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- The game didn't have any provided live stats feed, so all of my notes are going to be observation-driven. I'll give ESPN's broadcast a hat tip to any statistics that I'm able to provide here.
- I don't think Travis Greene broke 70 rushing yards, but he was steadily the most relied-upon player for the National team's offense. Lots of runs between the tackles, good use of the stiff arm, showed that he can be a good one-cut back with patience.
- Jatavis Brown is deserving of MVP honors.
- The fourth quarter just looked like that Vine over and over and over and over again. Breaking up passes, playing left-to-right, not fooling for cut-back moves, standing up receivers one-on-one, getting in on double-teams. Brown was everywhere, and they weren't kidding when the broadcasters said his stock was on the up and up.
- Matt Johnson played alright. Wasn't great, definitely wasn't horrible, but he was alright. I think it's unfair to judge a quarterback in these bowl games, because you're not going to rotate quarterbacks throughout the game anyways. There's a big difference between being a 50% passer on seven attempts and passing at that rate with 40+ attempts. No idea how many passes he threw, but he wasn't afraid to take some risks over the middle and down deep in one-on-one situations. Wasn't displeased with his performance.
- NIU linebacker Boomer Mays got in on a few plays early in the game, but was fairly quiet throughout. I just know I didn't see bad game from him.
- Same with Andrew Ness, the center for American & NIU. When I was focused in on him, he held his own on the DTs, standing guys up on one-on-one situations, opened up some holes.
- Eastern Michigan's Darius Jackson was shuffled into the American rotation more later in the game. Offensively, he was alright. Had one play where he maybe should've hit the jets instead of waiting for a hole to open up for him, but had about 4-5 positive carries (again, going off of memory here).
- Jackson was one of the two players back in the kick return squad. He was the one responsible for being the lead block though, which he always found a man to square up on.
- Traiyon Durham had a rough time. Let one pass in third and long late in the fourth quarter go by him. Probably ran the wrong route, but he seemed surprised that the pass went his way in the first place. He did catch a couple of passes nearing halftime for positive gains. I think he's just not too adjusted to being a fullback [yet].
- Alonzo Russell dropped a pass once. That was the last I heard his name included on a play.
- Jordan Williams caught about four passes. Good coverage limited him from doing much more than that.
Jatavis Brown slides into your DMs like https://t.co/LyYHlTqtpF
— Alex Alvarado (@ARAlvarado13) January 24, 2016
That's good news! @ZipsFB pic.twitter.com/850vvLI44t
— Alex Alvarado (@ARAlvarado13) January 24, 2016