Bowl Blog Bash and Dash (Part 2)

How exciting where those first three bowl games? Well, not really at all... but, out of these six teams only one has a .500 overall record (Louisville at 6-6). Boise State is part of this parade of toilet bowls. That is extremely tragic that a team like Boise State has to play in the 'whatever bowl' while teams like Ohio State with a loss just like Boise get to play in the prestigious bowls that Big 10 teams get to play in because they whined and complained and then threw monster like tantrums (I'm looking at you Gene Smith.) Let's kick off this Bowl Blog Bash and Dash (Part 2) with the Beef 'O' Brady Bowl, MAACO Bowl, and [I can't believe its name] the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. 

Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl (Dec 21, 8pm, ESPN)

Hey, a Big East team! A conference that the average fan can actually identify! But, this bowl game sounds gross. The word 'beef' should never be in the title of any sports game, ever. No matter the name of the game it's a going to be a good show between a 6-6 Louisville Cardinals squad with the 15th best defense in the NCAA against a 8-4 Southern Miss team with the NCAA's 15th ranked offense! These two teams were rivals back in the 80's and 90's but something tells me that is no longer a factor... This is going to be the Cardinals first bowl appearance since the Cards beat Wake Forest 24-13 in the 2007 Orange Bowl.

Who to watch for?
SMISS RB FR Kendrick Hardy/Soph Desmond Johnson- Together these guys have combined for a total of 1,354yds and 14 rushing TD (+1 rec TD.) But, it will be interesting to see how these young backs match up against such a stout Cardinal defensive front. 
LVILLE RB SR Bilal Powell- The Cardinals haven't had a ground presence like these since the days of Micheal Bush. Powell has played all of his four years at L-Ville. In the 2010 season he tallied up 1,330yds, 10 rushing TD and 3 receiving TD.

Outcome? 
I would always take a defense over a 'okay' rushing attack offense any day. But, I wonder if the Cards have a good defensive average because the Big East was just so poor this year? Or can you say that S. Mississippi's rushing attack was so solid because they play in C-USA, want to know what I think? LVILLE-20 S.MISS- 13

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas (Dec 22, 8pm, ESPN)

This actually is a great match up... three years ago. What do you get in this bowl? A sour 11-1 Boise State team that is ready to unleash its fury on anyone who crosses them. Then there is the 10-2 Utah squad that lost to TCU then Notre Dame and finished the season with a close win over a sub-par BYU team. Not exactly the epic showdown that people were looking for the Broncos to play in this season. To make matters worse, Utah is without their starting QB and is going to lean on there backup Terrance Cain.

Who to watch for?
BOISE QB JR Kellen Moore- Was there even a question of who was going to be the Broncos key player? Moore threw a astounding 3,506yds and 33TD this year with only 6INT, and in his career in Boise he as amassed 10,528yds and 97TD <- That IS NOT a typo! 
UTAH QB SR Terrance Cain- You have to wonder if they can even dream of keeping up with this Bronco air-attack. Look for Cain to manage the game and lean on the rushing attack. Cain only has 610yds, 6TD and 2INT this season as the backup.

Outcome? 
Somehow the under/under is only 61. I think that the Broncos will score at least, AT LEAST 46pts in this game and I assume that Utah won't be THAT anemic on offense. But, we all saw Utah crumble towards the end of the year and we also all saw Boise continue to run teams into the ground: BOISE- 53 UTAH- 27.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (Dec 23, 8pm, ESPN) 
How do you go from Boise State to Navy verses SDSU? Navy is currently 8-3 overall but will probably be 9-3 after they hand it to Army in the Army v. Navy game in Philly this weekend (Navy has won 8-straight.) For Navy this this their 7th straight bowl game and for SDSU hasn't been in the post-season since 1998! What we do get is the 11th highest passing attack from SD and the 5th best rushing (option) option attack from Navy, and if we are lucky Coach Niumatololo will verbally assault an official.

Who to watch for?
NAVY QB SR Rick Dobbs- He is a option quarterback so his arm isn't as important as his legs and his ability to read the defensive end. He still was able to toss 1,194yds, 10TD and 4 picks, while on the ground he amassed 222car for 806yds and 10TD. 
SDSU WR SR Vincet Brown/SR DeMarco Sampson- These two guys have caught more than 2,300yds between the two of them. That's more than 60% of the teams total passing yards! Brown has 61rec for 1,187yds and 9TD while his counterpart Sampson has 65rec for 1,175yds and 8TD.

Outcome?
Navy's losses were due to a terrible rush defense and their inability to score quickly when they were down. SDSU is just like Hawaii, a lot of airborne yards and that's about it. But, I think that Aztecs have to much of a potent offense for Navy to keep up with them on the scoreboard: NAVY- 24 SDSU- 38.

Next 'Bowl Blog Bash and Dash (Part 3)':

• Sheraton Hawaii Bowl- Hawaii (10-3) v. Tulsa (9-3)
• Little Caesars Bowl- Florida Int'l (6-6) v. Toledo (8-4)
• AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl- Air Force (8-4) v. Georgia Tech (6-6)