Bowl Season Has Finally Arrived

It’s time to go bowling.  The College football bowl season kicks off today with a triple header.  Temple and Wyoming will face off in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, Ohio takes on Utah State in the  Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and San Diego State and Louisiana-Lafayette will play in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl tonight. All of these games will be on ESPN.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl:

How They Got Here:

Temple: Temple started the 2011 season with two wins over Villanova and Akron, Two not so great teams in college football. Then Penn State traveled into Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to play the Temple Owls. That was a great game where Temple had a strong chance to upset Penn State but Penn State scored late and that was the end of the game. I was at that game, and it was pretty great. Temple then crushed an awful Maryland team and then was crushed by Toledo. Temple was able to put beatings on Ball State and Buffalo but stumbled against Bowling Green and Ohio in the next two weeks. Temple then wrapped up the season with a three game winning streak.   Temple finished with an 8-4 record this season.

         

Wyoming:  Wyoming started well out of the gates in 2011 where they started 3-0. Wyoming then faced a tough Nebraska team that was able to beat them 38-14. The Wyoming Cowboys then got lassoed by Utah State 63-19. They then went on a two game winning streak beating UNLV and San Diego State. Wyoming then lost to a really good TCU team 31-20. The Cowboys then handled Air Force and New Mexico but lost to the seventh ranked Boise State Broncos. The Cowboys finished the season with a win over Colorado State. Wyoming also finished with an 8-4 record.

Prediction:  I believe that this will be a good game but Temple has the 13^th best defense in the country and is also 7^th in the running game. If Wyoming can keep Temple from being able to run the ball they will have a chance in this game since Temple isn’t a very good passing team. I do think that Temple junior running back Bernard Pierce will have a good game and Temple will beat Wyoming in the first bowl game of the 2011 bowl season.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:

How They Got Here:

Ohio Bobcats:  Ohio relied heavily on quarterback Tyler Tettleton who threw for nearly 3,100 yards and 26 touchdowns this season. Ohio was 3-0 after beating New Mexico State, Gardner-Webb, and Marshall to open up the season. Ohio then traveled to Rutgers where they fell to the Scarlet Knights 38-26. The Bobcats then bounced back against Kent State the next week winning 17-10. They then traveled to Buffalo and lost then lost to Ball State at home. Ohio then got hot and beat Akron, Temple, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, and then Miami Ohio. They then went to the MAC title game where they fell to Northern Illinois on a last minute field goal.

Utah State: The Utah State Aggies were on the losing end of a close game versus the defending champion Auburn Tigers 42-38. They then bounced back and beat Weber State. Utah State then started struggling then lost to Colorado State in Overtime and lost to BYU by a field goal. Utah State then crushed the Wyoming Cowboys 63-19. Then the woes continued losing to Fresno State and Louisiana Tech. Then Utah State went 4-0 to end the season.  They finished with a 7-5 record.

Prediction: This will be an entertaining game but as long as Ohio can handle Utah States 6^th rated running game I think that Ohio will come out on top in a pretty high scoring game.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:

How They Got Here:

San Diego State: The Aztecs of San Diego State played absolutely nobody and lost to any decent team they played this season, which includes a very overrated Michigan team. San Diego State was able to finish at 8-4.

Louisiana- Lafayette:  This team played even worse competition then San Diego State though they did open with a game against Oklahoma State and were crushed. They also lost to a not so good Arizona team and two horrible teams in Western Kentucky and Arkansas State. The Ragin’ Cajuns finished with an 8-4 record.

Prediction: San Diego State should completely dominate this game. San Diego State running back Ronnie Hillman ran for over 1600 yards this season and you will see that in this game tonight. San Diego State wins this bowl game.