Fenway Bowl - Louisville -1.0 vs Cincinnati - Two former Big East rivals will renew the Keg of Nails rivalry when they meet in Fenway Park for the first time since 2013. And each team is a shell of what played during the season.
Each team has an interim coach and backup quarterback with plenty of key opt-outs at cornerback and wide receiver.
Cincinnati HC Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin taking DC Mike Tressel with him. So UC went down the road and poached Lousville HC Scott Satterfield to take over. Louisville then nabbed Jeff Brohm from Purdue to replace Satterfield. None of the coaches will be on the sideline for this bowl.
Cincinnati couldn’t run the ball all season, which might make it tough to move the ball in this one with a backup quarterback who won’t have the services of his top tight end and all three top wideouts.
Louisville also struggled in that department too and will now have to make do without mobile star quarterback Malik Cunningham and leading rusher Tiyon Evans.
Welcome to the modern version of bowl games. Head coaching change have been around for awhile but opting out is now becoming an epidemic. There’s no way to figure out how the teams will play since they have no resemblance to what was in place a month ago. Which means it could simply come down to motivation. I have no idea - so I borrowed the Big Flippy and came up with Louisville.
No quatloos though. And even with the replacement players (and coaches) all over the field, 40 points is a low bar to get under for the total. I’m just staying away.
Each team has an interim coach and backup quarterback with plenty of key opt-outs at cornerback and wide receiver.
Cincinnati HC Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin taking DC Mike Tressel with him. So UC went down the road and poached Lousville HC Scott Satterfield to take over. Louisville then nabbed Jeff Brohm from Purdue to replace Satterfield. None of the coaches will be on the sideline for this bowl.
Cincinnati couldn’t run the ball all season, which might make it tough to move the ball in this one with a backup quarterback who won’t have the services of his top tight end and all three top wideouts.
Louisville also struggled in that department too and will now have to make do without mobile star quarterback Malik Cunningham and leading rusher Tiyon Evans.
Welcome to the modern version of bowl games. Head coaching change have been around for awhile but opting out is now becoming an epidemic. There’s no way to figure out how the teams will play since they have no resemblance to what was in place a month ago. Which means it could simply come down to motivation. I have no idea - so I borrowed the Big Flippy and came up with Louisville.
No quatloos though. And even with the replacement players (and coaches) all over the field, 40 points is a low bar to get under for the total. I’m just staying away.
Las Vegas Bowl Florida +10.0 vs Oregon State - In the only Power Five matchup on Saturday’s slate, Florida will travel out west to Vegas to take on Oregon State.
Florida’s roster has been decimated. A full 20 scholarship players won’t be playing due to injuries, transfers or opting out. The biggest hit is that QB Anthony Richardson outed out for the NLF. Also, backup quarterback Jalen Kitna was recently dismissed from the program. Third-year sophomore Jack Miller III will make his first collegiate start Saturday against the Beavers.
Other key players missing include RBs Nay'Quan Wright and Lorenzo Lingard who entered the transfer portal, and their leading WR Justin Shorter also opting out and to enter the draft.
The Florida Gators come into this matchup with the 16th ranked rushing attack in the country. The Gators will rely on their two-headed running back attack of Montrell Johnson Jr. and freshman Trevor Etienne who combined for 1,532 yards this season scoring 16 touchdowns. That said, they will severely miss the running ability of Richardson.
Florida’s roster has been decimated. A full 20 scholarship players won’t be playing due to injuries, transfers or opting out. The biggest hit is that QB Anthony Richardson outed out for the NLF. Also, backup quarterback Jalen Kitna was recently dismissed from the program. Third-year sophomore Jack Miller III will make his first collegiate start Saturday against the Beavers.
Other key players missing include RBs Nay'Quan Wright and Lorenzo Lingard who entered the transfer portal, and their leading WR Justin Shorter also opting out and to enter the draft.
The Florida Gators come into this matchup with the 16th ranked rushing attack in the country. The Gators will rely on their two-headed running back attack of Montrell Johnson Jr. and freshman Trevor Etienne who combined for 1,532 yards this season scoring 16 touchdowns. That said, they will severely miss the running ability of Richardson.
Defensively, the Gators have not been nearly as effective or efficient. Florida has the 98th ranked rushing defense this season and the 81st ranked pass defense.
Oregon State was not far behind Florida in rushing finishing 26th on the year. They were led by Pac-12 Offensive Freshman Player of the Year, RB Damien Martinez, who rushed for 970 yards on the season, with seven touchdowns. Jam Griffin and Deshaun Fenwick finished behind Martinez in rushing, combining for 932 yards and ten touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Gators’ already poor defense will be extremely undermanned against an elite Oregon State offensive line that should dominate the line of scrimmage.
Defensively, the Beavers were much better than Florida ranking 15th against the run this season. The Beavers are vulnerable through the air with a defense that is ranked just 84th against the pass.
Miller is the great unknown in this matchup. He will literally be taking his first snaps of the season and doing so with a depleted wide receiver group. He will get a rather easy starting game though. Oregon State applies absolutely no pressure, ranking 128th in Passing Downs Sack Rate.
.This game will feature plenty of running and will likely be decided on how good Miller really is.
I’m going with, it will take some time to get comfortable, by which time Oregon State will have built enough of a lead to weather the storm.
I’ll pass on laying the points but will include the Beavers in a money line parlay.
Oregon State was not far behind Florida in rushing finishing 26th on the year. They were led by Pac-12 Offensive Freshman Player of the Year, RB Damien Martinez, who rushed for 970 yards on the season, with seven touchdowns. Jam Griffin and Deshaun Fenwick finished behind Martinez in rushing, combining for 932 yards and ten touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Gators’ already poor defense will be extremely undermanned against an elite Oregon State offensive line that should dominate the line of scrimmage.
Defensively, the Beavers were much better than Florida ranking 15th against the run this season. The Beavers are vulnerable through the air with a defense that is ranked just 84th against the pass.
Miller is the great unknown in this matchup. He will literally be taking his first snaps of the season and doing so with a depleted wide receiver group. He will get a rather easy starting game though. Oregon State applies absolutely no pressure, ranking 128th in Passing Downs Sack Rate.
.This game will feature plenty of running and will likely be decided on how good Miller really is.
I’m going with, it will take some time to get comfortable, by which time Oregon State will have built enough of a lead to weather the storm.
I’ll pass on laying the points but will include the Beavers in a money line parlay.