St. Petersburg Bowl Pick

December 21, 2010

Bowl Season got off to a slow start with three games on Saturday that all turned out to be duds. I was actually bored watching games for once. After a two day layoff, bowl season is right back with one of its most even matchups between Louisville and Southern Miss tonight.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl: Louisville (6-6) vs. Southern Miss (8-4), 8:00pm on ESPN
Austin Davis, Southern Miss junior quarterback, one of my favorite players in the country, has the chance to pass Brett Favre as Southern Miss’ all-time touchdown scorer. To accomplish that, he must score two touchdowns against Louisville’s 11th-ranked defense.
First year head coach of Louisville, Charlie Strong, has worked wonders on both sides of the ball. He has turned Louisville group of veterans into a competitive football team after underachieving in past years. The Louisville offense goes as far as running back Bilai Powell takes them. Powell wasn’t even the starter coming into the season and eclipsed 1,000 yards and is now on the NFL radar. One more big game for Powell against an undersized Southern miss defense could cap a great season.
The Big East doesn’t exactly have the most potent offenses to go against but Louisville’s defense, giving up 15.7 points per game, held West Virginia to 17 points and kept Pittsburgh to 256 total yards.
Davis for Southern Miss is having a great comeback year after a torn ACL sidelined him last season. The Golden Eagles haven’t been able to avoid injuries altogether however as top receiver and top NFL prospect DeAndre Brown has only played in five games. Even without him, Southern Miss has averaged 45 points per game against Conference-USA defenses, but having Brown healthy would be a huge advantage.
Louisville beat Southern Miss 25-23 last year. The Cardinals are much improved. I’ve seen both teams play just three times this year, and I like Louisville’s defense and I like Powell to have a 100 yard game, but Davis will break the Brett Favre record.
The Big East will continue its recent domination over Conference USA
Prediction: Louisville 24, Southern Miss 21


Recapping Saturday

New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 18
Prediction: BYU 34, UTEP 17
UTEP had negative five total yards in the first quarter while BYU’s offense clicked on every level. Freshman quarterback Jake Heaps had precision passing going for 264 yards and four touchdowns. UTEP senior quarterback Trevor Vittatoe was clearly bothered by a preexisting ankle injury as he threw three key interceptions. Senior running back Donald Buckram was also hobbled by a preexisting injury and was ineffective.
Result: BYU 52, UTEP 24
My MVP: Jake Heaps, QB, BYU

uDrove Humanitarian Bowl, Dec. 18
Prediction: Northern Illinois 33, Fresno State 28
Fresno State opened with a nice drive to score first but it was all Northern Illinois after that. Playing for interim head coach Tom Matukewicz, NIU came out with all the energy on offense and defense. Matukewicz himself was pure entertainment. Cool guy. NIU junior QB Chandler Harnish had another great day and burned Fresno on QB Draw plays for his two rushing touchdowns. NIU’s defense got pressure on Fresno senior QB Ryan Colburn all day long and Fresno sophomore running back Robbie Rouse was not 100% as he played with a club on his broken hand. NIU got the run game with Chad Spann going in the second half and it was over. NIU had five sacks while the offensive line held the nation’s No. 1 sack duo from Fresno with zero sacks. The Huskies win a school-record 11 games this season. Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren will take over as Northern Illinois head coach.
Result: Northern Illinois 40, Fresno State 17
My MVP: Chandler Harnish, QB, Northern Illinois

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 18
Prediction: Troy 31, Ohio 20
The SEC beat the Big Ten again…oh wait, nevermind, I meant the Sun Belt beat the MAC again. Essentially the same thing. The Sun Belt proved too fast for the MAC again and Ohio couldn’t keep up with the pace of Troy at all. Troy took a 38-7 halftime lead and I was having a hard time justifying watching that game over the Penn State volleyball match. Troy redshirt sophomore QB Corey Robinson had 285 yards and four touchdowns—at halftime. Ohio senior QB Boo Jackson didn’t start because of academic issues and by the time he got going it was too late. This game was not nearly as close as the score suggests and this game ended a dud of a Saturday on bowl season’s opening weekend.
Result: Troy 48, Ohio 21
My MVP: Corey Robinson, QB, Troy