2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Blu-ray Movie Review

A blowout of a game and a Blu-ray that fizzles.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 7, 2015

Team Marketing has released several college football games to Blu-ray, each covering the best and most important match-ups of the 2014-2015 Bowl season. The games are presented without commercial interruption and are, essentially, the television broadcasts transferred onto Blu-ray. This one, the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, features a pair of Southern teams, pitting the 9-3 Ole Miss Rebels, led by Head Coach Hugh Freeze, against Gary Patterson's vaunted TCU Horned Frogs. From the Georgia Dome, December 31, 2014.

Chick-fil-A champs.

The Ole Miss Rebels, hailing from Oxford, Mississippi, rode into the Peach Bowl on something of a down note. Hugh Freeze's team burst out of the gate with an impressive 7-0 start and a national ranking as high as #3 after wins against powerhouse schools like Alabama and Texas A&M, the latter victory coming on the road in College Station. But the Rebels began to show some cracks in the foundation, dropping two in a row to ranked teams in LSU and Auburn. The school won a blowout against cupcake Presbyterian before losing again to Arkansas on the road by a score of 30-0. The Rebels rebounded to beat in-state rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl and earned a spot in the Peach Bowl against TCU. The season was another story for the Frogs. Led by Heisman Trophy finalist Trevone Boykin, who finished fourth in the balloting, the Frogs started the season 4-0, which included a tight 37-33 win in Fort Worth over a strong Oklahoma team. The following week, the Frogs dropped a road barnburner to in-state rival Baylor by a score of 61-58. Gary Patterson's team quickly rebounded from the loss and never lost again all season, beating #15 Oklahoma, Texas Tech (by a score of 82-27), #20 West Virginia, #7 Kansas State, Kansas, Texas, and Iowa State en route to a birth in the Peach Bowl.

TCU's dominance and Ole Miss' struggles continued straight into the Peach Bowl. The Rebels found themselves in a quick hole when Kolby Listenbee connected with Aaron Green for a 31-yard trick play touchdown pass following a TCU interception only 26 seconds into the game. Green would add a running score to his resume in the first as well to put TCU up 14-0. That would be more than enough. The Frogs ket the foot on the accelerator in the second. Trevone Boykin threw a touchdown pass and James McFarland added another with an interception for a score. TCU would keep the line moving in the third courtesy of two more Trevone Boykin touchdown passes to give the Frogs a 42-0 lead entering the final 15 minutes of play. Ole Miss would manage a field goal midway through the quarter but it was hardly enough to put a dent in TCU's dominant 42-3 win.

This blowout Horned Frogs victory may very well garner repeat viewings in and around the West side of the Metroplex, but chances are it'll be a sparse addition to any Blu-ray collection outside of Cowtown, and it dare not show its face in Oxford, Mississippi. Team Marketing's release is a disappointment to say the least, a simple, no-frills, plopped-on presentation that does nothing the DVR cannot do beyond basic chapter skip and an absence of commercials. There's literally no other content besides the game and a bit of extracurricular footage at the beginning and end. True die-hard Horned Frogs fans may be able to overlook the faults if this is something they'll watch time and again over the years, but even then they'll be left yearning for a superior presentation and at least something in the way of added value.

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl arrives on Blu-ray with a 720p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. It's a slightly better transfer when compared to the other college football releases, for whatever reason. It's a bit better defined even at distance, with a modestly sharper appearance even far back up into the stands. Uniform colors are pleasant and robust. The bright purple TCU jerseys are particularly attractive, and the red Ole Miss accents are likewise pleasant and accurate. General sharpness and detail satisfy, though the turf looks a bit flat and uniforms aren't quite as sharp and intimately detailed as they might could have been. The image features a bit less in the way of noticeable, destructive blocking, but some aliasing, noise, and ringing are evident. Graphics appear fairly soft. Overall, however, this is a fair presentation, certainly an imperfect image but a hair bit better than the other Team Marketing Blu-ray releases from February 2015.

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl snaps onto Blu-ray with a bland DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack that, again, is practically identical to the other February 2015 Team Marketing college football Blu-ray releases. No single element impresses. In-booth play-by-play is often sharp and booming with next-to-no sonic nuance. Sideline reports and post-game interviews likewise lack distinction and pinpoint verbal clarity. Crowd noise is mildly muffled but finds a decent bit of general lifelike clarity as it flows out of the front speakers. The sound of graphics moving off the screen is defined by a muddy, indistinct push. Random cuts to fans in the stands are even less dynamic and play with a harsh, garbled edge. Band music, whistles, and hits on the field rarely offer more than cursory sonic detail. There's at least a decent sense of front-end space, and dialogue does manage a center-focused feel. On the whole, however, this one barely passes muster.

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl doesn't contain any supplements, per se, but it does include the post-game trophy presentation, which is listed as a special feature on the back of the box (which is a DVD case, not a Blu-ray case). It's simply an extension of the program beyond the game, beginning at the 2:13:03 mark and lasting a little over 14 minutes. A few minutes' worth of pre-game footage also included before kickoff by way of the "Nissan Pregame Rush." It shows the commentators previewing the game, the teams running out onto the field, and the coin toss. From the main menu, viewers may choose a "play all" option or jump to the start of any of the four quarters plus the aforementioned trophy presentation. A DVD copy of the game is also included in the case.

2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

No fluff, no filler, and strictly for fans. 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is nothing but the original ESPN broadcast dropped onto Blu-ray with team entrances featured at the beginning and the post game celebration added on to the end. There's no halftime show and no extras recounting the story of how both teams got to the game. Fans who want to relive the game time and again without worrying about it getting lost on the DVR are the target audience here. Picture and sound suffice and reflect the original broadcast, but in terms of raw quality both score rather poorly (though this presentation fares mildly better than its counterparts). Recommended to fans who will watch it enough to warrant the buy which, at the end of the day, holds true for most every release but rings particularly accurate here.