If you were thinking, “Man I can’t believe there’s no more college football Saturdays….” you thought oh so wrong. Today’s slate is FULL of top-tier matchups and big time names from all over the college football world. If that isn’t enough for you, how about three NFL games to boot? Sit down, and soak it all in, we got you covered. Let’s get into today’s version of The Daily Stump. . .

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump)

On This Day…

🏈 On this day in 1975, the Hail Mary was invented. In the NFC Championship the Dallas Cowboys were down and needed a touchdown to win the game. Cowboys legend Roger Staubach threw a deep pass to Hall of Famer Drew Pearson with less than 30-seconds left. Pearson walked into the endzone to win the game.

When asked about the play, Staubach said he just threw the ball up and “said a Hail Mary”, like a true catholic. The name has caught on since to what we know today.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏈 Bowl Game Bonanza

Boy oh boy, are we in store for some FUN ball games today, we’ll detail the best of the bowl games, who’s in and who’s out, and what to look out for.

Fenway Wasabi Bowl, North Carolina vs UConn: UNC has been all over the news recently with the hire of former NFL coach Bill Belichick. They will be led by a different former NFL head coach, Freddie Kitchens, against Jim Mora and the UConn Huskies. Both teams will be without their starting RBs, but the Huskies have significantly more of their guys suiting up. UConn won 8 games for the first time since 2010. Despite losing starting RB Durrell Robinson, watch out for three-headed monster of Cam Edwards, Vic Rosa, and Mel Brown in the backfield for the Huskies.

Pinstripe Bowl, Boston College vs Nebraska: Another game featuring two former NFL head coaches. The trip to NYC ends the longest bowl drought for Nebraska since 1961. The program went 6-6 in Matt Rhule’s second season at the helm. BC is led by Bill O’Brien, who took the program to new heights this year, eventually settling at 7-5. Watch of for Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola, the freshman has a VERY bright future.

New Mexico Bowl, Louisiana vs TCU: This will be the first meeting between the two programs, and both squads have explosive offenses that can light up the scoreboard. The QB-WR duo of Josh Hoover and Jack Bech for TCU will be sure to test Louisiana, who boast three running backs with more than 490 yards on the season. Also worth noting, Louisiana has the best kicker in the country in Kenneth Almendares.

Pop-Tarts Bowl, Iowa State vs Miami: Two teams who had their sights on the College Football Playoff late in the season face off at Camping World Stadium. This will be pretty much a home game for Miami, who will play their top-5 projected pick QB Cam Ward. Miami was the second team left out of the playoff, and Iowa State was one Big 12 Championship game away from being in Arizona State’s position. These two programs have a lot to prove in this game, watch them put on a show.

Valero Alamo Bowl, BYU vs Colorado: To all of our surprise, Colorado will play star QB Shedeur Sanders and Heisman winner Travis Hunter. BYU is led by QB Jake Retzlaff and have a very balanced offense, while their defense in ranked the best in the Big 12. The two programs play in the same conference, only the third time since 1978 that two teams from the same conference have played in a bowl game. Look for BYU to make a statement in a tight game, but Colorado may just have too much star value in this one.

Other games not discussed: Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl: Colorado State vs Miami (OH) ; Military Bowl: ECU vs NC State ; Independence Bowl: LA Tech vs Army

Quick Hitters

🏈 BOWL GAME CENTRAL: Armed Forces Bowl: A second half Navy comeback was capped off by stopping Oklahoma’s two-point conversion to win, Navy 21, Oklahoma 20. Birmingham Bowl: Vandy survives the post-rain delay comeback bid from Georgia Tech to win their first bowl game in 11 years, Vandy 35, GT 27. Liberty Bowl: This one was played in waves, Arkansas went up big, then Texas Tech stormed back to make it a two-point game, then Arkansas blew them out of the water, Arkansas 39, Texas Tech 26. Holiday Bowl: The Holiday Bowl GOES ORANGE!!! The Fran Brown era began with a Bowl Win, and it came with a 52-35 win over Washington State! Kyle McCord played LIGHTS OUT with 453 yards and 5 TDs! RB LeQuint Allen tacked on 120 yards and 2 TDs of his own! Big win for the Orange!

⛳️ News broke yesterday that World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler suffered a puncture wound to the palm of his hand that will leave him out for 3-4 weeks. Scheffler was preparing dinner on Christmas Day and had surgery to remove the glass fragments. He hopes to return to action at The American Express in California on Jan. 16-19.

🥹 Legendary sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel passes away at the age of 78. Gumbel, a more than 50-year veteran with CBS Sports, was battling cancer. Gumbel was not only the voice of so many large NFL games, but also March Madness, the Super Bowl, and one of the best studio hosts to ever do it. Gumbel broke barriers, becoming the first black announcer in the US to call play-by-play of a major sports championship. Thank you for all you did for the game, Greg.

👋 Struggling Sacramento Kings part ways with head coach Mike Brown. Brown won coach of the year in his first season in Sac City in 2022-2023, leading the Kings to the number one seed in the West. That team lost to the Golden State Warriors in an epic series, but things have not been great since. Brown signed a three-year contract extension with the team in June through 2027, but it seemed as the Kings were willing to deal with that. Brown will probably get another job pretty quickly, he finished his tenure in Sacramento with a .549 winning percentage.

Other News:

• 💸 Browns, Watson, agree to restructured contract

• 🤝 Dodgers resign Teoscar Hernandez

• 🤕 Arsenal star Saka out until March

Top Performers:

• 🏈 Kyle McCord (SYR): 453 yards, 5 TDs

• 🏈 Diego Pavia (VAN): 224 total yards, 5 total TDs

• 🏀 Jaylen Brown (BOS): 44 points, 6 three balls

• 🏀 Alperen Sengun (HOU): 38 points, 12 rebounds

Stump Favorites

🏀 WE’VE GOT A BROO-HA-HA!

💨 95. Yards. To. The. House. Navy Tuddy.

🔥 ANTHONY EDWARDS STEP BACK WINNER

🤯 First career reception? 94-yard touchdown

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 NCAAF: Fenway Bowl: UNC vs UConn (11:00 AM on ESPN) ; Pinstripe Bowl: BC vs Nebraska (Noon on ABC) ; New Mexico Bowl: Louisiana vs TCU (2:15 PM on ESPN) ; Pop-Tarts Bowl: Iowa State vs Miami (3:30 PM on ABC) ; Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl: Miami (OH) vs Colorado State (4:30 PM on CW) ; Military Bowl: ECU vs NC State (5:45 PM on ESPN) ; Alamo Bowl: Colorado vs BYU (7:30 PM on ABC) ; Independence Bowl: LA Tech vs Army (9:15 PM on ESPN)

🏈 NFL Saturday on NFL Network: Chargers @ Patriots (1:00 PM), Broncos @ Bengals (4:30 PM), Cardinals @ Rams (8:00 PM)

🏀 NBA on NBATV: Heat @ Hawks (3:00 PM), Thunder @ Hornets (6:00 PM), Suns @ Warriors (8:30 PM), full schedule

⚽️ Serie A: Lazio vs Atalanta (2:45 PM), full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: (16) Ole Miss @ Memphis (2:00 PM on ESPN2), (22) UCLA @ (14) Gonzaga (4:00 PM on FOX), Utah State @ (20) SDSU (6:00 PM on FOX), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: Western Kentucky @ (16) Kentucky (4:00 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL Network: Capitals @ Maple Leafs (7:00 PM), full schedule

Trivia Answer:

A. 1902. The first ever bowl game was originally called the “East-West” football game, and featured Michigan and Stanford. The game would be first sponsored by the Tournament of Roses in 1916 and has since been known as the Rose Bowl.

Can’t thank you enough for sticking to the end of this thing we call The Daily Stump. If you know anybody who might want this bit of daily sports news in their life, send them this link, it would go a long way. Appreciate the hell out of you all…

Trees get chopped. Stumps hold strong 💪