Four Bowl Games to end 2010

December 31, 2010

Yesterday gave us some great games and some controversial calls and finishes. Now to end 2010, we have four more games ending with the Chick-fil-A Bowl and a great matchup between Florida State and South Carolina both with 9-4 records. Speaking of records, SMU is now 7-7 this year. How often do you see that in college? Never.


Meineke Car Care Bowl: Clemson (6-6) vs. South Florida (7-5), Noon on ESPN
Matchup Advantage
Both quarterbacks in this game are baseball players. Clemson’s Kyle Parker was a first round draft pick by the Colorado Rockies as a right fielder and this could be his final college football game though only a junior. There still has been no starting quarterback announced for South Florida but we have to assume it will be the walk-on Bobby Eveld who was a catcher and took over for BJ Daniels when he was injured. I haven’t been able to confirm anything on the health of Daniels.
For Clemson, running back Andre Ellington is out so Jamie Harper will have to carry the load. Harper pounded the ball for 140 yards against both Florida State and Wake Forest late in the season, but if he can’t get going in this game, it’s going to be an offensive struggle like we saw in the season finale against South Carolina.
Neither offense is great to begin with with Clemson being 83rd nationally and South Florida 103rd nationally, but we see it all the time how offenses improve while preparing for bowl games and sometimes the defenses flounder, but these are two great defenses.
Clemson’s defense has an outstanding front seven led by the nation’s sack leader Da’Quan Bowers with 15.5 sacks while South Florida’s defense has an outstanding secondary led by Mistral Raymond. Clemson has a stud safety in DeAndre McDaniels playing his last game, but the Clemson secondary has been susceptible.
Clemson’s not exactly the best offense out there but they’re capable and Kyle Parker is a much better quarterback than he has showed this season and he wants to finish strong. We’ll see if, like Syracuse, South Florida’s defensive numbers are a result of playing against Big East offenses.
South Florida did hold UConn running back Jordan Todman to a 2.8 yards per carry average on 33 carries, but the matchup to watch will be Bowers vs. Jamar Bass, a redshirt senior playing left tackle but not very big at 283 pounds. Bowers is 275.
There’s also a rumor that we may see Clemson freshman quarterback Tajh Boyd who figures to take over if Parker leaves for Pro Baseball.
We expect this to be a low-scoring game, and the way this bowl season has gone, the shootouts have been struggles and the defensive battles have been shootouts.
Prediction: Clemson 24, South Florida 13
Player to watch: Clemson DE Da’Quan Bowers; South Florida KR Lindsey Lamar

Hyundai Sun Bowl: Miami (7-5) vs. Notre Dame (7-5), 2:00pm on CBS
Matchup Advantage
Stephen Morris was the fourth-string freshman quarterback that took over the Miami job after backup AJ Highsmith was hurt, third-string Mark Whipple was benched and most importantly, starter Jacory Harris was hurt. Morris surprisingly played very well and kept the job until hurting his leg in practice so now Harris will get his starting job back for the Sun Bowl.
Now, I don’t know if it was just me, but the way that the news outlets reported that Harris was going to start, they acted as if he had never played and that Miami has no chance to win with him. That’s gotta put a chip on his shoulder and if Harris doesn’t turn the ball over, he’s a great leader. I expect him to have a big game. If you look back, no matter who was playing quarterback, Miami outgained every opponent, win or loss, except Ohio State and Florida. Turnovers have just killed this team that had such high expectations that resulted in the firing of head coach Randy Shannon.
Notre Dame is in a bowl game in Brian Kelly’s first year after declining an invitation to the Hawaii Bowl last year with the turmoil surrounding the program and Charlie Weiss.
I honestly don’t have all the numbers on Notre Dame and haven’t seen them play much this year. I really didn’t care for them, partially because I don’t care for Brian Kelly or NBC. The matchup I do want to see is Michael Floyd against the Miami pass defense, especially with Notre Dame freshman Tommy Rees playing quarterback with running back Armando Allen out.
It’s also a young Notre Dame offensive line going against one of the nation’s leaders in sacks and Allen Bailey who leads the nation in tackles for loss. I’m still not sold that Kelly has fixed the problems on Notre Dame’s defense and I’ll go Miami playing for interim head coach Jeff Stoutland.
Keep in mind though that these are two struggling offenses. Please don’t let this be like the 3-0 Oregon State-Pittsburgh Sun Bowl from 2008.
Prediction: Miami 31, Notre Dame 28

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Central Florida (10-3) vs. Georgia (6-6), 3:30pm on ESPN
Central Florida 
*0-3 in bowl games
*won Conference USA Championship
*outstanding defense against high-powered C-USA offenses. 18 points per game. Ranked No. 12 in the nation defensively
*defensive end/linebacker Bruce Miller's 27 sacks and 44 tackles for loss for his career are both tops among active players.
*need to establish the run game with Ronnie Weaver and Latavius Murray. Crucial to the success of true freshman quarterback Jeff Godfrey who can run as well
*watched five UCF games this year.
Georgia
*6-6 after starting 1-4. Offense caught fire when AJ Green came back from suspension
*defense has given up 10 rushing touchdowns in the last two games, but that number's inflated by Georgia Tech but Central Florida is rushing for 192.5 points per game
*Georgia running back Caleb King academically ineligible.
*Georgia had three defensive players including star linebacker Justin Houston on the AP All-American team despite being a 6-6 team.
*Georgia's trying to avoid it's first losing season in 14 years
*watched three Georgia games this year
Summary
Central Florida is an underdog despite their record but it's time for them to make a statement by beating an SEC team. You wouldn't expect it and probably didn't even realize it, but Central Florida has the best record of all the Florida schools. The defense is legit, but we'll see how the offense fares against an SEC defense. Speed factor in this game is even.
Players to watch: Central Florida DE Bruce Miller; Georgia WR AJ Green
Matchup Advantage
Prediction: Central Florida 27, Georgia 25


Chick-fil-A Bowl: Florida State (9-4) vs. South Carolina (9-4), 7:30pm on ESPN
South Carolina
*Alshon Jeffery. Remember the name.
*Marcus Lattimore. Remember the name.
*Stephon Gilmore had big expectations as a corner this year after a nice freshman and he's been disappointing. See if FSU throws his way a lot because he can make a play or two.
*Florida State undersized but good athletes at linebacker. Pound the ball with Lattimore.
*Stephen Garcia, like always, must limit the mistakes.
*South Carolina leads the SEC in rush defense and sacks
*watched eight South Carolina games this year
Florida State
*Christian Ponder will start. That's huge for the Seminoles. Don't ever count against Ponder.
*The Florida State offensive line will be tested by a good South Carolina run defense and pass rush
*Florida State is No. 2 in the nation in sacks
*Defense has improved every game with Mark Stoops but collapsed at times against Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship
*Greg Reid: outstanding kick return man.
*watched six Florida State games this year
Summary
It's hard for me to go against Christian Ponder, but my pick was made official before I had official word he was starting. I submitted my pick based no EJ Manuel being the FSU quarterback. I'm counting on the South Carolina defense and offensive line. Could be a lot on Stephen Garcia's shoulders, too.
Players to watch: South Carolina WR Alshon Jeffery; Florida State QB Christian Ponder
Matchup Advantage
Prediction: South Carolina 24, Florida State 23