It gets better and better each day. More fun today with six games on the docket. Here's a look at them along with today's prediction.
Wednesday:
Boise State 55, Northern Illinois? 7 (W)
Georgia Southern 58, Bowling Green 27 (L)
Thursday:
Western Michigan 45, Middle Tennessee 31 (W)
San Diego State 42, Cincy 7 (L)
Those 2 days: 2-2
Overall in Bowls: 7-5
Overall this season: 221-69 (76%)
Today
St. Petersburg Bowl
Connecticut (6-6, 4-4 American Athletic
Conference) vs. Marshall (9-3, 6-2 C-USA)
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fl. (40,473)
10 AM CT/11 AM ET
ESPN
Talent: Tom Hart, Anthony Becht, Tiffany Greene
Whistles: Mountain West, Kevin Mar
Weather: Indoors stadium
Line: Marshall by 5
Both of these teams play good defense as Marshall is ranked 14th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 18.4 points per game, while UConn is ranked 17th in the country yielding just 19.8 ppg. They are both strong against the pass, so this could be a grind it out kind of game.
Marshall does have good quarterback play from Chase Litton, the 6'6", 207 pound true freshman, who has passed for 2,387 yards and 22 sevens against seven ints.
Both teams have good motivation for this game, and that's key. I've seen teams this postseason that really want to win a bowl game, and I've seen other teams that are just there for the festivities. But UConn is making it's first bowl appearance since the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, so they'll be motivated, and Marshall, with a win today, can notch their third straight season of 10 or more victories. That would be a huge accomplishment for sixth year head coach Doc Holliday. The 58 year old head man is 49-28 at Marshall and 3-0 in bowl games. That's impressive. Connecticut head coach Bob Diaco is in his second year, and after going 2-10 last year, the 42 year old head coach has the Huskies trending in the right direction finishing the regular season at 6-6.
The Thundering Herd's Litton will be challenged in the passing game by ball hawking Huskies cornerback Jamar Summers. Summers is tied for third in the country with seven interceptions.
Marshall has their own defensive studs in linebacker Evan McKelvey and defensive end Gary Thompson. McKelvey leads the team in tackles with 113, including nine for loss, and Thompson leads the team in tackles for loss with 11 and sacks with eight. Both players should have good days against a Connecticut offense that averaged just 10 points a contest over the last three games of the season. The Huskies do have the best signature victory as they defeated American Athletic foe Houston, 20-17, on Nov. 21st. Houston, of course, is playing in one of the New Year's Six Bowls, the Chick Fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome against Florida State on Dec 31st, New Year's Eve, at 11 AM CT/Noon ET on ESPN.
Final verdict:
Both these teams are excited to be here and the defenses will probably be a major factor in the outcome. The defenses are basically a wash, but the Marshall offense with Litton are better, so I like the Thundering Herd to get'er done in St. Pete.
Marshall 24, UConn 10
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Miami (8-4, 5-3 ACC) vs. Washington State (8-
4, 6-3 Pac-12)
Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas (51,500)
1 PM CT/2 PM ET
CBS
Talent: Carter Blackburn, Gary, Allie
Stripes: Big Ten, Jerry McGinn
Weather: Cloudy, 20% rain at kickoff, but rain chances increase to 60% and 90% throughout the game. 47 high. Wind NNW @ 7 MPH
Line: Wash State by 2 1/2
Larry Scott will coach the Canes as Mark Richt comes in for the 2016 season for Miami, but Richt will have his stamp on this bowl game. Mike Leach, the mad scientist genius, is an offensive savant and has his quarterback, Luke Falk, leading the country in passing yards with 387.8. The Cougars have very good wide outs in Gabe Marks, who finished the regular season with 99 receptions for 1,125 yards and 14 TDs, and Dom Williams, who caught 73 passes for 997 yards and 11 sevens. They pass the ball all over the field, but will need to run it some if the weather forecast holds true. Gerard Wicks is their leading rusher with 599 yards and three TDs. Falk has completed 418-of-591 passes, 71%, for 4,266 yards, 36 TDs against eight ints.
The Canes are led by a gifted quarterback in Brad Kaaya, who completed 221-of-358 passes, 62%, for 3,019 yards, 15 TDs against only 4 ints. The Canes run the ball better than the Cougars, as tailback Joe Yearby rushed for 939 yards and six TDs, and Mark Walton added 438 yards and eight TDs.
Final decision
These are explosive offenses, but if the weather forecast is accurate, which is no guarantee, this will be a lower scoring game, but still a fun one. Like Leach and his Cougars to have a little more offense than the Canes.
Washington State 31, Miami 28
Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl
Washington (6-6, 4-5 Pac-12) vs. Southern
Miss (9-4, 7-1 C-USA)
Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Tx (92,100)
1:20 PM CT/2:20 PM ET
ESPN
Talent: Mike Corey, Ahmad Brooks, Kayce Smith
Laundry: American Athletic, Michael Roche
Weather: Thunderstorms at kickoff, 85% chance, but dissipating at 2 and 3 PM CT, but returning to 60% @4 PM. Wind a factor. SSE @ 19 MPH and increasing to SSE 21 throughout the game.
Line: Washington by 8 1/2
The Washington Huskies are excellent on defense and are led by senior linebacker Travis Feeny who has 15.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks this season. The Huskies defense has only given up 13 rushing TDs all year in 12 games. On offense, the Huskies are led by running back Myles Gaskin, who rushed for 1,121 yards on 201 carries this season for an average of 5.6 yards per carry and 10 TDs. Quarterback Jake Browning completed 63% of his passes, 210-of-334, for 16 TDs and 10 ints.
On the other side, Southern Miss is known for their offense. Running back Jalen Richard rushed for 1,098 yards and 14 TDs this season, while Ito Smith ran for 1,088 and eight TDs.
***Update*** Richard is out with a separated shoulder.
Quarterback Nick Mullens completed 63% of his passes, 306-of-483, for 36 TDs against 12 ints.
Final decision
With the expected weather conditions, the Huskies defense and pound it out running game should be a little better than Southern Miss's more wide open approach.
Washington 21, Southern Miss 17
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Duke (7-5, 4-4 ACC) vs. Indiana (6-6, 2-6 Big
Ten)
Yankee Stadium, New York, New York (49,642)
2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET
ABC
Talent: Rece, Danny, Joey, Paul Carcaterra
Stripes: Pac-12, Chris Coyte
Weather: Cloudy, 51, 0% rain, wind NE 7 MPH
Line: Indiana by 2 1/2
Indiana running back Jordan Howard is a little banged up, but if he plays, which is very possible, he's excellent as he's rushed for 1,213 yards and nine TDs. Update*** Howard is out.***
The backup to Howard, Devine Redding, has only rushed for 274 yards, but averaged 6.0 yards per carry in his last two games. Quarterback Nate Sudfield completed 219-of-361 passes, 61%, for 3,184 yards, 24 TDs and just five ints.
Duke counters with a good run defense which ranked 38th nationally against the run allowing just 3.4 yards per attempt. Duke is led by quarterback Thomas Sirk, who completed 234-of-390 passes, 60%, for 2,462 yards, 15 TDs against six interceptions. Sirk also rushed for 648 yards and six TDs. Running back Shaquille Powell rushed for 534 yards and three TDs. Sirk will need some help from Powell. DeVon Edwards has returned 3 kickoffs for sevens for Duke.
Final decision
I like David Cutcliffe's Blue Devils to play just a little better on offense than Indiana in what will be a highly entertaining game. Edwards will take one back to the house and the Blue Devils get over the top against the Hoosiers.
Duke 35, Indiana 31
Camping World Independence Bowl
Virginia Tech (6-6, 4-4 ACC) vs. Tulsa (6-6, 3-5
American Athletic)
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, La. (65,000)
4:45 PM CT/5:45 PM ET
ESPN
Talent: Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley, Jane Slater
Whistles: Big 12, Cooper Castleberry
Weather: Cloudy, 15% rain, wind SE 14 MPH
Line: Va Tech by 14
Va. Tech may be favored by 14, but they're really going to have to bear down in the secondary against all world receiver Keyarris Garrett of Tulsa. The 6'4", 221 pound senior caught 88 passes for 1,451 yards and seven TDs this season. He turned in six games of over 100 yards receiving and in two of his game, he eclipsed 200 yards in receiving. He caught 14 passes for 268 yards in a 66-42 loss to Memphis on Oct. 23rd.
Frank Beamer has had to suspend three players for this game, so that's not a good sign. One was a starter and two were backups.
I don't love the feel of this game for Va. Tech, even though it's Beamer's last game. I see it as a close contest. But I'll give Beamer a victory in the last game of his storied career at Virginia Tech. Va Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster's defense will do enough and the offense will too, as the Hokies will get by the Hurricane and send Beamer out a winner, barely.
Va. Tech 31, Tulsa 30
Foster Farms Bowl
Nebraska (5-7, 3-5 Big Ten) vs. UCLA (8-4, 5-4
Pac-12)
Levi's Stadium, San Francisco, Cali (68,500)
8:15 PM CT/9:15 PM ET
ESPN
Talent: Jason Benetti, Rod Gilmore, Shelley Smith
Laundry: ACC, Ron Cherry
Weather: 50 clear, 0% rain, wind minimal, ENE 2 MPH
Line: UCLA by 6 1/2
This is a superb matchup in the nightcap between two explosive offenses. UCLA is led by talented freshman quarterback Josh Rosen, who completed 60% of his passes, 266-of-447, for 20 TDs against nine ints, and stud running back Paul Perkins, who rushed for 1,275 yards and 13 TDs. Wide receiver Jordan Payton led the team in receptions with 75 for 1,068 and four TDs, and Thomas Duarte caught 49 passes for 820 yards and 10 TDs.
Nebraska will counter with quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr., who can be erratic, but can also be a weapon,. He completed 55% of his passes, 210-of-383, for 2,856 yards, 21 TDs, but threw 16 interceptions. Running back Terrell Newby rushed for 743 yards and five TDs, and Armstrong Jr., good runner, ran for 324 and six TDs.
Final decision
My question with UCLA every game is which team will show up; a team that is motivated to win a football game, or a team that is just going through the motions. Jim Mora Jr. is a good football coach, but he has trouble sometimes getting the southern California kids motivated. Nebraska will be fired up to show the country that even though they finished 5-7 this season, they are worthy of earning a bowl bid and will play extremely hard. They did upset Michigan State at home on Nov. 7th, 39-38, which looked at the time that it might ruin the Spartans chance at the playoff. But the Spartans came back and got in with a huge victory over Ohio State at Columbus.
But Perkins will be big on the ground, and Rosen will make some plays in the vertical game. Armstrong will have a good game, but he'll make a costly mistake or two. This should be an interesting matchup.
Nebraska is one of three teams that made bowl games with a 5-7 record. The other two are San Jose State and Minnesota. The NCAA did not have enough teams to fill out the 40 game bowl slate, so they did the best thing they could do; they filled the last three spots with the three teams that had the highest Academic Progress Reports. San Jose State did win their game over Georgia State, 27-16, in the Cure Bowl, and Minnesota plays Central Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl this Monday, 4 PM CT/5PM ET, on ESPN.
UCLA 38, Nebraska 35