A Bowl Season To Remember

Stealing the show were a coach who went out in style by winning the best game of them all, a longtime assistant who earned a coveted promotion and a quartet of record-setting running backs

WITH A record 32 games played over 19 days and broadcast on six networks, the bowl season was anything but easy to navigate. Here's what you might have missed from games involving the 62 schools that did not play for the national championship, plus an early forecast on which teams will be on the rise or on the decline in 2008.

Best and Worst

Best Audition
Given the interim job after coach Rich Rodriguez bolted for Michigan, longtime assistant Bill Stewart led West Virginia to a 48--28 win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Pat White (below) ran for 150 yards and threw for two touchdowns. Early the next morning Stewart was rewarded with a five-year contract. Other interim coaches were 0--4 in bowl games.

Worst Stunt
In a joint pep rally two nights before the Alamo Bowl, a yell leader Texas A&M proclaimed, " Joe Paterno's on his death bed. And someone needs to find him a casket." The 81-year-old Paterno, coaching in his 500th game, chuckled at the comment—and Penn State had the last laugh, rallying for a 24--17 victory.

Best Drill
Sergeant Disappointed by his team's play in a loss to rival Texas A&M in the regular-season finale, Mack Brown of Texas instituted boot-camp measures in preparation for the Holiday Bowl. The Longhorns responded with 21 first-quarter points en route to a 52--34 victory over Arizona State.

Best Sendoff
Playing its last game under Lloyd Carr (above), inspired Michigan upset Florida 41--35 in the Capital One Bowl. Winless in their three previous bowl trips, quarterback Chad Henne and running back Mike Hart led a Wolverines attack that amassed 524 yards of total offense. Gators quarterback Tim Tebow became the sixth Heisman winner in the past eight seasons to lose his bowl game.

Worst Sendoff
Oklahoma State junior quarterback Bobby Reid, whose honor coach Mike Gundy vociferously defended in a September press conference, didn't take a snap as Zac Robinson torched Indiana with five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) in a 49--33 Insight Bowl win. Four days later, amid a report that Reid was leaving school, Gundy acknowledged that Reid's career at Oklahoma State is probably over.

Best Comeback, Part II
A year after rallying from a 31-point second-half deficit to beat Minnesota in the Insight Bowl, Texas Tech scored 17 points in the final 3:31 to edge Virginia 31--28 in the Gator Bowl.

Senior Moments