Thanks fellas lets hope it ends before I do
UVA (+6) over Minny
The gophers running attack is going to get their yards. Virginia allowed an average of 146.9 rushing yards per game this season, while Minnesota had the second-best rushing attack in the nation and the highest scoring offense in the Big Ten. Cavaliers were one of the ACC's up and down squads coming up with strong wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech, but struggling in defensive collapses against Virginia Tech and Maryland. Which UVA team shows up? Minny has showed the power to run right through teams and then have showed to be a speed bump on the road as teams plow over them. Which Gopher team decides to play? Will it be the one that beat Michigan in Ann Arbor and steamrolled over Michigan State, or will it be the one that collapsed late against Wisconsin and almost gave away a win against Purdue? Well the Minny O-line is GREAT and too strong foir the front three of UVA but the LB's of UVA will be quick enough to read and fill. You cannot STOP Mulroney you can only hope that he does not beat you by himself and that is the game plan for UVA. They will make the Gophers beat them passing the ball WHICH Cuputo (sp) can do but the Wahoos need to be ready for the play action. Like that UVA has had a little time to get Brooks and Lundi heatlhy and Groh has had a little extra time to game plan for the gophers. Truely this game comes down to the UVA offense, can haggens show up and lead this team as he did last season. The ability to make plays is something that makes Haggens very dangerous. The UVA O-line is strong and quick and they pull with the best of them so I expect both RBs to have big days. Which QB will beat the other that is where this game will be decided. Both have talent and can get the job done but the atletic ability of Haggens to make things happen when a play breaks down is important. Against teams with I'll say solid defensive units the Gophers are 0-3 (OSU, Penn St and Iowa). While IMO the Wahoos are 2-2 (W's against FSU/GT and L's agaisnt VT/Miami). Should be a good game but The LB's and Haggens should show up and I'll play on a UVA team that is focused and ready.
UCLA (-3) over N'Western
Northwestern's overall D is the worst in college football. UCLA allows 458 yards and 34 points per game, Northwestern allows 483 yards and 32 points per game. UCLA's offense cranks out 429 yards and 38 points per game, and Northwestern's attack averages 493 yards and 32 points per outing. (SMALL PLAY OVER 74!!) Sutton vs Drew in a battle of the running backs, both are explosive and both can breat off a long play. Drew a better pass catcher than Sutton but not by much. Northwestern's Brett Basanez finished the year fifth in the nation in total offense with 3,206 passing yards and 391 rushing yards with 19 touchdown passes and seven rushing scores. He is a better QB than Drew Olson. But don't et me wrong Olsen can play an All-America level with 31 touchdown passes and only 3 interceptions. PLUS he was knocked out of last years bowl so he will be ready to get into this game and he should fire up his teammates. UCLA was outscored 311-265 in the first 3 quarters, and outscored opponents 142-55 in the 4th. (SMALL PLAY N'WESTER +1.5 FIRST HALF) Northwestern has one of the nation's worst pass rushes with a mere 11 sacks and is dead last in tackles for loss with a mere 36. Olsen will have tones of time to throw and that is good news for Bruin backers because he can pick aaprt thie wildcat secondary. Also like to see Drew back in the return game to break a few big plays the more he touches the ball the better the bruins play. Look for Mercades Lewis to have a huge game on the smaller poor LB's of N'Western. McDonagal (sp) is the only LB that can play well and he will more than likely shadow Drew or Lewis and he has the speed for neither.
BIG PLAY
So. Car (-4) over Mizzou
Mizzou shouldn't be in a bowl game, they played a poor schedual and lost all the games of importance (Texas, Kansas, Colorado, KState) and really only beat Nebraska and Baylor! They had lvery close games with Okla St and Iowa St as well. The tigers are a terrible road team and it showed in the production all season. Still Mizzou has 4 year starter Brad Smith, Smith goes into the post-season with 8,517 career passing yards, 55 touchdown passes, 4,139 rushing yards, and 42 touchdowns. All those numbers and he really hasn't been as productive as expected. SO STOP SMITH and you stop the Tigers, well The Gamecock secondary is a rock allowing 176 yards per gamed. This means the LB's are free to shadow Smith and limit his big plays which hurts the Mizzou offense. Smith if contained will almost crush the Mizzou offense. Also Smith looks to Coffman a lot, the 6'7 TE is a house and the LBs need to hawk him on key plays to keep drives alive. All that being said Spurrir is a very good college coach with a team that believes in him and the game plan. They have the talent and ability to play with anyone and have shown the ability to beat some of the better teams in the NCAA. Because they have struggled in the past, they should be very pumped to be in this bowl and spurrir as well. The Gamecock coaching staff is very good at eliminating a teams best player and they should get all over Smith and this mizzou team. On offense this is not the Spurrir fun and gun but they have big play guys and can get it done passing and running. Too much for Mizzou who IMO is not a very good team and should be run over if SC comes ready to play which I feel they do.
SC (-2) over Mizzou 1st half
Miami (-6.5) over LSU
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE LSU and Miami are similar teams with sound defenses and suspect offenses. The Tigers get a blow with the loss of Russell, they are not strapped at QB because Flynn is a very good pocket passes but still trying to stay in the pocket against this UM team isn't easy. Still LSU should ralley around this guy and it should motivate them on offense.The Hurricane DB's match up well with the NFL-caliber LSU WR's, Miami leads the nation in pass defense. LSU went 9-0 when it ran for more than 100 yards, 1-2 when it was held to under 100. LSU is 106th in the nation in turnover margin. Miami went 8-0 when it ran for more than 100 yards, 1-2 when it was held to under 100. LSU's defense is better up front and has to get consistent pressure on Wright. LSU has 34 sacks. Hester and Green in the return game should be fun to watch but IMO the fact that Flynn is at QB should hurt the Tigers just enough for Miami to take this game away. Flynn is a good QB but to expect him to have the fimiliarity with the offense that russell does is not fair and the production will suffer. Look for Miami to throw everything at him to get him into mistakes. The Hurricanes should follow a lot of the game plan the Bulldogs used in their championship game against the Tigers.
Might have a few quarter plays but if it starts getting bad I might have the old shawshank "Brooks was here" carved above my stairwell....
Cheers
Irish
