GoDaddy.com Bowl, Arkansas State (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (10-3), Mobile, Alabama Ladd Peebles Stadium- Kickoff 2100 ET (9pm)
Arkansas State
Sun Belt offensive player of the year Ryan Aplin is a dual threat QB passing for 3,235 yards with 18 touchdowns and running for a team-high 605 with nine scores for the Red Wolves. ASU has averaged over 38-points per game over the past six contests.
Aplin’s favorite target is senior Dwayne Frampton, who set a school record with 1,125 receiving yards on 90 catches.
Sun Belt defensive player of the year Brandon Joiner ranks among the national leaders with 12 sacks. The senior defensive end paces a unit that gives up 19.3 points per game.
The Red Wolves hope to continue their success without coach Hugh Freeze who left to take the head coaching job at Mississippi. While former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was named Arkansas State’s next coach last month current assistant coach David Gunn will guide the team in Mobile.
Northern Illinois
NIU features versatile QB Chandler Harnish, the MAC offensive player of the year who owns 20 school records. Harnish completed 63% of his passes for a career-high 2,942 yards while rushing for 1,382 and having his hand in 37 touchdowns – 11 rushing and 26 passing.
The Huskies rank 10th nationally with 481.8 yards per game and ninth with an average of 247.6 rushing yards.
Three Huskies receivers have caught at least 39 passes, led by senior Nathan Palmer, who set career highs with 46 receptions, 683 yards and seven TDs.
The Huskie defense has had its share of problems ranking in the bottom third of the nation allowing 31.1 points per game. However, they did not give up a second-half point in rallying from 20 down to beat Ohio 23-20 in the MAC championship game
NIU has a 4-7 bowl record while ASU is 0-1; these teams have met seven times with NIU holding a 6-1 edge winning most recently in 1996 31-30.
Comment: This will be a fun game to watch after the low-scoring NFL Playoffs. Considering their recent ASU coach change give the edge to NIU and pushing the MAC to an unprecedented 4-1 bowl record this year.
The teams had a common opponent this season, each losing to Boise State. The Rockets suffered a 40-15 home defeat to the Broncos on Sept. 16, and the Falcons lost 37-26 on the road Oct. 22.
Notes:
Air Force
The Falcons’ are a strong running team via the triple option; Air Force is second in the FBS in rushing at 320.3 yards a contest.
Asher Clark leads the way with 1,096 rushing yards, while Mike DeWitt has run for 543 and QB Tim Jefferson 492. DeWitt and Jefferson are tied with a team-high 10 rushing TDs, and Air Force has run for 38 scores – fourth in the FBS.
Air Force may have to rely on the pass a bit more because Toledo has been solid against the run allowing an average of 123.2 yards…but their pass defense has been terrible ranking 109th out of 120 FBS schools in pass defense at 278 ypg.
Toledo
The Rockets averaged 42.3 points this season – best in the Mid-American Conference and eighth nationally – and since the start of November they average an FBS-best 53.8.
Running a spread offense the Rockets averaged 221.2 yards rushing and 272.0 passing, one of 14 FBS schools above 200 in both categories.
WR Eric Page is third in the nation with 112 receptions for 1,123 yards and 10 TDs.
Toledo’s ground game has also excelled with Adonis Thomas amassing 648 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in his last four games. Thomas leads the Rockets in rushing with 963 yards and is tied with Morgan Williams for the team lead with 11 touchdown runs; Thomas and Williams could be poised for big games against Air Force, which ranks 113th against the run at 227.8 yards a game.
Nick’s Pick: Air Force 41 – Toledo 40
Comment: The Rockets can really light up the score board but a suspect defense playing against a very disciplined and efficient USAFA offense may be the difference. If the Rockets can eliminate turnovers and penalties they will win; they have yet to really show that sort of discipline this season against the better teams on their schedule. I expect this one to go to the wire.
The Broncos rank among the national leaders in scoring (35.6 ppg) and passing (328.8 ypg).
Western Michigan has lost each of its previous four bowl appearances, most recently in 2008 to Rice in the Texas Bowl.
The Broncos are led by All-American receiver Jordan White, who leads the nation with 127 receptions for 1,646 yards. The senior has 16 touchdown catches, including nine over the last four games while averaging 163.5 yards; with 3,922 career receiving yards, White is 110 shy of becoming the MAC’s all-time leader.
QB Alex Carder will be back throwing to White after missing the Broncos’ 68-19 victory over Akron in their regular season finale with a separated shoulder. Despite missing that game, Carder ranked among the top 20 quarterbacks nationally in yards (3,434), touchdowns (28) and completion percentage (67.2).
Western ranked second-to-last in the MAC in total defense giving up 434.1 yards per game, tackle Drew Nowak was named the league’s defensive player of the year after recording 20 tackles for loss.
Purdue
The Boilermakers totaled 80 points in the final three contests, converting 52.7 percent of their third downs, after scoring 70 in the previous four while making 27.5 percent on third down.
Defensively, the Boilermakers boast one of the best interior defenders in the nation in Kawann Short. The junior ranked 13th nationally with 17 tackles for loss and was tied for fourth in the Big Ten with 6 1/2 sacks.
Purdue did give up 26.4 points per game to rank near the bottom of the Big Ten.
The Boilermakers, 8-7 in bowl games, are making their first postseason appearance since beating Central Michigan 51-48 in the 2007 Motor City Bowl at Ford Field.
Western lost at Michigan and Illinois this season and have dropped six straight to Big Ten opponents since a 23-17 win over the Illini at Ford Field on Nov. 8, 2008; Purdue and Western Michigan will match up for the third time ever; the Boilermakers won 28-24 at home in the most recent meeting in 2002.
Nick’s Pick: Purdue 41 – Western 37
Comment: Expect an offensive showdown in Detroit was the Broncos can score points; unfortunately they also give up a ton. Western can win this game but they have yet to win a bowl game in their long football history.
Expect a close contest where both the Temple Owls and the Wyoming Cowboys want to be in this bowl and both want to win and build momentum for 2012.
Temple RB Bernard Pierce tore up the 2009 Eagle Bowl, can he enchant the New Mexico Bowl 2011? (Icon SMI)
Somehow you have to figure that when the game is on the line, Temple’s Bernard Pierce will be the guy to pull them through.
Notes:
Temple
Temple posted a school-record three straight seasons of at least eight victories.
RB Bernard Pierce finished third in the FBS with a single-season school record 25 TDs and 13th with 1,381 rushing yards.
Pierce, who could be playing in his final game before going pro, seems likely to find plenty of running room against a Cowboys defense that’s surrendering 230.1 rushing yards per game – sixth worst in the nation.
Temple’s defense ranks third in the nation with 13.8 points allowed per game.
The Owls are participating in the fourth bowl game in school history.
Wyoming
The Cowboys rank fourth in the country in turnover margin at 1.25 and allowed only 11 sacks – tied for 11th.
Wyoming is headed back to the New Mexico Bowl for the second time in three seasons behind Mountain West freshman of the year QB Brett Smith who finished third in the conference with a 126.2 rating after throwing for 2,495 yards along with 18 TDs and eight interceptions.
Wyoming has split its 12 previous bowl appearances, winning two in a row following six consecutive defeats.
The Cowboys won the only meeting in this series 38-23 in 1990.
Expect the USU defense to hold Ohio in check on “Smurf Turf.”
Notes:
Ohio
Ohio’s run defense which ranked third in the MAC, allowing 126.4 yards per game, and kept two of its last four opponents under 70.
Ohio is appearing in a bowl for a third straight year for the first time in school history but has yet to win one; the Bobcats’ 0-5 mark in postseason play includes three defeats under Frank Solich.
QB Tyler Tettleton threw for 3,082 yards and 26 touchdowns and is a threat on the ground after rushing for 627 yards and nine scores.
The only meeting between these teams came in 1994, when Utah State won 5-0 at Ohio.
Utah State
Finished second in the WAC and is riding a five-game winning streak averages 277.5 yards rushing per game which ranks to ranks 6th in the FBS.
Robert Turbin is 10th in the nation with 118.0 rushing yards per game, including seven 100-yard efforts, and was named the WAC offensive player of the year.
Utah State features the WAC’s top-ranked defense, having allowed 368.0 yards per game.
The Aggies are 1-5 all-time in bowl games with their only win coming over Ball State in the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl.
