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.
The highest individual honor in American sports will be awarded to the most outstanding player in college football Saturday Night. If I had a vote, it would go a little something like this…
1. Montee Ball, RB Wisconsin
Wisconsin RB Montee Ball deserves the Heisman Trophy - 38 TDs should do it, and the pose above is further proof (Icon SMI)
If Wisky is 13-0 he seems like a shoe-in for the award, 38 total TDs? and he was at his best against the toughest teams on the schedule. 4 TDs against such vaunted defenses as Nebraska and Penn State. 4 TDs in the Big Ten Title game. He even had 2 TDs in each of the losses. Montee Ball did his part to earn the award.
The Badgers were thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to staying perfect this season, on a last second bobbled richochet hail mary loss to Sparty and another last second loss to Ohio State on a busted coverage deep after a long QB scramble. Hell, even with only one of those wins the Badgers might have gotten in over Alabama. one thing is for sure, those losses cannot be pinned on Montee Ball in any way, shape, or form.
Ball has never averaged less than 5.0 YPC in any game this season and has scored at least twice every week. He is also so versatile, registering a catch in 11 games and a receiving TD in 6 games, leading all RBs (with atleast 75 carries) in TD grabs.
Two-thirds human. One-third computer model. Three-thirds controversy. 100% needed in a season with out two lone undefeated teams from major conferences.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) exists to ensure the two best teams meet in the National Title Game. That title game cycles through four sites and bowl committees, as such has some relevance as to selection for those games each year – Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange.
The BCS was designed to balance out the human voter biases by introducing computer rankings, which of course just led to different arguments after settling the original ones. In other words, there is no perfect system so the BCS is about as well constructed as it can be. The only hole in the deus ex machina is the USA Today’s Coaches Poll, widely derided since no coach has the time to watch enough games to make an informed decision – they have their own team and next opponent to worry about!
So how does this system affect this year’s top six teams and their fans so deeply committed to them? Brought to you in partnership with research director Matt Ryan, pros and cons below:
Remember back to that classic finish – four seconds left before what appeared to be overtime and Kirk Cousins flung a 44 yard Hail Mary pass that looked like it was going to be knocked down only to land in the hands of Keith Nichol who then fought and got the ball to break the plane. Amazing finish – Michigan State won 37 – 31.
Keith Nichol celebrates Spartan wim, says Hail Marys afterward.
Wisconsin went into a skid after that loss. This time the Badgers will look to redeem themselves and win the Big Ten Championship by beating the team that has been a thorn in their side recently.
My favorite part of this is we get a rematch from that great game. I was hoping for overtime back in October. Finally I will get to see more of these two teams playing each other now.
The other part I love is that last year these teams shared the Big Ten Championship last year. No sharing this year. We have one more game to decide who gets the newest and most sought after trophy in the Big Ten, the Stagg (Paterno redacted) Championship Trophy.
