| New Orleans Bowl, 8 p.m.
EST Dec. 18 at Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans North Texas (5-6) vs. Colorado
State (6-5)
Everyone, including us, has ripped on this bowl for having a 5-6 team playing when
there are plenty of other solid teams with winning records out there. By winning the Sun
Belt Conference and with an exemption given to North Texas, the Mean Green gets its chance
to shine. You don't think the New Orleans Bowl officials would dig having Eli Manning come
home to play? Let's get past that and look at this bowl for what it is — a chance for
an unseen program to have its day in the sun. North Texas might not have much of an
offense, but the defense has been excellent, surrendering 354 yards and 22.5 points per
game. LB Brad Kassell and company overcame an 0-5 start to hold high-powered offenses like
Middle Tennessee State's and Idaho's to 24 and 21 points respectively. This is North
Texas' first bowl game since 1959 and, with enthusiasm being everything for the lower tier
bowls, are extremely excited to be here. Colorado State also overcame a slow start, going
2-5 before winning four of its last five game led by the emergence of sophomore QB Bradlee
Van Pelt who became more confident as the season went on. The Rams haven't been nearly as
strong as past years, but this is a young team that got much better as the season went on,
getting more experienced and learning to play together. The Rams want to use this game to
get more cohesive and to have something to build on for 2002.
Players to watch: The Rams’ defense has gone through a few growing pains,
but the secondary has three of the best hitters the Mountain West has to offer in twin
brothers Jason and Justin Gallimore and senior Aaron Sprague. Sprague made 64 tackles this
year and picked off three passes as one of the nation's best playmakers.
North Texas wins with defense and few play linebacker like the Mean Green's Brad
Kassell. Our choice for the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year made 93 stops
as the heart and soul of UNT's defense. It'll be up to him and the rest of the UNT back
seven to slow down the CSU running game. RB Kevin Galbraith has been the main cog of the
UNT offense rushing for 1,119 yards this season and four touchdowns. He ran for more than
100 yards in seven of their 11 games and never ran for less than 60.
North Texas will win if... Colorado State doesn't take North Texas seriously.
Head coach Sonny Lubick will always have his team ready to go and motivated, but there's
no way the Rams' mindset will be the same as if they were to play, say, Louisville. North
Texas players, coaches and fans are sick of being ripped on and are taking this extremely
seriously and if the Rams come out overconfident, they'll be shocked at how good the UNT
defense is.
Colorado State will win if... the Rams can control the clock and the ball. The
Rams have the better squad and if they take North Texas seriously and go in scared of
losing to a 5-6 team, they'll win. The Colorado State run defense has been lousy year, but
if they can slow down Galbraith and keep QB Scott Hall from being effective on third
downs, they can withstand a few mistakes from QB Bradlee Van Pelt and should be able to
win with its running game. Troy State held Galbraith to 84 yards and when pressed to
throw, Hall threw two interceptions.
Our Prediction: Colorado State 27, North Texas 21
Colorado State is used to playing in bowl games and against bigger competition. CSU
sees itself as a near-elite program and one that's not worthy of losing to a team like
North Texas. The Mean Green will be extremely plucky and be extremely fired up, but it
won't be enough. The CSU defense will play one of its best games of the year and their
running game, led by the scrambling of Van Pelt, will be extremely effective.
GMAC Bowl, 8 p.m. EST Dec. 19 at Ladd Peebles
Stadium in Mobile, Ala.
Marshall (9-2) vs. East Carolina (6-5)
These two teams stagger into Mobile after tough losses to rivals down the stretch. East
Carolina lost to Southern Miss and Louisville while Marshall blew a 23-0 lead to lose the
MAC title to Toledo. Forget about it. This is the bowl season when the slate is wiped
clean and if you like to watch big quarterbacks, this is the game for you. East Carolina's
David Garrard never lived up to his potential this season, but fortunately he had RB
Leonard Henry to pick up the slack. Marshall's Byron Leftwich was never considered for the
Heisman Trophy and few have talked about him as a top draft pick if he chooses to come
out, but the 6-foot-6, 230-pound junior had a brilliant season, throwing for 4,122 yards
and 37 touchdowns. Marshall has one of the nation's best offenses and no run defense while
East Carolina is miserable against the pass. That should mean the fireworks will be
exploding in Mobile.
If you just looked at the records, you'd think this would be an easy Marshall win, but
break down those wins. Marshall never really crushed the above-average teams and struggled
mightily when it wasn’t properly motivated. East Carolina might be 6-5 with one of
the wins coming over William & Mary, but the Pirates' five losses came by a total of
31 points to five pretty good teams (Wake Forest, Syracuse, North Carolina, Louisville and
Southern Miss.)
Players to watch: While much will be made of the great quarterbacks, and rightly
so, the player who'll have the biggest game is East Carolina RB Leonard Henry. The senior
averaged 7.78 yards per carry and if the Pirates’ coaching staff runs him 30 times
— he's only carried the ball more than 20 times twice this year — he'll put up
monster numbers against the soft Marshall defense.
Henry will get hit a couple of times by Marshall's star LB Max Yates. Our MAC Defensive
Player of the Year was one of the few bright spots on the Herd defense and if the Pirates
choose to run, run and run some more, Yates will have at least 15 tackles. Look for him to
spy on Garrard when the QB leaves the pocket.
East Carolina will win if... the pass defense can somehow prevent the huge play.
Just assume Leftwich will throw for 300+ yards, WR Darius Watts will get his catches and
WRs Denero Marriott and Josh Davis will factor into the mix as well, but the Pirates need
to keep them off the field. With the running or Henry and the scrambling ability of
Garrard, the Pirates need to control the clock and the Pirates’ defense can give up a
few points, but can't let Leftwich have a huge (400+ yard huge) day.
Marshall will win if... the Herd gets nasty on defense. They need to force
turnovers and several three-and-outs and if the offense gets them up, they can't let down
like they did against Toledo. Marshall tends to wear down against punishing running games
so the offense must go on long drives to keep Yates and company fresh.
Our Prediction: East Carolina 38, Marshall 30
Marshall’s rush defense struggled all season. Toledo's Chester Taylor ran for 188
yards and two touchdowns against it while teammate Antown McCray tore off 80 yards and a
score. Youngstown State's P.J. Mays ran for 201 yards and three scores. Kent State QB
Joshua Cribbs ran for 159 yards. Akron's Bob Hendry grounded out 192 yards and a score.
Central Michigan's Terrence Jackson and Kenan Lawhorne combined for 211 yards and a score.
Buffalo's Derrick Gordon ran for 137 yards and a TD. BGSU's Joe Alls ran for 107 yards.
With the exception of Taylor, Henry is better than all of those players and will be
the difference in this one.
Tangerine Bowl, 7:30 p.m. EST Dec. 20 at
Citrus Bowl in Orlando
NC State (7-4) vs. Pittsburgh (6-5)
After a 19-year nap, the Tangerine Bowl is back and should be as entertaining as any of
the early bowls. Pittsburgh overcame a 1-5 start to win its final five games to earn this
bowl berth. N.C. State had a solid season, losing its four games to four bowl teams
(Clemson, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Maryland) and pulled off one of the big wins of
the season when it defeated Florida State in Tallahassee.
Pittsburgh's defense has been solid all season, but it never got any credit as the
offense took a while to wake up. Bothered by an ankle injury over the first half of the
season, 2000 Biletnikoff Award winner WR Antonio Bryant finally started to return to form,
catching eight TD passes during the Panthers’ five-game winning streak. Bryant's
return sparked QB David Priestley who threw four TD passes and seven interceptions in the
first six games, but sharpened up to throw for 13 scores and only one interception over
the final five games.
Without WR Koren Robinson, the Wolfpack’s offense wasn't as explosive, but it
became more balanced as RB Ray Robinson carried them in wins over Wake Forest, Virginia,
Duke and Florida State. QB Philip Rivers spread the ball around more and had a decent
season, but when Robinson wasn't able to produce, the Wolfpack lost.
Players to watch: N.C. State has two of the nation's best defensive players in
LB Levar Fisher and FS Terrence Holt. Few in college football can go sideline to
sideline like Fisher who would get more national recognition if he wasn't overshadowed by
ACC mates Julius Peppers and E.J. Henderson. Along with being a superior run stuffer,
Fisher is fast enough to handle almost any college running back or tight end in pass
coverage. Holt has been tremendous against the run all year and will be in charge of
helping cover Bryant.
Pittsburgh has one of the nation's fiercest hitters in junior S Ramon Walker. No one
packs a punch like Walker does, leading the Panthers with 120 tackles and breaking up five
passes as the best player on one of the nation's best defenses. The small, but fast Bryan
Knight is a terror on the end making 18 tackles for loss and registering 8.5 sacks. LB
Gerald Hayes is worth watching as the anchor in the middle.
North Carolina State will win if... Ray Robinson is running wild. In N.C.
State's four losses, Robinson ran for a total of 153 yards and one touchdown. The Wolfpack
need him to rumble so Walker and the Panthers’ safeties cheat up on the line, then
Rivers will pick apart the average Panthers’ corners in one-on-one matchups. If the
safeties are in pass coverage full-time, forget throwing on them.
Pittsburgh will win if... Rivers throws more than 40 times. That might sound
strange considering what a talent Rivers is, but he threw more than 40 times three times
this season (against North Carolina (43), Clemson (46) and Maryland (43)) and the Wolfpack
lost all three games. N.C. State needs Robinson to control the game and despite the late
emergence of WR Jerricho Cotchery, N.C. State doesn't have a real receiving weapon who can
scare the Panthers.
Our Prediction: Pittsburgh 24, NC State 17
We see this as a decent defensive battle as both teams have tremendous talent to keep
the score low. We like the Pittsburgh defensive line a little bit better and think the two
Panthers’ receivers, with the exception of Rivers, are better than any offensive
players N.C. State has. We're not totally sold on this pick as we're a little scared by
Pittsburgh's performance in last year's Insight.com Bowl, but the defense has been too
good to allow the Wolfpack to explode.
Las Vegas Bowl, 3:30 p.m. EST Dec. 25 at
Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas
Utah (7-4) vs. USC (6-5)
On the surface, this might not be a matchup that'll cancel too many Christmas Day
plans, but USC and Utah should be one of the better, and most even, matchups of the bowl
season.
Much has been made about how USC has turned around its season after a 2-5 start, but
the Trojans weren't all that bad when they were losing and aren't quite as good as many
have made them out to be during the winning streak. The Trojans' lost four games by a
total of 14 points against bowl-bound Kansas State, Oregon, Stanford and Washington teams.
In each game, the Trojans had a chance to win the game late, but couldn't get it done. The
four-game winning streak is due to a much easier schedule, (Arizona, Oregon State, Cal and
UCLA) and the improved confidence of the defense.
Utah was really, REALLY close to having a truly special season. The Utes gave Oregon
all it could handle, hanging tough until a late Ducks touchdown put the game away. The
Utes lost 19-17 to Colorado State when Utah QB Lance Rice threw an interception with 1:15
to play and, with nothing to really play for, let down against a depleted Air Force team
and lost by one with a chance to win late. The real killer was the BYU game as the Utes
were up 21-10 with just over three minutes to play, but the defense gave up two late
touchdowns and after getting in field goal range, Lance Rice threw a pick on a horrible
out pattern.
Don't expect too many points in this one as both teams run relatively conservative
offenses and rely on solid defense to win. Can Utah overcome the USC momentum? Can USC's
run defense handle the punishing Utes running game? This won't be a shootout, but it'll be
a good game.
Players to watch: The Utah running game is its bread and butter led by RBs
Dameon Hunter and Adam Tate. With OT Doug Kaufusi leading the way, Hunter and Tate have
combined for 2,215 yards and 21 touchdowns with Hunter carrying the bulk of the load. He
ran for more than 100 yards seven times, with a high of 226 yards against Air Force. Tate
is more of a short-yardage back, but both backs tip the scales at over 230 pounds and wear
down defenses with their power.
He hasn't received much press east of the Rocky Mountains, but USC S Troy Polamalu has
had a brilliant year. He led the Trojans with 98 tackles and was great on the safety blitz
terrorizing backfields. He was outstanding in pass coverage as well as he picked off three
passes and turned into one of college football’s biggest playmakers. Without a strong
set of linebackers, Polamalu was just what the Trojans needed.
Utah will win if... the defense doesn't let down. We're not sold that the
Trojans’ offense has the horses to put up enough points to win if this gets into any
sort of shootout. USC wins when the defense sets the offense up with good field position,
but the Trojans don't have the linebackers, or the run defense, to stop Hunter and Rice
from controlling the clock and the ball. If the Utah defense doesn't play soft, like it
did against Air Force, the Utes have too much power to lose.
USC will win if... the Trojans can force Lance Rice to throw. While it's not
necessarily his fault, the coaches called some horrible late plays, Rice hasn't been able
to pull out close wins this season. Rice threw 39 times against Oregon, 41 times against
Colorado State and 31 times against BYU but lost all three games. If the running game
isn't rolling, Rice who isn't as bad as we've made him out to be, will be forced to win
the game. We're not sure he can do it.
Our Prediction: Utah 20, USC 17
While Pete Carroll has a great defensive mind and with weeks to prepare, we're sure he
has something up his sleeve to slow down the Utah running game. Even so, we still don't
think it'll happen. Utah is too good in all phases to let a mediocre offense like USC's do
too much damage. We see the time of possession being something like 35 minutes to 25 in
Utah's favor and the Utah defense stifling the Trojans. If the Utes don't lose the
turnover battle, they'll win.
Seattle Bowl, 4 p.m. EST Dec. 27 at Safeco
Field in Seattle
Georgia Tech (7-4) vs. Stanford (9-2)
No one showed up to the bowl games in Hawaii so Jeep decided to move operations to the
balmy climate of Seattle. At least that will mean Stanford fans will show up. The Cardinal
and Georgia Tech signed on early and will square off in what should be a high-scoring and
highly entertaining bowl with tons of offense and several interesting coaching subplots.
How will Tech’s Mac McWhorter handle the interim head coaching position? Is Stanford
head coach Tyrone Willingham going somewhere else? The NFL is sure to come calling and
this might be his last game before going on to bigger things.
Georgia Tech lost last year's Peach Bowl to LSU after losing offensive coordinator
Ralph Friedgen to Maryland. This year, the Yellow Jackets have two problems to deal with.
The first is the loss of head coach George O'Leary to Notre Dame and the second being a
horrible finish to their regular season as they lost to rivals Georgia and Florida State
in back-to-back weeks.
Stanford's Willingham was given a quick look by the Irish, who ultimately went with
O'Leary. It'll be interesting to see if Willingham and his staff are a little extra
motivated to win and win big. Stanford lost both its games to the Washington schools by
failing to stop Willie Hurst late in the game against the Huskies and collapsing in the
fourth quarter against Washington State. The Cardinal overcame a sluggish couple of games
against inferior California and Notre Dame teams to beat up San Jose State. With QB Randy
Fasani back at the helm, the Cardinal’s passing game should be in high gear.
Players to watch: Stanford LB Coy Wire is one of the nation's most productive
and talented players leading the Cardinal with 92 tackles with 12 going for a loss. He's a
great blitzer with the quickness to drop back into pass coverage. It'll be his job to keep
tabs on Georgia Tech RB Joe Burns and make sure he doesn't swing out of the backfield as a
receiver. Against Florida State, Burns caught five passes for 81 yards and it'll be up to
Wire to prevent that from happening to Stanford.
Georgia Tech DE Greg Gathers is one of the nation's premier pass rushers, registering
10 sacks and making 54 tackles. It'll be his job to get in the backfield and pressure
Fasani and hurry his throws. Stanford OT Kwame Harris is coming into his own and if he
goes head-to-head on Gathers, this should be a fun matchup to keep an eye on. Harris will
have to use his size to overcome Gathers' speed.
Georgia Tech will win if... the Yellow Jackets can run the ball. Stanford's pass
defense is soft, but the run defense, led by Wire and FS Tank Williams, is the best in the
Pac-10. When Burns gets moving, the whole offense runs better as QB George Godsey can
breathe easier in the pocket. Since the knee injury suffered in the Peach Bowl, Godsey
hasn't been nearly as mobile and it has really hurt the offense. Since Godsey can't run
the option with any effectiveness, Burns is having a harder time getting to the outside.
Tech needs to be able to move the ball between the tackles and keep the Cardinal’s
offense off the field.
Stanford will win if... its passing game can take advantage of the small Tech
corners. Albert Poree and Marvious Hester are solid, but if 6-7 Teyo Johnson and deep
threat Luke Powell can be effective against the average Tech pass defense, Stanford will
have little trouble moving the ball. Both teams can put up points, but in a shootout,
we'll go with the Cardinal.
Our Prediction: Stanford 38, Georgia Tech 31
We expect nothing less than 900 yards to be piled up by these two explosive offenses.
The two offenses are a mirror image of one another in production as both have brilliant
passing games and outstanding running backs. The difference will be confidence. We think
the Yellow Jackets have lacked a swagger this season that a team with this much talent
should have. Stanford really believes it should be 11-0 thinking it was its own fault that
it lost the two games it did. We like confidence it bowl games and Stanford has it. With
the way Georgia Tech closed out its season, we don't like the way the Yellow Jackets are
playing. Even so, look for Kelly Campbell and the Tech receivers to have big days.
Independence Bowl, 7:30 p.m. EST Dec.
27 at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, La.
Iowa State (7-4) vs. Alabama (6-5)
If you're really into high-octane passing attacks, go elsewhere. Iowa State and Alabama
run the ball and rely on decent defenses to win. It will be a bit of a contrast as Alabama
is miserable against the pass, but great against the run while Iowa State is great against
the pass, but lousy against the run. The Cyclones will be looking to find a way to get QB
Seneca Wallace and its passing game going while Alabama will try and ram the ball down
Iowa State's throat.
Iowa State keeps amazing us. We don't think the Cyclones have much of a defense,
despite what the stats look like, and are one-dimensional on offense, but they just keep
on producing. They lost the four games they should've, to Nebraska, Texas A&M, Kansas
State and Colorado, and beat all the mediocre teams on the slate. The one really solid
performance was against a good Iowa team fired up to beat them. The Cyclones capitalized
on turnovers and got a great game out of Wallace to pull it off. They'll need the
same formula to beat the Tide.
Alabama closed out with three straight wins including a brilliant performance over
arch-rival Auburn to become bowl eligible. Having to overcome the pressures of waiting for
the findings of a NCAA investigation, dealing with a head coach in his first year and
trying to find a groove on offense, the Tide have dealt with a ton of adversity this year.
Head coach Dennis Franchione has done a wonderful job turning the team's fortunes around
after a 3-5 start. Three of the five losses came by a total of seven points.
Players to watch: The Cyclones have two rushing weapons in RB Ennis Haywood and
Wallace. He's not flashy, but Haywood is a workmanlike back who plugs away and is the
first option on offense. Wallace is a multi-purpose star who ran for 475 yards and seven
touchdowns throwing for 2,044 yards and 11 scores. He's shown flashes of passing
brilliance, like the 22-of-24 for 299 yards and four TD pass performance against Baylor,
but he's most dangerous when he's on the move.
He's not all that big, but Alabama LB Saleem Rasheed is lightning fast with a great
nose for the ball. He's the primary reason the ’Bama run defense is so stifling and
he made 72 stops this year. He's also outstanding in pass coverage, but his primary job
will be to spy on Wallace and make sure he doesn't have a huge game.
Iowa State will win if... the average Cyclones defensive front can handle the
physical ’Bama offensive line. Tide QB Andrew Zow is good, but not great, and he'll
be deadly if he isn't pressured. With RB Santonio Beard probable after being suspended,
the running game should rock along with Ahmaad Galloway who at 228 pounds will destroy the
ISU back seven if he gets past the line. The Cyclones’ defensive line must win this
battle or ’Bama will hold the ball for 35+ minutes and wear out the ISU defense.
Alabama will win if... the Tide can hold Haywood to less than 70 yards. It's no
coincidence that Haywood ran for 61, 69, 6 and 64 yards in Iowa State's four losses. In
each of Iowa State's seven wins, he ran for more than 70 yards. Going back even
further, in Iowa State's three losses in 2000, he ran for 75 yards against Texas A&M,
but he was held to 27 and 35 yards in the other two losses. He missed one game in 2000,
but in the eight other games Haywood played in, he ran for more than 70 yards in every one
of them ... all wins. Wallace is good, but if Haywood isn't having a big game, the
Cyclones can't control the clock and their scrappy defense will be on the field too much
and wear down.
Our Prediction: Alabama 27, Iowa State 21
Alabama's run defense is too strong for Haywood to get rolling and even though we don't
think the Tide offense is all that hot, it's good enough to make some big plays against
the Cyclones’ secondary that'll be bent on stopping the run. ’Bama's mind has to
be right. The Crimson Tide have to put all the outside distractions aside and be totally
focused on taking this game seriously and closing out with a win. Iowa State's going to be
fired up, so Alabama must play with serious intensity. The real key will be Rasheed. We
think he'll prevent Wallace from scrambling too much and if Wallace's running element is
negated, he's not nearly as effective.
Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, 1:30
p.m. EST, Dec. 28, at Houston Astrodome
Texas A&M (7-4) vs. TCU (6-5)
Why is it that we have this sudden desire to buy an end table? Anyway, unless you're a
die-hard Aggies or Horned Frogs fan or want to relive the good old days of the Southwest
Conference, don't get too comfortable in your La-Z-Boy or you'll fall asleep and miss this
one. Neither offense has much going for it and each team's defense is too good to allow
there to be too much scoring. Even so, this should be a close game with TCU being
extremely fired up to show the big-time Aggies that they can play with them.
Texas A&M was 7-1 and still hoping for a shot to represent the Big XII South in the
Big XII title game, but three straight losses thanks to three lousy offensive performances
killed those hopes. A&M scored 17 points and racked up a total of 579 yards against
Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Texas as the Aggies had few offensive options to help out QB Mark
Farris after RB Derek Farmer went down.
TCU pulled off upset wins over Louisville and Southern Mississippi helped by the return
to form of QB Casey Printers and the emergence of WR Adrian Madise. Hampered by a shoulder
injury all season, Printers came on over the last four games to throw for 1,159 yards and
eight touchdowns to put a punch in the Horned Frogs’ offense. Madise caught fire,
catching 26 passes for 506 yards and three touchdowns over the last four games including a
huge day (6 catches, 177 yards, 1 TD) in the bowl-clinching game against Southern Miss.
Players to watch: TCU's marquee names have been on offense over the last few
years with LaDainian Tomlinson chasing the Heisman last year and Printers stepping up this
season, but the Horned Frogs have had stars on defense as well, This year, LB LaMarcus
McDonald stepped up with a monster season as he led TCU with 84 tackles, including 26 for
loss and seven sacks. OG Victor Payne might be TCU's best offensive player as the Horned
Frogs' most devastating blocker.
The fun matchup of the game will be A&M's star cover-corner Sammy Davis on Madise.
Davis took on the challenge of guarding every top receiver the Aggies faced this year and
more than held his own. If he's able to put the clamps on Madise, the TCU offense will
have trouble doing much of anything. Keep an eye on A&M C Seth McKinney. He might be
the nation's best at that position.
TCU will win if... Printers finds a groove. He's faced nasty defenses the last
few weeks and played extremely well against East Carolina, UAB, Louisville and Southern
Miss. While A&M has the nation's 10th best defense, if Printers is playing well,
A&M might not have an answer for him. The Horned Frogs will also be helped if A&M
doesn't take them seriously. This isn't exactly a high-profile bowl and if the Aggies
think they'll just show up and roll over TCU, this could be a dogfight.
Texas A&M will win if... SOMEBODY steps up on offense. With no rushing punch
and missing a No. 1 receiving target, Farris has really struggled and hasn’t thrown a
TD pass in his last four games. The A&M defense is so strong and so fast that if the
Aggies can generate anything on offense, they should win.
Our Prediction: Texas A&M 20, TCU 17
We're not totally sold on this pick. TCU has dealt with tough defenses the last few
weeks showing great heart in getting to this bowl game. The defense has really come
together and if A&M's offense plays like it did during the last four games, the Horned
Frogs should pull off the win. Both teams need help and need the breaks to go their way.
With all things being equal, we just like the Wrecking Crew a little bit more than TCU's
defense.
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