Daily Blog • Saturday, December 31st

 

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL
Saturday, December 31st @ 12:00 p.m.
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TEXAS A&M (6-6) VS NORTHWESTERN (6-6)
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
A.O.R
TEXAS A&M 205
290
37
2.5
•••
 100.6
NORTHWESTERN
102
270
26
2.1
-
 96.9
In the 1st meeting between these programs one long postssn losing streak will end as A&M has lost their L/5 with their lone win S/’95 (1-9) coming in the defunct Galleryfurniture.com Bowl which was played in the Astrodome. The Ags are 1-4 vs B10 tms in bowls. NW is in its 4th str bowl under Fitzgerald where they are 0-3 but all have been by a TD or less. He has made it a primary goal to get the program’s 2nd ever bowl win as they’ve lost their L/8 S/’48. The Ags are cch’d here by DC DeRuyter after HC Sherman got the ax. College Station is less than a 2 hr drive from Houston so Maroon should flood the stands but Fitzgerald is familiar with the terrain making an estimated 100 recruiting trips over the yrs to the area as 5 Cats are from Houston. A&M was 1-4 on the road TY but were only outscored by 1 ppg while outgaining foes 498-386. NW was 3-3 on the road outscoring foes 32-30 and outgaining them 440-433. A&M went 3-6 vs bowl tms outscoring them 37-32 and outgaining them 509-414. NW was 1-5 vs bowl squads getting outscored 35-27 and outgained 429-418. The Aggies have 7 Sr st’r among 17 upperclassmen while the Cats have 10 Sr’s and 16. At first glance clearly the Aggies have the better personnel on offense, defense and ST's but I do think NW's QB Persa will make things interesting in what should be a high scoring and entertaining bowl.
PHIL’S FORECAST: TEXAS A&M 40 NORTHWESTERN 31

 

SUN BOWL
Saturday, December 31st @ 2:00 p.m.
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UTAH (7-5) VS GEORGIA TECH (8-4)
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
A.O.R
UTAH 140
145
22
2.0
•••
 93.5
GEORGIA TECH
265
105
22
2.8
-
 97.1
GT and Utah have met one time prior which also occurred in the postseason when the Utes upset the Yellow Jackets 38-10 in the Emerald Bowl in HC Whittingham’s 1st yr taking over the reigns from Urban Meyer (Whittingham 5-1 in bowls with only outright loss coming LY to Boise). 9th consec bowl for Utah and 2nd visit to the Sun Bowl although that appearance was in ‘39 (26-0 win over NM). No common opp’s faced TY but the Utes do have a solid sked edge of #27-73. The Utes were 4-2 on the road TY but just 3-4 vs bowl caliber squads (outgained 340-309) but faced just one of those tms (UCLA) over their final 5 gms. Utah has 6 Sr st’rs among 18 upperclassmen while GT has 6 Sr’s among 12 upperclassmen. This is a long distance for GT fans and last year sold tickets for $14 to attract a crowd. It’s obvious that the game matches GT’s offense vs Utah’s D. Teams have been able to slow the Johnson-coached option as they’ve totaled an avg of just 8 ppg the L/3 bowls. Utah’s D may not get recognition, but they are a stout unit that will benefit from the extra time and at least slow the Yellow Jackets.
PHIL’S FORECAST: UTAH 24 GEORGIA TECH 23

 

FIGHT HUNGER BOWL
Saturday, December 31st @ 3:30 p.m.
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UCLA (6-7) VS ILLINOIS (6-6)
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
A.O.R
UCLA 188
140
22
2.0
•••
 106.4
ILLINOIS
167
140
19
2.8
-
 100.1
“The Wilted Rose Bowl” as IL began the season 6-0 for the 1st time S/’51 but now has the dubious distinction of being the 1st FBS program to head into a bowl with a 6 gm losing skid which saw HC Zook axed. UCLA got a waiver from the NCAA to get here w/a 6-7 rec’d after losing the P12 Title gm to UO and dismissing HC Neuheisel (both tms interim HC’s here). UCLA leads the series 6-5 with a 4 gm win streak incl 2-1 in bowls. The 2 had a common opp in Ariz St who they both beat: IL 17-14 at home despite being outgained by 122 yds while UCLA upset ASU 29-28 while being outgained by 49 yds. IL is 4-9 in bowls with Zook getting his only postssn win LY 38-14 over Bay in the Texas Bowl. UCLA had just one other bowl trip in the Neuheisel era which was a 30-21 win over Temple in the EagleBank Bowl in ‘09. IL went 3-6 vs bowl opp TY outgaining them by 37 ypg and being outscored by a little over 2 ppg. The Bruins faced 8 bowl caliber tms going 2-6 while being outscored 38-21 and outgained 454-379. IL last played on Nov 26 while UCLA ended on Dec 2nd. Large sked edge to the Bruins as they have ply’d my overall toughest slate compared to IL’s #47. This very well may be the 1st ever bowl with the tms having a comb losing rec’d at 12-13. UCLA is just the 10th bowl tm S/’80 to have a losing rec’d. They now both make long trips to salvage a winning or .500 rec’d. IL has a large defensive edge and when they have the ball, they’re happy to run it and I'll go with the Illini here.
PHIL’S FORECAST: ILLINOIS 24 UCLA 21


LIBERTY BOWL
Saturday, December 31st @ 3:30 p.m.
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CINCINNATI (9-3) VS VANDERBILT (6-6)
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
A.O.R
CINCINNATI 118
165
20
2.4
•
 98.7
VANDERBILT
157
285
29
2.4
-
 100.8
These 2 have met 7x’s with Vandy owning a 4-3 lead (last meeting in ‘94). This is the Cats 1st ever trip to the Liberty Bowl as the SEC generally meets the CUSA Champ. HC Jones is in his 1st bowl with UC however he did coach his former squad C Mich in 2 postseason gms (0-2, did not coach in ‘09 GMAC Bowl). This will mark VU Franklin’s 1st bowl (inaugural ssn as HC). UC and VU both ply’d Conn and Tenn TY with both beating the Huskies and each losing to the Vols (Vandy lost in OT). UC went 3-2 vs bowl tms TY being outgained by 10 ypg in those meetings while VU went just 1-5 being outscored (25-20) and outgained (393-323). UC went 4-2 away from home while VU posted a 1-4 mark. Sked edge does favor Vandy here as they played my #30 toughest vs Cincy’s #103. UC has 10 Sr st’rs among 16 upperclassmen while Vandy has 7 Sr st’rs and 15 upperclassmen. Cincy has the offensive edge while Vandy has the defensive edge even with Collaros being able to participate. Cincy has tasted success in the recent past, but this is only Vandy’s 2nd bowl appearance since 1982. Huge sked edge as VU survived the SEC ssn while UC faced one of the weaker skeds among BCS teams.
PHIL’S FORECAST: VANDERBILT 26 CINCINNATI 23


CHICK-fil-A BOWL
Saturday, December 31st @ 7:30 p.m.
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VIRGINIA (8-4) VS AUBURN (7-5)
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
A.O.R
VIRGINIA 154
215
21
2.7
-
 96.8
AUBURN
156
190
25
2.6
••••
 101.6
Very unusual that two unranked tms are in the Chick-fil-A. These 2 have split their previous meetings with Aub winning in ‘97 28-17 and UVa shutting out the Tigers in ‘99, 19-0. Virginia exceeded expectations TY with 5 close wins by a comb 15 pts. The Cavs handed GT its 1st loss and then defeated UM and FSU on the road (4-1). They were 1 win from the ACC Title gm but lost a 38-0 loss to rival VT. This is UVa’s 18th bowl but 1st since their 31-28 loss to TTech in the ‘07 Gator Bowl. This is Aub’s 11th bowl gm in the L/12Y (7-3) and their 3rd time here during that span (1-1). The Tigers also played here in the SEC Champ gm LY (56-17 win over SC). UVa HC London is in his 2nd yr so this is his 1st bowl although he was DC/asst here for the previous 5 (3-2). HC Chizik is 2-0 in bowls naturally winning the Nat’l Title LY. UVa was 3-4 vs 7 bowl caliber tms being outscored 26-17 and outgained 377-361. The Tigers were 1-4 on the road TY getting outscored 36-14 (-136 yd) while they went 4-5 vs bowl tms getting outscored 33-21 and outgained 427-311. UVa has 13 Sr among 19 upperclassmen st’rs while the Tigers only have 5 Sr’s among 12 upperclassmen. This bowl has had 15 consecutive sellouts and London is hoping UVa’s fan base (doesn’t travel well) will respond since they only sold 10,500 for their last bowl ‘07. Auburn is one of the youngest bowl tms with only 5 Sr starters, yet they played one of the toughest schedules. The progression they made throughout the yr and the bowl practices will make them the superior tm here despite the losses of their DC and RB Dyer (OC Malzahn will still cch here).
PHIL’S FORECAST: AUBURN 27 VIRGINia 20