Predicted Finish: Notre Dame 17 vs. Florida State 24
This is the battle of “What-Could-Have-Beens.” Notre Dame was supposed to take the next step and become that pass-happy powerhouse that we were all accustomed to under Chip Kelly. We didn’t see it. In fact, the Fighting Irish did not settle on their QB until just before their bye week, half-way through the season. The defense kept them in games, but their offense often times failed to win them. The ‘Noles on the other hand saw one of the largest improvements in overall defense in recent years, but their inept offense never seemed to be able to take advantage of the favorable situations that the defense put them in. With the combination of numerous injuries, the inability to run the ball, and QB accuracy issues, this was one of the worst offenses FSU has had under Jimbo Fisher’sdirections. Both teams come to this math-up with 8-4 records.
Notre Dame has a very clear advantage in running game as they averaged 166 yards per game on the ground, compared to the ‘Noles who barely eclipsed 100 yards per game. The Golden Domers thunder (Jonas Gray) and lightening (Cierre Wood) combo rushed for almost 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns. Florida State will rely on true freshman Davonta Freeman to shoulder the load with senior Jermaine Thomas sprinkled in. The passing games, headed by QB EJ Manuel for the Seminoles and QBTommyReese for Notre Dame, will struggle to find a whole lot through the air as both secondaries are very formidable. This will come down to the better WR group, and outside of Michael Floyd, the Irish don’t have a whole lot there. On the other hand, FSU has too many WR to know what to do with, but keep an eye on true freshman Rashad Greene, who had a breakout season.
This game will come down to defense and FSU should have the edge here as their #5 ranked defense in the nation should make it tough to run the ball, which will put the game in Reese’s hands.
This will be a battle between underachievers. Both teams enter this bowl game as middle-ranked teams in the respective divisions and both have 7-5 records. Louisville looked to be one of the main competitors for the Big East title early in the season, but the lack of passing game and leaky secondary provided issues for the Cardinals down the stretch. NC State on the other hand never seemed to show any consistency throughout the season; this was best exemplified by their shutout loss against the Florida State Seminoles on October 29. However, things turned around just a couple of weeks later and they dismanted the ACC Champion Clemson Tigers on November 19th.
Louisville enters this game with a slight edge in the running game, headed up by talented duo of Dominique Brown and Victor Anderson who combined for nearly 1,000 yards and 7 scores. NC State never really found much of a running game as they seemed to change personnel like a baby has diaper changes. NC State does have a significant edge in the passing game as QB Mike Glennon showed poise and accuracy all season long. The Cardinals’ Teddy Bridgewater will surely use his legs in this one, something that NC State should be used to from their times of enjoying QB Russell Wilson. This game will come down to the better passing game, and NC State, with the help of TE George Bryan and WR TJ Graham, should come out ready to air it out.
A pair of 7-5 teams square off in one of those games that leaves us asking, why do we send almost half of the FBS teams to a bowl game again?
Missouri lost every conference game against a team with a winning record except for Texas. Don’t worry, though, they beat the 7-5 Longhorns and every Big 12 team with 6 wins or less. North Carolina didn’t quite have the same predictability, but were pretty close especially considering they’re from the ACC – a conference that in the past has tended to consist of Virginia Tech, 10 teams with 5-7 wins, and Duke. (or so it has seemed) Read the rest of this entry →
This game might not be what is seems. First things first, let’s look at that 7-5 record for Nevada. Delving into the L’s, we see that 2 of those losses were to Boise and Oregon, no shame there. There are probably about 115 other teams in the nation that would also be 0-2 vs those juggernauts. That leaves 3 real earned losses, a 1-point loss to Texas Tech in a shoot out (hello, its Texas Tech), and a pair of consecutive 4-point losses to Louisiana Tech and Utah State. LT and USU of course are bowling this season, TT just missed it at 5-7 but Nevada faced the Raiders early in the season, when they were still beat-Oklahoma-good, before they were ravaged by injuries. Nevada led in the 4th Q in all 3 games. Read the rest of this entry →
Their recent run of success is not likely to be equaled by any team any time soon or possibly ever. You have to go back to 2007 to find a loss by more than a FG. You’d also have to go back to 2007 to find a season with more than 1 loss (they had 2 in 07). From 2008 through 2011 (Kellen Moore’s tenure oddly enough), Boise is an absolutely unbelievable 49-3 (yes, this will be their 50th win over the last 4 seasons!). After the 1-point bowl loss to TCU in 2008, the Broncos are mere inches from stringing together an unheard of 4-straight undefeated regular seasons (2 wide kicks in the OT loss to conference champ Nevada last year, and the one that barely missed as time expired in the instant-classic 1-point loss to conference champ TCU this season). Read the rest of this entry →
