By Woodrow Carroll
Positive news includes the University of Michigan football team and the Chicago Bears football.
•Has anyone taken notice of the Bears lately? The National Football League (NFL) team came into the 2023 season with a 10-game losing streak going back to last season. The franchise tacked on four defeats to open this season to extend that negative run to 14 straight losses before putting out the fire. Why the relative silence on the Bears?
Since that horrific start by the Bears, the team’s record 7-5 and the team’s play has looked solid, if not championship caliber, over that 12-game stretch.
What is to be said of Bears’ head coach Matt Eberflus if the Bears close out the campaign with a victory at Green Bay, 3:25 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7.? Green Bay and Bears have bookends on the schedule this season. The Packers, who have made life miserable for Bears in recent seasons, took down Bears, 38-20 in the teams’ season-opener.
A victory over Green Bay may not be enough to save Bears’ head coach Matt Eberflus’ scalp. Last season, Eberflus, in his first as a head coach, either in college or in the pros, was a not good 3-14 for the Bears.
Give some thought to Bears’ quarterback, Justin Fields. Many in the media were speculating on where Fields would end up during the Bears slow start. The idea that Fields might remain as the team quarterback of the future was questioned by many during the team’s early-season struggles. Now, with Bears’ resurgence, Fields maybe secure under center.
•The Big Ten Conference got off to a fast start in the football bowl games with victories by Northwestern, Minnesota, and Rutgers. Things started to go sour after that fast start to the bowl season for the Big Ten. Ohio State failed to do its part and fell to Missouri, 14-3, in the Cotton Bowl.
Maryland helped restore confidence in the Big Ten by defeating Auburn in the Music City Bowl, 31-14.
Then Penn State, Iowa, and Wisconsin all took it on the chin in their bowl games. (See scores on page 7.) Conference glory was imperiled.
All of a sudden the Big Ten, which opened the postseason on a high note, needed some good news, and, it was provided by Michigan.
In what may have been the best game of the postseason, Michigan defeated Alabama, 27-20 in overtime, Monday, Jan.1 in the Rose Bowl, to earn a spot in the national championship game, Monday, Jan. 8. The Wolverines will play Washington, who turned back Texas, 37-31, in the other college semifinal in another thriller, Monday, Jan. 1, in the Sugar Bowl.
•There was less than 100% effort turned in by many players and teams in bowl games. A litany of reasons and excuses were put forward for the less than stellar showing.
Both Florida State and Liberty made it through the regular season undefeated. The postseason was another story. Florida State at 13-0 cried about not being not one of the Final Four in the hunt for the national championship. The Seminoles, in truth a disinterested team after not making the Final Four, were trounced, 63-3, by Georgia. Liberty, was not ready for the big guys and was taken apart, 45-6, by Oregon.