Citizen McClure

Scene:

Vista, California. Stefan McClure stands behind a microphone, ready to raise his voice to the heavens and announce which school and therefore which football program will be graced with his presence and immense talent. As the moment of truth nears, McClure reflects on everything he has been through to get to this point...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"At the ripe age of 5...months, my father would toss me a Nerf football as I laid in my crib. I had never felt something come to me so naturally as did my skills at catching the ball. The sport was in my blood."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"While playing Pop Warner football, I was the quarterback. Why? Because at that age the best athlete is the quarterback. I was the best athlete, so naturally I played quarterback. Watch me juke the jock-strap off of this 6-year-old!" (Takes off and humiliates 6-year-old.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Growing up in Vista has been great for me. I get to show everyone how awesome at football I am. There are so many people around here to see me. Maybe I should think about what college I will go to. After all, there will be so many of them that will offer me a scholarship!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Holy crap! I'm back-peddling faster than this fool can run! Damn I'm good at football!"
(Snatches an interception from the arms of a would-be receiver and races down the sideline for a touchdown.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One year later...

(Continues intercepting passes from far inferior receivers and quarterbacks and racing down sidelines for touchdowns.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Reads recruiting ranking on rivals.com.)
"Oh man! Only four stars! I got jipped!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I was right. There are a lot of colleges that want me to come play for them. There have been hundreds of coaches in my living room, pleading for me to join their team. There would have been more, but I got screwed out of my fifth star by those recruiting rankings! Haters..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright! At the US Army All-American Bowl!"
(Snatches an interception and races down the sideline for an almost touchdown.)
"Damn! We still lost!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Visits schools that are recruiting him. On trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, his left eyelid freezes shut.)
"Holy crap it's cold here! -5 degrees and snow flurries just aren't for me! Sorry Brady Hoke!"
(Bolts for airport as soon as he can, scratching Michigan off of list while in transit.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I need to make a decision. My self-serving press conference/announcement is tomorrow morning. I didn't get a normal 'in-home' visit with Cal coaches. Heck, I didn't even take an official visit to Berkeley. That Coach Petersen from Boise State is the nicest guy I have ever met, but just being on campus at Cal, getting that feel in my heart where I know that could be the place, that's mainly why I feel that it is the place for me. I feel like I can go help contribute to what they're doing the next couple years. I would really like to get a really expensive California education for free! Who cares that I could start as a true freshman at Boise State, play in BCS Bowl Games, and get a great education at the same time. What about UCLA? Rick Neuheisel is kinda' creepy up there (shutters). It's settled then. To Berkeley I go. Besides, I like hemp-smoking hippies who live in trees!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Mind snaps back to the present, the microphone is ready.)
"I'm going to be a California Golden Bear! I have something to offer and that was one of the main reasons I picked them. Plus, you can't pass up the education. It's really the depth chart, the schooling, it's a good conference with tough games every week and it's far away from home, but still close enough that my parents will be able to make some home games."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Snatches an interception from the arms of a would-be Oregon receiver and races down the sideline for a touchdown.)

"Too bad our offense sucks."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The not-so-distant future...
(McClure and the rest of the Golden Bears finish yet another 5-7 season in the most underwhelming, underachieving fashion.)
"Hey, at least we almost beat Oregon..."
(Goes home and watches Boise State beat Texas in the 2013 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.)

Bronco Chase's Bowl Picks, 5th Edition

I'm getting worse. These bowl games are hard to pick sometimes. Who would have thought that Nebraska was going to come out and lay a complete egg against a Washington team that they crushed by 40 points earlier in the season? Who knew that Georgia's offense was as putrid and ugly as their live mascot Uga VII? (Well, I did, actually). Anyway, I will rethink this next batch and make some better, more educated guesses. But first, here is the recap of what happened since my last post. Enjoy!

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
My prediction was SMU wins 28 to 24
Final score: Black Knights 16, Mustangs 14






New Era Pinstripe Bowl
My prediction was Kansas State wins 24 to 21
Final score: Orange 36, Wildcats 34






Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
My prediction was North Carolina wins 28 to 23
Final score: Tarheels 30, Volunteers 27 (Overtime)






Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
My prediction was Nebraska wins 41 to 21
Final score: Huskies 19, Cornhuskers 7






Meineke Car Care Bowl
My prediction was South Florida wins 24 to 23
Final score: Bulls 31, Tigers 26






Hyundai Sun Bowl
My prediction was Miami wins 28 to 24
Final score: Fighting Irish 33, Hurricanes 17






AutoZone Liberty Bowl
My prediction was Central Florida wins 24 to 21
Final score: Knights 10, Bulldogs 6






Chick-fil-A Bowl
My prediction was Florida State wins 31 to 28
Final score: Seminoles 26, Gamecocks 17






Batch total: 4-4
Bowl totals: 11-11
Season total: 76-28

_______________________________

As a reminder: if the word "prediction" has stars, then it is an upset. It will look like this:

*Prediction*:

Also, I have analyzed some of the games with a write up, but not all of them. I wrote on all the bowls were WAC teams are involved and the BCS Bowls. The others just have when, where, the bowl name, who's playing, and a score prediction. Finally, I am including these bowls in my season long record.

January 1st at 10 AM
TicketCity Bowl
Dallas, Texas

(7-5, 3-5 Big 10)
vs.

(7-5, 3-5 Big 12)



Line: Red Raiders favored by 10
Prediction: Red Raiders 35, Wildcats 28

January 1st at 11 AM
Outback Bowl
Tampa, Florida

(7-5, 4-4 SEC)
vs.

(7-5, 4-4 Big 10)



Line: Florida favored by 7
Prediction: Gators 24, Nittany Lions 21

January 1st at 11 AM
Capital One Bowl
Orlando, Florida

(9-3, 5-3 SEC)
vs.

(11-1, 7-1 Big 10)



Line: Crimson Tide favored by 10
Prediction: Crimson Tide 31, Spartans 21

January 1st at 11:30 PM
Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, Florida

(8-4, 4-4 SEC)
vs.

(7-5, 3-5 Big 10)



Line: Bulldogs favored by 5
Prediction: Bulldogs 35, Wolverines 34

January 1st at 3 PM
Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO
Pasadena, California

(11-1, 7-1 Big 10)
vs.

(12-0, 8-0 MWC)



Line: Horned Frogs favored by 3
This looks to be a defensive battle, much like the TCU vs. Boise State bowl games in the past two years. With that said, both the Badgers and the Horned Frogs bring great offenses into this game. They both score an average of 43.3 points a game, and are quite stingy on the other side of the ball. TCU and Wisconsin have the athletes on defense to shut down opponents and the skill and execution necessary on offense to put lots of points on the board. I see this one as a fairly low scoring game, with plenty of third down stops and punts. It might not be the prettiest of bowl games, but it will be great to watch if you are a fine of hard-nosed, smash mouth football. The Frogs are a good team. Not as good as last year, but still very talented and well coached. The Badgers rely a lot on the legs of John Clay. Unfortunately for them, TCU is very good at stopping the run.
Prediction: Horned Frogs 21, Badgers 18

January 1st at 6:30 PM
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Glendale, Arizona

(8-4, 5-2 Big East)
vs.

(11-2, 6-2 Big 12)



Line: Sooners favored by 17
What can I say? The Big East gives us another average team and Oklahoma is forced to take the field against a big underdog in a BCS Bowl. Which Sooner team will show up? Bob Stoops has lost his mojo as his team has gone 0-5 in his last 5 BCS games, and 2-5 overall. They should be able to handle the Huskies easily, but the same thing was said when they played Boise State and West Virginia in their last two Fiesta Bowl appearances. With this pick, I am hoping that Oklahoma actually shows up and plays, not just take the field expecting to win without putting forth the effort. UConn will be scrappy and determined, but it won’t be enough. There is a huge talent disparity here.
Prediction: Sooners 38, Huskies 21

Bowl totals: 11-11
Season total: 76-28

Well there you have it. I sure hope I do better than the last two rounds. We will know tomorrow. Happy New Year everyone!