College Bowl Game Previews - Part Four

By Matt Smith and Ben Malley

Armed Forces Bowl- Cal (6-6) vs. Air Force (9-3), Dec. 31: This is one last chance for the Cal Bears to salvage what remains of a devastated season. Once No. 2 in the country and primed to claim the top spot, Cal went into a tailspin, losing six of seven and was lucky enough to fall into the Armed Forces Bowl. For Air Force, it’s the chance to end the year with 10 wins and put the icing on what has been a very good season, which has gone mostly unnoticed nationally.

The Falcons are going to run the ball, and that doesn’t bode well for a Cal defense that doesn’t stop the run very well. Air Force is second in the country in rushing, averaging nearly 300 yards a game. Cal will need to focus on Chad Hall, who leads the team in rushing and receiving.

The Bears need to make a change at quarterback, and Jeff Tedford probably won’t do it. Nate Longshore, still battling an ankle injury, has completed just 57 percent of his passes and has thrown 11 interceptions since missing the Oregon State game. What’s worse is that twice in the last three games, he has been well under 50 percent. If he can just get the ball to DeSean Jackson, Lavelle Hawkins or Robert Jordan, then the Bears will be fine. Justin Forsett has been a workhorse all year, but has his work cut out against a team allowing just 3.3 yards per carry. The Bears are bigger up front, and that should help.

Predictions:
Matt- Cal
Ben- Air Force
Mike- Cal

Humanitarian Bowl- Georgia Tech (7-5) vs. Fresno St. (8-4), Dec. 31: This is a game with a couple of good running attacks and abysmal passing attacks. The Jackets have 1300 yard rusher and ACC leader Tashard Choice, while the Bulldogs have the young duo of Ryan Matthews and Lonyae Miller who combined for over 1300 yards of their own this year.

Georgia Tech of course will be without fired head coach Chan Gailey. They will be coached by Defensive Coordinator John Tentua whose defense is 11th in the nation and 12th against the run. Fresno St. with all due respect, play in the WAC so their defense does not exactly compare.

If Fresno St. has a chance they are going to have to hold Choice down, and they haven't exactly been able to do that against good backs this year. They gave up over 300 yards on the ground in a loss to Oregon and another 300 yards against the Texas A&M option offense.

Predictions:
Matt- Georgia Tech
Ben- Georgia Tech
Mike- Georgia Tech

Sun Bowl- South Florida (9-3) vs. Oregon (8-4), Dec. 31: It still makes me feel bad to think of what the Oregon Ducks were just over a month ago. They were in control of their own destiny as far as going to the national title game, but too many injuries turned them into a below average team.

An above average team might have trouble against a South Florida squad that has shown a lot of resilience in coming back from a mid-season slide. Matt Grothe is a dual threat to run and throw and the fact that Oregon doesn’t get to the quarterback much could mean a big game for him. He will open it up for Mike Ford, who has been running the ball very well lately.

Scoring points is where Oregon is going to have problems. Jonathan Stewart is a great running back, but Oregon has three quarterbacks injured which means freshman Justin Roper will be under center if a concussion keeps fellow freshman Cody Kempt out. South Florida will be able to focus on Stewart with an inexperienced QB going against one of the top secondaries in the country in Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams. Expect George Selvie to be pressuring the QB and making life hard for Stewart all game long.

Predictions:
Matt- South Florida
Ben- South Florida
Mike- South Florida

Music City Bowl- Kentucky (7-5) vs. Florida St. (7-5), Dec. 31: Obviously the story here is that Florida St. is missing half their team because they cheated in a music history class. A fucking music history class! It's not like it was a class on the German hyperinflation following World War I. Music fucking-history. I wrote that and then I read Bobby Bowden's opinion on the matter, "I can't believe, a music course," coach Bobby Bowden said Friday. "It's not physiology, it's a music course. Open book, online. Anybody could pass an open book test, gee whiz." Gee whiz, that guy is old.

Anyway to the game. Unfortunately for the Seminoles their biggest losses are on the defensive side of the ball which they will need to stop Andre' Woodson and his top 20 ranked offense. Look for Woodson to be flinging the ball Chris Leak style all over the field.

On the offensive side of the ball Florida St neither has a dependable quarterback (Drew Weatherford/Xavier Lee) or a running game, junior tailback Antone Smith only ran for 663 yards this year, good for 3.8 yards a carry. It was already going to be difficult for Florida St. to beat a solid Kentucky team who beat LSU and lost very close games to Florida and Tennessee. Without so many key players it's looking even less likely.

Predictions:
Matt- Kentucky
Ben- Kentucky
Mike- Kentucky

Insight Bowl- Indiana (7-5) vs. Oklahoma State (6-6), Dec. 31: Indiana has trouble stopping people and Oklahoma State can score. This sounds like bad news for the Hoosiers, especially when you consider Pokes quarterback Zac Robinson threw for over 2,500 yards and rushed for nearly 800 more. They are a three-pronged attack as Robinson is joined by Dantrell Savage in the backfield along with wideout Adarius Bowman.

Expect Savage to have a big, big day. Indiana is allowing over 150 yards a game on the ground and Savage is averaging 5.9 yards a carry this year and has gone over 100 yards in nine straight games. Indiana is going to have to crowd the box, and make the Cowboys win by going to the air.

Speaking of going to the air, this is where Indiana thrives on offense. The Hoosiers have an explosive playmaker in quarterback Kellen Lewis, who is only a sophomore. Lewis threw for almost 3,000 yards and rushed for close to 600, leading the team in both departments. When he drops back to throw, he is a threat to take off and run, which will force Oklahoma State to spy him for much of the game. The Cowboys might also think about double covering his favorite target, James Hardy, who is ginormous at 6-7 and 220 pounds. He caught 74 passes for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns this year.

Predictions:
Matt- Oklahoma State
Ben- Oklahoma State
Mike- Oklahoma State

Chick-Fil-A Bowl- Clemson (9-3) vs. Auburn (8-4), Dec. 31: This feels like an SEC game. Clemson gets these awesome recruits in every year and then isn't that good. That's why they are playing in a bowl named for a fast food chicken restaurant (albeit a very good one, my meat-eating Southern friends tell me).

Auburn has a just plain horrible offense. Al Borges agrees, that's why he resigned from the OC position a couple weeks ago. There is good news and bad news for War Eagles/Tigers/whatever-they-are fans. The bad news is that 24-year-old Brandon Cox is still the team's starting quarterback. The good news is that it will be his last game and Auburn has the sixth rated scoring defense in the country. They will need to establish the running game with Ben Tate and rely on their defense to shutdown Clemson's Cullen Harper and the dual running attack of James Davis and C.J. Spiller.

If Auburn wins it will be because they kept it low scoring and got some special teams help, because Clemson's defense is just as formidable, ranked sixth in the nation in total defense. However, they'll be missing a couple of key players because of academic problems.

Predictions:
Matt- Auburn
Ben- Clemson
Mike- Clemson