21, 2006
Joe Duffy is CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com,
which is offering a
premium version of the advanced news and notes, computer trends, weather
information and more for the entire bowl season. Much of the information is compiled from
hometown newspapers and the team’s own press releases. The entire bowl season
version of the OffshoreInsiders.com clipboard
is $69.
NFL
Vikings-Packers
Hendersonville
will give Tarvaris Jackson his first NFL start on Thursday, turning the season
over to the untested quarterback from
after a series of inconsistent performances from Brad Johnson. Favre has made a
quarterback-record 255 consecutive starts, and he’s been at his best at home,
going 88-29 at Lambeau Field.
is 40-5 under Favre at home when the game-time temperature is below 35 degrees
– temperatures are expected to be in the 30s with a chance for rain and snow
when Thursday’s game kicks off. After throwing 20 touchdown passes and a
career-worst 29 interceptions during a 4-12 season in 2005, the worst of Favre’s tenure, he’s bounced back this season to throw only
15 picks as the Packers have rebounded from a 1-4 start to join the NFC playoff
hunt.
can still make the playoffs as a wild card, but both teams need help. They’re
one game behind the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons, who at 7-7 are tied
for the NFC’s final wild-card spot.
CFB
BYU-Oregon
Pahrump Valley
Stadium officials added 4,000 seats to the home of the UNLV Rebels to accommodate a huge contingent of fans who
back the No. 19-ranked Cougars, 10-2. About one-fourth of the fans at the game
(ESPN 5 p.m.) will be supporting
7-5. BYU is led by quarterback John Beck, a 6-2,
216-pound senior who has completed 261 of 371 passes for 319.6 yards per game,
30 touchdowns, with only six interceptions. Both teams have respectable running
games, with Jonathan Stewart (5-11, 234 sophomore)
leading
10 touchdowns on 176 rushes. Curtis Brown (6, 203, senior) paces BYU with 184 attempts, 890 yards and five
TDs. Jon Hartline (6-4,
238, senior) has 49 catches for 754 yards and 11 TDs
to lead the BYU receiving corps. Jaison
Williams (6-5, 243, sophomore) has 68 receptions for 984 yards and six
touchdowns. Dennis Dixon, a 6-4, 196 junior, is expected to start at
quarterback for
187-for-302 with 184 yards per game passing. He’s thrown for 11 touchdowns, but
has tossed 12 interceptions.
BYU averages 36.7 ppg, while the
Ducks scored 31.2. Defensively, the Cougars have a huge edge, allowing only
15.2 ppg, compared to 25.6 for
Press Notes
Since 1996, BYU has played in four bowl games. The Cougars are
currently riding a nine-game winning streak, good for
third longest in the nation (
one of the most exciting games in the programs’ history that saw the Cougars
come from behind to beat Utah on the last play of the game—a play that took
over 10 seconds before quarterback John Beck found Jonny
Harline alone in the end zone with no time on the
clock.
six games, including a 34-33 victory over No. 15 Oklahoma. The Ducks, who were
ranked as high as 11th in the nation this season and remained in the
top 25 for three months, finished their season 7-5 overall and 4-5 in league
play.
Salt
Lake Tribune
BYU hasn’t won a bowl game since
it beat
19-15 in the Cotton Bowl on
1997
dropped four straight postseason matchups since,
including last year’s 35-28 loss to
here.
since it downed
the Fiesta Bowl on
Bellotti said losses to
(17-14) in the 2005 Holiday Bowl and
(31-30) in the 2003 Sun Bowl came on last-second plays, while the 38-17 setback
to
in 2002 was a legitimate butt-kicking. “We
easily could have won two of those three,” he said. The Cougars can’t say that. They’ve lost the
last four bowl games by an average score of 31-17. Because of their bowl futility, the Ducks
insist this is an important game for them. They say they won’t be merely going
through the motions because they missed out on going to the Rose Bowl, which
takes the Pac-10 champion.