Thor's College Bowls: 2007-2008 Season

[Thor24]

...YTD...250-233-7..Overall this Season


Thursday Nite: Poinsettia Bowl

(8-4) Navy at (8-4) Utah

1st Bowl Game of the Year..Game will be Played at San Diego...There will be more of a Crowd for Navy Since there is a Large Naval Presence in the Area and will have More Fans than Utah which are Having Problems Selling Tickets...Navy will have a New Head Coach as Coach Johnson Moves on to Ga Tech and Off Coor Niumatalolo will Take Over..In Most Games a New Coach that Coaches a Team for 1st Time in a Bowl Game does not win the Game But this is a Coach that is with the Team and has Been Promoted up to Head Coach..On the Other Side Utah has Played Great in Post Season Winning 6 Bowl Games in Row (Only behind Boston College 's 7 Games in Row) and Did this when Coach Meyer went to Florida and Both Meyer and New Coach Whittingham were Co Coaches in the 2004 Fiesta Bowl...Utah Won those and Covered as Favorites and as Dogs...Navy Offense is Built to Run the Ball as for the 3rd Time in 3 Years they have Lead the NCAA in Rushing with the Triple Option Attack...This will be the 1st Meeting Between these 2 Teams But Utah Faces that Type of Offense Each Year when they Play Air Force...This will be Navy 5th Straight Bowl so they are Use to Post Season Play Also...Utah is 6-2-1 ATS as a Favorite of 7+ Points last 2 Years...Navy is 10-1 ATS in their Last 11 Games Vs the MAC...Over is 8-2 in Navy Last 1o Games on Neutral Field and Over 9-3 Last 12 Non Conf Games Played....Utah is 7-2 Last 9 Games on Grass...and Under is 6-2 in their Last 8 games Utah has Played..Both have Played Air Force this Season with Navy Winning: 31-20 while Utah Lost to them 20-12....But Utah Played in the Game without QB Johnson that was Hurt in the 1st Game of Season Vs Oreg St with a Hurt Shoulder..Game with be Between If Navy Can Run the Ball and Keep Up with Utah Scoring Vs Them...Since Navy Defense is Ranked #117th But Finished with 4 Straight Wins to Get to a Bowl (But All Teams were Below 500 that they Played..Including a Win vs Notre Dame for 1st Time after 43 Years in Row...Main Concern for Utah is the Heath of DT Gabe Long with Hurt Shoulder Since He is the Best D Lineman on Team..Remember the Defense was a Building Work as Offense Tryed to Keep Utah Winning as they Went 1-3 in 1st 4 Games Only to Go 7-1 Last 8 Games Losing the Last Game of Season to BYU (Which went 8-0 in Conf Play) and Scored a TD with 38 Seconds Left then Only have Ball Knocked Down in Endzone by BYU to Hold on to the Win...Big Wins by Navy was Air Force and Notre Dame and Bad Loses Vs Ball St...and Delaware...Utah Big Wins Vs Louisville and UCLA but Lost Vs Air Force and Oreg St But without their Best QB Johnson Playing...As for a Total ..Utah has Only had 1 Game of 12 that Game Total was Over 64/65 Points was Game at Louisville.44-35 for Total of 79 Points..Other 11 Games were Under that Amount..But the Louisville Game had a Team with Poor Defense that Lets Teams Score and Try to Outscore them this Year...Like this Navy Team...Navy Must Score with Utha Because I do Not Thank Navy can Shut Utah Down and Play Sound Defense...Navy Offense is Ave 40 Points/Game while Utah Offense is Ave 26 Points/Game while Navy Def is Allowing Teams to Score 37 Points Per Game (With a Strength of Schedule of 89th) and Utah Defense is Holding Teams to 16 Points/Game 3rd Best in Nation behind Va Tech 2nd (15.5 pts/Game) and Ohio St 1st (10.7 pts/Game)..(Strength of Schedule of 56th)...Utah has Allowed 1564 Rushing Yards this Season But Only 989 Yards Final 10 Games Holding Teams UNDER 100 Yards Rushing per Game..4 Games Utha Lost they Allowed Almost 140 Yards Rushing a Game...Some Other Advantages is Utah Kicking Game is That Sakoda has Kicked a School Record 19 FGs thgis Season Including 10 of them From 40 Yards or Longer..Good Weapoon to have..If Navy Scores 39.9 Points or More they are 6-1 this Season...Navy enters Game on 4 Game Winning Streak while Utah has Won 7 of Last 8...I Have Utah Winning this Game By 9.3 Points on Capping Thing I Use and Utah Winning By 10.5 Points on another...Game Lokks like an Under Game with Line Opening at 67 Total Points and have Dropped Since and Side of 9 1/2 that has Dropped to 7 1/2 and 8...Here is What I See..Navy Running Sytle of Team with Pass Now and Then Vs a Team that is Well Balanced...This Game will be a Type that Navy will have to Score with Utah Much Like the Louisville Game and Sent the Total Over with Utah Winning By 10 Points..Even with Most of the Crowd Cheering for Navy..Also Strength of Schedule: Navy is 89th and Utah is 56th...Playing Stronger Teams Make you a better Team Playing Vs Other Teams that Played Weaker Teams as Year Goes On...So..Me Thinks...


Pic: Utah -7 1/2

Pic: Navy/Utah...Over 64 1/2




Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!



**Note..I'll Keep All Pics on One Post and I will Post this Quickly so I can get on the Pittsburgh/St Louis NFL Game Writeup....BOL..

[fitter]

Good writeup Thor...keep them coming!! Look forward to your bowl season picks. Looking into some things myself for this gam, but it looks like I'm with ya on this one (that may be bad for you w/my record). Bowl season hopefully will turn things around this year.BOL.

[Whaleydog]

Hammer em Thor !

[AuTiger51]

GL Thor! I'm on the UTES too. Here's to a strong bowl season

[manmythlegend]

gl thor, same side in this one

[Thor24]

Thanks...Fitter...Whaleydog....AuTiger51....manmyt hlegend...Hope You All Have a Great Bowl Season....BOL to You and I Can't Believe that it is Bowl Season All Ready...!!


If You are Out There.....DeadGarcia....Man I Miss You and Hope to Hear From You Sometime Soon....You are the Best and I Need Your Help Big Guy...BOL to You..


Congrats$$ to All on Navy and Over..Congrats$$...Wow...What a 2nd Half....Really Thought the Under would Hit then Over Hits and Navy Side...Really Saw Utah Winning By 10 Points..But Navy Played their Hearts/Asses Off...Congrats to Them and Their Fans..and Utah for Winning the Bowl..


Looks Like a 1-1 Start to Bowl Season....BOL to All on Fridays Bowl Game..Hard One to Look at So Far..!!






Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!

[Thor24]

Friday Nite:

New Orleans Bowl:
(7-5) Florida Atlantic VS (7-5) Memphis

This is a Bowl that I Don't Know That much About Except what I have Read...and That can Be one Sided Sometimes..So I'm going with Numbers on this Game...Flor Atl is Playing in their 1st Bowl after Starting up Football in Only 7 Years after Starting Up Under Old Timer Coach that Won Miami National Champ then was at Louisville and Oklahoma before Starting Up this Program and Even Spent Time Back with Baltimore Colts...Howard Schnellenberger...Started as Div II A Team and Moved Up..Said his Team would win National Title by 2007...But Making a Bowl is a Huge Act...Memphis has Been Bowling for a Few Years...Memp has Played in Bowl Games in 3 Bowl Games in 2003..2004..2005 Thanks To DeAngelo Williams...Flor Atl was the Sun Belt Conf Winner by Beating Troy at Troy the Last Game of Season...38-32..Memp Won 5 of their Last 6 Games to Finish 7-5 and Go to 4th Bowl in 5 Seasons..Memp Lost to 2 Sun Belt Teams this Season But that was when QB Hankins was Hurt and did Not Play...Returned Later from Hip Injury and the Memp Offense Played Much Better Ave 34 Points/Game and 504 Yards of Total Offense 2nd Half of Year...Big Concern for Memp is Defense were they Only Held 1 Team Under 21 Points All Season...Long Time Defensive Coor Joe Lee Dunn was Let Go Last Year...Droping Memp Def Ranking Which is Allowing 31 Plus Points Scored a Game But Flor Atl Def is Also Allowing right at 34 Points a Game...So Each Offense has to Score 30 Points a Game to Play with their Other Team...Flor Atl Ave 36 Points a Game 2nd Half of Season...QB Rusty Smith...3352 Yards with 27 TDs and 7 INTs....(Wouls have Liked to See him before Tonite)...Both Teams have Big WRS and QB that Throw the Ball...Teams that Score and Get Score Upon...I Have Flor Atl Winning this By 7.39 and Strength of Schedule has Flor Atl Higher at #76th to Memp #129th...So Beening in Sun Belt Flor Atl has Played a Tougher Schedule than C USA Team Memp and Although Memp has been in Bowls and Flor Atl is a Virgin at Bowl Play...Still give a Nod to Flor Atl...In the Dome this Could be One of the Largest Scoring Games Played...Could Be...So Here is What I'm Going With (By the Numbers)...Taking the Over and the Flor Atl Team to Win by a TD in a I Scored Now You Score to Keep Up Type of Game....So...Me Thinks...


Pic: Florida Atlantic -3 1/2

Pic: Florida Atlantic/Memphis...Over 66 1/2




Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!

[jpix]

With ya on Atlantic Thor. GL.

[fitter]

BOL Thor...with ya on FAU, but played the under tonite. Enjoy the game!!

[Thor24]

Thanks...jpix....fitter...Thanks...Hope All All are Having a Good Start to Bowl Season and BOL the Rest of the Way...

Well...I Like the Florida Atlantic Team and Memphis WR's...Memphis QB getting Hurt Changed the 4th Q Most Likely in More of a Fireworks Going Off Type of 4th Q and Hope He is OK with Leg Problem....Congrats$$ to All on Florida Atlantic and the Over...Congrats$$...Guess this was One that the Numbers and Reading was the Best to Find the Right Side and Total...Congrats$$ to Fans of Florida Atlantic...Good Team that will Put up Big Offensive #'s..Just Need work on Defense Somewhat...!!


Good Nite...Plus Side..2-0


...YTD...3-1 College Bowls....(250-233-7 Overall During Reg Season)

Now I Have to Cover at Work Both Saturday and Sunday..So Next 4 Bowl Games (3 On Saturday) will have a Writeup as Much as Possible after I Break them Down and Find Who I'm Playing...Try and Post Saturday 1st Game at Least by Late Tonite or Saturday Morning and Other 2 Games Saturday Sometime..(Plus NFL Game on Sat)...BOL to ya All on Here and on the Net Looking In..


DeadGarcia....Man This 2-0 was for You...Your Strength of Schedule was a Factor in Picking this One..Congrats$$ and Cheers..



Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!

[Thor24]

Saturday Day/Nite Games:

PAPAJOHNS.Com Bowl

(7-5) S. Mississippi VS (9-3) Cincinnati
This will be the 15 Meeting between the 2 Teams with Breakdown...7-7 All-Time since Cinny used to be in C-USA...Game will be Played in Birmingham Alabama (Where UAB Played their Games)..Grass Field at Legion Field..Weather Says it will be Cloudy and Temp Upper 50's to Low 60's..Low Chance of Rain..Great Football Weather to Play In Today..Coach Jeff Bower for S Miss has been to 10 Bowls in 10 of Last 11 Years...S Miss will be Playing its Last Game with Coach Bower which has Spent 29 Years at School with a Overall Record...119-82-1..He Resigned on Nov 26th But Sounds like School is Giving a Push..(Only 3 Coaches have been at Schools Longer..Paterno (42 Yrs)..B. Bowden (32 Yrs) and Beamer (21 Yrs)..**Note:Jeff Bower 1st Experience Coaching at S Miss was in a Bowl Game...Brett Farve Last as S Miss Player...S Miss Tied with East Carolina with UCF Winning the Conf with Most "experts"Calling for S Miss to win C-USA East...S Miss is Lead by RB Fletcher in which he Rushed for 1,431 and 15 TDs to Help Take Workload off QB Young ...which was Hurt some this Season But S Miss Plays Much Better with Him..to Balance the Offense...S Miss is Ave 28 Pts/Game on Off But Their Defense is Allowing 23.6 Yards/Game which is Worst Since 1994....S Miss was Always Known as a Defensive Team and Now their D is not getting the Job Done...S Miss is 2-4 ATS on Grass Last 2 Years..S Miss is 7-16-1 ATS as Away DOG (0-2 this Year)...Cinny is 2-1 ATS on Grass this Year and 3-1 as an Away Favorite...Cinny Played 5 Teams of Bowl Caliber Going 4-2 SU and 5-1 ATS with Close Loss at then # 5 West va...28-23..Cinny is a Very Solid Team and Surprised Teams in Big East and Else where...Cinny QB Ben Maulk (Transfer from Wake Forest) Took Over after 2 Games from Sr Grutza after He was Starter from Last Season...Maulk threw for 27 TD broke Cinny records in Less than Full Season and had a Passer rating of 154.6...Best in Big East...Beating out Louisville Brohm (152.4) and WV White (150.1) Both Pre Season Favorites to Lead Big East in QB Ratings...Cinny is Coached by Brian Kelly and Offensive Coor Quinn....Which Took C Mich to another Level in MAC..Cinny Ace 36 Points per Game with Maulk at QB and has Talent Around Him...Plus Many Starters Returned from 2006 that Helped...KEY to Gave for Cinny is to Stop Fletcher and Rest of Running Attack (Cinny Defense Only Allowed 106 Yars/Game Rushing...Strength of Schedule...Cinny is #66th and S Miss is #106...Cinny Played a Much Stronger/Tougher Schedule than S Miss...Cinny is 8-2-1 ATS Last 11 Games Overall...Also Cinny has the Special Team Edge with Punter Kevin Huber Leading the Nation at 46.87 Yard/Punt and Only Punting 4.4 Punts/Game Ave...S Miss is Allowing Most Points in More than Decade and Now Shoe is On other Foot with Cinny having a Better Defense...Allowing Only 18.6 Points/Game...which was 2nd in Big East...Here is What I See...Emotion will Run High for S Miss with Bower Coaching his Last game...But Cinny Just has Much More Talent and if Both Teams Play their Best then Cinny Wins by 2 TDs...I have Cinny Winning by 19.8 Points....So...Me Thinks...


Pic: Cincinnati -11

Pic: S Mississippi/Cincinnati...Under 56



Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!

[SuperSkins]

GL with the bowls this year and Merry Christmas

[Thor24]

Thanks...SuperSkins...Hope you have a Great Day and Nite of Football... ..BOL to ya and Meery Christmas to you Also..!!

NEW MEXICO BOWL:

(6-6) Nevada at (8-4) New Mexico

***


Pic: New Mexico -3 1/2

Pic: Nevada/New Mexico...Over 56




Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!




**Note...Try and Give some Writeup When I Get Home..Just have Not had any Free Time at Work...BOL to Ya and Hope ya have a Great Day/Nite....BOL

[Thor24]

...Saturday Nite Game:


LAS VEGAS BOWL
(10-2) BYU VS (6-6) UCLA

2nd Meeting of these 2 Teams this Season as in Week 2..When UCLA Won 27-17 at UCLA..But Thing Really Changed After that Game or Within the Next Week for BYU...UCLA Lost at Utah 44-6 Starting their Jekyl and Hyde Season..Beat Washington at Home 44-31and at Oreg St 40-14 then Lost 5 of their Last 7 Games with the Win Over Oreg..16-0( but Oreg was a Shell of themself as they had just Lost QB Nixion with Knee Injury and was Lost without Hime Running the Offense)...I Call that getting into a Bowl by the Back Door...While BYU Won 9 Straight Games to Finish the Season Off at 10-2 and Want a Piece of UCLA Since they are Only 1 of the Teams that Beat Them of 2 Played..(at Tulsa Lost 47-55)..BYU Offense has Taken FireBYU Scoring an Ave of 31 Plus Points/Game with Over 450 Yards/Game....BYU is Lead at QB by Max Hall..3617 Yards..60.1 % Comp with 24 TDs and 12 INTs...and RB Unga (Which had his Worst Game Vs UCLA..28 Yards on 5 Carries) is Ave 5.3 Yards/Carry...1212 Ruching Yards on 227 Carries with 13 TDs and He is a Horse...UCLA will be in that Group of Schools Looking for a Coach since Coach Dorrell was Fired 2 Days after Dec 1st Loss to USC (24-7)...UCLA Under is 9-2 Vs Last 11 Vs MWC...UCLA is 9-2 in their Last 11 Vs MWC...UCLA is 22-7 ATS vs Team with Winning Record...BYU is 20-7-1 ATS in their Last 28 Games on Grass Under is 8-3 in BYU Last 11 on Grass...BYU is 20-8-1 ATS in their Last 29 Overall...Here is What I See...BYU will Be Ready to Play Tonite on a Nuetral Field and will Play Wide Open with All those Unders Going Away...BYU Finished the Season with Those 9 Wins Only 1 Win was Before 24 Points Scored for BYU and 6 of Thsoe had BYU Offense Scoring 31 or Higher in Each Game...See that Happeneing Tonite...(Last 2 Bowl Games that BYU Won..63 Points and 46 Points Total Scored in 2005 and 2006)..So..Me Thinks...



Pic: BYU -6 1/2

Pic: BYU/UCLA...Over 46




Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!

[Thor24]

Hope All here had a Good Day/Nite...2-4 on Bowls Today...Working is Taking me Away from Games as Much as I Like to Spend with Them...!!

...YTD on Bowls..5-5..Overall..---.. 250-233-7 Overall Reg Season


I will Try and Get my Ass in Gear....BOL to All on Sunday..!!



Football Time..!!

Good Luck to Everyone..Hammer em..!!