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The BCS bowls don’t get started next week,
but there are still three great bowl matchups
on New Year’s Eve. In fact, there is so
much back-to-back football action Saturday you
can spend the entire day camped out on your
couch. The oddly-named Meineke Car Care Bowl
gets things started early in the day, followed
by the Liberty Bowl. Don’t have any New
Year’s Eve nighttime plans? Stay in and
catch the action in the Houston Bowl.
Here’s a closer look at
all three Bowl matchups:
New Years Eve Bowl Game
Picks - Meineke Car Care Bowl – Bank of
America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
South Florida (6-5) vs. N.C. State (6-5) –
11:00 am EST
The South Florida Bulls didn’t
finish off their season exactly as they would
have liked, but they could cap off their inaugural
season in the Big East with a win in their school’s
first-ever bowl appearance in the Meineke Car
Care Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulls dropped their final
two games of the season as their offense disappeared,
scoring only a combined 23 points. For the Bulls
to pull out a win Saturday they’ll need
a lot better performance from their offense
and its leader, running back Andre Hall. The
senior back rushed for a Big East-best 1256
yards with 13 touchdowns this season. Bulls’
quarterback Pat Julmiste wasn’t nearly
as impressive, passing for only 1398 yards and
six touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions.
If Julmiste and Hall continue to struggle as
they did at the end of the regular season, the
Bulls may have to rely on their defense for
a win. The South Florida defense often compensated
for the lacklustre offense during the regular
season, as they allowed only 18.4 points pre
game.
While the Bulls stalled at the
end of the season, the Wolfpack thrived with
a pair of wins to make them bowl-eligible. This
game could turn out to be more of a home game
for N.C. State, with boatloads of their fans
expected to be in attendance with the venue
so near to their school. For the Wolfpack to
send their fans home happy they’ll need
freshman running back Andre Brown to continue
coming up big as he did late in the regular
season. Brown was limited to only 42 yards on
13 carries in the Wolfpack's first six games,
but became the pillar of the offense in the
last five as he racked up 574 yards and four
touchdowns. N.C. State also has a bruiser on
defense who could be a key component to a bowl
victory. Defensive end Mario Williams set a
new team record with 13 sacks this season and
leads a Wolfpack defense that held opponents
to only 15.8 points per game during their 4-1
late-season run.
The oddsmakers don’t expect
the Bulls to make good in their first bowl appearance,
as they have set the Wolfpack as a 7-point favorite.
New Years Eve Bowl Game
Picks - Liberty Bowl – Liberty Bowl Memorial
Stadium, Memphis, Tenn
Fresno State (8-4) vs. Tulsa (8-4) – 1:00
pm EST
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane packed
quite a punch in their first season in the new-look
Conference USA. Tulsa won their last three games,
including the conference championship game over
Central Florida as they were crowned Conference-USA
champions. The icing on the cake would be adding
the Liberty Bowl Championship to their trophy
case.
The Golden Hurricane got through
the season on the arm of quarterback Paul Smith
and a strong defense. Smith posted a 141.9 QB
rating while passing for 2601 yards with 19
touchdowns and six interceptions. His favorite
target was tight end Garrett Mills who set an
NCAA record with 1183 receiving yards and also
hauled in nine touchdowns. The Tulsa defense
could use some improvement in stopping the run,
but was admirable against the pass, leading
the conference with 20 interceptions.
The Fresno State Bulldogs should
consider themselves lucky to be in the Liberty
Bowl. After narrowly missing an upset victory
over the top-ranked USC Trojans, the Bulldogs
garnered a Liberty Bowl bid despite having two
games left. The Bulldogs went on to lose both
of those games, dropping them to third place
in the WAC and knocking them out of the Top
25. If Fresno State hopes to end its three-game
slide in the Liberty Bowl they will need quarterback
Paul Pinegar to return to his early season form.
Pinegar put together a good season with 3122
yards, 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. But
eight of Pinegar’s interceptions came
in the Bulldogs' last three losses.
Despite their late-season troubles,
the oddsmakers expect the Bulldogs to get back
on track after setting them as a 9.5-point favorite.
New Years Eve Bowl Game
Picks - Houston Bowl – Reliant Stadium,
Houston, TX
TCU (10-1) vs. Iowa State (7-4) – 2:30
pm EST
The TCU Horned Frogs may have
been left out of the BCS, but they’ll
still get their shot at a bowl victory in the
Houston Bowl on Saturday. TCU heads into the
game riding a nine-game winning streak, including
a 51-3 pounding of UNLV in their last game.
They may not remember a whole lot of the game
though, considering it took place way back on
November 12. The Horned Frogs have the longest
layoff of any bowl team, 49 days. This should
mean they’re plenty rested, but it might
also mean they’ll be a little bit rusty.
It shouldn’t take long
for the Frogs' offense to shake off any rust.
Quarterback Jeff Ballard has been solid since
replacing the injured Tye Gunn back in September.
Ballard has compiled a 137.6 QB rating while
passing for 1526 yards with 12 touchdowns and
six interceptions. Ballard’s main target,
wideout Cory Rodgers, is also a double-threat
on kickoff returns. Rodgers averages an astounding
31.7 yards per return and went the distance
twice for touchdowns this season.
The Iowa State Cyclones have
had a roller-coaster ride of a season. The Cyclones
started the season 3-0 before dropping their
next three games. Iowa State then followed that
up with a four-game winning streak only to fall
short in their final game of the season, a 24-21
loss to Kansas. That loss ended their shot at
the Big 12 North division title and a shot at
Texas in the championship game. The Cyclones'
offense is led by quarterback Bret Meyer, whose
main target is receiver Todd Blythe. Meyer threw
for 2622 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight
interceptions, with seven of those TDs going
to Blythe. On the ground, Stevie Hicks and Greg
Coleman split most of the carries, but Ryan
Klock led all scorers with 13 touchdowns despite
only getting the ball 54 times, mostly in goal-line
situations.
The Horned Frogs opened as a
small 3.5-point favorite in this game.
Tony George is a documented member of The Professional
Handicappers League.
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