oklahoma (6), Texas A&M (11), Baylor (14), Missouri (19), Texas (21), Kansas State (22)
Loss: Iowa State (48)
Famous Alum: Garth Brooks
One off night in Ames. One missed field goal. Oklahoma State missed its shot at a BCS title. Not that LSU would have given the Cowboys much of one.
Dana Holgorsen left, but Oklahoma State’s aerial spread attack did not show a noticeable letdown with Brandon Weeden (my elder) at the helm and a stable of receivers, most notably Justin Blackmon. The Cowboys were No. 3 in yards per play and No. 2 in scoring, averaging 49.3 points per game.
The sneaky star, however, was their defense. The Pokes led the nation with 43 turnovers created. Despite being 106th in total yards allowed and 53rd in yards allowed per play, Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in Defensive FEI, ahead of LSU and Alabama.
