Dear Friends of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl,
We took
our first scouting trip of the year last weekend and caught the Navy-San
Jose State game in Annapolis. It was a good chance to see two teams
that could end up in our Bowl on Dec. 29 opposite the Pac-12.
As you know, we will invite Navy to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl if
the Midshipmen reach the six wins needed to qualify for post-season
eligibility. If they don't, we have backup agreements in place with the
Atlantic Coast Conference and Western Athletic Conference (of which San
Jose State is a member).
Before the game we had
a chance to visit with Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk and his
wife, Kathy, two of my favorite people in college athletics. After the
game, we hitched a ride home to California on the San Jose State
charter. The game ended at 7 p.m. (Eastern), we took off from BWI around
10 o'clock and, after a fuel stop in Wichita, landed in Oakland at 1:30
and bussed to the San Jose State campus. I got home a little after 3
a.m. I've traveled on a lot of team charters in my time, and it's always
more fun to fly home with a winning team. The victorious Spartans were
in a good mood and the long flight was very enjoyable. My thanks to
Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier, head coach Mike MacIntyre and SID
Lawrence Fan for letting me tag along. Thanks also to Athletic
Department administrators Marie Tuite, John Poch, Tod Bannister and
Darren Coehlo for their warm hospitality.
Last week's games:
San Jose State 12, Navy 0. It was a disappointing home loss for Navy
and a huge road win for San Jose State, which has won four straight
after a hard-fought, season-opening 20-17 loss to Stanford. Navy made a
strong defensive showing--holding a team that had scored 78 points in
its last two games to four field goals--but continued to struggle
offensively. Quarterback Trey Miller fumbled at the SJS 7-yard line on
the opening drive, and after that the Mids were held in check.
The
Pac-12 continues to impress. After last weekend's games, the conference
boasts six teams in the AP Top 25 and two others knocking on the door.
No. 2 Oregon pulled away from Washington State in the second half, while
No. 14 Oregon State outlasted Arizona in a shootout, 38-35. No. 18
Stanford was upset in Seattle, 17-13, by No. 23 Washington, as the
Huskies scored two long fourth quarter touchdowns. No. 25 UCLA cuffed
Colorado, while No. 13 USC was idle. Both Arizona State, which defeated
Cal in Berkeley, and Arizona received votes.
In
terms of bowl eligibility, the Pac-12 is looking good with two
undefeated teams (Oregon and Oregon State) and five teams with just one
loss (USC, UCLA, Stanford, Washington and Arizona State).
This week:
As usual, there are several key matchups in the Pac-12. On Thursday
night, USC meets Utah in Salt Lake City, where the Utes are always
tough. Two teams looking to rebound--Stanford and Arizona--hook up in
Palo Alto, while slumping Cal tries to get back on track at home against
surprising UCLA. The conference's (and perhaps the nation's) biggest
surprise team, Oregon State, is at home vs. Washington State, while
Washington hopes to pull off another upset in Eugene against the
unbeaten Ducks.
Navy travels to Colorado
Springs this week to face Air Force. The Falcons took away the
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy last year and the Midshipmen are eager to
get it back. Based on my visit last week, I know they're also eager to
play in San Francisco on Dec. 29. A win Saturday over Air Force would
improve their chances considerably, as six straight winnable games
follow.
Off the field: This
is our third year as the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, and we are once again
proud to have Kraft as our title sponsor and proud to be associated
with their initiatives to fight hunger in this country. In 2010 and '11,
Kraft's "Huddle to Fight Hunger" campaign donated over 45 million meals
to Feeding America, a national network of over 200 food banks. This
year, we will continue our efforts to feed the hungry and call attention
to this important issue. The Bowl will again donate one meal for every
ticket sold to our game to three iconic social service agencies in San
Francisco--Glide Memorial Church, St. Anthony's Dining Room and the San
Francisco Food Bank. To date, the Bowl has contributed over 200,000
meals to help needy families in the Bay Area. Kraft was in the news
earlier this week as it officially became two publicly traded
companies--one called Kraft Foods Group, consisting of the North
American grocery business, and the other called Mondelez International,
consisting of global snack food brands. Our thanks to Stephen Chriss,
Senior Director of Marketing Partnerships, for his ongoing support.
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