Just before game time I texted Joe to see if he was going to the Poinsettia Bowl. I know he loves going to bowl games.
Of course, he replied and sent back a picture of him and Laura smiling, holding some beers. At least it looked like beer. Knowing Laura it could have been some Midletons. What wasn't in the picture was any kid of rain gear.
The skies opened up in the first half. San Diego gets like a quart of rain for an entire year. They got it all and then some during the second quarter. Hope they had a good time.
The game was great. The rain kept the scoring down in the first half (blowing up my over) but the second half was superb. After BYU posted a 10-0 first half lead, the teams combined for 35 points in the second half as the Mormans held on to win 24-21.
The bowl season kicks it up another gear on Friday with three games on tap. Mrs Doofus has resigned to the fact that I'll be spending the afternoon and evening on the Doofus Deck. Last minute Christmas preparations will have to wait.
Of course, he replied and sent back a picture of him and Laura smiling, holding some beers. At least it looked like beer. Knowing Laura it could have been some Midletons. What wasn't in the picture was any kid of rain gear.
The skies opened up in the first half. San Diego gets like a quart of rain for an entire year. They got it all and then some during the second quarter. Hope they had a good time.
The game was great. The rain kept the scoring down in the first half (blowing up my over) but the second half was superb. After BYU posted a 10-0 first half lead, the teams combined for 35 points in the second half as the Mormans held on to win 24-21.
The bowl season kicks it up another gear on Friday with three games on tap. Mrs Doofus has resigned to the fact that I'll be spending the afternoon and evening on the Doofus Deck. Last minute Christmas preparations will have to wait.
David Washington doesn't turn it over Bahamas Bowl – Old Dominion -4.0 vs Eastern Michigan [Pick 1 ODU 23] [Pick 2 EMU 7]
Just to put a bow on how bad State’s season was – every Div1A team in Michigan made it to a bowl except one. Even Eastern Michigan, a laughing stock for years made a bowl.
Eastern's turnaround has been one of the best storylines of the 2016 season. Third year HC, Chris Creighton led the Hurons to their first winning mark since 1995. The Eagles made a six-game improvement from a 1-11 record in 2015. For some perspective on how remarkable that was, Eastern Michigan has just three non-losing records since 1990.
The strength of Eastern Michigan’s offense is the passing game. The Hurons averaged just under 300 yards per game through the air. QB Brogan Roback likes to spread it around. Six different players have at least 20 catches.
They will be playing an Old Dominion team that has never played in a bowl before. They got the invite in only their third year of Div 1A play, going a remarkable 9-3. Their only losses were to Appalachian State, NC State and WKU, all on the road.
Balanced, explosive, and with a whole slew of weapons, ODU has been able to turn the lights out on teams by scoring in waves. The Monarchs scored 31 points or more in their last nine games except for the lone loss to WKU.
The Monarchs are disciplined too. They don’t commit penalties and they own the turnover margin. QB David Washington, is one of only four Div 1A quarterbacks to throw for 25 touchdown passes with four or fewer interceptions This year, they turned the ball over just nine times, finishing a +13 on the season.
The trends are equal. EMU was 9-3 vs. line this season going 4-1 vs. spread away from home. ODU was also 9-3 vs. number as well and closed with five straight wins and covers with all wins by double digit margins. In fact all nine Monarchs wins this season came by double digits margins.
Both these teams are going to give it everything they got. ODU has never been to a bowl and none of the players were born when the Hurons last made a bowl (1987). The first two Popeyes Bahamas Bowls have been phenomenal. Western Michigan beat Middle Tennessee in a wild shootout last year, and WKU and Central Michigan came up with an epic 49-48 thriller in the inaugural game in 2014. This one is likely to keep that trend going.
I’m going to take a red hot ODU balanced attack to keep attacking the EMU weak secondary and pull out a high scoring game. I’ll make it the first Mega Bet of the Bowl season.
Just to put a bow on how bad State’s season was – every Div1A team in Michigan made it to a bowl except one. Even Eastern Michigan, a laughing stock for years made a bowl.
Eastern's turnaround has been one of the best storylines of the 2016 season. Third year HC, Chris Creighton led the Hurons to their first winning mark since 1995. The Eagles made a six-game improvement from a 1-11 record in 2015. For some perspective on how remarkable that was, Eastern Michigan has just three non-losing records since 1990.
The strength of Eastern Michigan’s offense is the passing game. The Hurons averaged just under 300 yards per game through the air. QB Brogan Roback likes to spread it around. Six different players have at least 20 catches.
They will be playing an Old Dominion team that has never played in a bowl before. They got the invite in only their third year of Div 1A play, going a remarkable 9-3. Their only losses were to Appalachian State, NC State and WKU, all on the road.
Balanced, explosive, and with a whole slew of weapons, ODU has been able to turn the lights out on teams by scoring in waves. The Monarchs scored 31 points or more in their last nine games except for the lone loss to WKU.
The Monarchs are disciplined too. They don’t commit penalties and they own the turnover margin. QB David Washington, is one of only four Div 1A quarterbacks to throw for 25 touchdown passes with four or fewer interceptions This year, they turned the ball over just nine times, finishing a +13 on the season.
The trends are equal. EMU was 9-3 vs. line this season going 4-1 vs. spread away from home. ODU was also 9-3 vs. number as well and closed with five straight wins and covers with all wins by double digit margins. In fact all nine Monarchs wins this season came by double digits margins.
Both these teams are going to give it everything they got. ODU has never been to a bowl and none of the players were born when the Hurons last made a bowl (1987). The first two Popeyes Bahamas Bowls have been phenomenal. Western Michigan beat Middle Tennessee in a wild shootout last year, and WKU and Central Michigan came up with an epic 49-48 thriller in the inaugural game in 2014. This one is likely to keep that trend going.
I’m going to take a red hot ODU balanced attack to keep attacking the EMU weak secondary and pull out a high scoring game. I’ll make it the first Mega Bet of the Bowl season.
Navy hasn't been the same since Will Worth went down Armed Forces Bowl – Louisiana Tech -6.0 vs Navy [Pick 1 La Tech 10] [Pick 2 Navy 18]
Unlike the Bahama Bowl, this game feature two teams who backed into post season play. Both teams are on two game losing streaks.
Navy lost starting QB Will Worth in the Temple game, replaced by 3rd string QB Zach Abey. Abey has been adequate in the running game, crucial for Navy’s triple option attack but he has be a disaster through the air, throwing for 4 picks and no TDs.
Also lost in the Temple game was the Middies most explosive RB Toneo Gulley. It’s Navy so it’s been next man up in the stable of RBs but his ability to take it the distance is missed.
And while how they got to this game may be similar the types of offenses couldn’t be farther apart. Navy is ranked 4th in the ground game, La Tech has the 3rd best passing attack.
The Bulldogs are led by QB Ryan Higgins who ranks third nationally with 4,208 passing yards. He’s been fantastic throwing for 37 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. He completed 65.8 percent of his passes. He might have the best tandem of WRs in Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson. Taylor ranks second in the FBS with 124 receptions – 10 of which have gone for touchdowns – and is third in the country with 1,570 receiving yards. Henderson ranks eighth with 1,406 receiving yards and second with 17 TD catches.
So who plays better defense? La Tech’s stats are deceiving. They rank 30th in rush defense which seems to indicate that they can slow down Navy but its because teams have bombed away against the Bulldog secondary. Oponents get into shoot outs and the Bulldogs are happy to oblige.
Navy’s stats are misleading too. They look like they can defend the pass but the stats figure in that they played run first and run all the time Air Force, Tulane and Army. Take those games out and the Navy pass defense is sieve.
Both teams have made money for their backers. Navy is 17-8-2 ATS while La Tech is Skippy Holtz is 26-14 ATS.
Navy just isn’t the same with the loss of Worth and Gulley. Abey won’t be able to expose the fundamental La Tech weakness – its pass defense. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs should have no problem with Navy’s below average secondary. I’ll take my second Mega Bet of the Bowl season, lay the 6 points and take La Tech in a blow out.
Unlike the Bahama Bowl, this game feature two teams who backed into post season play. Both teams are on two game losing streaks.
Navy lost starting QB Will Worth in the Temple game, replaced by 3rd string QB Zach Abey. Abey has been adequate in the running game, crucial for Navy’s triple option attack but he has be a disaster through the air, throwing for 4 picks and no TDs.
Also lost in the Temple game was the Middies most explosive RB Toneo Gulley. It’s Navy so it’s been next man up in the stable of RBs but his ability to take it the distance is missed.
And while how they got to this game may be similar the types of offenses couldn’t be farther apart. Navy is ranked 4th in the ground game, La Tech has the 3rd best passing attack.
The Bulldogs are led by QB Ryan Higgins who ranks third nationally with 4,208 passing yards. He’s been fantastic throwing for 37 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. He completed 65.8 percent of his passes. He might have the best tandem of WRs in Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson. Taylor ranks second in the FBS with 124 receptions – 10 of which have gone for touchdowns – and is third in the country with 1,570 receiving yards. Henderson ranks eighth with 1,406 receiving yards and second with 17 TD catches.
So who plays better defense? La Tech’s stats are deceiving. They rank 30th in rush defense which seems to indicate that they can slow down Navy but its because teams have bombed away against the Bulldog secondary. Oponents get into shoot outs and the Bulldogs are happy to oblige.
Navy’s stats are misleading too. They look like they can defend the pass but the stats figure in that they played run first and run all the time Air Force, Tulane and Army. Take those games out and the Navy pass defense is sieve.
Both teams have made money for their backers. Navy is 17-8-2 ATS while La Tech is Skippy Holtz is 26-14 ATS.
Navy just isn’t the same with the loss of Worth and Gulley. Abey won’t be able to expose the fundamental La Tech weakness – its pass defense. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs should have no problem with Navy’s below average secondary. I’ll take my second Mega Bet of the Bowl season, lay the 6 points and take La Tech in a blow out.
Troy's run defense was terrific in containing Clemson Dollar General Bowl – Troy -4.0 vs Ohio [Pick 1 Troy 22] [Pick 2 Ohio 14]
Old versus young square off in Mobile. Ohio’s 72 year old Frank Solich brings his Rust Belt grind it out and play good defense style and squares off against Troy’s 36 year old Neal Brown’s new fangled attacking offense and defense.
It’s also the Bridesmaid bowl. Both teams nearly won their conference crown. The Bobcats gave No. 14 Western Michigan all it could handle before losing 29-23 in the MAC championship game.
The other Trojans were upset by Georgia Southern 28-24 to miss out on a share of the Sun Belt title. For Troy, it was particularly painful slide. They got as far as 8-1,becoming the first Sun Belt team to be ranked in the Top 25 before losing two of their final three games and missing out on their sixth conference title.
Brown, a Mike Leach disciple, has a smart, efficient passing game. QB Brandon Silvers has been a 200-yard machine, hitting the mark in every game but the win over Southern Miss. The Trojan D is fantastic against the run, it held Clemson to 122 rushing yards but it did start to having problems late in the season.
The Bobcats play a little D too. They haven’t allowed anyone to average more than three yards per carry in the last four games – including Western Michigan – and they’ve allowed just one rushing touchdown since mid-October and three since September. The offense is balanced but a whole lot of average. They run for 218 yards per game and throw for another 175 - finishing 77th overall.
The trends favor the Bobcats. They went 9-2 against non MAC teams including 4-1 versus the Fun Belt. The Trojans went 2-5 ATS overall and are 1-3-1 against the MAC. One super stat – Ohio went 11-1 under. The only over was a 56-43 triple OT loss to Texas State.
I’m going to go against the trends on this pick. Troy is the superior team when they are on. The Trojans stumbled a bit late but will get their mojo back after a few weeks rest. They will throw over the top of the Bobcat run defense to take an early lead and then force Ohio to play catch up. That’s when the opportunistic Trojan secondary will kick in. They had 18 picks on the season – 7th overall.
I’ll lay the 3.5 for a Min Mega. I’ll also put on quatloo on the Ohio under trend. The line is 49.5.
Old versus young square off in Mobile. Ohio’s 72 year old Frank Solich brings his Rust Belt grind it out and play good defense style and squares off against Troy’s 36 year old Neal Brown’s new fangled attacking offense and defense.
It’s also the Bridesmaid bowl. Both teams nearly won their conference crown. The Bobcats gave No. 14 Western Michigan all it could handle before losing 29-23 in the MAC championship game.
The other Trojans were upset by Georgia Southern 28-24 to miss out on a share of the Sun Belt title. For Troy, it was particularly painful slide. They got as far as 8-1,becoming the first Sun Belt team to be ranked in the Top 25 before losing two of their final three games and missing out on their sixth conference title.
Brown, a Mike Leach disciple, has a smart, efficient passing game. QB Brandon Silvers has been a 200-yard machine, hitting the mark in every game but the win over Southern Miss. The Trojan D is fantastic against the run, it held Clemson to 122 rushing yards but it did start to having problems late in the season.
The Bobcats play a little D too. They haven’t allowed anyone to average more than three yards per carry in the last four games – including Western Michigan – and they’ve allowed just one rushing touchdown since mid-October and three since September. The offense is balanced but a whole lot of average. They run for 218 yards per game and throw for another 175 - finishing 77th overall.
The trends favor the Bobcats. They went 9-2 against non MAC teams including 4-1 versus the Fun Belt. The Trojans went 2-5 ATS overall and are 1-3-1 against the MAC. One super stat – Ohio went 11-1 under. The only over was a 56-43 triple OT loss to Texas State.
I’m going to go against the trends on this pick. Troy is the superior team when they are on. The Trojans stumbled a bit late but will get their mojo back after a few weeks rest. They will throw over the top of the Bobcat run defense to take an early lead and then force Ohio to play catch up. That’s when the opportunistic Trojan secondary will kick in. They had 18 picks on the season – 7th overall.
I’ll lay the 3.5 for a Min Mega. I’ll also put on quatloo on the Ohio under trend. The line is 49.5.
