Brace yourself for a forthcoming hard dose of reality, CFB fans…<\/p>\n
There are only 60 minutes of football left in the 2016 season. As we anticipate “Tigers vs. Tide Two,” let’s take a look back at this season’s bowl season. It’s time to\u00a0award some 2016 SEC bowl superlatives!<\/p>\n
Going into the Citrus Bowl, one of the major points of discussion was whether or not LSU could contain\u00a0Heisman winner Lamar Jackson<\/strong><\/a>. Not only were the Tigers able to contain Jackson, they were nearly able to stop him altogether. The LSU defense only gave up 153 yards passing and 33 yards rushing to the Heisman holder, and only gave up nine points to one of America’s most prolific offense. On the offensive side, Danny Etling<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Derrius Guice<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> and Malachi Dupre<\/strong><\/a> led the way as the Tigers put it all together to give Ed\u00a0Orgeron<\/strong> his first win as LSU’s new head coach.<\/p>\n Senior QB Joshua Dobbs<\/strong><\/a> had one of his best games of the season in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30th. Dobbs\u00a0was 23 for 38 for 291 yards passing and one TD.\u00a0He also added 118 yards on the ground and three rushing TD’s, his highest rushing TD total of the season. Dobbs’ performance helped the Volunteers mount their ninth win of the season and take down their Big Ten opponent in Nebraska 38-24.<\/p>\n Georgia took down TCU in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 30th, largely in part to a defensive performance that saw the Bulldogs give up only seven second-half points to Kenny Hill<\/strong><\/a> and the Horned Frogs. Bulldogs’ sophomore Trenton Thompson<\/strong><\/a> finished\u00a0second on the team for the game with eight tackles (six solo) and also recorded three sacks. While those numbers are already impressive, what makes them more notable is that Thompson came in to the game with only two sacks to his name all year…and his previous high for solo tackles in a game was five. Thompson had his best game of the year, and it helped Georgia get a Liberty Bowl victory.<\/p>\n There is\u00a0no such thing as “moral victories” for Will Muschamp’s<\/strong> Gamecocks as the program is rebuilt…for them. For the onlooker’s though, the general consensus is that South Carolina has nothing to hang its head about after an impressive showing against a Top 25 team in South Florida. South Carolina went in to the Birmingham Bowl as ten-point underdogs. And for much of the game, it looked as though Cocky just simply couldn’t run with Quinton Flowers<\/strong><\/a> and USF.\u00a0The score was 29-14 USF at the half. South Carolina\u00a0had shown flashes of being offensively capable in the first half, but the feeling at halftime was that the offense simply couldn’t keep up. But a resiliency began building in the boys from Columbia.<\/p>\n The South Carolina\u00a0defense clamped down to allow only ten second-half points to USF, while young Gamecock\u00a0QB Jake Bentley went off, throwing for a total of three TD’s and 390 yards. Bentley found surging TE Hayden Hurst<\/strong><\/a> in the back of the end-zone for a 2 pt. conversion after an A.J. Turner<\/a> <\/strong>1-yard TD run to tie the game at 39 with only 1:11 left on the clock. Once in OT though, USF only needed\u00a0one play to put a TD on the board. Bentley was sacked on 4th down of the Gamecocks’ possession to end the game. This game set the Birmingham Bowl record for most points scored in the bowl’s history.<\/p>\nRunner Up: Florida<\/h4>\n
Best Offensive\u00a0Performance:\u00a0Joshua Dobbs (Tennessee)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Runner Up: Jake Bentley<\/strong><\/a> (South Carolina)<\/h4>\n
Best Defensive Performance: Trenton Thompson (Georgia)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Runner Up: Tashawn Bower<\/strong><\/a> (LSU)<\/h4>\n
Most Exciting Game: Birmingham Bowl<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Runner Up: Texas Bowl (Texas A&M vs. Kansas St.)<\/h4>\n
Most Improved Draft Stock: Bo Scarbrough (Alabama)<\/strong><\/h3>\n