Gwinnett Daily Post

Sure there are a ton of bowl games in college football, but that shouldn't damper the impact Gwinnett players will have on a bunch of them.

All told, 17 football teams in bowls have at least one Gwinnett grad. Viewers can see a former standout from the county on nine different days and in 14 different bowl games between Friday and Jan. 8.

The following is a breakdown of the local involvement during bowl season:

Friday

New Orleans Bowl 8 p.m. - Troy vs. Rice, ESPN2

Buford grad Patrick McGlon (No. 48) is a redshirt freshman kicker for Troy. Teammate and Parkview grad Sean Dawkins (No. 33) is taking a redshirt this season and will be a senior in 2007.

Dec. 27

Emerald Bowl 8 p.m. - Florida State vs. UCLA, ESPN

Parkview grad David Overmyer (No. 79) plays offensive line for Florida State.

Dec. 28

Independence Bowl 4:30 p.m. - Oklahoma State vs. Alabama, ESPN

Norcross grad Jamie Christensen (No. 86) plays kicker for Alabama and Grayson grad Lorenzo Washington (97) plays defensive line. Christensen has made 12 of 16 field goals and 13 of 14 PATs.

Dec. 29

Music City Bowl 1 p.m. - Clemson vs. Kentucky, ESPN

Greater Atlanta Christian's Cole Chason (No. 30) plays kicker for Clemson, Parkview's Michael Palmer (No. 86) plays tight end and Parkview's Brandon Pilgrim (No. 74) plays offensive line. Chason has averaged 41.1 yards per punt (11 inside the 20) and Palmer has played in all 12 games and has four catches for 28 yards.

Brookwood grad Hayden Lane (No. 57) plays offensive line for Kentucky, which also features North Gwinnett grads E.J. Adams (No. 17) at cornerback and Ross Bogue (No. 86) at tight end. Lane has started 26 career games at offensive line and Adams has 12 tackles and an interception in eight games.

Dec. 29

Liberty Bowl 4:30 p.m. - South Carolina vs. Houston, ESPN

North's Jared Cook (No. 84) plays tight end for South Carolina, and Buford's Yvan Banag (No. 54) plays linebacker. Cook has six catches for 113 yards and a TD and Banag has 21 tackles (17 solos), two sacks and a fumble recovery.

Dec. 29

Champs Sports Bowl 8 p.m. - Maryland vs. Purdue, ESPN

Brookwood grad Stephon Heyer (No. 70) plays offensive line for Maryland and Grayson grad Brandon Erwin (No. 16) plays defensive back for Purdue. Erwin, a true freshman, has played in all 13 games and has 38 tackles with four fumble recoveries.

Dec. 30

Meineke Bowl 1 p.m. - Navy vs. Boston College, ESPN

Parkview grad Greg Sudderth (No. 24) plays wide receiver for Navy.

Dec. 30

Alamo Bowl 4:30 p.m. - Iowa vs. Texas, ESPN

Parkview's Greg Johnson (No. 97) is a kicker/punter for Texas. Johnson averages 41.2 yards per punt with 19 inside the 20, and also has made 3 of 6 field goals and 42 of 43 PATs.

Dec. 30

Chick-fil-A Bowl 8 p.m. - Georgia vs. Virginia Tech, ESPN

The following Gwinnett grads will play in Atlanta for the Bulldogs: Buford's Mikey Henderson (No. 27), GAC's Brannan Southerland (No. 36) and Brookwood's Michael Turner (No. 61). There's an outside chance injured Collins Hill grad Brandon Coutu (No. 96) will return for the bowl. Southerland has scored nine TDs and Henderson averages 15.6 yards on punt returns with two TDs.

Jan. 1

Cotton Bowl

11:30 a.m. - Auburn vs. Nebraska, Fox

Auburn's Gwinnett grads are: Parkview's Stephen Gowland (No. 42) at fullback, Dacula's David Irons (No. 4) at cornerback, Dacula's Kenny Irons (No. 23) at running back, Parkview's Brad Lester (No. 1) at running back, South Gwinnett's Rod Smith (No. 80) at wide receiver and South's Matt Clark (No. 84) at kicker. Lester, who has a team-high 10 TDs, won't play in the bowl because of a suspension.

Kenny Irons has 821 rushing yards in 10 games, David Irons has 39 tackles, two interceptions and 11 pass breakups and Smith has 26 catches for 452 yards and a team-high four TD catches. Clark has 49 touchbacks on 62 kickoffs.

Jan. 1

Gator Bowl 1 p.m. - Georgia Tech

vs. West Virginia, CBS

Brookwood grad Mansfield Wrotto (No. 68) plays offensive line for Georgia Tech, Buford grad Kyle Manley (No. 11) plays quarterback, Duluth grad Tyler Davis (No. 83) plays wide receiver and Duluth grad Jason Davis (No. 32) plays running back.

Jan. 2

Orange Bowl 8 p.m. - Wake Forest

vs. Louisville, Fox

GAC's Chris Langley (No. 17) plays wide receiver for Wake Forest, Collins Hill's Barrett McMillan (No. 60) plays offensive line, GAC's Ben Wooster (No. 85) plays tight end and GAC's Micah Andrews (No. 3) is a running back. Andrews is out with an injury.

Jan. 3

Sugar Bowl 8 p.m. - LSU vs.

Notre Dame, Fox

Buford's Darius Walker (No. 3) plays running back for Notre Dame. Walker has 1,139 rushing yards and seven TDs along with 54 catches for 361 yards and another score.

Jan. 8

BCS National Championship 8 p.m. - Ohio State

vs. Florida, Fox

Norcross grad Larry Grant (No. 6) plays linebacker for Ohio State. He has 18 tackles and a 49-yard interception return.

BASKETBALL

Luckhurst leads Tulane win

Wesleyan grad Nikki Luckhurst came off the bench and sparked an 83-68 Tulane win over Alabama last weekend.

Luckhurst scored 17 points and made four 3-pointers as the Green Wave rebounded from trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half. Tulane is now 7-2 on the season.

Kubik Wright leading BYU

Collins Hill grad Dani Kubik Wright averages a team-high 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds for 7-3 Brigham Young.

The post was named to the Preseason Women's NIT All-Tournament team earlier this season. BYU reached the Final Four by knocking off Stanford, but lost in semifinals despite 17 points from Kubik Wright.

Gwinnett Grads is a column that runs on Saturdays spotlighting the achievements of past Gwinnett standouts. Coaches and parents are urged to send suggestions via e-mail to will.hammock@gwinnettdailypost.com or via fax to 770-339-8081.