As the college football season winds down and the BCS bowl games are being played, its easy to skip past the smaller, seemingly meaningless bowl games. I mean, there are 35 bowl games in all so even the biggest college football fan has to get tired of the endless loop of hit or miss football games. Did ESPN really think that the Bell Helicopter Armed Services Bowl between two 6-6 teams (Army vs. SMU) was gonna be a ratings bonanza? I think not. But every now and then comes an intriguing storyline and a team worth watching. Such was the case last night in the GoDaddy.com Bowl featuring Miami (OH) vs. Middle Tennesee.
In most years Miami (OH) University has what should be considered a successful football program. They play in the Mid American or MAC Conference, which doesn't typically produce teams with a chance to win college football's national championship, but teams in the conference such as Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and the Redhawks themselves regularly produce NFL talent. But all football programs, big or small go through disappointing seasons for one reason or another, and the 2009 season was a difficult one for Miami. The Redhawks finished the season 1-11 for one of the worst records in the history of the football program. But this year, the team put the pieces back together and won five straight games to finish the regular season 9-4 and entered Thursday's bowl game with a chance to make NCAA football history. No team had ever lost 10 or more games the season before winning 10 or more games the following season, and Miami (OH) was on the cusp of completing the biggest turnaround in college football history. The end of the season didn't come without adversity, though. Starting quarterback Zac Dysert was lost in November due to a lacerated spleen, and head coach Mike Haywood left after the season to take a job at Pitt. Haywood is facing his own difficult times after being fired after only three weeks on the job because of a felony domestic violence charge. So against this backdrop, interim coach Lance Guidry addressed his team before the start of last night's game:
Wow. If that doesn't get you fired up then you need to get your pulse checked. I haven't heard a pregame speech like that since high school, and players will run through a wall after hearing that before a game...Freshman Austin Boucher apparently got the fever. Making his 4th career start, Boucher threw for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns while leading the Redhawks to a 35-21 win over Middle Tennesee. This was Miami's first bowl win since Ben Roethlisberger was the quarterback and they cemented their place in college football history, finishing the season with a 10-4 record.
A turnaround like that shows commitment, not only from the players, but from the coaching staff and ultimately from the powers that be at the school. Not many coaches survive an 11 loss season, but Mike Haywood obviously did a decent enough job last year that it convinced Athletic Director Brad Bates to keep him on for another year. In light of recent events, Haywood's personal decisions may be questioned, but his football prowess is without debate because he laid the groundwork - with players and coaches - for their win on Thursday.
Lessons that can be learned about perseverance and fighting back are ones that never get old. Congratulations to Coach Guidry and to the Redhawk football team and thanks for teaching us.
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