Tulsa 55, Central Michigan 10 in the Miami Beach Bowl yesterday. Tulsa was ballistically explosive on offense. Their quarterback, Dane Evans, threw for 304 yards and 5 touchdowns, 2 running backs, D’Angelo Brewer and James Flanders ran for over 100 yards and  Josh Atkinson  caught 12 passes for 131 yards and a seven, and Keevan Lucas caught 7 passes for 72 yards and 3 TDs. Central Michigan was hopeless. They had no answers on offense or defense. Their quarterback threw three interceptions. It was a massacre. On to Boca Raton. 

Christian McCaffrey

I really have a problem with his decision to forgo Stanford’s Sun Bowl game versus North Carolina in order to get ready for the NFL draft. With this decision, one word sticks out to me; cowardly. It really is. I don’t get it, I can’t relate, it’s unfathomable. Leonard Fournette did the same thing to LSU and actually I can see his point more than McCaffrey’s because Fournette came from little means growing up, so this is kind of a make or break deal for him. But he’s not even the best running back on his team. Derrius Guice is. And he’s pretty much a quitter. Not sure if he’ll be that good in the NFL when Alabama just shut him down two years in row. This year’s Alabama defense was one of the best and I’d say the best in college football history in my opinion. And they were pretty outstanding for most of the season last year too. But if Fournette can’t get it done against a stellar college defense, what’s he going to do against the Patriots, the Seahawks, the Giants, the Steelers, etc… So I’m not sure if this really matters with Fournette. He’s got a long way to go.

But McCaffrey’s decision is unconscionable really. He’s gotten the privilege, and it’s a privilege not a right, to get a four year tuition free scholarship to play football at one of the finest universities in the country. It may be the best in the country when you take into account the climate, the beautiful part of the country it’s in, Palo Alto, California. There are marquee facilities, and all the academic support you need along with a stellar, interesting, very fun student body. So yes he can play another college football game for the university that has done so much for him, be the best he can be in it, then get ready for the NFL draft. As recently as last Friday he was good to go for the Sun Bowl. Something happened over the weekend, either an agent or somebody, maybe even his parents, convinced him to drop out of the game.

I kind of understand the arguments some of these liberals make that the linebacker for Notre Dame last year, Jaylon Smith, injured his knee severely in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl versus Ohio State and lost a good deal financially since he dropped to the second round in the draft and was projected to be a top 5 pick. But  he did get $4.5 million in guaranteed money from the Cowboys and he’ll play next season, not too bad. I know a lot of people who would want to get hurt at work and still get more money than they’ll ever need in a lifetime if they handle it well. Along with that, these guys get insurance policies now that pay them $5 million if they get hurt in college football and it affects their draft status. 

But it just goes back to what Bill Belichick says, “Do your job.” McCaffrey owes Stanford an inordinate amount of gratitude for giving him the best opportunity any high school football player would dream about. In the movie, Field of Dreams, Shoeless Joe Jackson said, “Man, I’d play this game for free.” It meant that much to guys like that. And there are many college football players who are still like that, though they all get four year rides with free room and board and now a stipend. So it’s a pretty good gig. I look at Jonathan Allen, O.J. Howard and Reuben Foster who all three came back for their senior seasons because they wanted to be a part of something special. They wanted to improve their draft status of course, but they loved being on a special team, being part of something unique. And it’s turning out pretty well for all three of them.

I’m really disappointed in McCaffrey and his parents. They didn’t do him a very good service. You want your son or daughter to be persistent, to see things through, to not quit. This is quitting and it’s a terrible precedent for college football. There are plenty of super kids though who want to play college football and see it through. It’s some of the best four years of anybody’s life. Peyton Manning came back for his fourth year because he said, “I love playing college football.” Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are coming back to Georgia. They want to improve their draft status of course, but it’s still a highly admirable, respectable thing to do. It shows loyalty to a university that has been good to you. Christian McCaffrey is a major disappointment. 

Boca Raton Bowl

Memphis (8-4) vs. Western Kentucky (10-3)

FAU Stadium (Florida Atlantic University), 29, 419

6 PM CT/7 PM ET

ESPN

Dave LaMont, Dez, Quint Kessenich

Whistles: Big Ten, Don Willard

Two high powered offenses going at it in Boca Raton. Western Kentucky was second in the country in scoring offense at 45.1 ppg, while Memphis was 17th at 39.5. Expecting fireworks tonight on offense. Western Ky running back Anthony Wales rushed for 1,376 yards this season and was second in the country with 24 rushing TDs. Quarterback Mike White completed 260-of-386 passes, 67%, for 4,027 yards, 34 TDs against only 6 ints. Their wide receiver tandem of Taywan Taylor and Nicholas Norris has been superb. Taylor caught 89 passes for 1,586 yards and 16 TDs, while Norris caught 73 balls for 1,253 yards and 13, 7’s. Wow. Their defense is led  by Keith Brown, a 6’1″, 240 pound linebacker, who has posted 123 tackles, with 12.5 for loss of 51 yards, and 6 sacks. Brown also has an interception. Western is a pretty good intercepting team with 13 on the season. Their punt returner, Nacarius Fant, has two punt returns for touchdowns and their kickoff returner, Kylen Tawner, has a 40.8 yard kickoff return average with a 93 yard house call. Their punter, Jake Collins, has a 42.9 yard average, and their kicker, Skyler Simcox, is 15-of-20 on kicks this season. He is 4 for 8 from 40-49 yards and is 2-for-2 from 50 yards or more with a long of 52. 

Memphis counters with explosiveness of its own. Quarterback Riley Ferguson took over from Denver Broncos’ first round pick Paxton Lynch and has done well. He is 255-of-400, 64%, for 3,326 yards, 28 TDs, and 9 ints. His main target is Anthony Miller, who has 84 receptions for 1,283 yards and 11 TDs. But Memphis runs it pretty well, too. Doroland Dorceus has rushed for 783 yards, 6.2 yards per carry, and 9 TDs. Patrick Taylor has added 512 yards, 5.7 yards per carry, and two TDs. Darrell Henderson has accounted for 469 yards on an average of 6 yards per carry, with 5 TDs. Memphis is led on defense by free safety Jonathan Cook who’s posted 81 tackles on the season. Memphis also has 15 interceptions on the season with Genard Avery taking two back to the house. Kickoff return man Tony Pollard has taken two kicks back to the house, one for 100 yards. Punter Spencer Smith averages 45 yards per punt, and kicker Jake Elliott is 15-of-17 on field goals with 9 coming from 40-49 yards and one from 50 yards out. 

Final decision

There ought to be some serious offensive firepower in this game. Memphis defeated Houston in their last game of the season, 48-44, and they were impressive though Houston kind of limped in, but I liked the way Memphis looked. The HIlltoppers are fresh off a C-USA title victory over Louisiana Tech, 58-44. WKU lost their coach, Jeff Brohm, to Purdue, so defensive coordinator Nick Holt will be the interim head coach for Western Ky  while former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Sanford gets ready to take over in 2017. That’s a factor in this game, but not enough for me. The HIlltoppers just have so much explosiveness in their offense that it’ll be too much for Memphis to stop. This will be a thriller to watch. Close, exciting. Enjoy the Boca Bowl.

Western Ky 49, Memphis 45