FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

I don’t think many people were surprised by the outcome of the Georgia / Hawaii and USC / Illinois games. It was clearly obvious that both USC and Georgia are top tier teams, while Hawaii and Illinois might be teams on the rise but would be drastically over matched by true BCS worthy teams.

The Georgia Bulldogs and their defense didn’t give Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan any chance yesterday during the Sugar Bowl as he was sacked 8 times, threw 3 interceptions and fumbled twice - one fumble was returned for a touchdown. Brennan, a Heisman Trophy finalist, finished with just 169 passing yards, I am sure this wasn’t how he envisioned his college football career ending. Meanwhile the Bulldogs combined their suffocating defense with a well rounded offense attack. After this game, Georgia will have to be a pre-season top 5 next year. and a favorite for another BCS bowl game

In the Rose Bowl, USC showed everyone why they are much better then their ranking / record shows in dismantling the Illinois Fighting Illini 49-17. The USC Trojans looked good, no great, putting up 633 yards and led by John David Booty (255 yards passing, 3 touchdowns) and freshman running back Joe McKnight (125 yards rushing, 1 touchdown). The Illini were able to move the ball putting up 445 total yards but couldn’t score on the Trojans.

So what did we learn from these 2 games? Illinois is overrated, Hawaii is not Boise State, USC running back Joe McKnight is going to be awesome next year and of course College Football needs a playoff.

What a game let me tell you and I sure that I am not the only one that was surprised by the outcome. Outgoing Michigan Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr got a big win today against defending National Champions, the University of Florida Gators, 41-35.

Quarterback Chad Henne threw for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns, running back Mike Hart ran for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Wolverines won their first bowl game since 2003. Henne was able to pick apart Florida’s secondary all-day long with wide receivers Adrian Arrington and Mario Manningham getting most of the work.

The Gators were able to make it a game due to the Wolverines turning over the ball 4 times and Gator quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow throwing 3 touchdowns, but couldn’t get it done at the end of the game. Tebow threw 4 straight incompletion’s with the clock winding down ending the Gators chances of winning.

The Wolverines have come a long way since that loss against Appalachian State don’t you think?

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow took home the Heisman Trophy last night - just like everyone, including myself predicted. Tebow was the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy, a stat that seemed hard to believe considered the Heisman Trophy’s long history. Tebow finished with 1,957 votes, runner-up (for the second year in a row) Arkansas running back Darren McFadden received 1,702 votes. Following Tebow and McFadden in the Heisman voting was Hawaii quarterback and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.

Tebow has impressed me with his athleticism, but I don’t think he would make a good NFL quarterback at this point. Next year Tebow will have to establish himself as a passer and try to stay in the pocket a bit longer to become a top NFL prospect.