The Good, the Bad the Ugly: Bowl Edition (Part One)

The first weekend of the bowl season has concluded, and the Mountain West was well represented. Utah State took on North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl, and Fresno State took on Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Let’s revisit the good, bad, and ugly moments of the weekend.

The Good:

Ronnie Rivers

The sophomore running back had an MVP performance for the Mountain West champion Bulldogs. Rivers had 24 carries for 212 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldogs struggled to run the ball effectively during stretches of the season, but they got it done in Las Vegas.

Fresno’s Second Half Defense

The Bulldogs completely shut down the Sun Devils in the second half. Five of the first six drives for Arizona State resulted in a three out. Fresno State also had six tackles for loss and did much better stopping stud running back, Eno Benjamin.

Tank Kelly

That pick six was a work of art, one of the best I have seen. Kelly had a great year for the Bulldogs.

Utah State’s Offense

The Aggies put on a clinic in New Mexico. Utah State finished the game with 556 yards of total offense and were in cruise control by halftime. Jordan Love will be the preseason conference player of the year entering the 2019 season. Utah State set a conference record for points scored in a season. It will be interesting to see how the Aggies respond to a new coaching staff and a much tougher schedule.

The Bad:

North Texas the Next Great G5 Team

That hot take did not last long. Good Mountain West teams should not lost to Conference USA teams. Ever. Sorry, North Texas, you are not the next Boise State (or UCF for that matter).

The Ugly:

Manny Wilkins

The Arizona State quarterback struggled mightily. He missed open targets and was too eager to run the ball. The Fresno State defense deserves a ton of credit, but Wilkins did not exactly rise to the occasion.

North Texas Quarterbacks

I’m not really sure what to say here. That was bad, really bad. Four different players threw passes, and there were four interceptions. All four quarterbacks combined to complete 17 out of 34 passes for less than 200 yards. Hard to win games with numbers like that.

Stay tuned, next week I will be featuring the Frisco and Hawaii Bowls. What were your good, bad, and ugly moments of the weekend?