The Mountain West Conference is in great shape to fill all six of its bowl slots this year, and could even have seven bowl-eligible teams by the end of the month.
Fresno State, Boise State, UNLV, San Diego State and Utah State are already in. San Jose State and Colorado State each need one more win to become bowl eligible. San Jose State is 5-6 heading into its final game of the season against Fresno State. Colorado State is 6-6, but it’s been my understanding that if you play 13 games, you need seven wins, which means the Rams have to win their last games against Air Force to make it.
It shows me how inconsistent, or if you want to say it, bad, Nevada was this year. The MWC has a couple of more bowl slots than the WAC did, yet Nevada can’t qualify. Nevada needs to beat a tough BYU team just to get to 5-7.
There is a lot of blame to go around. First off, Chris Ault’s late decision to step down which hurt recruiting. Secondly, the administration for playing both UCLA and Florida State in the same season. Thirdly, the Pack’s inability to play any defense.
When are Nevada coaches going to realize you can’t outscore everybody? With Colin Kaepernick, Nevada caught lightning in a bottle, and even then the Pack had one great season (13-1 his senior year) with him. If memory serves me, they were 8-5, 7-6, 6-7 and 13-1 in Kaepernick’s four years.
How long will coach Brian Polian stay with the pistol offense? Will OC Nick Rolovich have a job after this year?
Nevada did a horrible job running the ball this year, and it also didn’t help that Cody Fajardo had injury problems. The Pack needs to recruit a dominant running back and quickly.
A word of advice to the UNR athletic department. Play one big team a year and get a paycheck. Otherwise, play teams that you have a chance to truly beat. If the MWC is too tough or too expensive, maybe the Pack should drop down to the Big Sky for football and go back to the WAC for everything else. Or, stay in the Mountain West for football and go to the West Coast Conference for everything else. Certainly that would be a cheaper route to go because of less travel.
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I applaud the Giants decision to sign 38-year-old Tim Hudson to a two-year contract.
Though Hudson is coming off a serious foot injury, he will be more consistent than Barry Zito has been since signing that whopping 7-year contract. Heck, any pitcher with a heartbeat would be an improvement over Zito.
If Hudson is able to start the season, and he said he’s supposed to start bullpen sessions in a couple of weeks, he will win more games and give the Giants more innings than Zito did. With Zito, it was a matter what hitters get him the second time around. Zito would have been an ideal long reliever, a guy that comes in when you’re already down 4-0 in the third; a guy to hold down the fort until it’s the pitcher’s turn to hit again.
Hudson will win 10 to 12 games, and I’m saying right now is ERA will be less than 4. Zito was 5-11 last year with an ERA of more than 5. Even when Zito won 14 games in 2012 his ERA was 4.15. This is a good move.
I still think Madison Bumgarner has become the ace of the staff followed by Matt Cain, Hudson, Ryan Vogelsong and Tim Lincecum. I keep Lincecum at No. 5 until he proves he can be consistent, and I’m not holding my breath on that.
The Giants have Javier Lopez back in the fold. I also applaud that move. He’s great against left-handed hitters, and you need those type of relievers.
A guy I would love to see the Giants make a run at is Curtis Granderson. The Giants sorely lack a true power guy, and Granderson could easily fit that mold.
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Former CHS defensive back Josh Peacock has been selected to play in the annual USA Football Bowl in Alabama. The game is Jan. 20. It will have D-2, D-3 and some SEC players involved, according to bowl officials. There is a $600 stipend required to play in the event, which covers expenses, and an additional $160 for a combine that will be attended by CFL, NFL and Arena League scouts. If you are interested in helping out, please call 973-364-0605 for more information on how to contribute.