Late Dec 2022 O5 coaching hires and bowl games

  Kenni Burns (Minnesota running backs coach) takes over at Kent St for Sean Lewis, who joined Neon Deion's staff at Colorado. He was also at W.Michigan with Fleck so he's familiar with the MAC.

    Eric Morris (Washington State OC) takes over at North Texas and has plenty of experience as an assistant coach in the state of Texas, including at Houston (2010-11), Texas Tech (2013-17) and Incarnate Word (2018-21).

   Lance Taylor (Louisville OC) takes over at W.Michigan.

  I've had a rough picking season with the Bowl Games but will toss in a few words on the remaining O5.

TUE 12:00pmESPN

Ga. Southern/Buffalo: Former USC HC Todd Helton wins the Kyle Vantrease bowl. KV was the starting quarterback at Buffalo last season, and this year he starts for Georgia Southern against his former team. GS 34 Buff 24

Camellia Bowl, Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL

TUE 3:15pm ESPN

Memphis/Utah St: Ags hoops has been hot so maybe it will spread to the pigskin squad. Utah St 31 Memphis 28

First Responder Bowl, Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX

TUE 6:45pmESPN

C. Carolina/East Carolina: McCall/Ahlers QB battles. I'll go with Ahlers, the ECU lefty. ECU 35 CCU 31

Birmingham Bowl, Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama

WED 2:00pmESPN

UCF/Duke: I know Duke has exceed expectations, but I'll go with Malzahn. UCF 27 Duke 24

Military Bowl, Navy - Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD

Dec 30 4:30pm Barstool Sports

Ohio/Wyoming: Cowboys rope in the Bobcats with a final minute FG. WYO 19 Ohio16

Arizona Bowl @ Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ

Jan 2 @ 1:00pm ESPN

Tulane/ USC: Green Wave subsides against the Trojans. USC 38 TUL 31

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)

Dec 28, 2022

I finally got an assessment correct. Ahlers threw 5 TDs for ECU in a 53-29 win over Coastal Carolina. He's a gutsy QB and may find a place in the NFL as a backup

Wrong picks: Utah St and Georgia Southern!

Dec 29, 2022

Wrong on UCF who didn't score in the middle of the game. Coach Gus has some work to do with the Knights going to the Big 12. Duke 30 UCF 13

I missed this hire. GJ Kinne is the new HC at Texas St. His Incarnate Word squad averaged 52.9 ppg last season, but the Sunbelt is a big step up.

Dec 31, 2022

Wrong on the Cowboys who didn't have enough rope to slow down S. Bangura RB - OHIO 25CAR 138YDS 1TD.  Ohio 30 WYO 27

Jan 2, 2022

Well, folks guessed McCall, a well-liked player at CCU entered the portal, only to follow Coach Chadwell to Liberty U.   New CCU HC Tim Beck, formerly an asst at NCST, must've had a chat with him and he's exited the portal.

Wow. I thought the Trojans D was shaky but what a complete meltdown. Props to Tulane(AAC).  Has Lincoln Riley ever  been the HC of a team with a decent D. Tulane 46 USC 45. Spears ' stats for the Green Wave

Jan 4, 2022

Petrino's stint at UNLV (MWC) lasted a month. Texas A&M hired Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator today.

Jan 7, 2023

Steve Spurrier Jr. is the new Tulsa(AAC) offensive coordinator and will also coach QBs. He worked as an asst for Mike Leach at Wazzoo and Miss St.

Jan 27, 2023

Speaking of head coaches if SDST keeps Hoke for a few more years, he 'll be back in the P5. "There are more bars in that stadium(Snapdragon) than there are in most cities," said Aztecs coach Brady Hoke. 

There's an assumption  the Pac-12 has no choice but to plug up its Southern California hole with SDSU.

Feb 7, 2023

 Tulane defensive coordinator Lance Guidry is heading to Miami U to replace Kevin Steele, who is headed to Bama to take the DC job

Guidry spent the 2022 season at Marshall and took the Tulane job last month. Tulane is owed $500,000 in buyout money for Guidry's departure, and the payment is due to the school in the next 60 days

Feb 14, 2023

The U hired Houston U OC Shannon Dawson 

I'm torn on this. Kevin Sumlin, co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for the Maryland Terrapins. Previous gigs: 

2008–2011 Houston

2012-2017 Texas A&M

2018-2020 Arizona

Feb 16 2023

Tulane raids the SunBelt and hires Troy's DC Shiel Wood as its new defensive coordinator.

March 4, 2023

San Diego St is looking for a new associate head coach/running backs coach again after the LA Rams hired Ron Gould.  

Maryland is planning to hire former Texas State DC Zac Spavital as its Safeties Coach.  Locksley has been raiding the southwest USA  for coaches, a lot lately.

April 2, 2023

I think Navy (AAC) should've kept HC Ken Niumatalolo, and he's moved on to be Director of Leadership for UCLA Football, a job title that baffles me.

Dec 20-24 O5 bowl games

 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Eastern Michigan Eagles(8-4) vs San José State Spartans(7-4). MWC is on a nice bowl roll so I'll go with SJST to win 31 to 27.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers(8-5) vs South Alabama Jaguars(10-2) Jags lost to UCLA by 1 and Troy by 4 while WKU has a solid aerial attack.  USA 24 WKU 23

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Baylor Bears(6-6) vs Air Force Falcons(9-3)

Air Force doesn't have enough firepower to get by the Bears and the MWC roll ends. BAY 34 AFA 23

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns(6-6) vs Houston Cougars(7-5)

Cougars finish their AAC career with a narrow win over ULL of the Sunbelt. HOU 34 ULL 27

EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders(7-5) vs San Diego State Aztecs(7-5)

Two up and down teams all season. Aztecs D gets the MWC back on the winning track.

SDSU 20 MTSU 17

I didn't forget two MAC teams,Toledo/Liberty  and  Bowling Green/ NewMexico St. Hunches are here https://busterother5.blogspot.com/2022/11/countdown-to-less-independents-nearly.html

Dec 21, 2022

Off to a bad start! SJST was up 13-9 after 1Q, got blanked in the second quarter 21-0 and never recovered. EMU 41 SJST 27. Nice game for I. Hamilton WR - SJSU 5REC,137YDS,1TD

Dec 22 , 2022

If you're betting against my picks, you're doing fine. WKU was hot early and rolled South Bama. Reed threw for 497 yards and two TD passes for the Hilltoppers in a 44-23 victory.

Dec 23, 2022

Wrong again, Air Force had plenty of firepower in a 30-15 win over Baylor.

Dec 23, 2022

Little less scoring than I guessed, but the Cougars pulled out a win thanks to its QB Tune and its D shutting out the Cajuns in the second half. HOU 23 ULL 16

Dec 25, 2022

My lack of faith in the CUSA burns me again. MTSU hits a FG with two minutes to go and hangs on to beat the Aztecs 25-23. Mayden , the SDST QB, tossed three interceptions.

Non- power confernce teams circling the top 25

 I reviewed some of the major polls and stories and added some comments. Football has most of my attention, but I'm slowly shifting into hoops gear.

AAC: Houston plays good D, which borders on mugging, and this may affect them this season depending on how closely the referees call the games. However, Bama went small ball and handed the Cougars their first loss. Memphis(8-3) Coach Penny recruits well.

MWC: San Diego State  (8-3) New Mexico (10-0); Utah State( 9-0) UNLV  10-0. Conference play will change some of this attention

WCC: Gonzaga(8-3) Saint Mary's (9-3). I added Santa Clara(9-3) because they upgraded their OOC schedule.

CAA: College of Charleston (11-1) I guess they're got a mention because they beat Virginia Tech.

I peeked at the Atlantic Sun and was surprised to see Liberty and Jacksonville off to slow starts. Also, Queens University Royals(9-2), a small private school in Charlotte who moved up from DII, is off to a nice start but isn't eligible for post season play until the 2026-27 season.

Dec 18, 2022

Nice day for AAC members Houston who won at UVA(ACC) and Memphis who beat TAMU(SEC).

Gonzaga was in top form in a 100-90 win over Bama(SEC), and San Francisco handed UNLV (MWC) its first loss in a decent day for the WCC.

Dec 22, 2022

Kinyon Hodges scored 22 points and Caleb Donaldson added 16 for the Eastern Illinois Panthers in a 92-83 upset of Iowa(Big 10). EIU (Ohio Valley) is 4-9 in OOC play, which includes blowout losses to Ohio St and Illinois of the Big 10.

No. 11 Gonzaga beat Montana for its 72nd straight home win.

Dec 27, 2022

Coach Ladner has S.Miss (11-2) fans feeling good with the additions of Mercer big man Felipe Haase, and Ol Miss transfer, Austin Crowley, but one of those two losses was to NW St.  The SunBelt season is about to get in gear so we'll see if the Golden Eagles' talk about Dancing has staying power.

Dec 30, 2022

WCC: Santa Clara beat San Fran last night and is on a nice roll which makes its Jan 7 matchup with Gonzaga interesting.

SunBelt: Marshall handled visiting Appy, and James Madison rolled Georgia St in Atlanta last night. Nothing like a VA/WV interstate battle tomorrow as #Herd host the JMU Dukes in Huntingdon,WV on.

Oops, I missed this one: Reggie Bass drilled a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left for Central Michigan(MAC) in a win over in-state rival Michigan 63-61. Coach Juwan Howard needs more than Anger MGT.

Jan 1, 2023

James Madison led 40-29 at halftime and hung on for a72-66 win over Marshall U. Edwards had 16 point and 6 rebounds for JMU, while Kinsey had 18 points, seven assists and two steals for the Herd.

New Mexico (14-0 2-0 MWC) nipped Wyoming 76-75 last night. Coach Pitino Jr is on a roll. Jamal Mashburn Jr, who followed his coach from Minnesota to UNM, scored 20 for the Lobos. His dad Jamal played at UK for Pitino Sr.

Jan 4, 2023

Mashburn scored 22 for the Lobos, but it was not enough to keep UNM from losing its first game this season and probably falling out of the top 25. Fresno St 71 UNM 67

Jan 6, 2023

AAC- Houston crushed SMU 87-53

WCC- Zags edged San Fran, an erratic team that beat Ariz St this season.  Conference looks like it's stronger this season. Keep your eyes on Santa Clara!

ASUN: Liberty is off to a 3-0 start in conference play with 75-41 win over Jax St. Queens is 2-1with a 75-74 win over Bellamine last night.

Jan 8, 2023

Queens Royals are getting a taste of conference play. They lost to Kenesaw last night. EKU survived C. Arkansas.

ASUN players get quite an education in the geography of the South. Every school is located in a state that was in the Confederacy except for EKU and Bellamine. Kentucky was a border state.

Jan 11, 2023

San Diego St is off to a 4-0 start in the MWC with a win over Nevada last night.

Life in the A10 has been rough for Loyola of Chicago who lost a home game to VCU last night.

Dayton 4-0 - 12-5

VCU 3-1 -       12-5

LoC        0-4   -       6-10

Jan 12, 2023

Houston(17-1 5-0 AAC)  83  USF(7-10 0-4 AAC)   77.  Cougars stay at #1, and USF appears to be showing improvement.

Jan 13, 2023

BYU 's crowd was fired up but the Cougars fell short against the Zags . GONZ 75 BYU 74.  

Nice team effort by Marshall in an 89-67 blowout of USM. Kinsey is a smooth member of the Herd.

Jan 14, 2023

Akron(11-6 3-1MAC) 104 Eastern Michigan(4-13 1-3MAC)  67. Coach Cooper keeps rolling in the MAC

VCU was down 33 -19 at halftime and looked ragged, but roared back to defeat Dayton 63-62 in an A10 matchup.

Kenan Blackshear scored 25 for Nevada in a big MWC win over Utah St. 

San Diego State 4-0

Nevada 5-1

Jan 15, 2023

Riley Battin's 18 points and seven rebounds helped Cal Baptist(11-8, 3-3 WAC) defeat Grand Canyon(12-6, 3-2 WAC) 79-74 on Saturday. Seattle (5-0) sits atop the WAC.

Kinsey scored 24 for the #herd in a big win over ODU to remain in a six way tie(4-2) for first in the SunBelt.

Jan 17, 2023

MLK day was a busy with hoops, and I watched a little of  Florida Atlantic(17-1, 7-0 CUSA) road win over WKU when I got home from work. Boyd led the Owls with 16 points. They've stuck with HC Dusty May, and it appears to be working.

Charleston (19-1,7-0 CAA) handled William & Mary easily.

Hawai'i (14-4, 5-1Big West) are off to a decent start. Bernardo da Silva had an interesting stat line (PTS11, REB 12, Blocks 3) in the Rainbows win over Cal St Northridge.

Jan 20, 2023

Cam Shelton banked in a go-ahead runner with 13 seconds left for Loyola Marymount in an upset 68-67 victory of  # 6 Gonzaga which knocked the Zags out of first in the WCC.

 Saint Mary's 6-0 17-4

Gonzaga 5-1 16-4

Santa Clara 4-2 16-5

Loyola Marymount 4-3 14-7

BYU 4-3 14-8

Sunbelt gets tighter. Marshall, USM, JMU, ULM, and ULL, won games that keep the standings tight at the top.

Jan 21, 2023

It doesn't take long to come back to reality in the MAC. Kent State(16-3 6-0MAC) 86 Ball State (13-6 4-2MAC) 65. I tuned into the game early but didn't stay. Toledo handled Buffalo in other MAC action. 

Mashburn Jr scored 25 for the Lobos. New Mexico 81 Boise St 79 in OT in MWC action.

Jan 22, 2023

Some Horizon news: Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis scored 42 in a win over UIPUI and  is No. 2 on NCAA D-I scoring list with 3274 points, but he'll need a big finish this season to catch Pistol Pete(3667). They are 3.5 GB of Milwaukee and N. Kentucky in the conference.

Florida Atlantic(19-1, 9-0 CUSA) remains hot with a 67-59 win over UTEP. Their only loss this season is to Ole Miss (SEC).

Cal Baptist rolled Tarleton in WAC play, and Andrew Taylor led Marshall to a SunBelt win over Ark St.

Jan 23, 2023

Temple(12-9, 6-2 AAC) 56   Houston(18-2, 6-1 AAC) 55   Coach McKie's Owls get a huge W. Damian Dunn scored 16 points and made the go-ahead free throw then Kur Jongkuch blocked Houston’s go-ahead shot attempt in the final seconds.

Dec 17- 18 Bowl Games O5

 Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl: UAB 20 vs. Miami (Ohio) 16:  Blazers recover from a sub-par season

Duluth Trading Cure Bowl: UTSA 31 vs. Troy 27: I know Troy has a solid D  and UTSA starts some games slowly, but Frank Harris is a beast and will lead the Roadrunners to the W.

Wasabi Fenway Bowl: Cincinnati 22 vs. Louisville 21 in the land of Ted Williams and Yaz.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel: Washington State 28 vs. Fresno State 20: Bulldogs don't have enough bark to handle Wazoo who was hot early in Pac 12 play this season.

LendingTree Bowl: Southern Miss 24 vs. Rice 17:  Can Rice's O get steamed up? Not so sure?

Dec 13, 2022

In O5 news, I'm a bit surprised that CCU(SunBelt) QB Mccall entered the transfer portal. Maybe the HC taking the Liberty job played a role. 

Navy(AAC) fired HC Niumatalolo, the winningest coach in program history (109-83).

Dec 15, 2022

Bobby Petrino is exiting the HC gig at Missouri St and returning to 1a as offensive coordinator at UNLV(MWC) under new coach HC Barry Odom.

Dec 17, 2022

UAB 24 M-O 20. Correct on UAB , who tried hard to give the game to M_O. Two retired Super Bowl QBs were on the sidelines. Dilfer who's the incoming HC at UAB, and Big Ben, an alumnus of Miami(Ohio)

Troy 18 UTSA 12. Wrong on this one. The Trojans slowed down Harris.

Dec 18, 2022

Cincy D at least tried, the O vanished in Fenway. LOU 24 Cincy 7.  Fresno rolled Wazzo 29-6. Cougars were awful. I got those two wrong, but was correct on USM who road 329 yards rushing from Gore Jr to beat Rice 38-24.

Not usually a ton of news from Kent St, but its QB Schlee transferred to UCLA, and its HC Sean Lewis will become Colorado's OC for Neon Deion

Dealing those Cards part II

 Pro Football Hall of Famer Charley Trippi.  a Heisman Trophy runner-up at Georgia who later led the Chicago Cardinals to the franchise's most recent NFL championship in 1947, died Oct. 19, 2022 at the age of 100. He was the son of a Pennsylvania coal miner and received a scholarship to play for the Bulldogs through his connections to a Coke bottler, who was a Georgia alumnus in nearby Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Since Kingsbury is on the hot seat in Arizona, Sean Payton's name has popped up in the rumor mill as a replacement. He was a ball boy for the St Louis Cardinals when their training camp was held at Eastern Illinois in the 1980s

Dec 6, 2022

Does anyone recall Johnny Roland, who played college football at Missouri and for a few seasons with the Cards. He went on to various stints as an NFL running backs coach, including coaching Emmitt Smith when he played for the Cardinals.

Dec 23, 2022

During the Cardinals' 28 years in St. Louis, they advanced to the playoffs four times (1964, 1974, 1975, and 1982), and never hosted a playoff game. Their only postseason win came over Green Bay in the 1964 Playoff Bowl or Runner up Bowl played at the Orange Bowl in Miami a week after the championship game.  Browns blanked the Colts 27-0 in the 1964 title game.

BTW, Racine, WI was the original home of the Cardinals.

Dec 30, 2022

In 1964, the Bidwills were disappointed with the progress of the new downtown stadium in St Louis and considered moving the Cardinals(NFL) to Atlanta but didn't. Years later the St Louis Hawks(NBA) moved to Atlanta.

In 1967, Charley Johnson, the Cards starting QB, was summoned to active duty in the Army which opened the door opened the door for Jim Hart, an undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois University.

Jan 11, 2022

Kliff Kingsbury (2019-2022): 28-37-1

Steve Wilks (2018): 3-13

Bruce Arians (2013-2017): 49-30-1

Ken Whisenhunt (2007-2012): 45-51 Lost to the Steelers in SBXLIII

Dennis Green (2004-2006): 16-32

In September of 1920, Paddy Driscoll signed with the Racine Cardinals, and he became head coach and quarterback. He led them through three decent seasons before focusing exclusively on being their QB. He played college ball at Northwestern.

It gets goofier.  The team played on Racine Avenue in Chicago and was renamed the "Chicago Cardinals" in 1922 after a team from Racine, Wisconsin (the Horlick-Racine Legion) entered the league. That season the team the Cards moved to Comiskey Park. 

Jan 23, 2023

Shifting to the baseball Cards.  I came across the name Brooks Lawrence, while reading about the 1957 baseball season. Cards gave up on him quickly after he went 15-6 in 1954 and traded him to Cincy. He went 19-10 in 1956 for the Reds and there's been chatter, pro and con, that his MGR Birdie Tebbets sandbagged him from getting his 20th win because he was black. However, he finished his playing career with Cincy in 1960 and later worked for the Reds in scouting, minor league player development, and also radio and television.

Feb 4, 2023

I forgot that Bud Wilkinson gave the NFL a try but didn't do well in two seasons(1978-79) as the HC of the Cards.

Feb 13, 2023

Conrad Dobler died yesterday, and I recall thinking he was done when the Cards traded him to the Saints in 1978 to play for Dick Nolan. I'm mildly surprised he lived to be 72.

Feb 18, 2023

RIP, Tim McCarver who played for Cards and a few other teams during a long career. He was known as the preferred catcher for Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton. Also, he had a long career as a broadcaster in his post-playing days.

March 19, 2023

 Just cuz I like talking sports history. Here's another San Fran college Kid. Ollie Matson(Chicago Cardinals (1952–1958) and later with the Rams, Lions and Eagles. When he retired in 1966, his 12,799 career all-purpose yards were second only to Jim Brown.

He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972. I have a faint recall of my uncles chatting about him often during Sunday afternoon family beer parties.

April 11, 2023

Ex-Cards HC Kingsbury is headed to USC to be a QB guru.

I had his football card: Sonny Randle: Cardinals WR: 1959–66

Pro Bowl: 1960–62, 1965, All-Pro: 1960

Nov 21,2023

Well, "philosophical differences" got Mike Schildt a ticket out St Louis, but after a few seasons hanging out with the Padres, he's their new MGR.  He replaces Bob Melvin who left SD last month to be the MGR of the Giants.

Jan 1, 2024

Roger Wehrli began his NFL career in 1969 after playing at Mizzou. NFL Draft1969 / Round: 1 / Pick: 19. He had 40 interceptions in his career and inducted into the HoF in 2007. 

Roger Staubach claimed that Wehrli is where the term “shutdown corner” originated.

Also recall he was solid punt returner.

Jan 30, 2024

Reading Jim Bottomley's(Cardinals) bio. Hornsby, player/MGR, and Branch Rickey bickering all season, but rolled the dice on aging Grover Cleveland Alexander who the Cubs didn't want anymore. GCA was 39 and liked his booze.

He won two games in the 1926 World Series and closed up GM 7 in relief while Babe Ruth(Yanks) was thrown out trying to steal second.

Feb 11, 2024

I finished the book on Sunny Bottomley(1B). Impressive RBI(1422) total and batting AVG(.310). Low on HRs(219). Solid fielding 1B. My vote=NO to HoF.

I can see why it took so long for him to make the HoF. In the early 1970s there were plenty of other shaky inductees. 

Previous blog Cardinals

O5 title games in 2022

 AAC: I'm tossing an imaginary coin on the UAB- Tulane game. Malazahn comes up with a trick play at the buzzer. UCF 23 Tulane 17.

CUSA- Frank Harris usually find a way to get the Roadrunners a W, plus they're at home in the AlamoDome. UTSA 27 NTX 23

MAC: Ohio replace it's injured QB Rourke last week and didn't miss a beat. Ohio 28 Toledo 20

MWC: Boise St is playing on its blue turf so I'll them to eke out a 21-20 win over Fresno St.

SunBelt- CCU got crushed by JMU last week and has been erratic all season. Troy 's solid D and home field will be the difference. Troy 20 CCU 17

Dec 3, 2022

Riding the Harris train pays dividends again. He threw for 341 yards and 4 TDs in the Roadrunners' victory. UTSA 48 NTX 27.

In AAC news: FAU hired Tom Herman, who made a pit stop with the Chicago Bears (2021)Offensive analyst after a rough, few seasons coaching the Texas Longhorns.

Dec 4, 2022

I was wrong on three(UCF,Ohio,Boise) of four yesterday: Tulane,Toledo, and Fresno were winners.  Man, that kid Spears(22 carries, 199 yards, 1TD) is something else for the Green Wave.

And, I guessed correctly on Troy, but it wasn't about their D. Troy 45 CCU 28.

Dec 5, 2022

North Texas fired coach Seth Littrell on Sunday, two days after the they lost in the CUSA championship game. He was 44-44 in seven seasons. 

Alex Golesh ( Tennessee offensive coordinator) takes over at USF, and Tim Beck (NC State OC) takes over at CCU.

I'm a bit stunned Cincinnati hired Louisville’s Scott Satterfield to be its next coach, and  coincidentally the Cards  will face Cincinnati  in the Fenway Bowl.

Dec 7, 2022

UNLV(MWC) is set to tap Arkansas DC Barry Odom to be their new head coach. He was Mizzou HC before that.