After a brief hiatus due to the craziness of school, I'm bringing the blog back with a healthy dose of college football! Each week I'll be previewing the bowl games in the week ahead. As always you can check out my work for Bleacher Report by visiting my writer profile here
With bowls season properly kicked off (who doesn't love some classic MAC bowl action), week two offers a slightly better four game slate and some teams we really didn't think we'd see this early. Neither did they. Boise, TCU and Southern Miss all could have conceivably been playing in much larger bowls than this and it will be interesting to see if there is any let down factor going into their respective games. Without further ado, here are the four games for Week 2 of bowls season, plus predictions.
Beef 'O' Brady St. Petersburg Bowl
December 20th, 8 p.m.
ESPN
Florida International vs Marshall
Outlook: Florida International-Marshall may not be a marquee matchup but the Beef 'O' Brady bowl is definitely among the elite when it comes to bowls with awesome names. If there was a player on either of these teams named Beef 'O' Brady they probably would be heavily favored in this game. Florida International comes into this game at 8-4 and Marshall owns a record of 6-6
Chances are, you haven't seen Florida International play. Chances are you should. If only for wide reciever T.Y. Hilton. Hilton has struggled with hamstring injuries this year but when he's healthy he is an electrifying playmaker that is sure to be scooped up by an NFL team come April. This could be Hilton's first year without a kickoff return for a touchdown so it'll be interesting to see if he can prevent that from happening by taking one to the house. With some time off before the bowl game it could be enough time for Hilton to come back at full strength. If that's the case he is the kind of receiver that can take over a game.
Marshall may have the worst resume of any bowl team. All six of their losses have been by double digits and they don't have any wins that would indicate they are a good team. They lack playmakers, their quarterbacks are only so-so and they have only won one game on the road this year. Beef 'O' Brady would be very disappointed to see this team in his bowl.
Prediction: Looking at the outlook this one would appear to a no-brainer. So much so that "trap game" comes to mind... Every bowl season there are a few bowls where a team that has no business being in a bowl game plays out of their mind and shocks everyone. All signs point to FIU dominating this game but anything can happen in bowl season. That being said, FIU's Head Coach Mario Cristobal is one of the best young coaches in the country and there is no way he lets his team overlook Marshall
FIU 38 Marshall 7
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
December 21st, 8 p.m.
ESPN
TCU vs Louisiana Tech
Outlook: The Horned Frogs of TCU come into this game as one of three teams playing this week that could have crashed the BCS party. While Boise State came the closest, the Frogs were just two spots in the BCS poll away from crashing the party. If it weren't for a puzzling 40-33 loss in overtime to SMU we would probably be evaluating TCU's chances of beating Clemson in a BCS bowl.
However, TCU did lose to SMU and now must turn their attention to winning the Poinsettia. One year after winning the Rose bowl Poinsettias might not smell so sweet but they will need to come to play if they want to beat the streaking Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
After Louisiana Tech started the season an abysmal 1-4 the Bulldogs have reeled off seven straight to win their conference and post an 8-4 record. Most of the Bulldogs turnaround can be attributed to quarterback Colby Cameron taking the reigns as the starter mid-season. Cameron has only thrown two interceptions all year and has proved to be an efficient passer. Cameron will look to test the TCU defense and score with TCU.
For TCU, this is a chance to win one more bowl game as a Mountain West team and they will do so with an atypical TCU team. Despite a very successful season in terms of wins and losses, this may be the worst TCU defense that Gary Patterson has had since 2005 when the Frogs went 5-6 and didn't even make it to a bowl game. All of this has been covered up because the Frogs have a great offense that hasn't missed a beat with the departure Andy Dalton. In fact, when all is said and done sophomore quarterback Casey Pachall (PAW-Hall) may be better than Dalton. A solid performance in this game could be a great launch to a successful campaign next year in their Big 12 debut.
Prediction: Colby Cameron and Louisiana Tech certainly showed toughness and perseverance in making a great comeback after a rough start to the season. The Bulldogs may just be scrappy enough to hang with the Frogs for a while as TCU has gotten off to a lot of bad starts throughout the season. TCU definitely has holes in the secondary that can be exposed. If Louisiana Tech wants to win they will have to build a lead early. However, TCU will do whatever they want as long as they show up to play and don't let any let downs they may perceive affect their preparedness. Gary Patterson won't let that happen.
TCU 38 Louisiana Tech 13
MAACO Las Vegas Bowl
December 22, 8 p.m.
ESPN
Arizona State vs. Boise State
And the winner for the most disappointed team after the BCS games were announced for 2011 is... That's right! Boise State! You have to feel bad for Boise here. Two years in a row they opened up the season with impressive wins on the road and climbed up the BCS later only to be beaten by a conference foe they should have beat on a missed field goal. The Broncos come into the Las Vegas bowl boasting and 11-1 record. Arizona State will come into the game with a 6-6 record.
While Boise may be the most disappointed team in the country, Arizona State has been the most disappointing team in the country. Call them the anti-Louisiana Tech. After starting the season 5-1 and gaining a small amount of national notoriety the Sun Devils folded down the stretch going 1-5 in the final six games. The collapse led to the dismissal of head coach Dennis Erickson and the Sun Devils will now be entering a period of transition. An upset over Boise State could give the fans a sense of hope going forward.
If Arizona State is able to pull the upset, they will have to get an extraordinary effort from linebacker Vontaze Burfict. Burfict leads the Sun Devils and tackles and is sure to hear his name called early in the 2012 NFL draft. He may also be the only bright spot for the entire Sun Devils season.
Boise will of course be led by senior quarterback Kellen Moore, and Boise's explosive offense. We all know that Boise can score points but Boise's defensive line remains their greatest strength that tends to be underrated a bit. It will be interesting to watch that impressive defensive line attack the Arizona State offense.
Prediction: This may be the biggest mismatch in the entire bowl season. Boise was literally a few feet away from being in a BCS game so there is always the chance that they come in flat. Even if they do, Boise is better in every facet of the game and should have no problem handling the Sun Devils. Even if Burfict has 35 tackles and 3 sacks Moore and the Bronco offense will look to take out their frustrations on Arizona State; this one could get ugly.
Boise State 45 Arizona State 20
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Nevada vs Southern Miss
Rounding out the trio of mid major teams playing this week that could have went to the BCS are the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Larry Fedora's team only lost two games this year. Both single digit losses to teams that they were obviously better than (@ Marshall and @ UAB). The country saw just how good the Golden Eagles could be when they ran over the highly rated and unbeaten Houston Cougars 49-28 in the C-USA championship game.
Nevada comes into this game with a 7-5 record in a year marked with inconsistency as they were forced to replace quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The Wolf Pack are lead on offense by wide receiver Rishard Matthews who has at least one receiving touchdown in his last four games and has amassed 91 catches for 1,364 yards and 8 touchdowns. Nevada will definitely look to get Matthews involved early and often.
Prediction: Southern Miss definitely has the advantage of momentum coming off of the surprising blowout victory over Houston. However, head coach Larry Fedora is headed to North Carolina next year and weird things can happen when a coach who is on his way out coaches his former team for the bowl game. As long as Southern Miss does not let that affect them it should be their game for the taking.
Southern Miss 27 Nevada 20
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