| Daily Blog • Wednesday, December 28th |
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MILITARY BOWL |
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TOLEDO (8-4) VS AIR FORCE (7-5) |
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Rushing |
Passing |
Points |
TO’s |
ST |
A.O.R |
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| TOLEDO | 247 | 215 |
39 |
2.3 |
- |
91.8 |
| AIR FORCE | 268 |
190 |
37 |
2.5 |
••• |
93.9 |
| First meeting. Toledo is 2-6 vs current MW tms incl a 40-15 loss to Boise at home TY. AF hasn’t played a MAC tm since the late ‘70’s. This is the Rockets 12th all-time bowl (7-4) and while it is their 6th since ‘01 it is just their 2nd since ‘06. LY the Rockets blew a 24-7 lead and lost 34-32 to FIU in what was HC Beckman’s 1st and only bowl as a HC. AF had lofty expectations to start the ssn, but after a rough Oct, needed a win over CSU in the finale to land a bowl. With that win, they’ve won 7 or more in 5 str yrs, a schl rec’d. Falcons are 2-2 in bowls under Calhoun but 2-0 the L/2Y and he is the only cch in AF hist to lead his tm to bowls in his 1st 5Y with the prog. Toledo went 2-3 vs bowl tms but 2 losses were by a comb 8 pts. Falcons went 0-5 vs bowl tms being outscored 39-24 and outgained 431-424. UT tied for the MAC West but missed the Champ gm due to a head-to-head loss to NI, but should be excited here, while AF in the Military Bowl is a no brainer. I like the stability of the coaching staff at AF in this and I'll take the Falcons in a tight high scoring affair. | ||||||
PHIL’S FORECAST: AIR FORCE 38 TOLEDO 35 |
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HOLIDAY BOWL |
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CALIFORNIA (7-5) VS TEXAS (7-5) |
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Rushing |
Passing |
Points |
TO’s |
ST |
A.O.R |
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| CALIFORNIA | 115 | 185 |
21 |
2.1 |
- |
104.0 |
| TEXAS | 175 |
140 |
22 |
2.7 |
- |
97.1 |
| These tms face each other for the 1st time S/’70 with UT having a 4-0 series lead. After missing out on the postssn LY both ret to bowls at a familiar site as Cal is making its 4th visit to Qualcomm (ply’d Utah ‘09 Poinsettia) while UT plays here for the 5th time (2-2; last in ‘07). Tedford is 5-2 as HC in bowls and Brown is 12-7. These 2 have one common foe in UCLA as Cal was upset 31-14 being outgained by 53 yds with a -3 TO margin while the Horns beat the Bruins 49-20 in the Rose Bowl outgaining them by 171 yds. Cal has ply’d 7 bowl caliber tms going 2-5 being outscored by 7 ppg but outgaining those foes by 23 ypg while UT has played 9 bowl elig tms going 4-5 being outscored by 4 ppg despite outgaining them by 10 ypg. The experience edge goes to Cal who has 18 upperclassmen starters with UT playing the most frosh in Brown’s tenure. The Longhorns missed the postssn last year for the 1st time in 12 seasons so falling to the Holiday bowl is not the negative you may think. This is very reminiscent of the ‘07 season when Brown was disappointed with a 9-3 year and demanded a top-notch performance, and the Horns delivered with an easy win over #12 Ariz St. Texas’ offensive slump down the stretch can be attributed to their top 2 RB’s being out and they are healthy here. | ||||||
PHIL’S FORECAST: TEXAS 27 CALIFORNIA 20 |
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