There’s a trio of bowl games on tap for today, and the offenses stand to take the lion’s share of the headlines.
First up is the Humanitarian Bowl this afternoon, where Nevada will look to triumph over ACC foe Maryland on WAC rival Boise State’s home field. Tonight in Houston, you’ve got two of the best signal-callers in the country facing off in the Texas Bowl.
However, the headliner of today’s slate is the 31st edition of the Holiday Bowl, with two top-15 teams facing off in what’s annually one of the most anticipated non-New Year’s Day bowls.
If you want to check out the most up-to-date lines on today’s games from several sports books, check out Doc’s Sports college football odds section.
Below is our take on how things will shake out in today’s games, and make sure you check back tomorrow and onwards for our previews of the rest of the bowl season’s exciting action.
Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, Idaho): Maryland vs. Nevada
Hopefully Maryland’s team will be more excited for the trip to Boise than their fans are.
Maryland’s been quite the up and down team this season. The Terps beat four ranked teams, spent some time in the Top 25 themselves, and controlled their destiny for the ACC title heading into the final few weeks. But, their season featured a loss at Middle Tennessee St., a 31-0 loss at Virginia sandwiched around upsets of Clemson and Wake Forest, and three losses in the last four weeks to miss out on the ACC Atlantic Division title.
As for Nevada, they also come in at 7-5, but they had three losses by seven points or less, and held Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell to one of the worst games of his career.
This one will come down to the run defenses. Maryland’s Da’Rel Scott is closing in on a 1,000 yard season, but he’s been an up and down performer, and he’s going up against one of the top run defenses in the nation (74.5 yards allowed per game). On the flip side, Nevada’s rushing attack is one of the nation’s best, averaging 291.4 yards per game behind QB Colin Kaepernick and RB Vai Taua.
However, with all of the focus on the run, watch out for Maryland QB Chris Turner. Nevada’s pass defense is 119th in the nation, and if Turner is sharp and can get the ball into the hands of top receivers Darrius Heyward-Bey and Danny Oquendo, the Terps could be able to keep up if this one turns into a shootout.
I don’t see a ton of points being scored, but I think Maryland’s run defense will have too much trouble with the Wolf Pack’s rushing attack, and I don’t see their offense falling short, even though Turner could put up good numbers.
Prediction: Nevada 27, Maryland 20
Texas Bowl (Houston, Texas): Rice vs. Western Michigan
It’s a real shame that this one is on the NFL Network and not on, say, ESPN2.
Don’t expect to see much defense in this one. Both teams have offenses that average more than 300 yards passing per game (Rice: 327.8, Western Michigan: 301.2), and pass defenses that are among the worst in the nation.
Rice’s Chase Clement was one of five Conference USA quarterbacks to throw for more than 3,000 yards this season, and he, Tulsa’s David Johnson, and Houston’s Case Keenum have all thrown for more than 40 touchdowns (and should finish with more than 4,000 yards). On top of his passing exploits, Clement has run for 621 yards and 11 touchdowns. The record-setting duo of Clement and Jarett Dillard should hook up several times tonight, and expect to see plenty of versatile tight end James Casey.
Western Michigan’s Tim Hiller doesn’t get the hype that Nate Davis (Ball State) and Dan LeFevour (Central Michigan) do, but he enters today’s game with 74 career touchdown passes - and he’s only a junior. He’s got his own 1,000 yard receiver in Jamarko Simmons, who’s a receiver in a tight end’s body.
The Holiday Bowl will certainly have its share of entertainment, but if you have the NFL Network, I suggest you tune in to this one if you love offense. I don’t see either team having too much success on defense, but I think Rice’s offense is just too much to handle.
Prediction: Rice 45, Western Michigan 37
Holiday Bowl (San Diego, California): Oklahoma State vs. Oregon
Today is the 20th anniversary of Oklahoma State’s lone Holiday Bowl appearance, in which Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders capped off his record season with 222 yards and five touchdowns in a 62-14 rout of Wyoming. Oklahoma State’s quarterback in that game was Mike Gundy, who threw two touchdown passes in the victory.
20 years later, Gundy is a man, and he’s back in San Diego to lead the Cowboys, this time as the head coach.
Oregon’s Mike Bellotti is familiar with the venue as well, as this is Oregon’s third appearance in the Holiday Bowl in nine seasons.
This one has the makings of a shootout, without a doubt. In Oklahoma State’s last game, they gave up 61 points to Oklahoma. In Oregon’s last game, they scored 65 points against Oregon State. Not a good mix there for the Cowboys, is it?
Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli finished the season on a roll, and he‘ll be tucking and running a lot, along with getting the ball in the hands of backs Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount. On the other side, there’s no Barry Sanders, but there is the trio of Zac Robinson, Kendall Hunter, and Dez Bryant, who’ve terrorized many defenses this season.
Both teams actually have top-30 run defenses, but the pass defenses are in the 100s, so it could come down to the arms. Masoli has, but I’d have to give the edge to Robinson.
I’m on the fence as to who I think will win, given that both defenses have major question marks. But, in the end, I’ll take the Ducks to out-point the Cowboys and win a close one.
Prediction: Oregon 48, Oklahoma State 41
