New Year's Eve Bowls

It’s been a tough Bowl Season. Don’t get me wrong, the football has been wonderful, but I’m not calling it too great. After 19 games I’m 11-8. It’s above .500, but it isn’t good enough. As we inch closer to the smorgasbord of New Year’s games, there’s a full plate of New Year’s Eve games that should serve as a great appetizer. Here are my picks!

The Music City Bowl – NC State VS Vanderbilt

The ACC SEC match up has never been kind to the ACC. In the past 13 years the SEC leads 58-45 in head to head bowl games. Last year, the SEC went 5-2. NC State has a pretty good chance of helping the ACC’s record this year. The Wolfpack has a dominating passing attack. Senior QB Mike Glennon is the man to watch for this team. He has a cannon for an arm and has passed for 3,648 yards and 30 touchdowns this year. They also have a pretty efficient defense. The problem is that they can’t run the ball with any consistency or score touchdowns on the ground. Vandy comes in with a balanced offense. Senior QB Jordan Rodgers has just about 2,500 yards this season and 13 touchdowns. He isn’t the best passer, but he can lead an offense when he needs to. The Commodore running game is pretty average, but their defense is outstanding. I’m picking Vandy in this one for two reasons, one: I don’t think NC State is ready for this defense, two: NC State had a really weak schedule this season. Those two factors have me picking Vanderbilt to win 35-13.

The Sun bowl – USC VS Georgia Tech

Without USC quarterback Matt Barkley, I have little interest in this game. Max Wittek, the USC back up, did a decent job in his only major outing against Notre Dame. The Irish have a very tough defense, so I think Witteck has already gained a lot of experience. He will have an easy time slicing up the GT secondary because of the Trojan wide receiving corps. Marquise Lee, who comes in with 1,680 yards and 14 touchdowns, will give GT headaches along with his partner in crime, Robert Woods. The Trojan defense isn’t great and will be tested by the GT triple option. Speaking of GT, they have a huge running attack. The triple option has allowed them to average 312.5 a game which is 4^th in the nation. QB Trevin Washington has been the main source of touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets. His 26 total touchdowns lead the team. He doesn’t really pass the ball much, but he has 4 interceptions in 128 attempts. I kind of want to lean towards to GT in this one because of how they performed down the stretch, but their defense is not going to be able to handle the air raid USC will throw at them. I see USC winning the game 31-21.

The Liberty Bowl – Iowa State VS Tulsa

This is another bowl that I’m a little disappointed with. It is a rematch of the first game of the season for both teams. Though Iowa State won the game, Tulsa went on to a more successful season. I have to favor Iowa State in this one though. They played a much harder schedule which included four ranked teams and plenty of high powered offenses. They also have a strong defense that allows an average of about 23 points per game. The fact that they could do this in the Big 12 speaks volumes. The only issue for the Cyclones is that they don’t have a guy that can step up and lead the offense. The offense is very balanced with talent spread throughout, but none of them seem to be a leader.  The Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa have a great running game. RBs Trey Watts and Ja’Terian Douglas are both huge weapons that get used a lot. WR Keyarris Garrett is another attacking option Tulsa has. His nine touchdowns lead the Golden Hurricanes. Though Tulsa are the hotter team, I feel like Iowa State have gone through enough this season to prepare them from this game. They figured out how to beat Tulsa once and I think that will allow them to do it again. I see Iowa State winning 29-21.

Chick-fil-A Bowl – LSU VS Clemson

Unfortunately for the ACC, I don’t see this going very well for Clemson. LSU have one of the best defenses in the nation. This is bad news for Clemson who really haven’t faced anything like the Tigers defense. LSU also has a pounding running game. RBs Jeremy Hill and Kenny Hilliard will be the guys to watch. They pound the rock and I think this will wear down the front seven of Clemson. After doing that, I think Zach Mettenberger, who has been decent this year, enough of an opportunity to make some plays down the field. Clemson will have to live and die by Tajh Boyd. With his 43 total touchdowns, he is going to have to make a big impact on the ground and through the air. He will also have to make sure he is taking care of the football better than he has been earlier in the season. When he faced South Carolina, who has a comparable defense to LSU, he threw two interceptions which really cost them the game. I think LSU will have some difficulty with Boyd, but they will ultimately figure him out. Both defenses will hold for a while, but Clemson’s will break first and more often. I see LSU winning them one by a score of 27 to 17.

Thanks for reading!