Triple Option

By Michael Maynard

Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl (6 PM CT, ESPN, FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL): UAB (-2) vs. Northern Illinois

Why I Care: 1.) Football during the week. 2.) One of the biggest mystery matchups of the bowl season. Both teams were underdogs in their conference championships, and both won those games in fluky manners NIU scored 20 unanswered to beat Buffalo, while UAB got a key break when Middle Tennessee had too many players on the field as UAB lined up to punt. Both teams have had very similar types of season, and that should make for a fun bowl matchup.

Why You Should Care:  The UAB football program story is well documented. In Bill Clark’s first year as Head Coach, he led the Blazers to bowl-eligibility for the first time since 2004. Then the football program shut down for two season, but then returned last year to finish 7-5 and make an appearance in the Bahamas Bowl. Now two years removed from desolation, the Blazers are C-USA champions. While UAB may be the more motivated team, NIU is probably more talented, but has been less consistent. All-American DE Sutton Smith has 15.0 sacks, and the most dominant MAC defensive player since Khalil Mack will surely impact the game.

Team Stats:

UAB: 10-3, 7-1 C-USA (6-0 EAST). BER: 4-2. OPPG: 29.3, DPPG: 15.7, Pt. Diff: +177

Northern Illinois: 8-5, 6-2 MAC (4-1 WEST). BER: 5-5. OPPG: 20.7, DPPG: 21.5, Pt. Diff: -11

Game Notes:

• 1 of 3 matchups featuring two conference champions (Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl).
• Highlighting the above NIU stats, NIU is the only conference champion of 2018 to have a negative point differential.
• NIU is 0-1 playing on Tuesday this year.
• Last year’s Boca Raton Bowl featured an unbalanced matchup between C-USA #1 FAU and MAC #2 Akron, in which FAU was favored by 23. Not only did they cover, they doubled the spread, winning 50-3 in a de facto home game. Hopefully this year is a little closer

Published December 17, 2018 @ 5:04 PM C.T. 

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