Yesterday: Western Kentucky 45, South Florida 35, W
Overall in Bowls: 5-1
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Akron (6-6, 5-3 in the MAC) vs. Utah State (6-6, 5-3 Mountain West)
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho (37,000)
2:30 PM CT/ 3:30 PM ET
ESPN
Talent: Mark Neely, Mike Bellotti, Kevin Weidl
Whistles: Sun Belt Conference, Charles Lewis
Weather: Cloudy, 37 high, 15% chance of rain or snow, Wind, WSW 7 MPH
Line: Utah State by 7
Breakdown:
Quarterback Kent Myers of Utah State is a little banged up, but he's probable to play. He completed 60% of his passes, 107-of-179, for 1,470 yards, 14 TDs against just 3 ints. Chuckie Keaton has been at Utah State for a while now and has been a decent quarterback, but he's been injured a lot. He comes in having played six games this season completing 90-0f-174 with 3 TDs and six ints. Myers is the better option, but Coach Matt Wells could use both. Davante Mays leads the team in rushing with 842 yards and 9 TDs, and Hunter Sharp is the top receiver with 60 receptions for 746 yards and eight 7's. Linebacker Nick Vigil leads the team in tackles and is tied for fifth in the country with 140. He also has 12.5 tackles for loss of -46 yards. Linebacker Kyler Fackrell leads the team in tackles for loss with 13.5 for -35 yards. Free safety Devin Centers leads the team in interceptions with three. Utah State holds opponents to 27 points per game.
Akron, under Terry Bowden, is in only their second bowl in their history since joining the FBS in 1987. Quarterback Thomas Woodson completed 53% of his passes, 148-of-278, for 2,034 yards, 16 TDs against 10 ints. Running back Conor Hundley ran for 883 yards and 10 TDs. Wide receiver Imani Davis finished the season with 46 receptions for 593 yards and three TDs, and wide out Jerome Lane added 35 receptions for 750 and eight 7's. Linebacker Jatavis Brown led the Zips in tackles with 108, added 17.5 tackles for loss of -98 yards and 10.5 sacks. Linebacker Dylan Evans posted 98 tackles and 10 tackles for loss. Cornerback DeAndre Scott was the team leader in interceptions with 6. The Zips defense only allowed 21.5 points per game but only 24 points per game in 12 games.
Verdict
Could be somewhat of a defensive battle here as both teams seem to play pretty good defense and the offenses aren't too prolific. I like the Aggies of Utah State to take care of business on the blue field in Boise today.
Utah State 24, Akron 14
Boca Raton Bowl
Temple (10-3, 7-1 American Athletic Conference)
vs. Toledo (9-2, 6-2 MAC)
FAU Football Stadium, Boca Raton, Florida (30,000)
6 PM CT/ 7 PM ET
ESPN
Allen Bestick, Dan Hawkins, Tiffany Greene
Stripes: Sun Belt, Kevin Stine
Weather: 77, Cloudy, 25% rain chance, wind SE 10 MPH
Line: Temple by 2 1/2
Temple knocked off Penn State, 27-10, barely lost to Notre Dame, 24-20, and crushed Memphis, 31-12. The Owls lost to Houston, 24-13, in the American Athletic Conference Championship game at Houston.
Toledo upset Arkansas the second game of the season, 16-12, and crushed Bowling Green, the MAC champions, 44-28, but lost to Western Michigan the last game of the season, 35-30, which kept them from reaching the MAC Championship game.
Temple running back Jahad Thomas rushed for 1,257 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Quarterback P.J. Walker completed 223-of-391 passes, 57%, with 19 touchdowns against seven ints. He also has some pretty good wheels, too. Wide receiver Robby Anderson is a super player. He caught 64 passes for 873 yards and 7 TDs. Wide out Ventell Bryant added 37 receptions for 521 yards and 3 TDs. The Temple defense only gave up 19 points per game this season and were led by senior linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who posted 126 tackles, including 15 for a loss of -62 yards, which also led the team. Matakevich was also the team leader in interceptions with five. Defensive end Nate D. Smith (there's also a Nate L. Smith who plays cornerback) posted 9.5 tackles for loss of -53 yards and led the team in sacks with seven for -47 yards. The team had 101 tackles for loss, good for fifth in the country. The other book end, defensive end Haason Reddick, posted 12.5 tackles for loss of -56 yards and 5 sacks for -29 yards.
For Toledo, running back Kareem Hunt led the team in rushing with 894 yards and reached the end zone 10 times. Running back Terry Swanson ran for 87o yards and 7 TDs. Quarterback Phillip Ely, an Alabama transfer, completed 206-of-375 passes, 55%, for 2,680 yards, 21 TDs and 10 ints. Wide receiver Corey Jones led the team in receptions with 52 for 535 yards and four TDs. Wide out Cody Thompson added 33 receptions for 706 yards and four TDs. The other key wide out, Alonzo Russell, caught 33 passes for 586 yards and five TDs. Tight end Michael Roberts caught 18 passes for 188 yards and four TDs.
On defense, middle linebacker Chase Murdock led the defense in tackles with 78 and had 7.5 tackles for loss of -16 yards. Nose tackle Orion Jones is a disrupter. He led the team in tackles for loss with 11.5 for -49 yards and sacks with six for -39 yards. Cornerback Cheatham Norrils led the team in interceptions with three.
Verdict
Toledo Coach Matt Campbell left the team after the regular season to take the job at Iowa State. That will have a factor on this game with instability in the coaching staff. Plus, Temple is a very fine team with a good young coach in Matt Rhule. Toledo is a good team, too, but the upheaval of losing their coach, and the slight talent advantage at Temple will be the difference. Should be a good football game though.
Temple 27, Toledo 21