The best of the all-day bowl-a-thon.
1. Kenny Bell's 'fro. In a suit and tie or on the sideline, Nebraska's leading receiver keeps it fresh. He was rewarded by the ghost of Brian Jackson's 'fro circa 1973 with a 30-yard touchdown catch, the first points of day in the Capital One Bowl.
2. SEC Special Teams. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are all leading Big Ten foes at the half courtesy of big plays in the kicking game:
• In the Capital One Bowl, South Carolina's Stephon Gilmore blocked the extra point attempt following Kenny Bell's touchdown in the first quarter, then returned it the length of the field for two points for the Gamecocks', providing the three-point margin in Carolina's favor (16-13) at the break.
• In the Gator Bowl, Florida's Andre Debose countered Ohio State's first (and so far, only) touchdown with a 99-yard kickoff return — the longest scoring play in Gator Bowl history, and the difference in a 14-7 Florida lead at the half, despite a grand total of three offensive snaps from the Gator offense in the second quarter.
• In the Outback Bowl, Georgia's Brandon Boykin followed an 80-yard touchdown strike from Aaron Murray to Tavarres King with an electric 92-yard punt return, extending the Bulldogs' lead to 16-0 in a burgeoning blowout (see below).
3. Case Keenum's arm. Houston called a staggering 46 passes to just three runs in the first half of the TicketCity Bowl, to good effect: Keenum lit up the Penn State secondary for 380 yards and three touchdowns — including a pair of scoring bombs to Patrick Edwards covering 40 yards and 75 yards, respectively — en route to a 24-7 lead at the half. His counterpart, Rob Bolden, completed 2 of 9 passes in the same span, and the Nittany Lions went three-and-out on six of eight possessions.
4. Georgia's defense. Michigan State snapped the ball 26 times in the first half, accumulating 72 yards, six punts, two first downs and negative-2 points, courtesy of a screen pass the Bulldogs squashed for a safety on the first possession of the game. At least Spartan punter Mike Sadler is having a good day: He dropped all six punts inside the UGA 20-yard line.
5. Georgia fans' proofreading Yeah, I know, I'm one to talk. But this?
That's just sad.
- - -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.