I don't watch a lot of college football. In fact, prior to this years bowl season, I think I had watch a grand total of one games worth of college football. By that I mean I watch like a few minutes here and a quarter there that probably added up a full game. Something about college football just doesn't interest me. It is probably because the university I went to for my undergraduate eliminated their division II team shortly after I graduated. So, I don't have that passionate alma mater connection.
However, so far this year I have watched three bowl games, the Holiday Bowl, Sun Bowl and Rose Bowl (I am calling them their traditional names, corporate sponsors be damned). The best of these games was probably the Rose bowl where Michigan State beat Stanford in a hard fought back and forth game. Despite the good match up and the dramatics, the Rose bowl wasn't the most compelling for me. That title belongs to the Sun Bowl (You can watch the video highlights here)
The Sun Bowl featured the UCLA Bruins against the Virginia Tech Hokies. One of the biggest stories of the game was V-Tech's starting quarterback, Logan Thomas, getting hurt during a completely legal, but massive, tackle by UCLA LB Jordan Zumwalt. After that, the Hokies kept it close for a while, but eventually the game turned into a blow out. The biggest reason for the UCLA offensive success was the stellar play of red-shirt sophomore QB Brett Hundley.
One quick caveat, let me say that the names Brett and Brent are way to similar for my simple brain. For whatever reason I can never remember which is which. If I am introduced to a person named Brett and immediately forget which it was. Brett, Brent I have no idea. Anyways back to BRETT Hundley (at least I think so).
You basically can't put this any other way then saying that Hundley's Sun Bowl performance was amazing. I guess you could say he was beyond amazing. The guy had very few designed runs, but like Russell Wilson of the Seahawks, he had the ability to see the perfect opportunities. He regularly turned these scrambles into big gains, including a massive 86 yard touchdown run. He obviously has some great football instincts when it comes to running. Brett is no slouch through the air either. In the fourth quarter he threw a 59 yards bomb (39 through the air) and hit WR Shaq Evans in stride for a touchdown.
It wasn't like Hundley was playing chumps here. The Hokies defense was the second best in the ACC in both points per game and yards per game, behind only Florida State. This was a world class defense that Hundley abused for 161 rush yards, 226 pass yards and 4 TD. He basically humiliated them. Losing their QB Thomas didn't hurt their defense. They cant use that as their excuse. Brett Hundley is just simply an amazing football player.
As a red shirt sophomore, Hundley is eligible for the NFL draft. He could also return to college and hone his skills. If I was a Bruins fan I wouldn't hold my breath for him to come back to LA. The NFL draft will be hard to pass up. Lots of NFL teams are in need of a QB, especially the Texans, Jaguars and Browns, who all pick in the top four in 2014. Additionally, the recent success of dual threat style QB in the NFL, such as Russell Wilson and Cam Newton, has pushed a player like Hundley's value hire than it has been in years. He is almost surely a first round talent. The money and fame that brings will be hard to pass up, just for another shot at the Rose Bowl.
Regardless of what the Sun Bowl star does this off season, I was thoroughly impressed by his Sun Bowl performance. He has permanently cemented himself in my sports memory.
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