40 Acres Sports

Some love for #7 and the Horns’ D.

Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl
	UCF (8-4) vs. Nevada (8-3) Dec. 24, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Favorite: Nevada by 2

The Nevada Wolf Pack are a fun team to watch and have been playing pretty good football over the last month or so. Their “pistol” offense sets quarterback Jeff Rowe up just 3 yards behind the center and allows them to have a shotgun passing game and a straight ahead rushing attack out of the same formation. Pretty interesting scheme that has allowed them to put up some serious yardage and points in the WAC this season.

Central Florida went winless last season and started this year off with two more losses. Since then they’ve gone 8 and 2 and earned their first ever bowl berth. Despite the eight win season the Golden Knights haven’t exactly been dominant, with seven of those eight wins coming by margins of ten points or less. Their offense is solid but not explosive, if they make some stops against the Nevada offense and keep this game close they’ll certainly have a shot to win this game late.

Unfortunately for UCF, I don’t think it’ll be close in the fourth.

Players to Watch: UCF QB Steven Moffett, Nevada QB Jeff Rowe, Nevada RB B.J. Mitchell

Prediction: UCF 16, Nevada 33

If Texas was in the Hawai’i Bowl…

Both the UCF football team and George O’Leary rebounded this season and both are great stories, but the Golden Knights aren’t a great team. They went 8 and 4 this season by winning a ton of close games against bad football teams. They needed a last second field goal to beat a Louisiana Lafayette team that the Longhorns put up 60 points on in about a half. The media would attack Texas if they scheduled UCF in the regular season. Texas 66, UCF 3.

It would be interesting to see how the Wolf Pack’s pistol offense would fare against a team with the athletes the Longhorns have on the defensive side. They were shut down pretty well by Washington State, Colorado State, and Boise State, not exactly defensive powerhouses. They certainly haven’t faced anyone with the firepower the Texas offense brings to the table. Texas 56, Nevada 14.

It’s definitely a little different having a full month off between games.

The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
	Colorado St. (6-5) vs. Navy (7-4) Dec. 22, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2) Favorite: Navy by 3

Nothing says banking in the San Diego area like poinsettias. There are a lot of six win teams in the December bowl games. Some people are complaining that there are too many bowl games, but the problem is that there are way too many crappy bowl games.

Colorado State is a streaky and average football team but has more offensive firepower than most teams that Navy has faced this year. If Ram quarterback Justin Holland avoids throwing the ball to the wrong team (he threw for 20 TD’s versus 15 interceptions during the regular season) he’ll have a chance to put some points on the board.

He’ll need to play well because his defense might be in for a long night against Navy’s triple-option offense. The CSU defense is near the bottom of the country in run defense and all the Midshipmen do is the run the football. Navy is led by QB Lamar Owens and he and his half a dozen backfield mates are going to be pounding the ball on the ground pretty much every play. Owens has only attempted 112 passes the entire season with limited success, so even if things aren’t going their way don’t expect more than 7 or 8 pass attempts from Navy.

I’m not sure why, but I’m feeling the upset.

Players to Watch: CSU QB Justin Holland, Navy QB Lamar Owens

Prediction: Colorado State 34, Navy 28

If Texas was in the Poinsettia Bowl…

With a healthy Jamaal Charles and Ramonce Taylor not behind bars the Longhorns would run all day against the Ram defense. The CSU offense makes too many mistakes to have any success when they have the football. Colorado State lost to Colorado by 3 points to open the season, Texas embarassed the Buffs by 67 to end it. Simple math says… Texas 73, CSU 3.

The Texas A&M threw together an option attack in two weeks and gave the Longhorn defense fits, Navy has been running the triple-option offense for years. Definitely not the best match-up of the early bowl games for the Horns but their far superior depth and talent should allow them to pull away as the game goes nears halftime. Plus, give the Texas defensive coaching staff three weeks to prepare for an offensive gameplan where they know what’s coming and I’m confident that they’d be ready. Texas 56, Navy 20.

Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl
	BYU (6-5) vs. Cal (7-4) Dec. 22, 7 p.m. (ESPN) Favorite: Cal by 7.5

I thought last night’s GMAC Bowl was going to be a high scoring and close game, but unfortunately I was only half right as Toledo went out and thumped UTEP in a pretty boring game. Tonight’s Las Vegas Bowl has a chance to be more exciting if BYU can air it out and match the Cal rushing attack. The game isn’t expected to be that close, the Bears are favored by 7.5 points, but it could turn into a slugfest as two excellent offenses both face weak defenses.

Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl? How lame. I’m okay with corporate sponsorship of bowls, but since when did we allow specific tecnologies or product lines in the bowl title? What’s next, the AT&T Long Distance Phone Service Cotton Bowl? Tostitos Hint of Lime Fiesta Bowl? Let’s hope the game is better than the name of the bowl.

Players to Watch: Cal RB Marshawn Lynch

Prediction: BYU 31, Cal 38

If Texas was in the Las Vegas Bowl…

Neither team would have a prayer against the Horns’ explosive offense and BYU’s one-dimensional air attack wouldn’t have much success when matched up with the likes of Michael Huff and the rest of the Texas secondary. Not pretty. BYU is a team that lost to San Diego State and the Longhorns are just a tad bit better than that. Texas scores on every posession Vince Young is in the game. Texas 60, BYU 6.

The Cal offense’s rushing attack and Marshawn Lynch’s speed would probably give the Texas linebackers trouble for a couple of series, but their inconsistency in the passing game would quickly mean trouble for the Bears. Quarterback Steve Levy was a running back at the start of November and he’d be wishing he was back there by the time the game was over. Texas 56, Cal 13.

Mack Brown makes the list and his assistants are pretty darn good as well.

Vasher also makes list of most unheralded and Casey Hampton was snubbed.

I voted for Texas because the whole idea is a crock, but the Horns would get rolled because of the differences in size and speed.

Texas commit Jevan Snead at number 8.

I am glad he wasn’t suspended. I don’t want any excuses from USC.