A bowl game apology

December 22, 1:54 PMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

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Yup, I can be a jerk sometimes.

I'll admit it.I got it all wrong.

I thought this weekend's bowl games were a joke. I didn't care who won and so I thought that the games would stink.

How self-involved! How naive! How pathetically ignorant and shortsighted!

To all those college football fans out there whom I mislead, I'm sorry.

Here's how I previewed the Southern Miss - Troy game in my "Bowl game guide for the casual college football fan":

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Southern Miss vs. Troy - Ah, the Sun Belt's only guaranteed bowl game. Enough said.

I overlooked the best game of the weekend simply because one of the teams is from a lesser-known conference, and for that I am ashamed because that game was awesome.

On a Sunday in which my beloved Redskins were mathematically eliminated from the NFL playoffs, the New Orleans Bowl allowed me a brief respite from the pain and humiliation of having to watch Washington's offensive line implode.

Not only did Southern Miss come back from a 10-point deficit with 7:20 left in the game, but in overtime, the Golden Eagles won the game on a blocked field goal.  And we all know that there's no better way to finish a football game than with a special teams play.

The New Orleans Bowl had everything. A kicker named Brett Barefoot, who, contrary to popular belief, does not kick barefooted. A gruesome injury. (I'm not going to put the video up here because I've already forced myself to watch it until I dry heaved. If you want to see the video, click here, but be forewarned. It is not for the faint of heart.) And a wide range of scoring techniques.

Troy scored the first touchdown of the game when defensive end Jorrick Calvin literally took the ball from Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis and rumbled 17 yards into the end zone. Then, the second score of the game was on an Eagles' 64-yard flea-flicker.

Simply put, that game was ridiculous and I'm a boob for off-handedly disregarding it.

In my bowl round-up, I also overlooked the New Mexico Bowl. I smugly quoted Wikipedia in their bowl summary, for God's sake. No self-respecting journalist would ever quote Wikipedia.  That site is as honest as my ex-girlfriend, the one who once told me she was just baking cookies when I caught her naked, hiding in my best friend's closet.

Once again, I apologize.

Colorado State's victory over Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl provided an opportunity for Gartrell Johnson to introduce himself to the nation. He reminds me of Marion Barber -- partly because of the dreadlocks and partly because of his downfield running style that punishes tacklers. The only time I had previously heard of Gartrell was when he chest bumped the Dolphins linebacker and CSU alum Joey Porter after scoring a touchdown.

Gartrelle (forgive me for calling him by his first name, I just can't help it) was both Colorado State's leading rusher, barreling for 257 yards, and its leading receiver, catching five receptions for 90 yards. He set the New Mexico Bowl record for most rushing yards and must've had the ball in his hands for 80% of the Rams' offensive possessions. Watching Gartrelle run was like discovering a book on your bookshelf that you never knew was good until you happened to open it by chance.

In fact, excluding South Florida's decisive victory over Memphis in the St. Petersburg Bowl, all the bowl games this past weekend were eye-opening. Arizona upset BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl by going with the aerial attack in the second half, which is always entertaining, and Wake Forest's win over Navy in the EagleBank Bowl was a see-saw battle until the Midshipmen ran out of steam at the end.

As you can probably tell, I've never been a bowl fan. I've always felt that there's no real significance to the smaller bowl games. But this past weekend's games have convinced me to keep watching bowl games for a few more weeks and to stop writing off games I know nothing about.

For the third and final time today, I apologize.

 Like this article? Think it's worse than your mom's meatloaf? Then check out:

• The bowl game guide for the casual college football fan
• A YouTube recap of the 2008 college football season, Part I
• The Kiffin debate: Can a son be his father's head coach?