With the regular season in the books, the college football world now enters bowl play that’ll feature upsets, blowouts, close games and some amazing plays, and I’m back to give my views on each one!
Since there are so
many games to cover, I won’t be doing full-blown previews or reviews but will
instead focus on doing short previews of all the games and take it
week-by-week. Each preview will feature players to watch out for as well as my
picks that are taken directly from my DC College Bowl Mania group entry, which you should
all sign up for and play here:
So if you fancy taking
on me as well as the other DC writers and readers you can sign up and play
along and it’s a great way to enjoy bowl season that little bit more. Each week I will keep you updated on how my entry faired.
I will also shamelessly self-promote here, I will be tweeting a lot throughout the bowl season as I did pretty much every Saturday, so follow me @rosswatson20 and feel free to join the conversation or mock me if my predictions are going poorly.
This first week of bowl
season only sees two games on Saturday, but they’ll be coming thick and fast in
no time. Here we go…
Saturday, December 15th
Nevada vs Arizona
Gildan New Mexico Bowl @ 18:00 on ESPN
To open up the bowl
games we’re looking at a bit of a shootout in New Mexico. Both teams can put up
points in a hurry with Arizona averaging 37.3 points per game and Nevada just a little less at 37, the flip side of those offensive number however is both sides defence's, as the Wildcats allow 34.3 points per game and the Wolf Pack
give up 32.5, in the end this one comes down to turnovers and maybe even the
last team with the ball.
Players to Watch
Arizona: Ka’Deem Carey, RB #25. At 6.4 yards a carry and amassing a total of 1757 yards this season on
the ground, the sophomore has been a revelation in Arizona’s pass heavy
offence.
Nevada: Stefphon Jefferson, RB #25. The staple of the 7th best
rushing attack in the country, averages 5 yards a carry and has 22 scores on
the year.
My Pick: Arizona
Confidence: 4
Toledo vs #22 Utah State
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl @ 22:30 on ESPN
Another very even
matchup, the Rockets limped into bowl play by dropping two of their last three
games whilst the Aggies have won their past six and have only lost
narrowly to both Wisconsin and BYU. Toledo need to find some defensive form to
help out their offence which will face a Utah State defence that’s ranked 8th
best in the nation in points allowed.
Players to Watch
Utah State: Chuckie Keeton, QB #16. I watched this guys first game as a freshman
against Auburn last year in what was nearly the biggest upset of the year. The
kid makes big plays and has a knack for keeping the play alive.
Toledo: David Fluellen, RB #22. Came on strong in the second half of the season
and always gained consisten yardage. Will need to have a good game against Utah
States defence.
My Pick: Utah State
Confidence: 11
