The SEC has not bode well in the early stages of bowl season.
No. 19 Virginia defeated Missouri 13-7, and No. 21 Houston beat LSU 38-35 as the SEC lost its first two non-playoff games of bowl season on Saturday night, Dec. 27. This season, of the 16 teams in the SEC, five made the College Football Playoff. Six other teams from the conference, including Tennessee football, were selected for bowl games.
In the Gator Bowl, Missouri faced the Virginia Cavaliers, who were coming off an overtime loss to Duke in the ACC Championship, which prevented them from making the playoff. Missouri was without its starting quarterback, Beau Pribula, after he announced his intention to enter the transfer portal and opt out of the bowl game. Freshman Matt Zollers started in his place on Saturday night, his third start this season.
On the first drive of the game, the Tigers were at midfield when star running back Ahmad Hardy broke off a 43-yard rush, breaking multiple tackles before finally being pushed out of bounds at the 5-yard line. Two plays later, Jamal Roberts ran it in for a touchdown, giving Missouri an early lead.
That was the last time that the Tigers scored.
The Cavaliers opened their side of the scoring with a 42-yard field goal from Will Bettridge early in the second quarter. The teams exchanged a few punts and missed field goals, and the score remained 7-3 going into halftime.
Virginia got the ball to begin the second half and mounted a grueling 19-play, 10-minute drive that ended with running back Harrison Waylee taking a direct snap and rushing into the end zone for a 2-yard score. The Cavaliers regained the lead, 10-7.
On the following drive, Zollers threw an interception to cornerback Emmanuel Karnely, giving Virginia the ball back in its own territory. Bettridge hit another field goal to make the score 13-7. From then on, neither team scored for the rest of the game, and Virginia held on to win the Gator Bowl and achieve an 11-win season.
The SEC’s second bowl game of the day couldn’t have been more different than this low-scoring affair. LSU matched up against the Houston Cougars in the Texas Bowl, and the Tigers got the scoring started early.
Senior wide receiver Barion Brown took the opening kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown, the sixth return touchdown of his career. LSU quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. followed it up with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Trey’Dez Green, and the Tigers went up 14-0 to begin the game.
But the Cougars stormed back, scoring 21 unanswered points in the first half. Houston quarterback Conner Weigman led the way with a 27-for-36 performance for 236 yards and four touchdowns in the game. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter to make it 28-21, but as the fourth quarter began, Van Buren Jr. threw a 6-yard pass to Kyle Parker for a touchdown, tying the score at 28.
Houston responded with a 72-yard drive that ended in a field goal by Ethan Sanchez, and on the Cougars’ next possession, running back Dean Connors broke a 20-yard rush for a touchdown, putting the score at 38-28. LSU responded with a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but after a failed onside kick, Weigman kneeled three times and Houston won.
Besides these bowl games, four SEC teams participated in the first round of the College Football Playoff, with Alabama and Ole Miss advancing to the quarterfinals. The first round games are not traditional bowl games with specific affiliations, but the quarterfinal and semifinal games are tied to the New Year’s Six bowls that rotate each year. Georgia, which received a first-round bye, will face Ole Miss on Thursday, Jan. 1, in the Sugar Bowl, and Alabama will play Indiana that same day in the Rose Bowl.
Including playoff games, the SEC went 8-7 in postseason games last year. The conference has an all-time record of 296-225-9 in bowls and postseason games.
Tennessee represents the SEC’s next chance at a bowl win, as it faces Illinois in the Music City Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
The Vols will travel west to Nissan Stadium in Nashville, hoping for their ninth win. Additionally, Vanderbilt will play Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl and Texas will face Michigan in the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 31. Mississippi State will also play Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Friday, Jan. 2.
