The great thing about college bowl season is that not only do you get some great games, but it provides an ancillary benefit of being the last college stage for NFL draft-bound players.
If you look back to last year, there was the monster 8-catch, 217-yard, 3-TD explosion by North Carolina WR Hakeem Nicks, now of the New York Giants.
In 2007, there was Rutgers running back Ray Rice torching Ball State for 280 yards and 4 touchdowns.
And in the 2006 Liberty Bowl between Houston and South Carolina, you had current Eagles backup quarterback Kevin Kolb throwing to current Rams wide receiver Donnie Avery for the Cougars, while on the other side, Vikings WR Sidney Rice caught 8 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown while current Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop (then a sophomore) kicked 5 extra points and a 45-yard field goal for the Gamecocks.
So if you're an NFL fan and South Florida/Northern Illinois in the International Bowl doesn't exactly strike you as appointment television, you might want to reconsider that Bulls junior defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is rated as a top-15 prospect and could be rushing the quarterback for your team next fall.
With that in mind, here are some of the guys you might not have seen play, but should definitely watch out for this bowl season:
Ryan Mathews, RB, Fresno State (New Mexico Bowl vs. Wyoming, Dec. 19)
Mathews is by no means a national name, but he gets the job done — 1,664 yards rushing (second nationally to Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart) with 6.8 yard-per-rush average and 17 touchdowns this season as a junior. And that wasn't just against cream puffs. He put up 234 and 3 TD at Boise State, 145 and a TD at Cincinnati, and 173 and 3 TD at Illinois (more than any Big Ten back put up against the Illini this season).
The New Mexico Bowl is the first bowl game of the season and there won't be a damn thing else on opposite it (4:30 PM Eastern Saturday). You might as well check out Mathews and perhaps get a head start on a possible fantasy football sleeper for 2010.
Brian Price, DT, UCLA (EagleBank Bowl vs. Temple, Dec. 29)
Defensive tackle is a loaded position in the draft, especially at the top with Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, but there will be value later in the round with the junior Price, a dominant force on the Bruin defense that ranked third in the Pac-10 in scoring defense. He led the Pac-10 in tackles for loss with 22.5 stops behind the line, including seven sacks. An All-American and two-time All-Pac-10 selection, Price has 43.5 tackles for loss in his three-year career.
Freddie Barnes, WR, Bowling Green (Humanitarian Bowl vs. Idaho, Dec. 30)
Barnes won't show up at the top of anybody's draft boards this April, but the 23-year-old senior had 138 catches for 1,551 yards and 16 touchdowns — this season. Depending on how he runs at the combine in February, Barnes could end up anywhere between the third and sixth rounds in the NFL draft. And then he'll show up to camp and be the subject of a bunch of "who is this rookie making all these catches?" stories.
Bonus note: Barnes won't be the first player in this game to get picked in the NFL draft. Idaho senior guard Mike Iupati is an All-American and, at 6'6" and 300 pounds, will likely be an early-round pick.
Sean Weatherspoon, LB, and Danario Alexander, WR, Missouri (Texas Bowl vs. Navy, Dec. 31)
With the step back for the Tigers program this year, Weatherspoon hasn't had the opportunity to shine on the national stage. But what he has done is show up every week and make plays. Of his team-leading 104 tackles this year, an amazing 70 were of the solo variety (most in the Big 12). Against a Navy offense that ranked third in the nation in rushing offense at 272.5 yards per game, the back-to-back All-Big 12 First Team linebacker is going to have ample opportunity to put his talents on display.
As for Alexander, he won't get drafted as high as former teammate Jeremy Maclin did last year, but he did lead the conference in receptions (107) and receiving touchdowns (13), and led the nation in receiving yards with 1,644. At 6'5", he's going to be a nightmare for the undersized Navy secondary. Expect him to have a monster game in the Texas Bowl and to find his way into somebody's red zone package (at least) on Sundays next season.
Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford (Sun Bowl vs. Oklahoma, Dec. 31)
Everybody knows Gerhart's name thanks to the Heisman hype, but I'm guessing much of the country east of the Mississippi has yet to actually see him play (because if he played in the SEC, he would have run away with the award).
Gerhart isn't the kind of guy whose measurables will play well at the combine, but the tape doesn't lie. He's an absolute beast with the ball in his hands (led the nation in rushing yards and touchdowns), is more than smart enough (you try taking integral calculus at Stanford), and is athletic enough to have been the starting center fielder on the Stanford baseball team. Some team is going to get a steal in the second or third round.
(And for some extra fun, check out the blocks thrown by Stanford senior fullback Owen Marecic. He'll be a late rounder who will break some heads come NFL camps next season.)
Mardy Gilyard, WR, Cincinnati (Sugar Bowl vs. Florida, Jan. 1)
There are a million story lines for this game before you get to Gilyard, anything from the love/hate affair with Tim Tebow to the defection of former Bearcats coach Brian Kelly. But of all the players in this game, and all the NFL talent on the Gators, Gilyard may steal the show. His battle with Florida CB Joe Haden, a high first-round prospect, might just be the best one-on-one match-up of any game this bowl season.
The Cincinnati offensive line will have a hell of a time keeping quarterback Tony Pike off his backside, but Gilyard will be heard from in this game. And then he will be heard from next season in the NFL. Whether it's as a receiver or in the return game, the kid just makes plays.
Dan LeFevour, QB, Central Michigan (GMAC Bowl vs. Troy, Jan. 6)
Personally, I find it annoying that you would have a second-rate bowl like this after all the big bowls except the National Championship. It's like if the NFL decided to play a preseason game the week between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. (Well, I guess they are with the Pro Bowl, but whatever.)
Regardless, this game will be played, and the senior LeFevour will cap a career that has seen him throw for more than 13,000 yards, including a 48-to-12 touchdown-to-interception rate over the past two seasons. With size at 6'3" and 240 pounds and an accurate arm (71.1% this year), he will find his way onto an NFL roster next season.
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