Alamo Bowl Champions, Eleven Wins and a Camp Award With Our Name on It
Cleveland State38
Iowa28
- Game
- 2026 Alamo Bowl
- Date
- 2027-01-01
- Site
- Neutral site
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 11-2
ALAMO BOWL CHAMPIONS. ELEVEN WINS. HAPPY NEW YEAR, CLEVELAND, FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW.
Vikings 38, Iowa 28, in San Antonio on New Year’s Day, and the 2026 Vikings finish 11-2: the best record of the Dolan era, an 8-1 mark in the Big 12 and third place in the conference, and number eleven in the final AP poll for the second straight year.
And our quarterback, my people. Amar’e Hocker, a sophomore, threw for 4,376 yards and won the Walter Camp Award as the most outstanding player in the country. A Camp Award! Our guy! Rashaud Exum caught for 989 yards. Jayden Bellamy, the transfer corner from Syracuse, picked off six passes. Bryce Eliuk led the defense with 66 tackles, Justin Eklund had seven sacks, Nakai Amachree led us on the ground, and Elijah Boyd made All-American at tight end.
Big Stan has already ordered a third board for the sandwiches. Jersey thirty-three gets a gold star. Five pierogi, and one for Bridget, who texted “congrats, Dad, for real” at midnight.
Eleven wins. A bowl trophy. A Walter Camp winner. Respectfully: I’m going to need a bigger word than “wow.” I’ve asked the thesaurus. It’s thinking.
The honest summary: the 2026 Vikings lost twice, to Tulsa in September and to Ohio by one point in November, and won eleven times, including five straight on the road and a ten-point bowl win over Iowa. The offense scored the fourth-most points per game in the country. The quarterback is a sophomore. That last sentence should frighten the rest of the Big 12, and it’s starting to frighten me, in a good way.
I called my father after the bowl game. My mother put the phone to his ear. I said, “Eleven wins, Dad. The kid won the Camp.” He was quiet for a while, and then he said, “Did he get cocky?” I said, “No, Dad. He listened.” He said, “Good.” Then he asked about the fishing.
I’m not saying I believe. I’m saying the door I opened a crack two years ago has been propped open with a big band record and a sandwich, and I don’t have the heart to close it.
Back and forth
Eleven wins, Kenny! A Camp Award!
A sophomore. He’s a sophomore, Mick.
Say it. Say “I believe.”
Put it in the case. Then we’ll talk. Happy New Year.
Eleven wins, an Alamo Bowl trophy, a Walter Camp winner who didn’t get cocky, and a door that’s officially propped open.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.