Yesterday: 0-2
Overall: 5-3
Today
Poinsettia Bowl
Boise State (8-4, 5-3 Mountain West) vs.
Northern Illinois? Are you kiddin me? (8-5, 6-2
Mid American)
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Cali (71,294)
3:30 PM CT/4:30 PM ET
ESPN
Beth Mowins, David Diaz-Infante, Shelley Smith
Laundry crew: Sun Belt, Jeff Hilyer, lead ref
Weather: Cloudy, 63, 10% rain, Wind WSW 9 MPH
Line: Boise State by 8
Both teams have excellent tailbacks with Boise State featuring Jeremy McNichols, who has rushed for 1,244 yards and 18, sevens. He also has 46 receptions for 364 yards and five TDs., His 23 total TDs tied him with Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry for most in the nation this season.
Northern Illinois running back Joel Bouagnon led the MAC in rushing with 1,270 yards and 18 rushing TDs. If Bouagnon can have success running against a pretty good Broncos' rush defense, which was 13th nationally against the run, it should open up the passing game, though the Huskies have struggled with injuries at quarterback.
Boise State freshman quarterback Brett Rypien was the Mountain West freshman of the year. He passed for 2,976 yards and 17 TDs this season.
Both teams struggled somewhat this season at times, but this should be an interesting game with a lot of players with a ton of heart on both sidelines.
The MAC teams have been good in this postseason so far with both Akron and Toledo getting W's yesterday. Terry Bowden and Akron defeated Utah State, 23-21, in a game which featured Utah State offensive coordinator Josh Heupel having major play calling problems. I was about to blow a gasket. Huepel's running back, Devante Mays, ran it 12 times for 124 yards, but Huepel didn't get him the ball enough. He could have run for 200 and Utah State would have won. Coach Matt Wells said the play calling was bad at halftime to the ESPN reporter, but Huepel didn't make any adjustments. But Akron deserves credit; they played a very good game. And Toledo dominated Temple impressively, 32-17. Ohio lost in the last seconds to App State on a late field goal, 31-29.
So this will be a highly competitive game. Boise State survives a great effort from the Huskies.
Boise State 35, Northern Illinois 31
GoDaddy Bowl
Georgia Southern (8-4, 6-2 Sun Belt) vs.
Bowling Green (10-3, 7-1 MAC champions)
Ladd Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Al. (40,000)
7 PM CT/8 PM ET
ESPN
Tom Hart, Andre, Laura Rutledge
Laundry: Mountain West, Scott Campbell
Weather: Scattered strong storms, 60%, 71, Wind SSW 18 MPH, could be a problem for this game
Line: Bowling Green by 7
Both head coaches have left their teams to take other jobs: Dino Babers of Bowling Green went to Syracuse, and Willie Fritz of Ga. Southern took the Tulane job. Bowling Green defensive coordinator Brian Ward will run the team tonight, and running backs coach Dell McGee will call the shots for Georgia Southern. Mike Jinks, who came over to Bowling Green from Texas Tech, where he was running backs coach, will be the new Bowling Green head coach in 2016. Tyson Summers, who was defensive coordinator at Colorado State this season, is the new coach for Georgia Southern in 2016.
This game could be sloppy. Hopefully there won't be lightning delays. Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson threw for 4,700 yards and 43 TDs this season against only eight ints. Roger Lewis led the team in receptions with 82. Running back Travis Greene run for 1,220 yards and 14 sevens this season.
Georgia State is all about the running game. The Eagles averaged 355.6 yards on the ground this season. Running back Matt Breida is the team's leading rusher with 1,540 yards and 16 TDs. L.A.Ramsby ran for 772 yards and Wesley Fields added 607. Quarterback Kevin Ellison rushed for 642 yards.
Should be a competitive game, with Bowling Green maybe limited in their passing game due to the weather. Like the Falcons to get by in a lower scoring game than anticipated due to the weather.
Bowling Green 21, Georgia Southern 17
Tomorrow
Bahamas Bowl
Middle Tennessee (7-5, 6-2 Sun Belt) vs.
Western Michigan (7-5, 6-2 MAC)
Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau (15,023)
11 AM CT/Noon ET
ESPN
Steve Levy, Mack, May Day, Kaylee
Aladdin Cleaners crew: Mountain West, Brandon Cruse
Weather: 82, partly sunny, wind ESE 11 MPH
Line: Western Michigan by 4 1/2
Like the Broncos of Western Michigan to be a little better in what should be an offensive shootout in Nassau. Quarterback play will be excellent with Western Michigan's Zach Terrell, who threw for 3,225 yards, squaring off with Middle Tennessee's Brent Stockstill. Stockstill threw for 3,678 yards and 27 TDs against only 8 ints this season. Both guys will be throwing it all over the yard. Western Michigan beat Toledo, 35-30, the final game of the regular season, so that's why I like them.
Western Michigan 42, Middle Tennessee 37
Hawai'i Bowl (that's how it's spelled by the bowl people)
San Diego State (10-3, 8-0 Mountain West) vs.
Cincinnati (7-5, 4-4 in American Athletic)
Aloha Stadium, Honolulu (50,000)
7 PM CT/8PM ET
ESPN
Adam Amin, Gregory McElroy, Holly Rowe
Yella Laundry: C-USA, Rodney Burnette
Weather: Sunny, 79, perfect, wind ENE 13 MPH
Line: San Diego State by 1 1/2
San Diego State started the season 1-3, but won their last nine games to win the Mountain West Conference Championship as they defeated Air Force in the championship game, 27-24, in Qualcomm Stadium. Running back Donnel Pumphrey is the go-to guy for the Aztecs. He ran for 1,554 yards and 16 TDs this season. Chase Price ran for 940 yards this season as Pumphrey's backup. The Bearacats' defense has given up 190.8 rushing yards per game this season so that could be a factor. Freshman Christian Chapman, who took the place of starter and Kentucky transfer Maxwell Smith, will most likely get his second start of the season as Smith is injured with an ACL tear. Smith wants to start, but he's questionable to doubtful for the game. Chapman started the Air Force game and finished 9 of 14 for 203 yards, pretty good. But they'll rely heavily on the ground game. Cincy will start Hayden Moore at quarterback. Starter Gunner Kiel is not going to the bowl for personal reasons, so the redshirt freshman from Clay Chalkville High School in Birmigham will get the start. Moore did throw four touchdowns at Memphis in a game Cincy should have won if it were not for some bad refereeing, and he's talented.
The San Diego State defense is pretty stout. They only gave up 17.2 points per game, generated 33 sacks, and led the country in turnover margin with plus 19 on 31 turnovers gained, including 20 interceptions and 11 forced and recovered fumbles. Cincy ranked 124th out of 128 teams in turnover margin with -16.
But I'm going for the upset in this one. Tommy Tuberville, Hayden Moore and the Bearcats' offense get it done over the Aztecs.
Cincinnati 31, San Diego State 28
Saturday: Six Bowl games
1. St. Petersburg Bowl: Connecticut vs. Marshall
2.The Sun Bowl: Miami (Fl) vs. Washington State
3. Heart of Dallas Bowl: Washington vs. SMU
4. Pinstripe Bowl: Indiana vs. Duke
5. Independence Bowl: Tulsa vs. Virginia Tech
6. Foster Farms Bowl: UCLA vs. Nebraska
Will hit back on Saturday.