Triple Option

By Michael Maynard

Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl (2:30 PM CT, ABC, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV): Arizona State vs. #21 Fresno State (-7)

Why I Care: The Herm factor.  Herm Edwards’s return to coaching has brought national attention to Arizona State football.  The Sun Devils finished with an identical record this year as their final year under Todd Graham, but Edwards undeniably brings a recruiting edge to Tempe.  A bowl win would build more momentum on what has been a positive first season for Edwards.

Why You Should Care: Intriguing matchup of senior QBs in ASU’s Manny Wilkins and Fresno’s Marcus McMaryion.  The way ESPN staggers the games is great as we can get the USU-NT 2nd half, then ASU-Fresno 2nd half, and then EMU-GaSo 2nd half.  So today we don’t even really need to watch the first halves of the games.

Team Stats:

Arizona State: 7-5, 5-4 Pac 12 (4-1 South).  BER: 2-4.  OPPG: 30.8, DPPG: 25.1, Pt. Diff: +69

Fresno State: 11-2, 7-1 MWC (5-0 WEST).   BER: 6-2.  OPPG: 34.9, DPPG: 13.7, Pt. Diff: +276

Game Notes:

• Star ASU WR N’Keal Harry has declared for the Draft and will not play this game
• Fresno State has the 2nd best scoring defense and has never given up more than 27 points this year.
• Jeff Tedford is 21-6 with 2 MWC title appearances (and 1 win this year) since taking over a 1-11 team at Fresno State.
• Both teams have participated in, but neither have won a Las Vegas Bowl

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (4:30 CT ET, ESPN, Crampton Bowl, Montgomery, AL): Georgia Southern (-3) vs. Eastern Michigan

Why I Care: I know this is nothing new, but the NFL plays games today, and this is the year I finally get angry about it.  Saturdays are for college, Sundays are for NFL.  I can’t remember a time this wasn’t the case.  I can remember how college football goes out of their way to not schedule Sunday bowl games, even if that means playing the Rose Bowl on January 2nd.   This year the Hawaii Bowl got moved off Christmas Eve so the NFL could have their Monday Night Football.  And I don’t have a problem with this because of the mutual respect in scheduling, except the NFL is totally undercutting College Football by scheduling bowl games today.   In their Saturday commercials the NFL even declared “Saturdays are NFL Saturdays.”  No they’re freaking not.  Not now not before not ever.  So I guarantee that these Saturday NFL games will get a hard pass from me, so I will watch the hell out of Eastern Michigan and Georgia Southern.

Why You Should Care:  Georgia Southern has been one of the most improved teams from 2017, with a 7 game improvement.  Eastern Michigan plays a lot of close games, and this should be one as neither team stands out significantly.

Team Stats:

Georgia Southern: 9-3, 6-2 Sun Belt (3-1 EAST).  BER: 2-3.  OPPG: 31.1, DPPG: 21.6,  Pt. Diff: +61

Eastern Michigan: 7-5, 5-3 MAC (3-2 EAST).  BER: 2-5.  OPPG: 27.5, DPPG: 22.0, Pt. Diff: +66

Game Notes:

• Georgia Southern makes their 2nd bowl game appearance, the first a 58-27 win in the GoDaddy Bowl over BGSU.  After a 29-year drought, Eastern Michigan has made 2 bowls in 3 years, the last a 20-24 loss to ODU in the Bahamas Bowl.
• GaSo is 11-7 since Chad Lunsford took over the 0-6 Eagles midway through 2017.
• 5th Camellia Bowl.  Sun Belt 2-2, MAC 1-2, last year’s winner was Middle Tennessee.  Speaking of which…

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (8 PM CT, ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA): Middle Tennessee vs. Appalachian State (-7)

Why I Care: Final game of Brent Stockstill’s ten year career at MTSU. I need to see if the father-son duo closes out with a win.

Why You Should Care: Potentially the game of the day in prime time.  Power matchup of Group of 5 schools. Appalachian State won the Sun Belt and is bowling for the fourth consecutive time, after joining the FBS in 2014.  Middle Tennessee was a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty away from having a shot to beat UAB in the C-USA title game.  Appalachian State almost upset Penn State Week 1, and is 10-1 since then, thus making them the popular pick.  But Rick and Brent Stockstill don’t want their final game to end on a sour note, especially with the bitter taste of the UAB loss. Put all of this together in a prestigious NFL stadium.  Definitely better than whatever NFL game is on.

Team Stats:

Middle Tennessee: 8-5, 7-1 C-USA (5-1 EAST).  BER: 2-4.  OPPG:29.2, DPPG: 25.3, Pt. Diff: +50

Appalachian State: 10-2, 7-1 Sun Belt (3-1 EAST).  BER: 4-2.  OPPG: 36.7, DPPG: 15.7, Pt. Diff: +252

Game Notes:

• Appalachian State hired NC State OC Eli Drinkwitz as replacement for Scott Satterfield, who took the Louisville job.   DL coach Mark Ivey is coaching the bowl game.
• Appalachian State has the 6th best Scoring defense in the country.
• App State makes their first NOLA Bowl appearance.  MTSU won their only NOLA Bowl appearance in 2009

Published December 15, 2018 @ 2:22 PM C.T. 

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